In-house legal teams should be structured and managed in a way that makes them indispensable to the business, says MR Prasanna of Aditya Birla
Not that long ago, I had the unique privilege of setting up the in-house legal team at a diversified Indian multinational conglomerate.
Non-executive director
Head of in-house legal team
Aditya Birla Group
The company did the right thing. It spent considerable time and effort identifying the right person to head up the team and provided the freedom to hire professionals with different skill-sets.
It is important to identify a vision and a mission statement for the legal team from the start. Both are as integral to in-house counsel as they are to the business as a whole. Corporate counsel must operate like an in-house law firm, with an emphasis on quality services. At the same time, in-house lawyers must understand the business since they not only advise but also devise and implement strategies.
MR Prasanna is a non-executive director and head of the in-house legal team at Aditya Birla Group.
