Hero FinCorp's New General Counsel, Ugen Bhutia: Spotlight Of This Week

SBI Card's former Vice President - Legal Ugen Bhutia recently joined Hero FinCorp as its General Counsel. 

At SBI Card, the renowned In-house Counsel was responsible for managing the legal department of the financial services company (A JV between SBI & GE Capital). A day in his shoes primarily meant providing transactional support as well as managing retail litigation across the country for both the JV companies.

Humble beginnings

A noted General Counsel, who has carved a niche in the banking and finance sector, Bhutia started his career as a litigating lawyer to learn the ropes and get a hang of the court procedure.

By his own admission, his first guru was a court clerk of the law firm where he started practising law. From filing documents to arguing and drafting pleadings, Bhutia grasped the basic tenets of lawyering with elan.

The quintessential law firm experience

Post his initial litigation experience, Ugen worked with leading Indian law firms like Fox Mandal little and Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan. During his law firm career, he focused on advising his clients on corporate and regulatory issues. In a previous interaction with BW Legal World, the in-house attorney spoke about one of the most crucial and undervalued skills he learnt during his stint with law firms.

"I realised that 50% of the consultancy is achieved if you patiently hear what the client is saying and what his need is. At times what I have realised is that, rather than providing a solution to clients, some of us opine by saying what we want them to hear rather than giving a clear opinion with a Yes or a No."

A glorious in-house career

A law graduate from the prestigious Campus Law Centre, Delhi, Ugen tasted success when he moved to an in-house role.  His work as a litigating lawyer and as a corporate adviser in law firms proved instrumental in building the right foundation for an award-winning in-house career that followed.

In his previous role as General Counsel at SBI Card, Bhutia demonstrated his ability to manage a legal department in a value-driven and multicultural environment. Apart from providing legal, transactional and operational support as a strategic business enabler to the company, he emphasised on identifying risk mitigation avenues to safeguard the business.

In his current role, among other responsibilities, he is entrusted with looking after the legal affairs of the financial services company, Hero FinCorp.

On achieving success as a General Counsel, Bhutia's mantra has been clear.

"As an In- house Lawyer you have to have a clear eye for assessing the risks and rewards. You should aspire to be partners and collaborative counsellors of choice by managing risk sensibly instead of avoiding them altogether. However at the same time be humble advocates for the rule of law and embrace a culture of constructive challenge (both incoming and outgoing), empowering each and every team member to do their jobs and collaborate across business functions," said Ugen Bhutia in his interaction with BW Legal World.