Along with their personal and professional achievements, success, and career progress, the most inspiring women lawyers are those who excel in their chosen field and use their platform to impact the world around them positively. They are role models who demonstrate that anything is possible with hard work, dedication, and a positive attitude.
Inspirational women lawyers are many. However, standing amidst the top league is Vidushi Gupta. She is the Partner with the Corporate and Commercial Practice of Khaitan & Co.. She specializes in legal advice in strategic acquisitions and private equity investments in the financial services sector.
Vidushi has extensive cross-border and domestic experience and has advised several clients on investments, acquisitions, restructuring, strategic alliances and general advisory. Her clientele includes the most renowned banks, NBFCs, housing finance companies, microfinance companies and other financial institutions.
The Suit of Awards
Vidushi has also been recognised in different forums, including:
- Recommended & Key Lawyer in Legal 500 Rankings 2024 and 2023,
- Forbes India as one of the Top Individual Lawyers in India in 2022; and
- Business World as BW Legal World 40 under 40 in 2022.
Donning the Coat
In her inaugural year (2021-22) as a Partner at Khaitan & Co., Vidushi was entrusted with leading a monumental transaction for the firm – the acquisition of Citibank’s consumer business by Axis Bank. Remarkably, Vidushi and her team successfully executed this high-stakes and high-pressure transaction. Her adept handling of the complexities with ease earned her the moniker ‘Calmer of Storms’ and ‘Chaos Coordinator’ from her colleagues. Simultaneously, Vidushi, while navigating the demands of such significant transactions, took on additional responsibility for spearheading wellness initiatives of the firm.
This period coincided with Vidushi’s adjustment to her role as a new mother to a baby less than a year old. Despite the multifaceted challenges, she demonstrated resilience and earned acknowledgement for her composed demeanour in challenging situations. Vidushi firmly upholds the principle that success should be pursued with dignity and joy. While she recognizes excellence in work as a cornerstone of achievement, she emphasizes the importance of cultivating a well-rounded personality and a broader perspective on the world. In her words, ‘Work is extremely important but life comes first,’ emphasizing the integration of professional success with a holistic and fulfilling life.
The Firm Commitment
Vidushi’s remarkable achievements can be attributed to her unwavering commitment to a client-centric approach. When embarking on a deal, her initial priority is to comprehend why it holds significance for her client and identify the key areas that matter the most to them. Tailoring her focus areas and strategies based on the client’s priorities, she streamlines the deal-making process for optimal efficiency.
In negotiations, Vidushi advocates for pragmatism over pedantry. Rather than adopting extreme positions and insisting on every detail, she prioritizes securing the critical points while navigating through minor concessions with finesse. Vidushi emphasizes the importance of maintaining a calm and gentle demeanour, even in the face of a potentially agitated counterparty. This approach ensures that negotiations remain productive and concludes the transaction cordially, highlighting her commitment to fostering positive and constructive deal outcomes.
Also, her success is further guaranteed by her leadership style. Vidushi firmly believes in the adage, ‘Achieve you must but with dignity and pleasure.’ Excellence in work is the key to success, but it cannot be achieved without having a holistic personality and a broader picture of life.
Going Above and Beyond the Professional Duties
Vidushi’s commitment extends beyond her professional duties as she actively guides and supports aspiring legal professionals and fresh graduates. Her efforts in this regard are evident through various initiatives:
- Serving as a speaker in the PLEA Bridge seminar on “Mergers & Acquisitions,” organized by the Programme for Legal Education and Awareness (PLEA).
- Conducting a webinar on “Warranties and Indemnity in M&A Transactions” as part of the M&A Academy Series.
- Participating as a panelist in the NLUJ Corporate Law Review Summit, 2023 and judging the papers presented.
- Authoring the “Financial Services M&A Guide for India” for Lexology Getting The Deal Through (2023 and 2022).
Contributing articles in the financial services space, including pieces such as
- “Decoding Scale Based Regulatory Framework” published by the Indian Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (IVCA),
- “Harmonisation of NBFCs” published by the Banking Frontier,
- “Non-banking financial sector – sailing choppy waters” featured in Business World, and
- “Debt Funding through NBFCs” published by Legal Era.
The Transformational Leadership
Vidushi’s dedication to knowledge sharing and mentorship reflects her commitment to nurturing the next generation of legal professionals.
For Vidushi, leadership is all about making a difference in the lives of people around you and inspiring them to become better versions of themselves. As a leader, it is very important to understand that every human is different and every situation is unique. She adds that we must play on people’s strengths and provide opportunities to overcome their limitations and building their skill set. Equally important is the skill to remain composed in stressful situations and not let the stress trickle down to people around you.
Building the right team, providing them constructive and mindful feedback and keeping them motivated is essential to meet the ever expanding demands of our profession.
According to Vidushi, today’s corporate legal world demands expertise, experience and agility – She says, “We have to make sure that we are on top of all legal developments in our niche area and adapt with the changing times including the technological advancements.”
Partnering Inspiration
An inspiration to many, when asked what inspired her to join this profession, she says the interest seems to be in the genes. Vidushi comes from a family of lawyers and judges. Her great-grandfather was a judge. Her grandfather was a lawyer. Her father was a judge. “So I guess the interest naturally trickled down to me, and I became a lawyer.”
Vidushi says that the legal profession has played a pivotal role in shaping India historically and with changing times the profession has evolved into an intricate part of developing India. The wide scope of excellence in the field inspires many and especially the corporate legal world continues to draw young talent.
Vidushi’s pursuit towards legal profession geared up at National Law University, Jodhpur where she developed immense interest in Corporate Law. She got a pre placement offer with Luthra & Luthra and subsequently joined Khaitan & Co where she has completed more than eight years.
Sharing her journey she exclaims that the profession is quite demanding and takes some effort to settle in initially, Vidushi remembers that during the first three years of her professional life, she kept thinking if she was a good fit for this profession and could survive it. During this time, support from her family and friends gave Vidushi the little push she needed. “Once I passed that phase of my life, I realized that we may not know all about our profession, but having the right attitude and the vigor to do better are the keys to success in the profession.” With this renewed attitude, she set a vision and started taking small steps towards it.
Thus, her advice to the legal aspirants is “there is no limit to success in the legal profession if you are determined, have the zeal to learn and positive attitude towards life”.
