COVER STORY
Z
ia Mody established the Chambers
of Zia Mody in 1984, which then
became AZB & Partners in 2004.
The firm has offices in Mumbai, Delhi,
Bengaluru and Pune with an integrated
team of approximately 400 legal
professionals.
One of India’s foremost corporate
attorneys, Mody worked as corporate
associate at Baker & McKenzie, New
York, for five years before moving to
India to set up her own practice.
Mody passed her law degree from the
University of Cambridge in 1978 and
was enrolled as an Advocate with the
Bar Council of Maharashtra & Goa in
1978. She did her LL.M from Harvard
Law School and was then admitted as
a member of the New York State Bar by
examination in 1980.
Mody is an internationally acclaimed
lawyer who sits on the Boards of global
organizations such as HSBC Asia Pacific,
International Council for Commercial
Arbitration (ICCA) and so on. Back
home, she has served on committees
constituted by bodies such as the
Confederation of Indian Industry (CII),
the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, SEBI
and RBI among others.
Among the umpteen awards and
accolades Mody has received, she won
“Professional of the Year, 2017” at the
inaugural UK-India Awards and has been
listed by Forbes India as one of India’s
10 most powerful women in 2013, 2014
and 2015.
Describe your journey as a leading woman
lawyer?
The journey has been a difficult one but in hindsight, extremely
satisfying. It is also important that India could produce women
lawyers who have made a mark, although they are unfortunately
very few in number.
Describe the challenges that you have faced as
a leading woman lawyer?
The challenge I faced as a young counsel in the Bombay High Court
was basically being possibly one of the only women counsels who
actually argued. The nervousness with which I prepared had a lot
to do with the fact that I was one of these only women whose
voice was being heard. Firstly, I did not like to lose. Secondly, I
had to be over prepared. And thirdly, I could not handle any on e
making fun of me!!
Describe the milestone cases/matters that
form the silver lining of your career?
I would say that the milestone cases in my career were during
my earlier years as a junior counsel when I got the opportunity
to argue many public interest litigation matters on my own since
clients had no money to pay for a senior lawyer. When it comes to
corporate M&A, one of the milestone matters for me is the global
acquisition by Tata Steel of Nat Steel across several jurisdictions.
That was one of India’s first ODIs and also remains with me as a
matter I learnt much from.
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