Leaders Speak - Breaking all In-House Myths

PUJARINI MAULIK – Having 15 years of experience as an in-house counsel and currently engaged with InMobi as Vice President, Associate General Counsel heading a team of 9 in-house lawyers (and managing a network of external counsels). My exposure in InMobi has been diverse starting from setting up a team from scratch to establishing robust processes towards Corporate Governance, Privacy and handling acquisitions. Currently, I am also the member of its Privacy Committee steering legal and privacy support across BUs.

Individually featured in GC Powerlist, India ‘16 and ‘18 and Powerlist In-house team, India ‘17 (hosted by Legal 500). Recognized by Legal Era as Star Women in Law in ‘19.

1. You’ve been working in-house for over 15 years. What does your day look like today as a leader versus when you started off 15 years back?

I think the stress levels are very different. When I started, it was more about how to handle the volume of work, the constant endeavor to ensure that the quality of output and response timelines were appropriate. Now it is a lot about the impact of decision making and mitigation of risks at a very nucleus level.

2. A lot of people assume that if you go in-house, you’ll end up doing work which isn’t necessarily decision-making. What would you like to advise such people who feel they’ll end up doing clerical work and not advance?

I hate to be the one to burst that thought bubble. In-house roles actually require a lot of decision making which are mission critical for the business. It is certainly not clerical or mindless work by any stretch of imagination. In fact, over a period of time, the in-house role has only evolved and expanded to become a key partner to management in terms of balancing the risk appetite of a business.

3. Do you feel that the visibility and outreach of in-house role is less in India? If yes, how can law schools improve and influence students to learn more about this segment?

I don't think the visibility or outreach of in-house roles is any less in India, anymore. I think there has been a paradigm shift in the legal profession landscape wherein, the role of a General Counsel is now clearly a critical one. Perhaps, this is something the law schools can emphasize upon during the pre-placement sessions by hosting Alumni who can talk about this in more detail.

4. As a leader, what is it you look for when you’re hiring for an in-house counsel for your team?

I look for earnestness, diligence, sincerity and basic understanding of legal principles and ability to apply the same to practical scenarios.

5. Do you feel it is harder for women or other minorities to survive in the corporate world?

This is an interesting question - let me speak based on my own experiences so I will only address what women may have to endure. Statistically speaking, women seem to be seeing a lot more growth in house than in litigation or firms. However, as women, there are certain constant conscious and unconscious biases that we are likely to face in organizations which are not proactively aware of the same. For instance, 8 out of 10 interviewers would ask a woman about her marital status while that should have no relevance to a merit-based hiring system. There are a lot of presumptions associated with new mothers such as whether they can be available for long hours or would be keen to shoulder more responsibilities - I think, it is important to be human but not presume on anyone's behalf as women are amazingly resilient. It therefore remains a fact even today that women have to constantly prove themselves to survive in any professional set up. Having said that, I think a lot of corporates are evolving and some are taking conscious measures towards an egalitarian culture with focus on diversity and inclusion (I am lucky to be part of such a culture). I also strongly believe that hard work speaks for itself.

6. Words of wisdom for any lawyer wanting to step foot into the in-house world?

Never say no to new areas of practice, even if you are completely clueless about it. Horizontal growth paves the way for vertical growth.

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