"General Counsel have emerged as the fourth pillar of the legal fraternity": Sujeet Jain, Chief Legal Officer, UltraTech Cement

Mr Jain, Would you please briefly shed light on your illustrious legal journey 

In the last 25 years I have had the opportunities to work in various for various roles of organizations for various sectors. New Age, old age, from telecom IT, Media, to now cement and mining. The roles included a general counsel, company secretary, a compliance officer and a regulatory role in Government Affairs. The cultures of the companies I worked with included start-ups Asian MNC U.S. MNC Joint Venture to large Indian groups. 

Size included small, medium, large, to very large. The kind of teams I have managed would include from 2 to 70. It's been exciting and fulfilling. I still have a lot more years to go. 

How would you describe the evolving role of a General Counsel over the last decade?

For a very long time, Courts, counsels and law firms have been looked upon as the pillars of the legal system. However, GCs have emerged as the fourth pillar of the legal fraternity in the last decade. This evolution was necessary because litigation and related issues alone, can’t do justice to the development of the overall legal system in India. The developments in litigation related aspects are not sufficient for modern legal systems that governance, compliance, transparency and integrity have become more important than the legal interpretations alone. 

Additionally, legal developments can't keep pace with the evolution in technology. And therefore, by the time the jurisprudence gets developed around New Age issues like Data Privacy and Artificial Intelligence it will be too late.

Therefore in house counsel are playing a pivotal role in managing and interpreting legal issues is extremely dynamic and evolving environment, five to ten years are too long period for these new industries and new issues, which could be average time for the Indian code. I mean Indian code can take about at least eight to ten years for any kind of issue to settle, when it comes to the jurisprudence, which can become a precedent. In these circumstances and in this environment in house and general counsels are playing that role basis the foundation of age-old legal principles, which are applicable across industries, across sectors and across jurisdictions. And those principles are fair contract, transparent disclosures and ethical practices. No wonder you start off with a vision and recognize the need for legal head or general counsels.  

Let's take an example of two recent issues which has caught the attention of the country. And let's try to understand and juxtapose that with the role of general counsel. 

You see a lot of fear and debate around the new terms of use released by WhatsApp. Around 10 years ago, no one would have bothered as to what were the terms of service for these factories for everyone. Usually for just a disclaimer for use of the service. Let's understand Terms of Service are nothing but a contract between a platform and user for the services, and if the user does not like terms, he may choose not to use the platform.  But is that interpretation sufficient for platform to take a decision today, answer is simple. 

While jurisprudence may evolve but inhouse counsel is constantly required to take position in discussion with the management of the company to deal with such issues, or other such issues a whole controversy around the Amazon Prime, standard. In my prior experience working with a media company would hardly interfere in free expression, but Supreme Court’s  order that free speech is not absolute, means, in house counsel will have to develop different norms to deal with this content issue, the jurisprudence alone may not be sufficient. 

From the treasure trove of your experiences, what are the key trends that will emerge going forward?

I would like to share my thoughts on six key trends, which I believe are noteworthy. First regulations or policy will not only be dynamic, but we'll have to deal with extremely sophisticated regulatory regime, given the tools used by the regulators nowadays to track compliances. While the newer sectors such as. We are dealing with a policy evolution in newer sectors like Telecom IT, Media and social media. However, in my current sector such as cement and steel, and mining, there is a constant tension between the central and state policy. Likewise, endless policy issues have emerged from antitrust issues applicable across sectors. Therefore, I believe the single most issue, which is the in-house counsel or a law firm or legal faculty per se will have to deal with is the regulatory and policy dynamics.  

The second trend which I see emerging technology, data science, and AI will be used to take decisions. So far, we have seen the use of technology, legal space for repetitive and voluminous work such as contracts, compliance and legal research. However, I believe it will move to a next level. For example, how a particular judge of a particular High Court in a particular centre for a particular law will take decisions will change. 

I expect to get all the information in light of the country dynamics to be booted into the system and the system will through the results, which will actually almost say helping us make a decision. I don't think these realities are far.  

The third thing I see which is emerging is Super specialization. Only if you are relevant, you will grow or else you will become extinct. Domain sector specialization is becoming hygiene and not just a just a matter of business anymore. 

The whole environment is so dynamic, competitive, and fast paced, the business and commercial folks only want to go talk and discuss with lawyers relevant to them, not just in domains. And I don't blame them, given that we are living in a fast-paced environment. 

This brings me to another important point. 

No one is interested in legal advice. It's not that people do not appreciate legal nuances, but given the fast-paced business environment, there's only time to discuss solutions to problem and not legal advice. What I meant is, advisory approach is passive. And In House Lawyers with a solution approach will matter, and will be relevant. 

Time will come with certainty when a counsel will also practice only a particular sector. Trends are emerging now, but that will become norm.

Consulting firms entering into legal space will have an edge over law. But if these are trends than other aspects will be much more than just knowledge because mere legal knowledge will get codified and will become, or could become permanent. This leads me to another thing as an observer, which is my personal experience. Wisdom alone is not sufficient. Roles are more important than designation, positions, and hierarchies. I believe, the younger generation is way smarter than the older one. In the trends we discussed, one can't survive on wisdom alone. Therefore, re skilling is the only mantra to grow and remain relevant. I feel this challenge everyday. 

And the last point is about the COVID and other geopolitical issues that has added other big challenges for the MNC and foreign companies. That is localization which is impacting policies and regulations, and even changes to the existing legislation and emerging newer legislations. Lawyers solving problems for such companies, need to be mindful of this. When judiciary may not be of much help in the course you are getting influenced by localization.

So I believe you know just to just to just to repeat and summarize the six key trends are going to be important. One is in the regulation in the policy. Second technology, data science and AI will move beyond the repetitive  work, super specialization will be the norm. Also, its not advise but the solution that matters. Wisdom alone is not sufficient for senior lawyers, and the Covid and the geopolitical situation has added to the localization challenge, which will be reflected in the policies and regulatory decisions.The automatic transcription has been lightly edited for a better reading experience. Some names and parts of the transcription may carry inadvertent errors that we are in the process of editing. Thank you for your understanding. 

The automatic transcription has been lightly edited for a better reading experience. Some names and parts of the transcription may carry inadvertent errors that we are in the process of editing. Thank you for your understanding.