General Counsel Drives Businesses Forward: Vineet Vij, Group GC, Tech Mahindra

I opted for the legal profession only when I realized that this was my true calling: Vineet Vij

I honestly feel that even after being in profession for about two and a half decades, there is so much to learn with so many new legal and technological advancements happening. I think all of us can actually come back every year and share so many new learnings. So, on the personal front, I come from a family of lawyers, but I must say that the choice of opting for a career in legal field has been more of an organic one. 

In the sense that despite significant influence of my family and friends in legal space, I opted for this profession only once I realized that this was my true calling and something that I wanted to do for life and not what others wanted me to do. I graduated with a commerce degree from SRCC and was undergoing article ship as part of C.A. program. I was faced with a decision paralysis.Contract law, torts, mercantile laws, transfer of property Act looked more exciting than the balance sheet, profit and loss account, the debit, credits and so on. 

This thought made me start my journey with LLB and CS programs. And as it was destined went further with legal courses kept faring well with exams. As soon as I became a law graduate, I felt ready to jump into legal practice. 

Coincidentally, I was accompanied by a very important person, my best friend and my wife now and I got off to a start as a practicing lawyer in the Delhi High Court, tribunals, running between the courtrooms, registries, slogging it out for the initial few years. 

Actually, my journey as an in- house counsel started with a company called Punj Lloyd. It was a secretarial legal role where I was actually doing 99% of company secretarial piece, which meant SEBI compliances, getting ready for public issue, ROC, CLB work, investments and new joint ventures. Alongside I was seeing business contracts and litigations. 

I had a feeling that possibly this is where I need to be, on the in- house side. I would say, here is where, I made a conscious decision to shift focus from Chartered Accountancy and Company Secretaryship and poured all my energy in moving forward in the in-house role.

One of the best phases of my career with Tata Group: Vineet Vij

This was followed by a long term with Tata Group. I was very fortunate to work very closely with Tata Sons and Tata services. It gave me an exposure to global deals, commercial transactions, and here is where I got an opportunity to hear and understand the vision of growth from people like Mr. Kohli, Mr. Ramadorai and Mr. Chandrasekharan. It's been a crucial learning and was one of the best phases of my life. I think I got a lot of learnings around the legal space, the business requirements and how to be the differentiator in my role as inhouse Counsel to the company. 

From there on, I moved on to American Express. 

People started realising the importance of corporate governance duing the economic meltdown

Working in the regulated banking, non- banking finance sector presented me with wonderful opportunities. Coincidentally my role was a compliance one at a time when we were seeing the economic meltdown and the Lehman Brothers debacle was happening.

It was during that time when people started realizing that it is important to have a corporate compliance structure in place and how crucial it is for the continuity of an organization. 

Launching a global compliance system at HCL a proud moment says Vineet Vij

This learning phase was followed by my stint with HCL which is very close to my heart. I’ve spent 10 years more plus with HCL group. I've worn multiple hats. I've looked at commercial contracts, global contracts, and got exposure to international laws, Indian transactions and Indian businesses. I also looked at indirect tax, and service tax. 

It was at HCL when I got exposure in the telecom space and OSP guidelines. We had an OSP, so all issues related OSPs required to be looked at. One project that I'm proud of is that we launched a global compliance system for the group spread over some 65 countries. It was a task in terms of understanding compliance requirements in those countries and then putting it together along with implementation. 

An exposure to the various laws of multiple countries has been a great learning. One space that I really feel that I've done pretty well is on the IPR side in terms of patents, trademarks and copyrights.

Not being a registered patent attorney and getting into reading, value adding to the patent claims, has been a tremendous experience. Complex court litigations globally have been something that's been of immense learning. The two big acquisitions that HCL did in Exxon and then the recent IBM product and platform assets, which continues to be one of the biggest acquisitions today in the IT space. 

It's been really amazing. Having worn the multiple hats, I've grown as a corporate legal officer whose responsibilities have gone beyond the law, being the strategic adviser to senior management, So I feel, the knowledge gained has been of immense value. 

An inhouse counsel gets first hand experience of the real time disputes

I am currently associated with Tech Mahindra, I look at the Global Legal Affairs for Tech Mahindra and all the companies worldwide, spanning from US to Europe, I have some passionate business lawyers spread all over the world raring to go after deals.

Life is a full circle. Earlier I was talked about setting up global compliance at HCL and how it is important. Going through the papers and legacy of Satyam related litigations at Tech Mahindra was a great learning experience in this regard.

I believe this diversified exposure, where I've touched upon almost all practice areas would not have been possible, had I not been part of the in- house team of some of the greatest global corporations. 

So, my learning and my message therefore will be the role of an in- house counsel, to my mind, is one of the most crucial roles. We've seen a paradigm shift from a being a mere support function to today an all - rounder business lawyer, who's a business enabler, who's an influencer, who can actually drive business and the business & compliance environment. 

An in-house Counsel gets a first-hand experience of the real time disputes, the case studies and viz-a-viz the business that the company is into, which eventually goes on to become the case law, is truly unmatched and it can be so fulfilling as a lawyer.

So therefore, I believe that future is great for an inhouse Counsel.

General Counsel Vineet Vij’s Industry Predictions

World has gone through difficult last one year, I think the pandemic has impacted one and all. The businesses have changed focus, business has looked up to IT companies for tools, solutions, automation, artificial intelligence to support and grow businesses.

We see a lot of regulatory changes which have come about.

The OSP guidelines changing, the business can now work from anywhere not just from homes but from anywhere in the world. 

We are seeing tremendous surge in Pharma, Healthcare, e- commerce marketplace, but this is also coming with issues around data protection, privacy, cybersecurity, and I'm sure these will be crucial areas which will impact and which will be relevant in the days to come. 

I'm sure we all need to upskill actually to be around. 

Another development is the advent of 5G technology which is soon going to be reality in India. I'm sure 5G will augur well, not only for the IT and telecom industries, but it's going to be a vehicle for change and evolution for many other sectors. 

So, there will be regulatory and compliance areas and a lot of dynamic synergy will be required between stakeholders.  

Importance of Inhouse Counsel is being felt

The upcoming trends are great for all the industries particularly in the IT, e-commerce, healthcare and many other sectors viz-a-viz the changing legal and regulatory environment. 

Therefore, the importance of in- house counsel is going to be very strongly felt. We have moved far ahead in the last 10 years from where we were, but I'm sure there are much bigger prospects in store for us. 

I can say this without hesitation, without any doubt that there is a bright and a rewarding future for lawyers particularly in the in- house space.

Looking back two and a half decades, it's been a long professional journey. I think, I've been at the right place at the right times. It has been fascinating to be a part of some of the major growth stories with companies like TCS, HCL and now Tech Mahindra. 

This has really been made possible with the great support of the CEOs, CFOs of the organizations that I've worked for and guidance and mentors of my seniors along with some of the distinguished senior counsels and, law firms’ Counsels that I've been blessed to work with. 

Then of course, most importantly, the supercharged legal team members who supported and brought me to where I am. 

I'm sure, there are a lot of new heights to achieve in personal life and we are on the right track. I've always been a firm believer that no dream is too big to be achieved, and no work is too hard to be done. So therefore, let's just dream big and work hard. If not success, it will surely make us happy. 

So, I'll conclude with a quote from Swami Vivekananda ji..

Arise and awake and not stop till the goal is achieved. 

That's briefly my message. 

This is an automated transcription from BW Legal World GC Conference 2021 lightly edited for better readability. 

Views are personal.