A COMBINATION OF MOTIVATION, IMPRESSION, AND EXPERTISE: MEET THE EXCELLENT LEGAL PRACTITIONER, SHALINI MUNJAL
Law is a profession like any other in India, but it is said to have been a male-dominated turf. That was past tense. In recent years, there has been a shift as more women have made the choice to lead rather than to follow in India. A lot of strong-willed Indian women have come blazing through and have made their mark in the field. And Shalini Munjal is the perfect reflection of India’s leading ladies in the legal sector.
The Senior Partner of Legacy Law Offices, Shalini is breaking stereotypes with her talent and inspiring countless young women. She possesses over 25 years of rich professional work experience as a legal practitioner. Her practice areas include Contracts & Commercial Laws including Contract Management concerning developmental projects. However, her forte is Transactional Support for Infrastructure & Real Estate Projects across diverse sectors. She possesses extensive experience of legal matters pertaining to EPC as well as PPP Contracts in a variety of Infrastructure Sectors including Roads & Bridges, Transport, Urban, Sports Industrial, Integrated Townships, Tourism, Health, Education, etc.
Shalini has rendered legal services for facilitating Bid Process Management and successful Financial Closure of a number of Infrastructure Projects. Earlier, she also served as an in-house counsel of the Punjab Infrastructure Development Board for a period of 4 years. The clients of the Law Firm have been highly appreciative of her professional work pertaining to variety of Infrastructure Projects which include Highways, Bridges, Bus Terminals, Railway Stations, Multi-Level Car Parking-cum-Commercial Complexes, Skill Development Institutes, Hospitals, Sugar Mills, Bio-Technology Park, Integrated Townships, Hotels, Solid Waste Management Plants, etc.
Shalini has been credited with accomplishing contractual documentation for a large number of real estate projects and rendering advice in relation thereto. She also handles dispute resolution matters involving high-value claims concerning developmental projects including proceedings before the Dispute Resolution Boards and Arbitral Tribunals.
LEGACY LAW OFFICES – A FULL-SERVICE LAW FIRM WITH EXCLUSIVE JOURNEY
Established in 2006, Legacy Law Offices is a professionally managed full-service Indian law firm with a global outlook. The law firm regularly renders high-quality legal services for a variety of developmental projects in over 24 states of India, besides projects in Bangladesh, Ghana, Kenya, Mongolia, Zanzibar, Zambia, etc. The footprint of the law firm spans across a large number of infrastructure sectors including roads & bridges, railways, transport terminals, civil aviation, health, education, skills development, IT & ITES, rural infrastructure, urban infrastructure, industrial infrastructure, power transmission, tourism, etc. The law firm is regarded by a number of construction companies as their first choice for availing legal services in India.
The law firm renders reliable legal services to foreign companies interested in doing business in India and the work of the law firm in this regard includes establishing subsidiary companies in India, joint ventures, foreign collaborations, import-export transactions, etc. The law firm regularly renders legal services to a large number of non-resident Indians (NRIs) settled in Africa, Australia, Canada, USA, UK, UAE, etc. in the practice areas of dispute resolution, family laws, property laws, corporate laws, etc.
The senior lawyers of the law firm serve as Experts in the areas of Public Procurement, Public-Private Partnerships, Regulatory Frameworks, Business & Financial Laws, Dispute Resolution, etc. for the developmental initiatives and number of projects of the World Bank (IBRD), Asian Development Bank (ADB), etc. The young corporate lawyers working at the law firm get rich exposure and experience of rendering services for prominent projects sponsored by the World Bank (IBRD), Asian Development Bank (ADB), etc.
The dispute resolution lawyers of the law firm handle cases before the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India, Hon’ble High Courts, District Courts, Consumer Courts, Arbitral Tribunals, etc. across the various States of India.
Now, the law firm is planning to add some new Areas of Practice and additional Global Clientele in the next few years.
INSPIRATION BEHIND THE INITIATION
Shalini shared, “Since the time I joined the Punjab Infrastructure Development Board (PIDB) as an in-house counsel, I started picking up the finer threads of corporate laws under the guidance of my mentor Mr. Gagan Anand, who was then the Chief Legal Advisor of PIDB. He is a fifth (5th) generation lawyer and has been providing professional guidance and mentoring to me for a long time. This has instilled confidence in me to perform well as a corporate lawyer with each passing of my career. My journey as a corporate lawyer started at PIDB and since then there has been no looking back as each day of professional work has been enriching me with a variety of exciting work opportunities and professional exposure in the arena of corporate laws.”
CLIENTELE AND THE UNBREAKABLE FAITH
All the Big 4 Firms i.e. Ernst & Young, PWC, Deloitte, and KPMG, besides other reputed Firms like Grant Thorton, ICT, STUP, DHV, Ecorys, etc comprise the highly prestigious corporate clientele of the law firm Legacy Law Offices. The clientele also includes multinational companies from the USA, Canada & Europe, having business interests in India. In relation to Dispute Resolution including arbitration & litigation and contract management for construction projects, they work for over 100 construction companies in India. The law firm is empanelled with over 40 public sector undertakings for rendering legal services, while the Legacy team prefers to work for private sector clientele.
“To ensure the unbreakable faith of our clients, we follow a simple principle i.e. “Give priority to safeguarding and pursuing the interests and objectives of the client, over and above the business or revenue interests of the law firm,” stated Shalini.
TEAM & HICCUPS ON THE WAY
The team of Legacy Law Offices comprises 75 persons which includes 50 highly competent lawyers from a variety of law colleges across India. Some of them possess post-graduate qualifications from abroad. These lawyers combine legal expertise with an understanding of business which enables the law firm to provide clients with innovative and effective legal solutions. The culture of giving priority and being accountable towards the client is dominant at the law firm. As a policy, the law firm does not engage any lawyer or support staff on a part time basis and as such the entire team of 75 persons works for the law firm on a full time basis.
The primary challenge has been to identify, select and train suitable lawyers. Identifying and arranging clientele has not been as challenging, as has been identifying, selecting and training suitable lawyers for rendering high quality professional services to the clients.
MAJOR FACTORS BEHIND HER VICTORIOUS JOURNEY
Hard work, dedication and professional commitment towards clients have helped Shalini to get where she is today.
“My family has been most supportive all through my professional journey and in particular, my husband has always been very encouraging towards my professional work. This has enabled me to cope up with all the challenges of work that I faced over the past many years,” said Shalini while talking about her support system.
JEWELS IN THE CROWN
Legacy Law Offices was awarded as:
- “Best in Onshore and Offshore Infrastructure Law – India” by Acquisition International
- “Commercial Arbitration Law Firm of the Year – India” by Acquisition International
- “Legacy Law Offices – Top Tier in Corporate Law – India” by Corporate Livewire
- Legacy Law Offices was recognized as a “Rising Star” by India Business Law Journal.
Indian Lawyer 250 observed “Legacy Law Offices is well regarded for its work in public-private partnerships and has been mandated in numerous matters by governmental organisations in the past year. Further to this, the firm is recognised as a player in the country’s busy construction and real estate markets”.
