The Annual Indian Legal Counsel Congress & IDEX LEGAL Awards

Mumbai, 1st May: IDEX LEGAL in association with Thomson Reuters presented the 10th edition of The Legal Counsel Congress (LCC) and the 4th edition of the IDEX LEGAL Awards on 30th April 2015 at Hotel Palladium, Mumbai.

 

In order to help travail that road map to becoming value drivers for the business, the LCC brought together a group of global General Counsel from across the US, Europe and Asia to discuss those challenges moderated by ex Aditya Birla Counsel Mysore Prasanna; followed by stories of climbing the ladder to success to talent acquisition and retention addressed by legal leaders from across industries. 

 

Cutting through the complexities of what the new Companies Act will mean for non-executive directors, were the esteemed Kanu Doshi, Dean – Finance Welingkar Institute of Management and Padmanabh Vora, Former Chairman and Managing Director of IDBI. This was followed by an interactive discussion on new frontiers in legal technology moderated by Mr. Arvind Pachhapur, Thomson Reuters.

 

“For several General Counsel and Law Departments in India, technology is limited to a few basic elements. There is a critical need to widen the horizon and highlight how technology can be a game-changer for corporations. Globally the GC community has leveraged technology to their advantage and has helped corporations manage regulatory expectations in a streamlined manner. Technology will play a critical role in taking India’s legal fraternity to the next level,” said Arvind Pachhapur, South Asia Head, Legal and Intellectual Property & Science Business, Thomson Reuters.

 

While the day played host to critical discussions and sessions lined up to offer solutions to business and legal challenges faced by In-house Counsels, the evening was marked by an awards night to celebrate meritocracy and the best in the legal space.

 

The theme of the awards this year was lawyers as positive contributors to business and society, and to mark that theme IDEX tied up with three legal charities; IDIA, iProbono and Thomson Reuters Foundation. To further support that theme, Joint Vice-Chair of the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales was also invited to address the congregating legal leaders. 

 

The awards jury comprised of:

i.  Jury Chairperson – Rajeev Uberoi, General Counsel & Group Head, IDFC

ii. Valerie Bowles, former COO of Amarchand & Mangaldas and Suresh A Shroff & Co.

iii. Rajesh Narang, Vice President Legal & Company Secretary, Mindtree Consulting

iv. Suresh Kumar S, Senior Director – Legal, CRISIL

v. Amitabh Lal Das, Senior Legal Director & General Counsel, Yahoo! India

vi. Murali Neelakantan, Group General Counsel, CIPLA

vii. G. V. Anand Bhushan, General Counsel – APAC, Cognizant Technology Solutions

 

Mr. Vikas Vij, Managing Director, The Ideas Exchange said, “We at IDEX LEGAL are proud to again be hosting what is becoming recognised as the Indian legal industry’s most credible and meritocratic awards. We’re consistently demonstrating through our independent jury’s critical decision making that it’s not who you are that matters but the quality of your submissions and work that matter most. The IDEX LEGAL Awards is that platform which gives every legal individual and company an opportunity to win based on merit and effort and we’re committed to the continual championing of that principle as we start planning for the 2016 awards.”

 

Some of the prominent legal leaders to attend the session include:

1. Murali Neelkantan, Principal, Amicus

2. Pramod Rao, General Counsel, Citibank

3. ShuklaWassan, General Counsel, Coca-Cola

4. Muneesh Sud, General Counsel, Reliance Capital Asset Management

5. Kanu Doshi, Dean – Finance Welingkar Institute of Management

6. Padmanabh Vora, Former Chairman and Managing Director of IDBI, National Housing Bank & Fertilizers and Chemicals Travancore Ltd.