"Artificial Intelligence, text analytics, and blockchain are transforming the traditional ways of working." Rajeev Chopra, Managing Director—Legal, Accenture in India

Rajeev Chopra leads the legal function for Accenture’s India, Philippines, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka market units and the company’s Global Delivery Centres in the region. In this role, he leads a team that provides cross-domain expertise on various legal and risk mitigation aspects including compliance, operations, regulation and ethics for each of these markets. He has also lent his expertise to several complex organizational restructuring projects. 

During the course of his professional journey, Rajeev has been featured in the GC Powerlists for India, which recognize top in-house lawyers and corporate legal teams. He was recognized by the Law Society of England and Wales for outstanding contribution towards the Indian in-house legal community. 

Rajeev has an LL.B degree from Delhi University, is an alumnus of a program on Corporate Commercial Laws from the College of Law, England (1996) and is a Chevening Scholar (1996).   

Mr Chopra, please share an insight into how this illustrious journey began. At what age did you decide to study law? Please walk us through your early years of education and the decision of becoming a lawyer.

I obtained a degree in law from Delhi University following which I qualified as a Chevening Scholar.  Soon after that, I started my career as a litigator, and then joined a law firm’s corporate commercial practice. During this period, I represented several multinational corporations on legal matters ranging from advisory, litigation, arbitration to project finance for major infrastructure projects. In 2003, I moved to an in-house legal position and joined Accenture in 2007.  

Who have been your mentors in this journey?

I have worked with and been influenced by the work of renowned legal luminaries such as Mr Mukul Rohatgi, Mr Arun Jaitley and Ms Zia Mody. More specifically, I started my career as a litigator working with the Hon’ble Justice Madan Lokur and consider him to be my mentor and guide. I also draw inspiration from Dr Lalit Bhasin with whom I have had the honour of working on several key projects.  

Please tell us something about the nature of work you handle at Accenture. What is your in-house team size, and would you please allow us a little peek into your routine at work?

I lead Accenture’s Global Delivery Network legal team in India, and the nature of my work spans across Compliance, Operations, Regulatory affairs and Ethics (CORE), which includes both adherence to local laws and global aspects such as anti-corruption, data privacy laws and export control.  I am also responsible for Accenture’s compliance with employment laws, IT and cyber laws, real estate laws, forex and telecom laws and dispute resolution.  As the India lead, I bring together the expertise of our specialized global legal verticals such as Corporate Investigations, Intellectual Property, Contract Management and Global Legal Network with our teams’ expertise in local laws in these areas. I am a part of the Geographic Leadership Team for Accenture in India where the legal function is deeply engaged with and supports business decision making.  

Typically, my day starts at 8.00 am when I catch up with my e-mails from the previous night.  This is followed by calls with key stakeholders.  I stay closely connected with my team to address matters that need my attention.

Outside of Accenture, I chair CII’s Sub-committee on General Counsels where I devote my time to studying government policies and putting together representational papers on key industry issues in collaboration with my peers.

What in your opinion has been the biggest change or challenge in the legal operations of in-house legal departments amid COVID-19? 

2020 has been a challenging year for all of us and has precipitated an unanticipated change in the way we live. When the national lockdown was imposed in India, one of our key mandates was to stay abreast of and comply with a host of Central Government and respective State Government regulations, even as we addressed client queries and requirements related to business continuity.  In addition, the legal function worked closely with internal stakeholders such as the HR, Workplace, and IT teams to enable employees to work from home. All of this was done in an agile manner – legal teams need to be nimble, so they can adapt to evolving business requirements and the external environment with ease.

How are you coping with the shift in the legal landscape from traditional working methods to cloud-based offices and an accelerated interaction with technology?

Accenture is one of the most digitally enabled enterprises in the world and hence when the lockdown mandates were announced, we were able to quickly and successfully move a majority of our people to a remote working environment.  

As far as the legal function is concerned, technology such as Artificial Intelligence, text analytics, and blockchain are transforming the traditional ways of working. Next-gen AI is being used to analyse legal contracts and Cognitive Process Automation has helped automate manual repetitive tasks and accelerate the decision-making process. Here are some ways in which we leverage technology within the legal function at Accenture:

Compliance Tracking Tool: The legal function at Accenture uses a technology-driven approach to our compliance monitoring process; we have automated our compliance program through a comprehensive compliance tracking tool.  

Legal Delivery Center Assistant Chatbot: We leverage a Legal Delivery Center Assistant chatbot which connects users with Accenture’s Legal resources in real-time. Available 24/7, the chatbot is a pre-emptive tool to make legal compliance easier by giving all Accenture users quick access to information on frequently asked questions. 

Non-Standard Software Review Tool: The Non-Standard Software Request (NSSR) tool is a software compliance tool that ensures we are compliant with our software license agreements, our clients’ contractual provisions as well as applicable local laws and regulations whenever we use Non-standard Software at Accenture. 

Force Majeure Tool: We have an AI-enabled Force Majeure Tool that consolidates and hosts key contractual and Business Continuity Planning (BCP) obligations so that they are easily accessible across the globe, during any eventuality as well as for the purpose of knowledge sharing.   

Mr Chopra, in the backdrop of the WFH culture, what are the various policy changes that companies require today?

The majority of the regulatory changes post the outbreak of the pandemic have been around themes of labour laws and employee health and safety. I believe that future policies changes and regulations must factor in people’s safety— our people’s safety and wellness need to remain a priority, and organisations must extend support to them to the extent possible. 

Other than work, what else keeps you busy? Would you please share your other interests and hobbies with our readers?

I have a keen interest in and am a student of astrology and numerology.  

What to your mind has helped you get to where you are and what advice would you have for others who want to set off in a similar direction?

I would put my recommendations to young legal professionals in three quadrants:

1. The overall business landscape is and will continue to be fairly complex due to constantly evolving business models, technology and laws and regulations. There hasn’t been a year where we haven’t been grappling with a new piece of legislation that might potentially impact us.  In this challenging business environment, legal professionals need to demonstrate learning agility—the ability to unlearn and learn quickly, out of the box thinking and be solution-oriented.
2. In order for legal counsels to be strategic partners or advisors to the business, it is critical for them to have a thorough understanding of the company's overall business and the regulatory landscape. Only then can one effectively identify areas of risk across legal, regulatory, ethical, employee, governance and compliance aspects.  
3. A legal counsel has to wear several hats at once and must constantly strive to maintain the delicate balance between business, legal and regulatory considerations. This includes achieving the right balance between several seeming dichotomies— understand the business implications of both legal actions and inaction, be a trusted commercial advisor as well as legal counsellor, and be a gatekeeper but not a roadblock. Legal professionals must be pragmatic, focus on adding value by preserving value and help the company understand the value in mitigating and controlling risk, without being too risk-averse. 

As a final note, would you please recommend to our readers your favourite book or movie/series that left a lasting impression on you.

My favourite movie is “My Cousin Vinny” and any book by Khushwant Singh is my favourite.