Agenda

Plan Your Day

Empowering Women Lawyers in India

8.30 - 9.30: Breakfast Sessions

She Breaks the Law (SBTL) is a peer-to-peer networking group, set-up to empower women in the profession that is cross-firm, practice and job type. It has grown rapidly since its launch in the UK earlier this year to encompass over 2000 members. RSG is proud to host the launch of SBTL in India through a series of round-table discussions over breakfast that will cover the topics of 1) Working smarter – the power of flexible working; 2) Change and transformation – leading with impact; 3) Personal brand - why it matters for innovation.

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​Hosted by Priya Lele, Co- Founder of SBTL and Design Lead at HSF.

Opening remarks

9.40 - 9.45: Introduction to RSG Grow-India Summit with Reena SenGupta, CEO RSG Consulting. 

The Future Corporation

09:45 - 10:40

With venerable Indian corporations rapidly maturing and newer Indian businesses becoming dominant players in Asia, the challenge for them both is how to grow sustainably. The challenges for lawyers to India Inc is to sensitively bridge the risk delta, install robust compliance and governance structures that do not hinder growth. There is also a growing movement elsewhere in the world where the CEOs of major corporations at a Business Roundtable in 2019 decided their roles were as much about social impact as they are about safeguarding shareholder value. We explore how these notions are playing out in the Indian context and whether India Inc is prepared to accept a greater role in social ethics, and the roles general counsel and private practice advisers have in helping corporations find their purpose.

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Speakers: Beatriz Pessoa de Araujo, Partner and Head of Corporate Governance Group, Baker McKenzie; Himanshu Dodeja, General Counsel, Blackstone; Bahram Vakil, Senior Partner, AZB & Partners.

Moderator: Reena SenGupta, CEO, RSG Consulting.

Coffee and tea break

10:40 - 11:00

The Leadership Interview

11:00 - 11:25

How to remain nimble as a leader and achieve ambitious strategic goals in the Indian legal market? ​ 
Interview: Reena SenGupta in conversation with Cyril Shroff, Managing Partner, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas.

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Interview: Reena SenGupta in conversation with Cyril Shroff, Managing Partner, CAM.

Building India's law firms

11:25 - 12:35

As Indian law firms modernise, they face the challenge of balancing expansion with profitability and quality. Here we talk to some of the most successful Indian law firm leaders to share learnings from the last decade across the areas of management, remuneration systems, succession, managing client relationships, branding, marketing and business development.

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Speakers: Karan Singh, Managing Partner, Trilegal; Akshay Chudusama, Managing Partner, SAM; Haigreve  Khaitan, Senior Partner, Khaitan & Co; Kartik Ganapathy, Founding Partner, Indus Law​

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Moderator: Reena SenGupta, CEO, RSG Consulting.

An Asian Innovation Journey

12:35 - 12:50

DBS Bank has transformed itself from a number 5 player ten years ago to the leading bank in South East Asia. It has digitised its services, changed its approach to data, risk and managing talent to become an exciting example of a business that has productised its services and successfully put the customer at the heart of everything they do. Many of the lessons they learned are key for law firms and in-house legal teams who need to change their approach to clients and are at the beginning of their digital transformation journeys.

Speaker: Sandeep Varma, Head of Innovation India,  DBS Bank (Innovation Group)​ 

Lunch Break

12.50 - 14:00

The Changing Role of Indian General Counsel

14:00 - 14:40 

A look at the changing pressures faced by lawyers working in Indian corporate law departments and what they need from their outside advisers to help their businesses grow. In-house teams have changed significantly over the past ten years. This panel explores those changes, the challenges of working in-house and why it is becoming a more compelling alternative career to private practice.

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Speakers:  Jigar Shah, General Counsel, KKR; Nitin Bannerjee, General Counsel, Ola Cabs

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Moderator: Yasmin Lambert, Partner and Senior Consultant, RSG Consulting

Augmented Lawyers

14:40 - 15:25

Legal technology has exploded over the past two years in terms of the number of new software offerings and take-up. Traditionally Indian lawyers have not been fast to embrace legal technology, but this is rapidly changing. Here we discuss the best technologies for private practice firms to become more efficient, that all in-house legal teams should be using and the tech that can transform client relationships. Drawing on RSG’s extensive research for the FT Innovative Lawyers and Intelligent Business programmes and combined with our deep knowledge of the Indian legal market, we summarise key external developments and ask leading practitioners how they are both currently, will in future, tech-enable both the practice and the business of law.

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Speakers: Pravin Anand, Senior Partner, Anand & Anand; Rajiv Maheswari, CEO, Anand & Anand Sandeep Kapoor, AlgoLegal; ​Bijoya Roy, General Counsel, Flipkart.   

Moderator: Yasmin Lambert, Senior Partner, RSG Consulting

Coffee and tea break

15:25 - 15:40

Building capacity

15:40 - 16:20

Insights into the best ways to develop, engage and retain people to grow and build capability in the Indian legal market. Despite the presence of several high-quality national law schools in India, law firm leaders and general counsel often complain that graduates lack fundamental skills to practise as 21st century lawyers. This is not isolated to the Indian legal market, but the problem is particularly acute in India. The panel will discuss their ideas on how to maintain motivation, give feedback and empower young lawyers.

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Speakers: Wim Dejonghe, Allen & Overy, Sandip Bhagat, Senior Partner, S&R Associates; Ritvik Lukose, Co-Founder and CEO, Vahura; GC; Padmaja Chakravaty, General Counsel, Citi Group

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Moderator: Reena SenGupta, CEO, RSG Consulting

Emerging Leaders – Visions of the Future.

16:20 - 17:20

For the first time, the RSG India Report will publish a list of 25 practitioners that have been recommended by their peers and clients as leaders of the future. We invite four of our 2019 emerging leaders to present their thoughts on what are the most pressing issues facing the profession and their ideas as to how to solve them.

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Speakers: Mathew Chacko, Managing Partner, Spice Route Legal; Pritha Jha, Managing Partner, Pioneer Legal; Nikhil Narayanan, Partner, Khaitan & Co; Aarthi Sivanandh, Partner, JSA Law.

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Moderator: Sanjeev Dhuna, Partner and Head of the India Group, Allen & Overy​

Networking Drinks

 17:20 - 18:00 

Legal Education in India 

18:00 - 18:20

The RSG Grow India Awards

18:20 - 19:10

RSG reveals its three main 2019 RSG India rankings and presents awards to stand-out initiatives, individuals and organisations who have made an impact in growing legal India.

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1. RSG Grow India Award for Developing Legal Minds 

2. RSG Grow India Award for Enabling Corporate India 

3. RSG Grow India Award for Defending Corporate India

4. RSG Grow India Award for Best Challenger Law Firm

5. RSG Grow India Award for Increased Foreign Law Firm Profile 2019

6. RSG Grow India Award for In-House Counsel

7. RSG Grow India Award for Law Firm of the Decade

8. RSG India Award for Emerging Leader of the Year 2019

9. RSG India: Top Foreign Law Firm in India 

10. RSG India: Top Indian Law Firm

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See the Awards​ section for full details and nominees.