Exploring Legal Domain with Smitha

The journey of an in-house lawyer is one of constant adaptation, requiring a mastery of not only the law but also business, technology, and human psychology. In this episode, "The Counsel's Code" sits down with Smitha Chandrashekar, a legal leader whose career is a testament to the power of versatility and trust.

Meet the Speaker: Smitha Chandrashekar

Smitha Chandrashekar is a dynamic legal professional with around 20 years of rich, multinational experience. She currently serves as the Director of Legal at Harman International, a global leader in connected car technology and audio solutions.

Smitha's career began in Singapore with the N Rose group and has seen her in pivotal in-house roles across diverse industries, including as an attorney for UPS, Legal Counsel for Hitachi Data Systems, and Legal Director for IQVIA. She is a recognized leader, named one of the "Best General Counsel" and "Powerful Woman in IP," with a strong belief in building trust to achieve positive outcomes for her team and the organization.

Key Insights from the Conversation

How did you get into the field of law? Can you share your experience of working with Companies like Harman, IQVIA, UPS, and others?

Smitha's entry into law "happened by accident." A science student, she took her father's suggestion to try law, which led to a 5-year degree and a career that began in Singapore. She describes her start at a UK law firm as a "very humble beginning," where she was immediately assigned to an "Aviation Finance team"—a field she didn't even know existed.

This challenging start, along with her varied career across different industries and company cultures, shaped her. She's worked in mature organizations and high-growth environments, learning to adapt to the "tone at the top." A memorable early assignment at UPS involved drafting a contract from scratch to transport a rhino and an elephant from Africa to Indonesia, forcing her to consider all the unique risks involved.

How did you tackle the 1st 90 days in an organization?

For Smitha, the "first 90 days" are a "make it or break it" period, especially for a General Counsel, which is a "position of trust." Her priority is not just to showcase technical expertise but to build relationships.

Her strategy includes:

• Showing up in person: She makes it a point to have personal meetings to build rapport.

• Understanding the business: She takes the initiative to learn what each business unit does, what its competitors are doing, and how the industry functions.

• Reaching out to peers: She connects with legal heads in the same industry to gain "rich experience" from those who have already "tried and tested things."

• Checking the pulse: She gets a feel for the team, the organization, and the global company culture to understand how she can "make things better."

How did you work internally with all the CXOs?

Smitha's first rule for working with internal stakeholders, especially sales, is: "I will never say no." She sees the legal department as a "business enabling function," not a roadblock.

When a sticky point arises, she talks to the stakeholder to understand the issue at a deeper level. "Maybe at The Superficial level I or even the business guys may be missing certain crucial points," she notes. She focuses on breaking down the problem and resolving even two out of five sticky points, considering that a "big win." She then reflects, gets fresh perspectives, and reconnects the next day to tackle the rest. She also prioritizes issues—customer-related problems always come first.

How did you collaborate with cross-functional teams internationally?

Working internationally requires a keen "ability of gauging things and understanding the opposite party." Smitha emphasizes paying close attention to nuances like body language, as "most of the times it so happens that the person is actually telling you something but the body language isn't really going with that."

She also advocates for a detail-oriented legal approach. For example, instead of just assuming GDPR compliance is the highest standard, she investigates if a specific country's privacy law is stricter in one particular area. This in-depth value is what stakeholders appreciate. Finally, she believes in delegating and trusting her team members, which empowers them and builds their confidence.

How did you enable your team to adopt technology?

Smitha's approach is step-by-step. In a previous organization, she started with NDA automation. The key was creating a fallback system: if the other party rejected the main clause (Option 1), the system offered Option 2, and then Option 3, "so the actual lawyers got to do only the things which were like really, really sticky."

Her strategy involves:

1. Adopting new legal tech (like CLM or automation).

2. Leveraging existing enterprise tech (like SharePoint) for legal purposes, as it's cost-effective and familiar.

3. Prioritizing training so the team can master the tools.

Today, she uses robust tools to manage contracts, litigation, and a staggering 3,000 compliances in India alone, which she says is "humanly impossible" to manage without technology.

What are your views on AI? Is it an opportunity or a threat?

Smitha sees AI as a powerful opportunity, not a job-killer. She uses the tech world as an example: AI is created, challenges arise, and then "bad guys" (hackers) try to defeat it. In this chain, lawyers become essential to contain unethical activities and manage the legal fallout.

She believes that "the most mundane lawyers may kind of lose their jobs," but those who "constantly upgrade themselves" will stay in the game. Her advice: "AI can either challenge you or defeat you. So why don't you take it otherwise and see how you can challenge the technology and how you can become a better and effective lawyer?"

What are your views on outside counsel? Will their dependency be reduced?

Smitha believes the dependency on external counsel "will reduce drastically." This is the primary reason in-house departments invest in technology. With powerful CLM and research tools, in-house teams can do the majority of the work themselves and are "in fact more thorough than your external counsel."

However, they won't disappear. You still need external counsel to "run the show for you" in litigation. The relationship just becomes a "much more meaningful" collaboration where the in-house team sets a high bar for quality and expectations.

How do you maintain a healthy work-life balance?

As a self-described "sports person," Smitha works out at least four days a week. She also loves to travel and, most importantly, fully disconnects when she is on personal time.

She lives by a simple rule: "We are not doctors, right? I mean if we don't answer the phone that doesn't mean somebody is going to die." She also emphasizes the importance of "emotional intelligence" and spending quality time with her team and business folks outside of the office, as building that personal connect makes work easier and more effective.

What advice would you like to give to the young aspiring lawyers?

Smitha offers clear, direct advice for those starting their careers:

1. Clarity: Figure out what you want from your profession and your life.

2. Discipline & Persistence: "Nothing is being served on a silver platter."

3. Honesty & Gratitude: Integrity is the most valuable trait for a legal professional.

4. Patience: "You can't become rich and famous overnight." It takes effort, consistency, and "a little bit of luck."

5. Keep Eyes & Ears Open: "You'll never know where the calling will come from."

About "The Counsel's Code" Podcast

"The Counsel's Code" is your go-to podcast for exclusive interviews with top legal executives. Discover the strategies they've employed to cultivate their careers, excel in their positions, and emerge as true leaders in their organizations.

Throughout our discussions, we delve into the challenges of leadership and how these accomplished professionals manage the pressures that come with it. Our mission is to provide valuable insights and support for in-house counsel, fostering mutual growth and development.

Tune in for engaging and enlightening conversations with legal leaders who share their experiences, wisdom, and advice, creating a community where in-house counsel can thrive together. If you want to get featured, contact marketing@volody.com.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this podcast are the speaker’s personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the positions of the podcast, Volody, or any current or former employers.