The number of women taking up a career in the legal field is increasing in recent times. Inspired by the likes of Justice Fathima Beevi, Justice Leila Seth, Indira Jaising, and Justice Indu Malhotra, women are increasingly choosing the legal profession with a desire to contribute towards the betterment of society. Thus, a large number of women legal professionals are gathering the limelight recently with their profound industry acumen and exquisite leadership skills. One such women leader in the legal space who has gained widespread prominence is Aashika Jain, Chief Legal Officer, EBIXCASH.

Women Entrepreneur magazine recently got a chance to have an exclusive interaction with Aashika, wherein she shared insights about her journey as a successful legal professional so far and the various responsibilities she handles at her company. Below are the excerpts from the exclusive conversation.

Tell us about your educational and professional background so far.

I have completed my BBA LLB from Amity University Noida and a Master’s in Business & Corporate Law from Symbiosis International University. Studying at such prestigious institutions has helped me gain profound knowledge of the industry and hone my skills as a corporate lawyer. Additionally, I have also completed Risk Management certification from BSI and Contract Drafting & Negotiation certification from LAWOCTOPUS. As a person who is always looking for an opportunity to learn and grow my career, I thus gained the necessary legal research & preparation skills that are very much essential to function in the legal domain of the corporate world. While studying law enhanced my skillsets and enabled me to explore various aspects of human life, it also sharpened my mind and strengthened my under-standing of the corporate business world. Thus, my inter-est in corporate and business law further increased, and I feel working as a corporate lawyer is enriching, unique, and exciting.

I was also a Legal Intern with many law firms and organizations that include the High Court of Delhi, SNG & Partners, HAS Advocates, Qammruddin & Associates, Lex Jurists, and L&L Partners. Prior to joining EBIXCASH in 2022, I held the role of Legal Consultant at Credgenics. My stint with EBIXCASH so far has given me immense scope to both enhance my knowledge of the industry and grow as a legal professional.

"Keeping the company’s growth in mind, looking forward to developing more suitable formal policies, procedures, & standards that are necessary to maintain compliance with the legal & judicial systems"

What are some of the core principles that you imbibe as a legal industry leader?

It is the duty of every legal professional to uphold the hon-or and dignity of the legal/judiciary system by ensuring the spirit of friendly cooperation and fair dealings with clients. Competence, Knowledge, Conscientiousness, In-tegrity, Respect, Emotional Intelligence, Appropriateness, and Confidence are some of the core values that I imbibe as a legal professional. Additionally, I practice writing as much as possible, as this will come in handy while draft-ing complex legal documents. My success mantra has always been to ‘Create a cul-ture of lifelong learning and education’ where there is always room for learning. I have learned a lot from my mentor, and the most important thing he told me about life is ‘People will remember you by your face, but will re-spect you by your nature of work and knowledge’. Hence, there is no end to learning in life.

How do you leverage your industry experience in your day-to-day life?

I always apply whatever experience and qualities I ac-quire during my working with businesses to my person-al life. Representing a client or an organization changes both your internal and external personality. The whole process of a corporate lawyer enables me to bring out the best in myself helping me aim for higher leadership roles with comprehensive skills and a visionary strategist. Corporate lawyers rarely attend court or argue during litigation. Rather than a corporate lawyer spending my days at an office working privately or taking part in meetings, corporate law is a more suitable legal profession for me than handling court cases, thus my primary duties include writing legal documents, advising executives, and negotiating contracts with clients, partners, and stakeholders. This in turn brings out the best version of you and enables you to be more ambitious & passionate in your personal and professional lives. My major strengths are team building, team managing, leadership, people management, time management, and many other soft skills & characteristics.

Briefly explain about the various responsibilities you shoulder at EBIXCASH.

Keeping EBIXCASH's growth in mind, I develop suitable formal policies, procedures, and standards that are nec-essary to maintain compliance with the legal and judi-cial systems. Thus, my main focus at EBIXCASH is to formulate a compliance strategy that will comprise all the laws that are to be abided by. I believe that making business decisions by keeping in mind all the regulatory compliances will go a long way in ensuring the compa-ny’s success and overall growth. Another major respon-sibility that I take care of at EBIXCASH is to foresee regu-latory conflicts even before they occur and take suitable measures to avoid them early on.

What is your advice to youngsters aspiring to be future legal industry leaders?

Make sure to have civility, respect, fairness, learning, and integrity toward your clients, but never forget the respon-sibility you have towards ensuring the quality of justice being rendered by our judicial system. Also, always ap-preciate the short, medium & long-term implications of your client’s business and think strategically about their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This will enable you to provide pragmatic, business-mind-ed legal advice to the best of your ability. My advice for women entrepreneurs is to ‘be patient and passionate about business and corporate law.

Aashika Jain, Chief Legal Officer, EbixCash

Having BBA LLB from Amity University Noida and a Master’s in Business & Corporate Law from Symbiosis International University, Aashika is a seasoned legal professional who also holds Risk Management certification from BSI and Contract Drafting & Negotiation certification from LAWOCTOPUS.

Awards of Recognitions won so far:

• BC/BF certification from IIBF

• Gender justice Certification

• Participated in Various Cultural and

• Educational events like elocution, debates etc.

• Attended workshop on Gender Justice & Empowerment

• Social Surfing workshop certification

• Volunteer in International risk management seminar