In Conversation With Vani Mehta, General Counsel, South Asia, GE

Formative Years 

Ms Mehta, would you please tell our readers what motivated you to pursue law? 

Well, law happened to me less by choice but more due to destiny. I guess destiny has a very important role to play in one’s life and the decisions we take. I have been a political science (honours) student and was pursuing my masters in political science with an inclination to join academia. However, throughout my masters, my lecturers and my family strongly felt that I was best suited for the legal profession and should consider it. With initial reluctance, it wasn't even with the thought that I would be a practising lawyer one day. 

My interest in law as a profession ignited during my second year of law when I had the opportunity to intern at one of the oldest and most prestigious law firms in India, Little &Co. The mentorship and guidance from partners at the firm helped shape my legal skills and thought process. I have had the privilege to experience both the litigation and corporate side of law since the early years of my career. The atmosphere and exposure of a full-service law firm as a young lawyer and tutelage by seniors really motivated me to pursue this profession with passion. 

How easy or difficult was it to find internships in those days? What would be your advice to law students for securing the best internships?

Well, at the time when I passed out in 2005, the concept of internships can’t be compared to internships today.

Today, the legal profession has evolved multi-fold with the advent of many law colleges across India, and the structure of law firms changed to focus on different niche areas of practice. The options available to students and choices to make are many. In those days, not many people would really apply for internships during college, or even if they applied, it would be mostly in litigation, to begin with.  

Today’s internships are well-thought-out programmes, and students are focused on with whom and in which areas they want to intern.

As a student, I just wanted to work in a law firm which gave me exposure to both corporate and litigation practice areas. Also, almost 18 years back, corporate areas such as competition laws, information technology, data protection, and M&A were just beginning to pick up as the Indian economy grew. 

The corporate practice meant a lot of capital markets, and foreign investment and Internships back then were very litigation intensive. Young students are more inclined towards corporate areas of practice, but at our time, it was like, you got to get your legal fundamentals at the courts right, you got to do a litigation internship. 

Today, I do acknowledge that given that there are so many law firms and so many law schools in India, it is still difficult to find the right spot.

You started your career at a prominent law firm. What made you gravitate toward an in-house role? Is law firm experience quintessential to becoming a competent in-house Counsel? 

Well, I almost did seven years of private practice, and the reason why I gravitated toward an In-house role was thanks to destiny. At that point in time, when I was working in the law firm, I was doing heavy work ranging from capital markets, M&A, and real estate to litigation, and somehow, there was a bit of inertia beginning to set in, especially in terms of the kind of work that was coming my way. I wanted to explore more as a lawyer and decided to go in-house. My first break was with Ariba, now SAP. It was a completely different thing at that point in time to get into an IT firm. Most of my peers would join banks or FMCG, but not many lawyers would take on the IT route. I took it more from a challenge perspective and more in terms of trying something new. It was a good opportunity and fuelled my commercial spark as a lawyer. Also, learning to work across-cultural environments and with commercial teams was an exhilarating experience. 

Coming to the second part of the question, I know many people would beg to differ on this, but I would definitely say that it is very important for any young lawyer to spend initial years in private practice in law firms.

At law firms, you are trained early in the art of drafting, researching, briefing seniors, and preparing memos/opinions meticulously. Also, a lawyer gets to practice in diverse areas dealing with clients from different industries every day. Unfortunately, this experience cannot be replicated in-house, and this definitely is an added advantage to anyone in private practice, especially in the early years of one’s professional life. 

All of these are essential traits for any lawyer and are essential in one’s in-house role at any stage of one’s career. Especially in today’s fast-paced world that we are in, one is expected to render advice in different industries on different subjects at the drop of a hat, and a law firm prior experience certainly is valuable and gives one an edge over others. 

So, law firms give you that big umbrella to learn, and I think it is essential that in the initial years that learning should come. Whereas, if a new joinee coming straight out of law school would join somewhere in-house, they would be learning rather than contributing to the organisation’s goals as part of the legal department and further their learning and knowledge would be limited to the organisation and department, which is not the case in law firms which is a big differentiator as a lawyer. 

Work as an In-House Counsel

You have recently been elevated as General Counsel at GE for South Asia. What responsibilities does the new role bring?

As a General Counsel, typically, one is responsible for overall legal thought leadership to the various GE businesses in India and South Asia and also handling legal functions in the organisation. GE has recently announced its three new brands, GE Aerospace, GE Healthcare and GE Vernova, planned separation into these three industry-leading, global, investment-grade public companies focused in the field of aviation, healthcare, and portfolio of energy businesses, including GE Renewable Energy, GE Power, GE Digital, and GE Energy Financial 

Services in GE Vernova. These developments offer me a unique and interesting opportunity as General Counsel to contribute to this historic split and work towards the new phase of the company.

How will a General Counsel's role evolve in the next five years?

So, I think it's very important that as General Counsel, you become the fabric of the company that allows you to be far more effective than any outside counsel because you're closer to the facts and you understand business strategy. This has been a journey of evolution in role of today and should continue. 

Going forward, businesses are going to shift and look at the GCs, as not as just legal advisors, but as part of the business team, as somebody who is a business enabler and a business partner; that shift has already started to happen wherein you are looked upon as a very key stakeholder in any company and that I think it is going to grow even more in the coming years. And today, the trend is also that a lot of General Counsel are on the board of directors, you're part of very senior leadership. So, there's active involvement by the General Counsel in all aspects of business apart from the traditional role of being just legal advisors. Today and in coming years, GCs are going to be part of senior business leadership teams and contribute to the growth of organisations in ways beyond what many of us can imagine today.

In-House Legal Department at GE

How did your team respond to the challenges of working in the backdrop of Covid19? 

Well, a lot of the team members are used to working virtually. However, when it came to situations like COVID, where it was full-time being virtual, the team really stood up to the challenge. And they have done a phenomenal job of being there for the business in these times, and I have had personal interactions with the teams wherein, despite having to face day-to-day infrastructure issues and day-to-day issues like people requiring medical support.

People were there for the company supporting the teams non-stop during these times. It also goes back to the fact that we need to empower our teams, and as senior leaders, we must build trust and support each other. 

You have to invest a lot of time in your talent to ensure that people are empowered and that a team member doesn’t feel they are working in isolation and silos. A lot of people were not comfortable with the concept of working virtually. So having that mindset shift was very important to be able to make that change quickly. So, it was a collaborative effort; we made sure that from a team perspective, we remained together and supported each other in difficult circumstances while making sure that deadlines were not missed and work was not impacted. Now that we have the opportunity to meet the teams, there is enormous camaraderie that we all share. 

We have all been through so much, and yet the team has risen to the challenge and now it gives them a new sense of empowerment and achievement. 

Although Corporate India is taking initiatives to bridge the gap in creating diverse and inclusive workplaces, a lot needs to be done to see more women donning the decision-making hat at senior positions in the management. What are your thoughts on ensuring diversity and inclusivity at workplaces?

When we talk about inclusivity and diversity, I would stretch it beyond diversity and inclusion for women and take it to the LGBT community as well. 

Diversity and Inclusion should be treated as a business priority by an organisation’s leadership and should be taken very seriously. We need to have the right policies, practices and implementation in place in our workplaces and in the corporate world to set the right practice. Leadership has to rise to support communities to provide encouragement and support to get mainstream acceptance while at the same time not compromising on meritocracy. Organisations must look at women beyond just women and consider them as professionals with the potential to grow.  

Fundamentally a shift needs to occur in how women are treated in our society; we need to provide women with a level playing field right from home, Be it in terms of education, the pursuit of a career and the freedom and encouragement to work.  

Expert Insights

What are the trends that are going to dominate the real estate sector in the coming years?

Well, I think real estate is going through a different sort of a cycle wherein with RERA coming in a few years back, there's been a recognition that the real estate industry, as an industry and not an unorganised sector.

And I think that has led to a very good path for the industry.  There has been a lot of movement on different brands regarding real estate organisations. But unfortunately, due to Covid, the real estate sector has slowed down.

But what I am really excited about and look forward are the real estate funds. And I think there are some great opportunities for this industry to rise and shine and become structured, just as with any other sector in the economy.

And I think it's a very exciting place. You have international funds coming in and international organisations setting up businesses in India. So, there's a huge investment and churn in the real estate portfolio. All this is going to lead to better management for the consumer as well as the developer. And for the Industry, we are going towards a far more structured approach.

What role do you foresee in-house departments playing when it comes to integrating ESG parameters in businesses?

Well, ESG has been the buzzword for the corporate world for a while now, especially within India, with the CSR reporting norms changing and SEBI coming up with so many disclosure requirements.

Now with the top thousand companies coming up with the disclosure requirements in terms of ESG reporting, the in-house counsel has a very important role in ESG reporting. 

And reporting is a very evolving subject at the moment when we talk about ESG, environment, sustainability and governance, three very independent factions of ESG, which have to be looked at from an industry perspective.

And what In-house counsels really need to understand and where they will be able to effectively contribute is that there is no one size fits all. 

ESG has to be customised to an industry. What applies to FMCG cannot apply to the mining industry. And that is where the role of an in-house team comes into play. 

The team has to ensure that what comes before the board is not just a standard form but what we customise per the company's requirements. It must also be able to present a very holistic picture to the investors. Businesses are not just about profit these days. There are so many facets to a business that an informed investor looks at, and ESG is one of them.

Work-Life Balance 

How has remote working changed the concept of work-life balance? 

I think it has made it more difficult. It is far more challenging because the temptation to return to your desk is greater than it used to be earlier. 

However, I think what has worked for me is that I had a very structured way of going through my day despite working from home. 

I make sure that I'm able to spend some time, at least maybe somewhere early morning, doing my exercises or just making sure that I do my few minutes of meditation and make sure that I stay healthy mentally and physically. Covid has taught us that health is extremely important for everyone, and we must focus on being healthy as a personal priority. 

Advice and Book Recommendations

What advice would you like to give to young lawyers wanting to tread a similar path?

I have taken a path which not many people usually take. I have taken several risks at various points in my career, be it moving in-house from a law firm, after that shifting into a specialist role and now to being a generalist. 

But one piece of advice I could give young lawyers is never be afraid of taking challenges in your career and also not to let anyone define you by the role that you hold. If you feel you need to take on a new challenge, do not get heartbroken if you do not find the right people to cheer for you in the room. 

You have to be your cheerleader at times and decide what is right for you. When I took the role of real estate lawyer at GE, not many people thought it was a great idea, especially given that I have been a generalist in the first decade of my career practising corporate and commercial law. 

But I thought to myself. Why not? It was an opportunity I did not want to let go of getting to work for one of the most respected companies in the world. 

I think there is no sure-shot formula for success. You can reach your destination by taking a different route. You need to know what you want and how much time you are willing to invest in it; patience is a virtue one needs to inculcate. And if you have the passion, you need to stay invested and have the right support system. And from an in-house counsel perspective, I would say it is very important to learn about the business so that one can be an effective contributor in one’s role and the organisation. It’s imperative to have the commercial spark in you and be a team player. Ultimately, I would like to say that there is no substitute for hard work and passion in one’s career.  

Would you please recommend any book that has left a lasting impression on your mind?

Where memory fades by Fali Nariman and the Alchemist.