In Conversation With Roop Loomba, General Counsel, Rolls Royce

Many Congratulations on featuring in BW Legal World’s General Counsel 100 list for the year 2020. We’d love to know about your journey so far, your most memorable experiences, and your thoughts on receiving this Award.

Thank you very much, I feel humbled. I started my career in Law as a practising counsel and independently argued many cases before the Hon’ble High court of Punjab and Haryana. During this period I was also a Guest Faculty for the Bureau of Police Research and Development under the Ministry of Home affairs where I taught Cyber Laws and IP Laws to Police officers from the entire Northern Region. I was also a standing counsel to 4 Punjab Government corporations. After a 6 years stint in Law practice, I transitioned into corporate Legal roles

I started my corporate Legal Career with Castrol India Limited as an IP Counsel. It was a very challenging role and I was responsible for driving an anti-counterfeit strategy in the North region. I was the first woman in India in Castrol to be recruited in that role and I implemented the anti-counterfeit strategy successfully which enabled more sales. Since I wanted to gain cross-industry experience I joined HUL in a wider role where I was responsible for Legal and Ethics and Compliances for the North region in India. I was responsible for supply chain compliances, varied contracts across varied business verticals and Litigation. I was responsible for driving the strategy for the closure of Labour and Sales tax cases successfully. I closed nearly 54% of Labour cases in the region. My next stint involved setting up the Legal department for Louis Dreyfus which is a commodity Leader in India. Subsequently, I joined Philips India Limited as Sector Legal head. I was responsible for key divestments in the company, for multiple PPP projects and my role involved strategic Legal support to the business.

I did a brief stint in Consulting again in 2017 and advised many well-known companies on an array of legal issues. I joined Rolls-Royce in 2019 and I have a dual role of Legal and Ethics and Compliances for the company.

There have been many memorable and learning experiences. I do recall that in one of the Companies that I worked I was fastened with an uphill task of disposal of 21% litigation. At the outset, I found it uphill however when I sat down to think and brainstorm I figured out that all Litigations (around 150 cases in one stream out of around 550 cases) could be classified into 4 broad legal issues. While the task was difficult but was not impossible.  Though the case numbers were overwhelming but it meant devising a strategy for 4 key legal issues and aiming for closure. I strategized these four issues with the help of some seniors in the team and landed up closing 50% Litigation. I learnt that when you are an in-house counsel you have to learn to change your lens and look at things differently. If you conquer your mind and start looking at things differently you will find that solution lies in your own mind.

There are many more such memorable experiences which perhaps one day I will write a book on.    

It is always a humbling experience to receive an award after years of hard work. I would like to express my deep sense of gratitude to BW for this Honour. Recognitions across age groups and levels are important.I believe recognition or appreciation is a simple positive step that can influence people’s lives and result in upliftment. I am a firm believer of recognizing people for what they deserve. I am here reminded of Mother Teresa words “there is more hunger for love and appreciation in the world then bread.” 

What do you attribute your success to? What would you say has helped you emerge as a top General Counsel in your industry?

In my successive stints across Industries, one thing that is emerged paramount is understanding the business inside out, looking at the issues that business is facing and then how can you support the business in the key issues. There may also be some tough calls that as a GC you may have to take to mitigate the risk.  

Above all honesty, integrity, straightforward approach and in-depth subject matter expertise helped me a lot. I am not stating Hard work as the Legal Profession demands a lot of hard work and resilience and this is a trait that all Lawyers should be proud of.

What advice would you have for others who want to set off in a similar direction? 

Perseverance, grit, resilience are the basic traits. Master your subject knowledge, understand the business inside out, find and spend time with different functional teams to understand their functions. Do not get disheartened by failures and don't lose hope. There is always a light at the end of a tunnel if you are persistent. Believe in yourself and follow your heart. 

Would you please allow us a little peek into your routine at work?

Routine work involves calls, business advice, attending meetings which may spread from 8-12 hours of non-stop work.

What have been your key learnings as the legal gatekeepers of your company from the year past and what are your predictions for the future? 

Pandemic opened our eyes to varied kind of Legal issues. This also brought along adapting to newer ways of working. Predictions for the future are that Legal Departments will evolve into being more simpler and agile. Dispute resolution will become more efficient and there will be more reliance on technology. 

Any significant legislation or decision of the top court that has been a welcome change or has been rather mistimed in your opinion. 

Labour Code is definitely is a step forward to ease of doing business in India. Foreign Seated Arbitration with enforceability in Indian courts is again an important Judgement and is being welcomed by many Multi-National companies. 

An experience, matter or person that left a lasting impression on you.

There have been many such experiences where many times your mind tells you to quit but the key is to conquer your mind and turn around the losing moments into winning moments as you will always find a smooth road ahead. Another experience is to help as many people in need as you can in your journey as that will be your most trusted ecosystem whom you can rely upon. Help can be as simple as being a sounding board to people in need. Helping people not only leaves a lasting impression in your mind but also is very satisfying.

What keeps you busy when you’re not working? Any favourite book or movie/series that you'd like to recommend to our readers.

I spend time with Family and Friends when I am not working. I am also a Hindi movie buff and do not miss out on any latest releases. The last release I watched was ‘Saina.’I do read books mostly on entrepreneur journeys, I find them most fascinating to read and I feel that I am interacting with the greatest minds. One book that left a great impact on my mind and I read long time back is ‘Lean In’ by Sheryl Sandberg. I think all women should read it , it is a learning experience to read that book.