SOWLs First Annual Conference on the “Challenges to the Legal Profession Today”

The Society of Women Lawyers (SOWL) is hosting its First Annual Conference on July 7, 2012 at the India International Centre, Delhi. The conference will be attended by several prominent lawyers and members of the Judiciary. The Chief Guest of the event is Hon’ble Ms. Justice Gita Mittal of the Delhi High Court who will also deliver the keynote address.. In the last one year, SOWL has been actively involved in various activities. It hosted several Continuing Legal Education (CLE) sessions such as those on Social Media and the UID Project, inaugurated the pro bono initiative and entered into partnership with i-Probono, held events for the women participants of the ITechLaw, IPBA and ABA Conferences and organised a workshop for women entrepreneurs in collaboration with FICCI/ YFlo in Kolkata..SOWL is also involved in putting together suggestions for policy reform with respect to laws that impact women..Priti Suri, Founder-President of SOWL says, “The Conference is a great way for members to reconnect with each other and with prospective members, and to reinvent the future of SOWL as a dynamic, action-oriented initiative that represents the interests of women lawyers”..This Conference will provide a valuable opportunity to young lawyers to interact with senior leading women lawyers, who have made a mark in the legal profession. The Conference will also have panel discussions on the three topics listed below..First Session: Competing in the Face of the Financial Crises.The legal community is facing the impact of the recent financial crises and slowdowns in India, Europe and America– with reducing transaction volumes. Foreign law firms have increased their demands for entry into India. On the other side, cost-conscious companies are relying on legal process outsourcing (LPO) units where possible. What should lawyers be doing in this changing legal landscape to continue to be relevant? This session explores strategies to increase domestic and cross-border work through building a network and through successful communication..The moderator of this session will be Shivpriya Nanda, Senior Partner, JSA and a member of the Governing Council of SOWL and the panelists will be Antony Alex, Managing Director, Pangea 3; Percival Billimoria, Senior Partner, AZB andâ€¨ Madhu Khatri, General Counsel, Microsoft India..Second Session: Innovative Strategies for Retention of Women: .Speaking to Bar & Bench, the moderator of the session and SOWL Governing Council member Shwetasree Majumder said, “We have observed that very few women are making it into the upper tiers of law firms. A number of young bright women due to family pressure, child rearing and several other reasons are forced to make a choice between home and work at the mid-level (of seniority in an organisation). Although many women voluntarily leave firms to become more actively involved in taking care of their families, many feel pushed into that choice and would prefer to maintain their careers and a family if a structure existed that allowed them to do so. In this session, we will explore innovative strategies that have been adopted by companies and law firms to minimize these pressures – from flexi-time, to crèches available on the premises, to home-offices”..The moderator for this session will be Shwetasree Majumder, Founder, Fidus Law Chambers and the panelists will be Sujata Chaudhuri, Partner, IP Gurus; Padmini Rathore, Head of Strategy, Amarchand Mangaldas; Shukla Wassan, Senior VP Legal & CS, Hindustan Coca Cola..Third Session: Changing Role of the Litigator.This session will discuss the changing role of the traditional litigator, and the emergence of alternate fora of practice such as arbitral tribunals, mediation and tribunals for everything from debt recovery, company law to consumer issues. This session explores the different skill sets that are needed for the modern litigator to be able to excel not just before a judge, but also in other fora chaired by businesspersons, financial experts and individuals who may not be from the legal community. .The Moderator for this session will be Kumkum Sen, Partner, Bharucha and Partners and member, Governing Council of SOWL, while the Panelists will be Nandini Gore, Karanjawala & Co; Sitesh Mukherjee, Litigation Head, Trilegal and Gauri Rasgotra, Partner, Khaitan & Co..The Conference is free for SOWL members and ticketed at a nominal Rs. 500 for non-members..For more information on SOWL and the Annual Conference, visit http://www.sowlindia.com/ Or write to contact@sowlindia.com