Beginning his legal career as a Junior Advocate at the Supreme Court of India, Vivek Yadav, Founder of Caspian Legal Solutions, has built a professional journey that reflects a thoughtful blend of courtroom advocacy, startup advisory, and entrepreneurial vision. From navigating the early challenges of litigation to advising corporates on complex commercial agreements and eventually establishing Caspian Legal Solutions, he shares insights on resilience, practical lawyering, and building a client focused boutique legal practice that supports SMEs and startups.
This interview has been published by Anshi Mudgal and The SuperLawyer Team
You began your legal journey as a Junior Advocate at the Supreme Court of India. What initially inspired you to pursue law and step into litigation so early in your career?
Since my childhood, I was a very quick-witted and almost had a smart reply with proper reasoning to anything being asked from me and most probably this would have been the reason my father inspired me to do law. Eventually I completed my law degree from Pune University in 2013. While I was in college, I regularly used to do internships in Delhi under various practicing Advocates and law firms like Singhania & Partners etc. during vacations, and I realized that, ‘what we study in books and what we practice in courts are practically two different things’. Hence I planned to first step into litigation to gain the actual experience of litigation and the Indian legal system, and then to move on to the corporate side of legal.
During your formative years appearing across district courts and tribunals in Delhi, what were some of the enlightening experiences that tested your resilience as a young litigator?
Though internships during my college years helped me to familiarize myself with litigation to some extent, but entering into litigation full time was a different ballgame itself. But luckily I found a very nice senior and mentor Adv. Prashant Shukla, who gave me a chance to work and learn under him. He allowed me to explore my potential and supported me during my initial years in litigation. I learnt from him that as a young litigator, it’s very important to learn the whole process right from the beginning, i.e. drafting, filing, curing defects etc. before you learn how to argue. During early years I did not earn much and those years were really challenging, but even small wins or praise by the judges back then motivated me to keep going and to aim high.
After spending two years in independent litigation practice, what motivated your transition from courtroom advocacy to the corporate legal world?
Since college days I was fascinated about working in the corporate side of legal and also did a diploma in corporate laws, so moving to corporate after litigation was a thoughtful decision. As stated earlier, I wanted a fair share of litigation experience with me before I could move to the corporate legal world. And as expected it actually helped me during my experience in the corporate legal right from cracking my interviews to my day to day work in the corporate legal. Litigation and corporate legal seem to be distinctive but they don’t work in isolation.
Having worked with major corporates on complex financial and commercial agreements, what key insights did this exposure give you into global legal frameworks and cross-border business practices?
Working with major corporates on complex financial and commercial cross border agreements has given me practical exposure to how global legal frameworks interact with local regulatory requirements. I have learned that while commercial objectives often remain similar across jurisdictions, the legal structuring and risk allocation need to be carefully tailored to each country’s regulatory environment. It also highlighted the importance of understanding differences in governing law, dispute resolution mechanisms, and compliance standards. Overall, this experience strengthened my ability to anticipate jurisdiction specific risks and structure agreements that balance legal protection with commercial practicality.
What phase in your professional journey eventually led you back to independent practice and the founding of Caspian Legal Solutions?
After gaining extensive experience in litigation and corporate legal, I noticed that though large MNC’s do have their In-house legal teams for their day-to-day legal chores, but SME’s and Startup’s usually don’t hire In-house legal teams due to cost factor, but do need legal help regularly. I saw an opportunity here and took the plunge into starting my boutique law firm specially catering to SME’s and startups with their Contracts, IP and corporate compliance requirements. It helps my clients to have quality legal assistance at much lower costs compared to hiring a full time in-house legal team.
Along your journey across litigation, in-house counsel roles, and contract strategy, what were some of the key challenges you faced, and which professional experience stands out as the most demanding?
So each of them had their own fair set of rewards and challenges. Litigation gave me a very wide exposure to the public and the judicial system but it pays you very little initially and it becomes difficult to survive if you don’t have any financial backup whereas your exposure and work focuses down to the relevant sector under In-house or contract strategy roles and you get paid a bit more initially.
Both Litigation and In-house roles are quite demanding. In litigation, you need to be on top of your brief in order to argue well before the court as at times a lot is at stake, whereas in in-house roles you consistently need to update and improve yourself to successfully draft and finalize a contract.
As Founder and Lead Counsel of Caspian Legal Solutions, what vision did you have when establishing the firm and how did your prior experience shape that direction?
I had the opportunity to work under several people during my previous work experiences. Barring a few, I was lucky enough to work under nice people. Each one of them have in their own ways have contributed to my vision of establishing Caspian Legal. With Caspian legal I want to build a team of capable people and to provide quality services to my clients and to make it more accessible to those Individuals, small and medium sector companies who usually don’t have deep pockets to hire a full time In-house legal team.
What lessons from your journey would you share with lawyers aspiring to build a practice that balances legal precision with business practicality?
“Law is nothing but common sense”. My advice to the aspiring lawyers would be, that you don’t need to memorize each and every provision, rather you should be able to interpret the provisions correctly. When it comes to business practicality your corporate clients don’t want you to always say No, they require you to be smart enough to ‘find legal ways to make things happen’.
Lastly, be patient, humble and aim high for yourself. It always works.
Looking ahead, how do you see your practice evolving and what goals do you hope to achieve over the next decade?
Over the next decade, I envision Caspian Legal Solutions evolving into a trusted boutique law firm known for providing strategic, business oriented legal advice. In the near term, my focus is on strengthening the firm’s core practice areas and building long-term relationships with clients who value thoughtful and responsive legal counsel. I aim to steadily expand the firm by bringing in talented lawyers who share a commitment to quality, integrity, and client service. Over time, I would like Caspian Legal Solutions to be recognized for its reliability, specialized expertise, and client centric approach. Ultimately, the aim is to build a sustainable and respected institution that contributes meaningfully to the legal and business ecosystem.
