In Conversation with Natasha Fernandes, Head Legal – India & Director, B4U

How has this illustrious journey been so far and where did it all begin? 

The journey so far has been extremely enriching - one full of exposure and experience, each day bringing new learning.  The journey began with my decision to take law not merely for a career but for the better understanding of it, knowing my rights as a citizen and my aggression of not being taken for a ride by anyone. I was always more inclined towards non-litigation and my love and passion for drafting, made me choose the in-house lawyer path; however, practising law and understanding the nitty-gritty involved, knowing processes and how the court functions were equally important to me. Hence my experience and exposure have a blend of both court practice and in-house work. 

Would you please allow us a peek into your role at B4U? What does it entail?  

My role at B4U has been an interesting one, giving me an opportunity to work single-handed and grow professionally. I had joined B4U in 2005 in an independent role, designated as an Asst. Manager Legal was then promoted to be Senior Manager – Legal and thereafter further promoted to be the Head - Legal – India. I have also been entrusted with being a Director of the Company. The role throughout has been wide, extensive and very challenging, from working single-handed to managing and building a lean yet strong team. 

It gives me immense pleasure in saying that my role has been instrumental in setting up the legal department. My role mandates handling all the legal aspects of the Company which include documentation, advisory, litigation, regulatory, compliances, etc., keeping the relevant departments abreast with the latest legal updates and requirements, strategizing and handling the litigation of the Company, liasoning and briefing advocates and counsels, liasoning with government officials and police, ensuring timely compliances with TRAI & MIB. My team is responsible for servicing all the departments of the organisation be it Programming, Channel Distribution, HR & Admin, Finance, Marketing, Sales, IT, etc.  

The world economic forum’s report on reskilling revolution emphasizes on the critical and widespread need to reskill and upskill. In this context, what are the biggest challenges for in-house lawyers in the coming 5 years?  

It's utmost important for one to reskill and upskill constantly in order to sustain and be successful in this rapidly changing world especially with automation, AI and technology developing more rapidly in future. However, for an in-house lawyer his/her skills of communication, analysis, strategizing, drafting - are all inherent and cannot be taken over by automation but can only blend and be complemented by technology, automation and AI, thus requiring constant reskilling and upskilling with time and technology.  

What role do you see AI & Automation playing in shaping the in-house corporate departments of the future? Do you see more T-shaped lawyers in the future? 

AI and Automation definitely will play an important role in shaping the in-house departments. Many Companies including mine have a lean legal team and each person is multi-tasking and utilising one’s skills to the fullest. Whilst time management and strategizing work play an important role, the shift from manual search/reports/checks to automated ones, would increase efficiency, accuracy and be time-saving, giving each individual more time to focus on strategies, learning, researching, interacting and implementing more efficiently and effectively. Due to Automation and AI, more attention could be given to learning and keeping abreast with the legal developments, judgements, case studies, etc., thus being a value-add to the Company.    

How crucial is it to gain a wholesome understanding of different laws for an in-house lawyer today? 

An in-house lawyer needs to have all-round knowledge and exposure to different laws, there being varied challenges that arise whilst working within the Company. You cannot limit yourself to only one set of laws and need to have blended knowledge of civil laws, criminal laws, constitutional rights, etc., to efficiently act and advise in this extremely growing and challenging world. 

What is your take on the talks around a regulatory framework or a self-regulation code for OTT players? 

As a media professional, in my opinion, a self-regulation code would be more effective for OTT players. In today’s fast-paced world, where we want to have everything whilst on a move, the world is changing from the customary television viewing to the viewing of content on OTT platforms on the devices. All kind of content is available and needs to be viewed according to the age limits set. With OTT Platforms having parental control and password protection, self-regulation rather than a regulated framework, with freedom of content development and viewing would go a long way with less operational and regulatory challenges.   

What are the key challenges that in house Counsels have to deal with on a regular basis, irrespective of the industry sector? 

There are numerous challenges that an in house counsel faces irrespective of industry. One such challenge is making the commercial team understand the legal requirements and legalities involved in a deal, the necessity of a complete legal contract rather than a one-pager; getting this parity of requirement between the legal and commercial team, making compact yet complete contracts and managing to cover all the necessary clauses is an art. An in house counsel cannot restrict to just legal and has to work hand in hand with the commercial team, understand the business dynamics and be instrumental in clearing any hiccups that arise while negotiating and closing a deal, ensuring that business interest and legal requirements both are met. Arriving at a win-win while negotiating contracts not just for the Company but for both parties is also important. Many legal teams have a stringent approach towards clauses and are unwilling to change. Convincing them to change a particular clause such that it suits both the parties is a task, but having achieved it with such parties, is a feather in the cap. And, meeting all the above challenges is what makes work really interesting and fulfilling. 

What are some of the operational issues in-house legal departments are facing today because of the pandemic? How did you overcome it? How did contract negotiation change in a virtual environment? 

For a lawyer whether in the house or a practising one, office or home, really doesn’t matter, however availability of documents/agreements/correspondences, plays a crucial role and is an important factor, becoming a big challenge whilst working from home. Our Company with a far-sighted approach has already digitised all important documents, and in legal, we have all important contractual data fed into excels for easy access, reports and updates. This helped a lot during the work from home reducing the challenges and made working smooth and easy.  

As far as contract negotiation is concerned, I don’t find any change in the virtual environment, as I have mostly discussed and closed contracts, pre-pandemic time too on calls. We rarely travel and close contracts in personalised meetings, as I find it time consuming to travel in Mumbai where traffic is a major concern. Rather I have always negotiated and closed contracts on calls, the only change now is the medium – from a telephonic to a Zoom or Webex or a Microsoft teams.   

Would you agree there continues to be an inherent social pressure on women to manage it all—home and work?  

I feel in today’s changing world where men and women in most homes though not all, share equal responsibilities, it’s an equal challenge and pressure on all to manage it all, home and work, irrespective of gender, especially in this pandemic time.  

What are your thoughts on issues of diversity in the legal profession?  

In the past, maybe the legal profession was more male-dominated, but as of today, women have made their mark and presence felt here too. As for my team, for years, it has been a more women dominated team, with a 2/3:1 female to male ratio.   

As the legal head of the organization or in your time as an in-house counsel, what has been the most challenging ethical dilemma you faced and how did you resolve it?  

I have been lucky in my working with B4U, where ethics plays a very important role whilst working and there is good work-life balance along with a lot of support offered by every working individual at all levels. I don’t remember a time when I faced any ethical dilemma and have had to make a choice between my values or principles or between two right things where I have had to choose one and negate the other, rather there has always been a solution and a way to every situation.   

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? Is there anything else you’d like to share with our lawyers of the future, any golden piece of advice from your experiences in the industry? 

Every individual puts in hard work, however aiming towards working smart along with working hard has been very important for me; keeping an eye to detail, believing in myself and confidently facing every situation, a strong will power to never give up; accepting when I have been wrong and thriving not to repeat a mistake; constant learning and believing in my team and team work - that together we can and each member of the team is equally important, hence nurturing their skills and striving at their all-round growth – this is what has brought me where I am today.   

An in-house counsel is a very challenging and dynamic role that is a blend of the skills of a lawyer, a draftsman along with having business acumen. Hence I advise  

• Develop good drafting skills; 

• Know and understand the industry that you are seeking to work in - the laws as well as the business side of it; 

• Have your concepts clear; 

• Keep abreast, read up regularly, set alerts on important topics; 

• Know procedural aspects of court functioning too; 

• Be proactive and take interest in learning work right from the scratch level, even if that involves knowing the work of the office boy that supports your function.  

What keeps you busy outside of work? Do you have your own binge-watch recommendations? Or any favourite book that left a lasting impression on you?  

Outside work – its music, movies, me-time and quality time with my son that keeps me busy. I love thrillers, detective series and the courtroom drama. My favourites have been Criminal Justice and Delhi Crime, where I’ve watched all episodes from beginning to end in one go.

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