Smriti Agrawal graduated from New Law College, Bharti Vidyapeeth University, Pune in 2010. Later she pursued her Masters in Banking and Financial Regulation from London School of Economics. During her time at LSE she served as a Research Assistant. After graduating from LSE, she had the opportunity to work as an Associate at Clifford Chance in their Project Finance and Private Equity Team.
After almost two years at Clifford Chance, she came back to India and joined as a Consultant Regulator at Ministry of Finance, where she has been working on policy development of Private Equity. Smriti has recently, i.e. last month decided to pursue further studies. Smriti is selected for an LL.M from Harvard Law School, wherein she would have the opportunity to study at the three of the best institutions of the world: Harvard Business School, Harvard Economics Department and Harvard Kennedy School.
She was recently awarded the Golden Alumni Award, 2015 at her graduating university, BVU, by Shri Pranab Mukherjee.
In this interview she talks about:
- Her experience at London School of Economics;
- Her work profile and experience at Clifford Chance and Ministry of Finance; and
- Her reasons to pursue higher studies from Harvard Law School
How would you like to introduce yourself to our readers who are mostly law aspirants, law students and young lawyers.
I am a transactional lawyer, working in the field of Corporate, Banking and Finance. Off late, I have delved in to the field of Policy making in Finance. Presently, I am an LL.M. candidate at Harvard Law School.
Were any of your close relatives lawyers? What motivated you to choose law as a career?
I come from family of lawyers, most of them are into litigation, practising in Chhattisgarh High Court and Madhya Pradesh High Court. I grew up being surrounded and fascinated by law libraries, but never really thought about getting into the profession. It was only when I put my foot down that I no longer wanted to pursue medical and I decided to go for my calling to work in the area of finance and knew about Corporate Law. So I decided to explore the avenues within law to combine Corporate Laws and Finance. It was a lot of research and speaking to some senior people in the legal profession including my grandfather, Ravish Chandra Agarwal, Senior Advocate.
It was difficult also in the sense I come from a small town and back in the year 2005 when law was still considered to be an offbeat profession, a lot of my father’s friends tried to persuade him not to allow me a legal career mainly because it was not a profession for females. But thankfully, my father became the biggest champion of my decision to foray into the legal profession.
As I mentioned, I was preparing for PMT exams without being interested in it. During one of my discussions with my grandfather we spoke about how beautifully advocates marshall the law, to deliver justice to the common person. I wanted to do something as important, that is when I started looking for avenues within law that would allow me to combine Finance with it. Financial Regulation and Policy making essentially encourage to steer policies in the direction which could benefit large sections of people.
You did your graduation at New Law College, Bharati Vidyapeeth University. Any specific reason for choosing this institution?
Picking up legal profession was intended but I was late for law school applications and had limited option. I heard about Bharati Vidyapeeth and I knew it was a reputed institution. The environment was competitive so you always needed to be proactive, with many students participating in extra-curricular, particularly in moot courts and debates.
Tell us what factors contributed to your decision to pursue Masters in Banking, and Financial Regulation from London School of Economics and Political Science.
The fact that at law school corporate law was taught was very basic. I was introduced to a variety of areas like private equity, project finance and M&A only after working for a law firm. That is when I decided that I would want to pursue my masters. Choosing LSE as an institution was attractive for its location, its faculty and course structure. All of my professors were pioneers in the area of Finance, it allowed me to take a very good blend of regulatory laws together with transactional courses.
When did you decide to pursue masters? Was it a personal endeavour or a professional requirement?
I decided to pursue Masters during my final year of undergraduate degree but I thought of waiting for a year before I applied to foreign universities. It’s good to wait for a year in my opinion, after law school — I think graduates have a romantic notion about further studies.A professional experience gives that extra edge to make concrete plan about course concentration you want to work. I think it was personal endeavour for me delve into the kind of courses that I did.
How important are grades for an illustrious LL.M degree? What is more important for a successful candidature: grades or work experience?
I think universities focus on all-round candidate. If the potential candidate can show passionate interest in an area backed by outstanding achievements– it makes him/her attractive for the universities. Grades allow the universities to see if a potential candidate will be able to emulate his success even further after the LL.M. degree.
Can you tell our readers about how you shortlisted universities for your masters? Why did you choose London School of Economics and Political Science?
I applied to UK universities because I wanted to focus on Common Law jurisdiction and eventually wanted to return to India. Masters programs at Oxford and Cambridge were known to be best in Civil Laws, Constitutional Law, though they had excellent professors in Corporate Laws too. But my course preference was very varied. I wanted to study Financial Regulation and Banking courses, and combination of courses offered at LSE were very attractive for me.
Tell us about your time at LSE. How was the academic pressure?
LL.M comes with a heavy load, one has to squeeze in a lot of course structure in nine months, one might need to put in long hours to get through the course readings. It varies. I think it is fairly easy to cope up. LSE has semester system and students take exams at the end of the year in June.
How did your appointment as Associate at Clifford Chance, NY take place?
LSE organises Job Fair during the final semester with the participating law firms explaining the application process, the opportunities ahead and the work environment. I applied to the law firms individually based on my interest. Clifford Chance is fairly open about allowing its associates to choose jurisdiction they want to work in – I chose New York for diversity in deal structures.
Tell us about your work profile and work experience at Clifford Chance.
I was in Project Finance and Private Equity Team at Clifford Chance. The work was diverse and pretty hectic as the work involved two or more legal jurisdiction. Some of the deals that I worked involved structured contracts which required putting in long hours at work but it was fun.
Please share your experiences and any incident which you found most cherished and memorable.
(Smriti has been one of the rarest and meritorious students who had the privilege of being awarded the Golden Alumni Award, 2015 presented for excellent professional performance of alumni. This award was felicitated by Shri Pranab Mukherjee, President of India.)
My institution was kind enough to consider me for this prestigious honour. I was informed by my parents that I was being considered for the award. I was finally selected by my university registrar. Receiving an award from the President of India recognising my efforts makes my achievements worthwhile. I am elated.
Tell us about your current job responsibilities and assignments.
(Currently, Smriti is a Consultant Regulator at Indian Ministry of Finance)
I am a member of internal team set up to streamline policies in Private Equity. As this is ongoing work, I would not want to go into the details of my assignment.
How did this appointment take place? Were you looking forward to opportunities in India?
I always intended to return eventually to India and work in policy making after I have had sufficient professional experience to back my credentials. India, as a rapidly developing country, needs to have robust laws and regulation in place that supplements it growth aspirations in the global market, not just in finance but in every sector. This gives policy makers interesting opportunities to work on the diverse field of legal policy.
Your job profile at MoF must be quite different than that of Clifford Chance. How do you reconcile the job requirements?
Among other things, I am mainly working with the internal team set up by the Ministry of Finance to streamline Real Estate Private Equity Private Investment Trust. My background in Private Equity helps me to understand the Indian market well and to deliver regulatory changes which will steer the Private Equity industry in the right direction and also help regulators streamline the anomalies.
How did you go about the application procedure at Harvard? Do you have any scholarships?
(Smriti is set to pursue another Master’s Degree, from one of the premier law schools of the world, i.e. Harvard Law School (2015-16).)
Harvard has its own online application procedure which starts in Early September. And, the results are out by second week of March or early in April. Harvard requires in-depth understanding of applicant’s career goals and clarity of thought of how he/she wants to achieve that goal. Harvard also wants to understand how the institution itself will help in furthering individual’s goal.
As for the scholarship, Harvard awards scholarship and loans on the need basis. The application can be submitted along with the admission application.
How did you decide to quit your position at MoF and pursue Masters from HLS?
Fianncial policy making in India is very strongly influenced by US and UK market in India. I wanted to understand the core of policymaking by understanding the undercurrents that come into play. I am concentrating very strongly on interconnecting Economics and International Financial with Regulation. Harvard allows me to cross-register courses from Harvard Business School, Harvard Economics Department and Harvard Kennedy School, which is very attractive for me and adequately suits to my future plans.
You are a perfect role model for our readers who are mostly young and vibrant legal aspirants so what would be your parting message for them?
I think it is most important to have a good sense of understanding about your area of interest. Do your homework by gathering information on the avenues in your field of interest, doing this makes it relatively easier for a law student to crack open many career opportunities. And this can be most easily done if you keep visiting SuperLawyer!
Most importantly, do not be afraid of venturing out in untrodden career opportunities, there are essentially many ways to achieve your career goals. Find a way which works best for you, and be prepared to work very hard and commit to it.
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