Legal Era Nov 2017 | Page 49

COVER STORY Describe your journey as a leading woman lawyer? D ebolina Partap joined pharma and healthcare major Wockhardt in August 2006. In her current role as General Counsel and Vice President Legal, she is responsible for IP and litigation management, legal compliance, all corporate legal work, and transactions management among others. She advises top management on legal risks; settles complex insolvency petitions filed against the organization; and settles intricate derivatives suits filed against the group globally. Partap is one of the few general counsels globally who handles forensics and data analytics. Partap got a gold medal in her masters of law. She started her career in a bank in 1993. A recipient of a slew of awards and accolades, in 2017, Partap was awarded best individual for outstanding achievement in- house and her team won the best innovations and strategies team of the year among others. My journey as a woman lawyer has been very enriching. My most effective days were my first two years after college, where I learned the basics of court procedures, both civil and criminal and the art of arguing matters before the judiciary. Any lawyer who wants to be truly successful must have grounding in court work and litigation practice. Only then can they foresee risks and advise on strategies to management and negotiate good commercial transactions. I have never stopped reading. Even after 24 years into the profession including corporate, I have always remained a student and shall always remain. One must never part with humility. Some of the biggest learnings I have had are from my juniors, especially in the field of intellectual property law. A leading woman lawyer should not harbor gender bias. It is presence of mind even more than knowledge that is more important and appreciated in the lawyer’s career. I always try to tell my colleagues and young budding lawyers not to disconnect themselves from reading and traveling. Reading would not only include law but other spheres too. These are the greatest teachers. Describe the challenges that you have faced as a leading woman lawyer? I have always seen challenge as an opportunity. And I got plenty of opportunities. The biggest one for me was to maintain a work-life balance and excel in both spheres. This envisaged taking along with you all the people who are with, without and around you with equal importance. Another challenge for me was to work with newer and newer generations. To understand their mindset is very challenging because it does not work like us. Knowledge challenge is very small compared to people challenge. With new laws getting enacted now and then, it is indeed a stretch to keep abreast with precision. www . legaleraonline . com | L egal E ra | N ovember 2017 49