Indian legal profession is far behind on ensuring DEI: Aparna Mittal, Samāna Centre for Gender Policy and Law

After 13 years in corporate law, working in tier-I law firms in India as a mergers and acquisitions lawyers, Aparna Mittal took an unexpected step in 2018.

She quit law firm partnership and set up the Samāna Centre for Gender Policy and Law. Samāna was the first of its kind at the time in India as a niche B2B legal advisory firm focused on anti-discrimination, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and workplace safety.

Since 2018, Samāna has advised leading international and domestic corporates, non-profits and educational entities across a wide range of sectors. 

Mittal spoke to us about her vision for Samāna when she took the first leap in 2018. As Samāna completes its 7th year, she spoke to Bar & Bench's Giti Pratap on the firm's journey, starting a business in an untapped field and inclusivity (or the lack thereof) in the Indian legal profession.

Edited excerpts follow.

Giti: It’s been 7 years of Samāna now. How do you feel now about the decision you made in 2018 to leave law firm partnership? How has your experience been?

Aparna: I started in 2018 with a very clear vision about what I wanted to do. I remember I had a blueprint and a business plan scribbled on three sheets of paper, even though the market at that point of time, unfortunately, did not understand what I was setting out to do. I remember a senior founding partner of a tier-I law firm laughed at the idea, saying you're setting up another NGO. I told him it was not an NGO and that he came from a space of a limited worldview, that internationally and globally, business and human rights, which is what Samāna is all about, were gaining importance.

There were highs and lows, of course. It is a lot of gruelling, hard work, innovation and agility. Overall, the experience has been quite exhilarating and fulfilling. Even I did not imagine the expanse to which the practice would grow.

Giti: What kind of work has Samāna engaged in these past 7 years ? What kind of organisations have you worked with so far?

Aparna: This is a business and human rights focused practice. We focus on workplaces and the practice has many dimensions to it such as anti-discrimination, anti-harassment (both sexual and non-sexual), DEI, which is doing more for persons who come from diverse identities, and Environmental, Social and Governance(ESG), which is also a dimension of business and human rights.

In terms of our work, we focus on all aspects of human identity. I started with gender, but very quickly we were doing work on caste, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, religion, socio-economic background, age, disabilities and more.

Our practice is based on core legal and regulatory frameworks, but we are not limited by them. When you step back and look at Indian law, you can see it has several inherent limitations and gaps when it comes to the implementation of the constitutional mandate of non-discrimination and equality especially in the private sector. There are, of course, micro laws, for example, on rights of persons with disabilities or trans persons. But I see it as an incomplete jigsaw with a lot falling through the gaps and not a comprehensive holistic anti-discrimination or equality law.

We've set up policies, contracts, frameworks and processes for the largest of conglomerates, multinationals, large Indian domestic companies and international non-profits, across borders. And we do that using not just Indian law, but also foreign law. We've also developed quantitative and qualitative parameters on the basis of which we assess companies and interview a hundred plus employees. After that we go back with a diagnostic report and forward-looking recommendations to address the gaps. We also do learning programs and workshops, so we are not limited to just conversations; we really go back with a list of things to do in terms of specific interventions, to reach milestones.

Giti: What aspect of Samāna's work has been most impactful? Can you give us a few examples?

Aparna: I think first I would give the example of us working directly with the chairperson's office of two of India's largest conglomerates and their entire leadership teams across verticals. So CEOs, managing directors, general counsel, CFOs of about 25+ of their business verticals, which cut across 75 companies. We worked directly with them in a closed room to develop LGBTQ inclusion and anti-sexual harassment initiatives in a pre-emptive manner.

Another example was working with one of the largest funding entities based in the UK, which provides funding to Indian companies, on evaluating the intended portfolio entity or the grantee entity. We used UK law, Indian law and the anti-harassment/DEI parameters that we have developed to make sure it was a comprehensive and holistic assessment. Then we developed mitigation plans, revised their policies and contracts, to reach that particular gold standard on safeguarding.

Sometimes, there is no precedent. You start with a blank sheet of paper and use the law and other aspects of what you want to do, to holistically develop something that works for that client.

Giti: You have advised both Indian and international companies and non-profits. What are some differences you’ve notices, especially with regard to how the areas of practice covered by Samāna are received?

Aparna: I don't want to generalise, but a lot of the international organisations have an absolutely strong focus on governance and doing the right thing. There is no 'chalta hai' (anything goes) attitude there. They want to take pre-emptive steps to prevent things from going wrong. Of course, they are prioritising business and profits, but they also give human rights and employee well-being equal importance. So much so that this is not just limited to their direct employees, but it also extends to employees in their supply chains or employees of investee entities in which they are going to be giving any kind of grants or funding.

There is also a deep involvement of the general counsel or the legal office in most of the international mandates I have worked on in this area of work. This something I don't find in India.

Giti: You have been advising some law firms on their internal DEI initiatives. What are your views on the legal sector in India – is it truly inclusive?

Aparna: So that's a layered question. We are advising 10-12 of the leading law firms in India on their own internal initiatives, ranging from DEI to anti-workplace harassment. I think if I were to look at the tier-I or tier-II law firms, which are mostly in the metropolitan cities, they're doing very well in terms of gender. When I started practice in 2005, there were not as many women in corporate law like we see today. When it comes to gender, the quantity and quality of initiatives, they're doing fairly well.

But I think on other areas or other dimensions of diversity, such as inclusion of LGBTQ persons and persons with disabilities, a lot needs to be done. Simply organising one talk on Pride Month or Disability Month or changing the logo is not enough. I think a lot needs to be done and I would implore them, especially given they are at the top end of the market, to do more for other dimensions of diversity as well.

Now, if you keep the top law firms aside and look at the larger legal practice, the judiciary, law chambers, etc, I think, unfortunately, we are still years behind, even on gender. I've been reading reports including on Bar & Bench regarding the lack of basic infrastructure. Or a woman judge getting threatened by an accused. So if you look at core aspects of inclusion, which start with safety and non-discrimination, a lot more needs to be done.

Giti: This was quite an unheard of area when you started in 2018. What advice do you have for entrepreneurs who are starting out or lawyers who may be trying to establish a practice in a new emerging field of law?

Aparna: I say this to everyone who assumes "I have left the law" or "I have started an NGO": this is core law practice. The Constitution of India talks about non-discrimination and equality in absolutely fundamental terms. This is practice of law.

For anybody who wants to start out on their own and become a legal entrepreneur like me or set up their own practice in a new area, some of the fundamentals remain the same. There is no shortcut. Hard work with high quality, high professionalism and very strong ethics. Those are my key mantras. I also want to reiterate to people who are starting off, or youngsters, that the best person in the room is not always the oldest person or the most senior. The best lawyer in that room is the person who knows the file the best. I think if you spend your time researching and thinking through, you can be the best lawyer in the room, even if you are the youngest.

I can assure you that high quality work and high professionalism will get you more work than any social media posts. Do not engage in anything that lowers the professional standard, like paid awards and paid for rankings. Everyone knows it's fake, and if you're paying to buy a nomination or an award, it actually takes away from your own reputation or credibility.

Giti: What are some things you would want to tell law students or young lawyers who are interested in getting into this space?

Aparna: In India, though we see a lot of diversity around us, legal protection does not unfortunately extend to all dimensions of diversity. There's a high scope for innovation and thinking out of the box in this field. Because we have done the tried and tested legal frameworks and they have not answered all the questions, it gives you the ability to create additional systems through contractual frameworks or internal policies. That can lead to a lot of creative work and also develop your own skill and confidence as a lawyer, because one day you are advising to the chairperson of a large conglomerate and the next day you are talking to a support staff, a mali or a driver in a company, and trying to explain to them what are their rights and how we can ensure more dignity of labour for them.

Giti: What sort of work do you see Samāna doing in the next five years?

Aparna: We hope to continue doing what we are doing. In the past seven years, we've had thousand plus client mandates. Our work has touched 20 million people, directly and/or indirectly. Hopefully, we will continue to work and have a similar kind of impact. Numbers don't really excite me in terms of milestones, but I hope to double the work that we have done, while ensuring quality.