Transcription

1 FACULTY PROFILE

2 Aju John Upon graduating from N.L.S.I.U., Bangalore, Aju made his way into online legal publishing. Indlaw.com, a legal research portal that was later acquired by Thomson Reuters. He was the Editor- in- charge in Indlaw.com and under Aju s editorial stewardship, Indlaw enhanced its reputation for accurate reporting of case law and legal news and successfully ventured into the publication of scholarly articles. During this period, Aju also edited and produced three monthly e- mail newsletters the first was published by the British Council and presented comparative perspectives on law in India and the U.K., the second was published by ActionAid India and focused on rights- based approaches to justice, and the third focused on developments in consumer protection law and was published by a consumer co- ordination body supported by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs. Aju also had editorial experience in N.L.S.I.U., Bangalore, where during his last two years, Aju was part of a small team that founded and ran the short- lived but highly appreciated literary magazine, Quirk. Aju is a member of the Learning Team at Rainmaker and spearheads Rainmaker s editorial activities. He has written and edited countless articles that surveyed India s legal profession and tracked developments in law. He has also interviewed more than a hundred influential legal practitioners and scholars. A collection of these interviews, published on YouTube, form the most exhaustive oral history of the Indian legal profession that has ever been compiled. During his time with Rainmaker, Aju has also led the conduct of Rainmaker s annual law firm survey and Rainmaker s annual law quiz. His focus, within Rainmaker, is on highly specialised courses including Sports Law.

3 Antony J. Alex Antony joined Rainmaker in January 2013 as it s Chief Executive Officer. He oversees operations including learning, content creation and roll out, the sales & marketing function, building institutional relationships and generally looking for ways to completely revolutionize the world of learning and education. A serial entrepreneur and an alumnus of N.L.S.I.U., Bangalore, Antony started his career with ICICI Bank in The entrepreneurial bug bit him soon after and he moved in 2001 to set up Kochhar & Co s Mumbai office. After 5 years of rapid growth and establishing Kochhar & Co as a premier firm in Mumbai s competitive law firm landscape, in 2006 he set his sights higher and took up the challenge of being part of the core founding team at Pangea3, the world s largest and most successful LPO. Antony was instrumental in growing and scaling Pangea3 from 10+ lawyers and engineers to over 1000 professionals, delivering high quality services to Fortune 500 companies and top tier law firms, around the world. At Pangea3, Antony was tasked with building out and overseeing operations as well as developing business in and opening up the European, APAC and Australian markets. He was also the evangelist and convinced Indian lawyers of the viability of LPO as an alternative career option. The LPO business saw explosive growth and Pangea3 was ultimately sold to Thomson Reuters in November 2010.

4 Deeksha Singh Upon graduating from N.L.S.I.U., Bangalore, Deeksha joined the legal team of ICICI Bank in Mumbai. While there, Deeksha worked with the Structured Finance team and the Corporate Strategy team. Here, she had the opportunity to work on very large and complex lending transactions, involving both domestic and international elements. She has been involved in the entire gamut of drafting, negotiating, and closing big ticket financing deals. Deeksha brings a very practical, real world experience on banking and finance transactions to Rainmaker, having drafted Facility Agreements along with the entire set of security documentation, for both bilateral and syndicated loan transactions. As part of the Corporate Strategy team, Deeksha had the opportunity to work on a number of strategic investments of the bank and assisted the General Counsel of ICICI Bank in matters pertaining to incorporation of new companies / joint ventures or change of constitutional documents and providing guidance and assistance in administration of the various Codes of Conduct within ICICI Bank & ICICI Group. Deeksha then moved on to the Essar Group, where she worked with the Resource Raising team. At Essar, Deeksha was able to gain an insight into the borrower s perspective on the kind of lending transactions, which gave her a holistic, practical perspective on corporate lending. She worked on the majority of the loans raised by the companies in Essar Group. In this role, Deeksha was also involved in a major international bond issuance. Deeksha is a member of the Learning Team in Rainmaker. She is involved in the ideation, structuring, and creation of the courses on mylaw.net, in particular those that relate to corporate practice areas, including Banking Laws and Securities Law.

5 Deepa Mookerjee Upon graduating from N.L.S.I.U., Bangalore, Deepa joined Amarchand Mangaldas Suresh A. Shroff & Co. as part of the General Corporate and Insurance Team. At AMSS, she had the opportunity to work on various high profile and prestigious M&A transactions and lead numerous transaction teams through the entire gamut of drafting, negotiating, and closing big- ticket M&A transactions. She brings a very practical, real world experience on M&A transactions to Rainmaker, having drafted Joint Venture Agreements, Shareholders Agreements, Share Subscription Agreements, Share Purchase Agreements, and Name Licensing Agreements to name a few. She also worked on a large number of cross border transactions and dealt intricately with the nuances of the foreign exchange regulatory regime in India. She has also made numerous filings with the RBI and the FIPB and has a large amount of practical experience in the way these regulatory bodies work. She has advised insurance companies investing into India on the regulatory regime in India and has regularly interacted with the IRDA on interpretation of these regulations. Additionally, she has been instrumental in drafting many insurance products in the market today. Her core area of expertise is in drafting commercial documentation for investment by foreign insurance companies in India and interpreting the many regulations existing in the insurance sector (both life and non- life) in India. Deepa is a member of the Learning Team at Rainmaker. Her focus, within Rainmaker, is on courses in the corporate commercial field including Mergers & Acquisitions, and Drafting and Reviewing Commercial Contracts. She is currently focused on creating a course on Insurance Law.

6 Samar Jha After graduating from NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad, Samar joined one of India s leading law firms, Luthra & Luthra Law Offices, New Delhi and later, went on to work for other top tier law firms including Amarchand Mangaldas Suresh A. Shroff & Co., New Delhi. Samar regularly advised one of the largest airline companies in India on its aircraft and engine leasing transactions (including wet leases), restructuring of aircraft lease and purchase transactions, aircraft maintenance contracts, ground- handling contracts, regulatory compliances, and other legal issues pertaining to its day- to- day operations. Samar s practice also covered project finance; he was a part of multi- billion dollar transactions, including advising a consortium of lenders in relation to a $3.5 billion financing for development of an ultra megawatt power plant in Chhattisgarh, and advising a consortium of lenders in relation to a $2.08 billion syndicated rupee loan for one of India s largest conglomerates. Apart from financing transactions, Samar has advised clients on matters relating to diverse issues pertaining to Indian foreign exchange laws, foreign investment in specific sectors (particularly, defence, aviation, and real estate) and external commercial borrowings, including advising a Mexican company on its strategic investment into its listed Indian subsidiary and advising an American company providing payroll services in relation to acquisition of the assets of an Indian company. Samar is a member of the Learning Team at Rainmaker. His focus, within Rainmaker, is on intellectual property rights and on aviation financing, particularly aircraft leasing and financing.

7 Nikhil Chandra Nikhil Chandra graduated from the National Law School of India University, Bangalore, in Following graduation, he worked with AZB & Partners, Mumbai, for five years. During that period, Nikhil developed expertise in areas such as M&A, securities, and capital markets, eventually spearheading the securities and capital markets practice of the firm. Nikhil was listed by Chambers and Partners as one of India's leading capital markets lawyers in As the Founder, Nikhil has been building Rainmaker into a premier online learning and content company, and is passionate about how we understand, relate and interact with learning systems. Nikhil is currently the Chief Strategist, and is responsible for overall strategy with a focus on building relationships and creating a footprint in international markets

8 Suhasini Rao-Kashyap Suhasini graduated from ILS Law College, Pune, and started her career with litigation at the High Court of Rajasthan in Jaipur. Her strengths in civil litigation were further honed in Delhi, where she was associated with a law firm from its initial days. She then moved to the corporate space, where she handled global legal compliance and employee regulations for an IT MNC. To complement the Diploma in European Union Laws that she holds from the University of Athens, Suhasini then went on to earn an LLM from the United Nations Inter- regional Criminal and Justice Research Institute, Turin, Italy. Her areas of specialisation include public international law, international criminal law, human rights, and environmental jurisprudence. With these credentials under her belt, she then moved to Tanzania where she headed the Department of Student Affairs at the Faculty of Law, Iringa University College. Suhasini was a key member of the Faculty and brought about substantial organizational robustness through departmentalization. During her tenure, she guided the first ever student visit to the ICTR, Arusha for members of her student fraternity. Thereafter, she was closely associated with co- curricular activities such as moot courts and professional ethics. She was also a panel member of the Disciplinary Committee for student matters. It was a matter of pride for the Faculty and indeed, the University itself, to have its team win the first ever Ruaha University Moot Court Competition with Suhasini s assistance. After re- locating to India, Suhasini has been associated with various public law issues such as efficiency of urban governance, regulation of land utilization, and planning as well as anti- corruption measures. In 2012, the UNODC (South Asia) published a report on anti- corruption measures in procurement in public- private partnerships as well as good business practices in India. Suhasini was a part of the four- member team of the Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi, which submitted the report to the UNODC. Suhasini is a member of the Learning team at Rainmaker. Her portfolio at Rainmaker comprises of public law and policy oriented programmes. She is leading the three- year Ford Foundation project on human rights law in India and currently teaches courses on Environmental Law, the Law of Contracts, and Property Law.

9 Sindhu K Sivakumar Upon graduating from N.L.S.I.U., Bangalore, Sindhu joined Simmons & Simmons LLP in London, where she worked on a number of big- ticket matters complex, high value litigations including a long- standing $75 million plus cross- border dispute before the Courts of Anguilla and New York, a major insurance mis- selling proceeding before the Financial Ombudsman in London, and a high- value English High Court action for a leading investment bank against its counterparty in a swaps transaction. She then joined Allen & Overy in Hong Kong, where she was involved in numerous international commercial arbitrations, particularly arbitrations with an Indian connection. This includes acting as counsel in multi- million dollar arbitration claims brought by investment banks against Indian counterparties in relation to complex investment and derivatives transactions, as well as working with tribunals in India- related international arbitrations. She has also advised on the arbitration element in several India- related transactions. She is also well versed in the regulatory framework governing the financial services industry in London, having advised on a range of financial markets regulatory issues, including conduct of business, perimeter issues, FSA authorisation and permission, cross- border sale and marketing of investment funds, and global share disclosure rules, for a wide range of clients, including investment banks, investment funds and investment managers. In Hong Kong, she was involved in some contentious regulatory investigations, in connection with the LIBOR manipulation issue. She has also been closely involved in advising a high net worth individual in relation to civil and criminal disputes, in Seoul, Hong Kong and Singapore. Sindhu is a member of the Learning Team at Rainmaker. Her focus, within Rainmaker, is on dispute resolution, particularly disputes with a cross- border element.

10 Tennille Duffy Tennille graduated from the University of Newcastle, Australia, in 2004 with a combined Arts/Law degree. She was admitted as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, Australia, in She has a background in criminal defence advocacy and human rights policy work, and has served as a Lecturer of Law at the University of New South Wales in Sydney. Tennille joined Rainmaker in She trains in in skills- based areas such as legal writing and research.