Leaving the scalpel for the Tomes of Law

Shobhana Nikam, on the advice of her grandfather, decided to shift her course of academics from medicine to law… and it changed her life.

Experiencing meteoric success with some of the biggest law firms of the world, she eventually became General Counsel with United Spirits Limited (Diageo India) where along with managing the legal aspects of the business, she also provides mentorship to young people who want to choose law as a career prospect.

When Shobhana received the President of India Gold Medal for excellence in legal academics while doing Master of Law programme in International and Constitutional Law from the University of Madras, it fortified her resolve to find her way into the legal profession. She began her career with a law firm in Chennai, in 1993, at a time when many multinational banks were looking at making inroads into India. She was thrust into meetings with senior bank executives as a rookie lawyer, which she believes accelerated her learning and development very early on in her career.

She married young at 23 years, and moved to Bangalore. There, she decided to become an in-house counsel hoping to get the much desired work-life balance. That concept remains a myth for her, till date.

Shobhana soon realised you can grow as a lawyer in terms of depth or breadth and sometimes both. She chose both and was fortunate to become the General Counsel to many US multinational companies including Affiliated Computer Services, Target Corporation, Tishman Speyer, Fidelity Investments, 3M and Wells Fargo.

It made her adaptable to multiple domains and got her a seat at the leadership table. As such, she took her role as an influencer very seriously.

“I was part of global teams, regional teams and local teams that made me appreciate the value in hiring diverse talent and appreciate cultural nuances of every region,” Shobhana states.

Overcoming Challenges

As a first-generation lawyer, it was hard to build her credibility as it was to figure out her way around professional pursuits. She found her first real break with a dotcom which expanded her world overnight, helped her understand the magical world of the Internet and its immense possibilities. At that time, she had a seven-month old baby and was working with a start-up company that was also figuring out its business model. It was hugely challenging experience for her as a young mother, but also an eye-opener into the struggles of start-up businesses.

“My mother-in-law stepped in as a caretaker and enabled me to focus on my career,” she recalls. She decided to stick it out as an in-house counsel, moved to several technology and financial services companies and eventually grew to become a subject matter expert in her field. Those were the times when you hardly met any women in the leadership roles in India, there were no employee resource groups and there was a certain degree of condescension towards women.

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