Yesterday I just sketched the facts relating to the place where I am teaching. I didnt leave any remedies, because I dont have any panacae for this state of affairs. I am aware as any one else who is genuinely interested in bettering the state of affairs that it won't be possible for any single person with a majic wand to change the state of affairs in a day. I am fully aware that it will take at least a full academic year to at least move things in the right direction. Within the short span of 6 months, I think that we were able to take at least some priliminary steps towards this goal.
As mentioned in my previous post, we have been blessed with the whole hearted co operation of the teachers in improving the situation. One of our teachers have successfully conducted at least 3 seminars which got great attention of the students. Next semester onwards a compulsory seminar class is proposed for all classes. We are also proposing to conduct an international Seminar in Banking Law, so that students can get a feel of what is evolving in these fields.
While trying to work out a mutually profitable solution, there is one aspect which is worth noting. One of my collegue who had been a teacher for last 14 years had commented that ever since Kerala Government started conducting entrance examination for admission to 3 year LLB course the quality of students deteriorated significantly! Common entrance examination was intended to find out students with the right attitude and aptitude so that they undergo the 3 or 5 year course with the right set of mind. I am also not ignoring the fact that the Common Entrance Test for 5 year LLB courses have helped to identify some students with right potential, the experience with 3 year LLB course is entirely different.
For the readers from other countries, India has three (or four or more) types of LLB courses. While there is an integrated BA LLB(Hons) in National Law Schools, other law colleges follow a 3 year LLB in 10+2+3+3 model and 5 year LLB in 10+2+5 model of higher education. Some universities even now call the law degree as BL (Bachelor of Law)while most others have renamed the degree as LLB(LLegum Baccilareum). Some IIT's have recently started MBA LLB and B Tech LLB, which as the name suggests integrates Master of Business Studies and Bachelor of Technology(Engineering Degree) with Law.
Now going back to the old story- what ails the 3 year course? To understand this we need to first understand the age factor of the students undergoing 3 year LLB course as compared to those undergoing 5 year course. While most of the students who had been undergoing 5 year LLB course are of the age group 17-21, the age of a student undergoing 3 year LLB course earlier used to vary from 21 to 61 or even greater! But now a days, you seldom find an aged person in the LLB course as compared to those good old days!
Now what is the problem? As I see it, we need to distinguish 3 year LLB course as a finishing course compared to 5 year LLB course as a professional course. Earlier many elder persons who were genuinely interested in pursuing Law used to joing LLB course. Now since many do not want to go throught the ignomity of writing an entrance examination along with their children, such persons have stopped coming to study law, even though they have a genuine interest in the subject. As a result the number of students appearing for entrance examination is very low and inorder to fill the available seats, it is said that even those who get 0 marks in entrance examination are given admission! Now how can you expect those 0 marks students to have the right aptitude?
When I joined teaching, I had in mind the standard of students who had interacted with me during my college days and professional days. During the past 6 months I have tried to make my students speak up.! To my astonishment I have found that many of the 3 year course students are unable to properly express their thoughts even in their mother tongue.A hand full of answer papers valued were so pathetic that even Samuel Johnson would wonder about the language!!
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
An Introduction to Law Teaching..a law teacher looking back
Taking into law teaching has been an interesting turn in my life. While I was a Legal Manager, I always thought teaching was more an academic exercise rather than a managerial exercise. But now I can vouch that teaching is more a managerial experience than anything else.
The foremost subjects to your management skill is ofcourse students- though you have to manage your time, resources and mind equally well. While so far I have been blessed with exemplary collegues, who are willing to take any effort, the lack of resources have been a bane for these spirited teacher collegues of mine.
Students come from different sections of the society, have different temperements and different outlook towards their future and every aspect in life. While as a manager, you may often be blessed with an almost homogenous group, with somewhat similar temperements and outlook to life(if you happen to build a legal department, then this almost can be taken away!) in a law school, you get students as hetrogenous as anyone can imagine.
Traditionally a government law college in India looks like a government hospital except in one count- in law college, you see empty or almost empty class rooms where as in a government hospital you cant even imagine one empty bed!. One can even say it looks like a government poundry these days...ugly and smelly class rooms, scarce commodity called students,political hue and cry and frequent quarrels among inmates! A collegue had remarked once that the biggest skill a teacher acquires from a law college is the skill to take class to a switch board!
My grandfather who had his legal education in 1920's remembers a time when many students used to attend classes. I have seen National Law Schools where a majority of students attend classes. While I have felt that the quality of teachers is almost same every where(ofcourse there is a difference in outlook towards education) what is lacking is perhaps a motivation among students to attend classes.
Prof Madhava Menon, who headed a committee for legal education reform in Kerala while interacting with students of government law college is said to have remarked is that the reason for non attendance is the low fees that is being collected from the students,and once the fees is hiked to Rs 50000/- students will not dare to bun classes. I strongly disagree with this proposition, since fees does not have any bearing on the attitude of students. I can visualise a student, and I have seen many behaving in this fashion- who thinks it is the duty of his parents to bear the cost of his education and his duty to enjoy his life! Now if his father is paying Rs 50000/- or Rs 100,000/- what difference does it make to him?
But then what is that which tends to keep students away from class? One obvious reason is lack of motivation. Every one here knows that even if you dont attend the class you can pass. Every one here knows that leaders of politcal outfits doesnt attend even a single class and still they sit for examination after obtaining duty certificates for drama competitions, and even for food committees for university youth festival. Every one here knows that even if you dont study, you can get away in the examinations since examiners are afraid of student power. Now what is then your motivation to study?
The question is how can we clean up?
The foremost subjects to your management skill is ofcourse students- though you have to manage your time, resources and mind equally well. While so far I have been blessed with exemplary collegues, who are willing to take any effort, the lack of resources have been a bane for these spirited teacher collegues of mine.
Students come from different sections of the society, have different temperements and different outlook towards their future and every aspect in life. While as a manager, you may often be blessed with an almost homogenous group, with somewhat similar temperements and outlook to life(if you happen to build a legal department, then this almost can be taken away!) in a law school, you get students as hetrogenous as anyone can imagine.
Traditionally a government law college in India looks like a government hospital except in one count- in law college, you see empty or almost empty class rooms where as in a government hospital you cant even imagine one empty bed!. One can even say it looks like a government poundry these days...ugly and smelly class rooms, scarce commodity called students,political hue and cry and frequent quarrels among inmates! A collegue had remarked once that the biggest skill a teacher acquires from a law college is the skill to take class to a switch board!
My grandfather who had his legal education in 1920's remembers a time when many students used to attend classes. I have seen National Law Schools where a majority of students attend classes. While I have felt that the quality of teachers is almost same every where(ofcourse there is a difference in outlook towards education) what is lacking is perhaps a motivation among students to attend classes.
Prof Madhava Menon, who headed a committee for legal education reform in Kerala while interacting with students of government law college is said to have remarked is that the reason for non attendance is the low fees that is being collected from the students,and once the fees is hiked to Rs 50000/- students will not dare to bun classes. I strongly disagree with this proposition, since fees does not have any bearing on the attitude of students. I can visualise a student, and I have seen many behaving in this fashion- who thinks it is the duty of his parents to bear the cost of his education and his duty to enjoy his life! Now if his father is paying Rs 50000/- or Rs 100,000/- what difference does it make to him?
But then what is that which tends to keep students away from class? One obvious reason is lack of motivation. Every one here knows that even if you dont attend the class you can pass. Every one here knows that leaders of politcal outfits doesnt attend even a single class and still they sit for examination after obtaining duty certificates for drama competitions, and even for food committees for university youth festival. Every one here knows that even if you dont study, you can get away in the examinations since examiners are afraid of student power. Now what is then your motivation to study?
The question is how can we clean up?
Thursday, August 7, 2008
When i started this blog, i thought of using it as a platform to share whatever i have earned through experience with others. Personally, i hate intellectual property, as a concept, which prevents free sharing of information. Indian tradition teaches that knowledge develops through sharing, and any knowledge that is kept in wraps, which is away from the reach of the world is no knowledge at all.
I had been in corporate world for more than 5 years. I am proud to say that through out this short career, i have got appreciation from my employers and peers. With a total experience of around 10 years, i felt that it is time for me to pass on some of my learning to others. Hence i am moving out from the corporate world into teaching...Wish me good luck!(some times what ever knowledge i have could be half baked.but even then i would prefer to roast it in the academic crucible, and i would be happy to be a link between academica and industry...if some one from industry would care!!!)
I come from Kerala. I have seen that most of the Inhouse legal departments in the country have atleast a malayalee law officer. However sadly, when it comes to campus recruitment of law officers, no one would prefer to try a law college in Kerala, quoting a variety of reasons. I have also seen that many a times campus recruitment has turned out to be a mere hype. It has become a fashion for companies and law firms to rush to one or other law school. Now a days it is more or less like a fashion symbol to have gone to a premier law school and recruit from there. This is almost like the competition between society ladies in getting some goodies..like having a particular breed of a pup...she just wants it because her friend has it..there is no other apparent reason for her to have a pup.... In this process the quality suffers a lot. Further many worthy students of law schools which do not come within the premium list have to stand outside, without getting an opportunity to prove themselves. As a result both the industry and academicia suffer. It should be the endeavour of both the industry and academicia to find a way for quality check. Unless a tougher and more objective quality check is put in place, the academica and industry would both suffer on account of this frenzy, and the next decade would show a reverse drive of campus recruitments.
I had been in corporate world for more than 5 years. I am proud to say that through out this short career, i have got appreciation from my employers and peers. With a total experience of around 10 years, i felt that it is time for me to pass on some of my learning to others. Hence i am moving out from the corporate world into teaching...Wish me good luck!(some times what ever knowledge i have could be half baked.but even then i would prefer to roast it in the academic crucible, and i would be happy to be a link between academica and industry...if some one from industry would care!!!)
I come from Kerala. I have seen that most of the Inhouse legal departments in the country have atleast a malayalee law officer. However sadly, when it comes to campus recruitment of law officers, no one would prefer to try a law college in Kerala, quoting a variety of reasons. I have also seen that many a times campus recruitment has turned out to be a mere hype. It has become a fashion for companies and law firms to rush to one or other law school. Now a days it is more or less like a fashion symbol to have gone to a premier law school and recruit from there. This is almost like the competition between society ladies in getting some goodies..like having a particular breed of a pup...she just wants it because her friend has it..there is no other apparent reason for her to have a pup.... In this process the quality suffers a lot. Further many worthy students of law schools which do not come within the premium list have to stand outside, without getting an opportunity to prove themselves. As a result both the industry and academicia suffer. It should be the endeavour of both the industry and academicia to find a way for quality check. Unless a tougher and more objective quality check is put in place, the academica and industry would both suffer on account of this frenzy, and the next decade would show a reverse drive of campus recruitments.
Friday, May 2, 2008
Litigations Management:
Lot has been said about managing litigations. Lawyers would ask: what is the big deal, we are managing this day in and out. Managers would say: This is simple, just entrust the case to a lawyer and sleep over it!. But for a corporate an ill-managed litigation can lose it a fortune and in a worst scenario, even its existance will be at stake. A company can be even wound up if a litigation involving a few thousands are not managed properly.
Many small companies entrust the handling of litigations either to finance department or to some other generalists. For those who do not know law, managing litigation is to entrust the matter to a lawyer and report the developments to the management. Thus litigations become too much reliant on the lawyers, and if the lawyers are not competent enough or they fail to understand the intricacies of business undertaken by the company, the matter goes for a toss. Hence it is important for a corporate to have a full fledged legal department, who can manage the litigations and legal affairs in a co herrent manner.
Core issues in litigation management:
1. Understanding the business logic
2. Understanding the legal risks involved in the business
3. Understanding the stand taken by the opponent
4. Understanding the lawyer who handles the matter
5. Understanding the court which hears the matter
6. Understanding the public perception about the matters involved in the litigation.
Many seasoned litgators would frown when I am saying about these 6 understandings, especially about the last understanding-public perception. But before any litigation goes to court, one should understand that any trial in common law countries is public trial and all matters involved in the matter would be laid open to the public. So if you dont want to make the issues public the thumb rule is : settle and close the matter before it reaches court.
Strategy:
It is imperetive that before one enters into a litigation, one has to formulate a proper strategy. Many a times, legal departments of corporates, just become a post office for forwarding the litigation file they receive from the internal departments to the lawyers and obtaining the details from the lawyers and reporting the same to concerned departments. Enthusistic law students who join legal departments come out after some years as senior clerks, and move on to other departments, all the while claiming that they have understood handling litigations. The maximum they have understood would be to manage litigation mis's being maintained in legal departments to inform the management about the status of pending litigations.
The base strategy for any litigation is that litigations should be seen as a war. Both in war and litigations, you have no option but to win. The strategisation should also be more or less similar to a war. Many serious litigators keep a copy of Lao Tse's "Art of War" in their library along with the law books.
The 6 understandings mentioned above are those which are also considered by a serious general going to war. He will have to understand his ground before he launches an attack. If he knows that he is on a losing front, a good general would only try to minimise the loss of his man power by making a strategic withdrawal. However, a strategist general would also keep in mind the boost in morale a victory can give to his men and the harassment such a withdrawal can make.
There are variety of books detailing the strategy to be adopted in litigations. Since my purpose is only to give a birds eye view, I am not dealing much into these strategies.
Some important tips:
1. Dont rely too much on either your individual judgement or a single lawyer's judgement while handling litigations. While in doubt, dont hesitate for a second opinion. God knows, perhaps this second opinion may save the day.
2. Always have the saddle of litigation in your hand. If necessary do discret checks or surprise visits to the courts to understand the manner in which the lawyer is handling the litigations.
3. Always understand that more than law, several other factors including the mood of the judge on the particular day of hearing may count in winning and losing of litigations. Sometimes, just some crank call from some telemarketer might turn the judges mood against a corporate which is other wise running good business, which would ultimately end up in the corporate losing a cake walk case. There have been even instances where judges have got confused between two companies by similarity in name and have passed strictures one company quoting faults of the other, which had personally peeved the judge.
4. More than others the litigator should understand that litigation is time consuming and long term strategies should be drawn rather than for short terms, unless business interest demands a short term strategy only.
5. Litigations is having more a nuisance value among opponents than any actual hit, more so when both the sides are corporates. So in such scenario, the advantage would go to the one who is able to inflict maximum injury to the other in short term, since there is a greater chance that the other side may come forward for a compromise after one or two such hits.
To conclude, a serious litigator would be one who keeps his eyes and ears open, understand his and his opponents, and his lawyer's and opponent's lawyer's and some times even the judges' weakness and strengths and seize the first opportunity to get maximum advantage.
Many small companies entrust the handling of litigations either to finance department or to some other generalists. For those who do not know law, managing litigation is to entrust the matter to a lawyer and report the developments to the management. Thus litigations become too much reliant on the lawyers, and if the lawyers are not competent enough or they fail to understand the intricacies of business undertaken by the company, the matter goes for a toss. Hence it is important for a corporate to have a full fledged legal department, who can manage the litigations and legal affairs in a co herrent manner.
Core issues in litigation management:
1. Understanding the business logic
2. Understanding the legal risks involved in the business
3. Understanding the stand taken by the opponent
4. Understanding the lawyer who handles the matter
5. Understanding the court which hears the matter
6. Understanding the public perception about the matters involved in the litigation.
Many seasoned litgators would frown when I am saying about these 6 understandings, especially about the last understanding-public perception. But before any litigation goes to court, one should understand that any trial in common law countries is public trial and all matters involved in the matter would be laid open to the public. So if you dont want to make the issues public the thumb rule is : settle and close the matter before it reaches court.
Strategy:
It is imperetive that before one enters into a litigation, one has to formulate a proper strategy. Many a times, legal departments of corporates, just become a post office for forwarding the litigation file they receive from the internal departments to the lawyers and obtaining the details from the lawyers and reporting the same to concerned departments. Enthusistic law students who join legal departments come out after some years as senior clerks, and move on to other departments, all the while claiming that they have understood handling litigations. The maximum they have understood would be to manage litigation mis's being maintained in legal departments to inform the management about the status of pending litigations.
The base strategy for any litigation is that litigations should be seen as a war. Both in war and litigations, you have no option but to win. The strategisation should also be more or less similar to a war. Many serious litigators keep a copy of Lao Tse's "Art of War" in their library along with the law books.
The 6 understandings mentioned above are those which are also considered by a serious general going to war. He will have to understand his ground before he launches an attack. If he knows that he is on a losing front, a good general would only try to minimise the loss of his man power by making a strategic withdrawal. However, a strategist general would also keep in mind the boost in morale a victory can give to his men and the harassment such a withdrawal can make.
There are variety of books detailing the strategy to be adopted in litigations. Since my purpose is only to give a birds eye view, I am not dealing much into these strategies.
Some important tips:
1. Dont rely too much on either your individual judgement or a single lawyer's judgement while handling litigations. While in doubt, dont hesitate for a second opinion. God knows, perhaps this second opinion may save the day.
2. Always have the saddle of litigation in your hand. If necessary do discret checks or surprise visits to the courts to understand the manner in which the lawyer is handling the litigations.
3. Always understand that more than law, several other factors including the mood of the judge on the particular day of hearing may count in winning and losing of litigations. Sometimes, just some crank call from some telemarketer might turn the judges mood against a corporate which is other wise running good business, which would ultimately end up in the corporate losing a cake walk case. There have been even instances where judges have got confused between two companies by similarity in name and have passed strictures one company quoting faults of the other, which had personally peeved the judge.
4. More than others the litigator should understand that litigation is time consuming and long term strategies should be drawn rather than for short terms, unless business interest demands a short term strategy only.
5. Litigations is having more a nuisance value among opponents than any actual hit, more so when both the sides are corporates. So in such scenario, the advantage would go to the one who is able to inflict maximum injury to the other in short term, since there is a greater chance that the other side may come forward for a compromise after one or two such hits.
To conclude, a serious litigator would be one who keeps his eyes and ears open, understand his and his opponents, and his lawyer's and opponent's lawyer's and some times even the judges' weakness and strengths and seize the first opportunity to get maximum advantage.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
My Biodata
John Varghese
Permanent Address:
“VENUS”, ARRA# 88,
Avittom Road, Medical College P.O.,
Thiruvananthapuram-695 011,
Kerala, India
Present Residential Address :
33/4735 A. Malaparamba P O, Kozhikode 673009
advjohnvarghese@msn.com
advjohnvarghese@gmail.com
advjohnvarghese@justice.com
advjohnvarghese@yahoo.com
Official Address:
Lecturer in Law,
Government Law College, Kozhikode
Education:
> LL.M, School of Legal Studies, Cochin University of Science and Technology, India. Dec 99 – Dec 01 (65%) Options- Criminal Law& Commercial Law
>LL.B (5 Years), Kerala Law Academy Law College, University of Kerala, India. 1993-1998.(60% )
Academic Excellence:
Passed JAIIB December 2006.
First Class in LLM.
Placed in second position in the All India Entrance Examination for admission to LLM course, Cochin University of Science and Technology, 1999.
P.C.S. Scholarship for academic exellance-1991.
Work Experience
Lecturer in Law-Government Law College, Kozhikode- October 3,2008 till date
Sr Manager Legal-ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co Ltd, Mumbai –September 3, 2007 to September 30,2008
Assistant Manager (Legal) Collections - Standard Chartered Bank, Mumbai-March 6th, 2006 to August 31, 2007.
Assistant Manager (Legal), The Federal Bank Ltd-April 20th, 2003 to March 4th, 2006.
Worked in specialized Asset Recovery Branch, a Regional Office and two ordinary branches of the Bank.
Assistant Grade II, Kerala Public Service Commission, Head Office, Trivandrum - January 7th, 2002 to April 19th, 2003.
Practiced as Advocate in various courts at Trivandrum and Ernakulam- August 1998 to December 2001.
DETAILED WORK PROFILE
Sr Manager Legal-ICICI Prudential Life Insurance
· Labour law compliance management-giving advisory in employment matters,handling labour litigations. Two specific projects nearing completion are employee service rules and a project to develop an inhouse tracking software for labour law compliance.
· Heading Litigations Team Pan India
· Formulation of Processes and policies
· Advising various departments inside Company
· Drafting and Vetting of Contracts, Company Policies and other official Communication
· Handling Group Insurance Related Matters
Regional Legal Manager (West) for Secured & Unsecured Collections Department of SCB:
Coordination of the legal activities for Secured and Unsecured Loans-(Collections) on Pan India Basis.
Obtaining, collating and maintaining data and MIS pertaining to the legal cases handled by the collections department for Western region.
Coordinating with the regions and lawyers in respective centres to ensure smooth proceedings in legal cases filed by and against the Bank, pertaining to Collections Department.
Follow up and ensuring recoveries through legal action of unsecured loans.
Recovery Procedures like follow up of hard core NPAs, including liasoning with borrowers to find early settlement opportunities, coordinating recovery agencies etc.
Drafting of legal pleadings, appearing before DRT’s to present bank’s cases, vetting of plaints, scrutiny of legal documents etc and giving advise to collection department on legal issues.
In general, coordination of all legal activities pertaining to collections department.
Management of Agency Contracts.
Assistant Manager Legal- Federal Bank Ltd
Hands on experience in basic Banking activities and also worked in the Regulatory role in The Federal Bank Ltd, Regional Office, where the portfolio handled included regulatory efforts including ensuring compliance with AML procedures and KYC norms, giving legal opinion to branches, drafting and vetting of loan documents, etc.
Co Curricular Activities
Member, Editorial Board for web publishing of Weekly Seminar Reports, School of Legal Studies, CUSAT, 2000-01.
Participated and commented on the Seminar on “Review of Constitution of India” conducted by the Bar Council of Kerala, Aug 2001.
Conducted study on the Juvenile Justice Administration in Kerala, July 2001.
Conducted study on “Litigation Management and Litigation Avoidance” with special emphasis on
Asset recovery Department in Federal Bank Ltd., Head Office, Aluva, June 2001
Coordinated survey on “Consumer Awareness among Bank’s Customers” at Cochin, April 2001.
Coordinated the National Legal Seminar on “Sentencing Policy in India” organized at School of Legal Studies, Cochin University, March 2001.
Coordinated the Legal Study on “Dam and Water Dispute between Kerala and Tamil Nadu States” and advised the Government of Kerala. February 2001.
Conducted a Legal Survey on “Need for Speedy Trial in Civil Cases” at Ernakulam District Court, Kerala, December 2000.
Conducted a Study on “Uniform Civil Law in Goa” at Panaji, Goa, September 2000.
Coordinated the “All India Moot Court Competition” conducted by the School of Legal Studies, CUSAT, March, 2000.
Member of the Judges panel, 10th All India Moot Court Competition for the Kerala Law Academy Trophy, March, 1999.
General Convenor and Student Convenor for the organisation of the 9th All India Moot Court Competition for the Kerala Law Academy Trophy, March 1998.
Participated as a volunteer in the Legal Aid Survey conducted at Ulloor Village Panchayat, Trivandrum, February 1998.
Participated as a volunteer in the Legal Aid Survey conducted at Nettyam Village Panchayat, Trivandrum, March 1997.
Secretary, Moot Club, Kerala Law Academy Law College, Trivandrum, 1996-97.
Participated as a mediator in Legal Aid Camp (Lok Adalat) at Trivandrum, March 1995.
Secretary, Debating Club, Kerala Law Academy Law College, Trivandrum, 1995-96.
Attended several camps as Corporal, 2 Ker Bn. NCC, Govt Arts College, Trivandrum, 1991-93.
TRAINING PROGRAMMES ATTENDED
· Attended two training programmes for Legal Officers and a programme in Credit Management at Federal Bank Staff College, Aluva.
· Attended the following e learning programmes in SCB-1. Operational Risk Management (ORMA-Optial)
2.BASEL II-Lite Version
3.ORMA Procedures
4.Introduction to Legal & Compliance
5.Security Awareness for Every One
6.Group Code of Conduct-Leading by Example
7.Health and Safety
8.Introduction to IDEAL
9.Introduction to Out serve
10.Operational Risk
11.Reputation Risk
12.Money Laundering Prevention Course for Consumer Banking
13. Navigation through Trademarks
Also attended the following training programmes by attendance 1) BCSBI Code 2) Great Manager’s Programme 2007.
Permanent Address:
“VENUS”, ARRA# 88,
Avittom Road, Medical College P.O.,
Thiruvananthapuram-695 011,
Kerala, India
Present Residential Address :
33/4735 A. Malaparamba P O, Kozhikode 673009
advjohnvarghese@msn.com
advjohnvarghese@gmail.com
advjohnvarghese@justice.com
advjohnvarghese@yahoo.com
Official Address:
Lecturer in Law,
Government Law College, Kozhikode
Education:
> LL.M, School of Legal Studies, Cochin University of Science and Technology, India. Dec 99 – Dec 01 (65%) Options- Criminal Law& Commercial Law
>LL.B (5 Years), Kerala Law Academy Law College, University of Kerala, India. 1993-1998.(60% )
Academic Excellence:
Passed JAIIB December 2006.
First Class in LLM.
Placed in second position in the All India Entrance Examination for admission to LLM course, Cochin University of Science and Technology, 1999.
P.C.S. Scholarship for academic exellance-1991.
Work Experience
Lecturer in Law-Government Law College, Kozhikode- October 3,2008 till date
Sr Manager Legal-ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co Ltd, Mumbai –September 3, 2007 to September 30,2008
Assistant Manager (Legal) Collections - Standard Chartered Bank, Mumbai-March 6th, 2006 to August 31, 2007.
Assistant Manager (Legal), The Federal Bank Ltd-April 20th, 2003 to March 4th, 2006.
Worked in specialized Asset Recovery Branch, a Regional Office and two ordinary branches of the Bank.
Assistant Grade II, Kerala Public Service Commission, Head Office, Trivandrum - January 7th, 2002 to April 19th, 2003.
Practiced as Advocate in various courts at Trivandrum and Ernakulam- August 1998 to December 2001.
DETAILED WORK PROFILE
Sr Manager Legal-ICICI Prudential Life Insurance
· Labour law compliance management-giving advisory in employment matters,handling labour litigations. Two specific projects nearing completion are employee service rules and a project to develop an inhouse tracking software for labour law compliance.
· Heading Litigations Team Pan India
· Formulation of Processes and policies
· Advising various departments inside Company
· Drafting and Vetting of Contracts, Company Policies and other official Communication
· Handling Group Insurance Related Matters
Regional Legal Manager (West) for Secured & Unsecured Collections Department of SCB:
Coordination of the legal activities for Secured and Unsecured Loans-(Collections) on Pan India Basis.
Obtaining, collating and maintaining data and MIS pertaining to the legal cases handled by the collections department for Western region.
Coordinating with the regions and lawyers in respective centres to ensure smooth proceedings in legal cases filed by and against the Bank, pertaining to Collections Department.
Follow up and ensuring recoveries through legal action of unsecured loans.
Recovery Procedures like follow up of hard core NPAs, including liasoning with borrowers to find early settlement opportunities, coordinating recovery agencies etc.
Drafting of legal pleadings, appearing before DRT’s to present bank’s cases, vetting of plaints, scrutiny of legal documents etc and giving advise to collection department on legal issues.
In general, coordination of all legal activities pertaining to collections department.
Management of Agency Contracts.
Assistant Manager Legal- Federal Bank Ltd
Hands on experience in basic Banking activities and also worked in the Regulatory role in The Federal Bank Ltd, Regional Office, where the portfolio handled included regulatory efforts including ensuring compliance with AML procedures and KYC norms, giving legal opinion to branches, drafting and vetting of loan documents, etc.
Co Curricular Activities
Member, Editorial Board for web publishing of Weekly Seminar Reports, School of Legal Studies, CUSAT, 2000-01.
Participated and commented on the Seminar on “Review of Constitution of India” conducted by the Bar Council of Kerala, Aug 2001.
Conducted study on the Juvenile Justice Administration in Kerala, July 2001.
Conducted study on “Litigation Management and Litigation Avoidance” with special emphasis on
Asset recovery Department in Federal Bank Ltd., Head Office, Aluva, June 2001
Coordinated survey on “Consumer Awareness among Bank’s Customers” at Cochin, April 2001.
Coordinated the National Legal Seminar on “Sentencing Policy in India” organized at School of Legal Studies, Cochin University, March 2001.
Coordinated the Legal Study on “Dam and Water Dispute between Kerala and Tamil Nadu States” and advised the Government of Kerala. February 2001.
Conducted a Legal Survey on “Need for Speedy Trial in Civil Cases” at Ernakulam District Court, Kerala, December 2000.
Conducted a Study on “Uniform Civil Law in Goa” at Panaji, Goa, September 2000.
Coordinated the “All India Moot Court Competition” conducted by the School of Legal Studies, CUSAT, March, 2000.
Member of the Judges panel, 10th All India Moot Court Competition for the Kerala Law Academy Trophy, March, 1999.
General Convenor and Student Convenor for the organisation of the 9th All India Moot Court Competition for the Kerala Law Academy Trophy, March 1998.
Participated as a volunteer in the Legal Aid Survey conducted at Ulloor Village Panchayat, Trivandrum, February 1998.
Participated as a volunteer in the Legal Aid Survey conducted at Nettyam Village Panchayat, Trivandrum, March 1997.
Secretary, Moot Club, Kerala Law Academy Law College, Trivandrum, 1996-97.
Participated as a mediator in Legal Aid Camp (Lok Adalat) at Trivandrum, March 1995.
Secretary, Debating Club, Kerala Law Academy Law College, Trivandrum, 1995-96.
Attended several camps as Corporal, 2 Ker Bn. NCC, Govt Arts College, Trivandrum, 1991-93.
TRAINING PROGRAMMES ATTENDED
· Attended two training programmes for Legal Officers and a programme in Credit Management at Federal Bank Staff College, Aluva.
· Attended the following e learning programmes in SCB-1. Operational Risk Management (ORMA-Optial)
2.BASEL II-Lite Version
3.ORMA Procedures
4.Introduction to Legal & Compliance
5.Security Awareness for Every One
6.Group Code of Conduct-Leading by Example
7.Health and Safety
8.Introduction to IDEAL
9.Introduction to Out serve
10.Operational Risk
11.Reputation Risk
12.Money Laundering Prevention Course for Consumer Banking
13. Navigation through Trademarks
Also attended the following training programmes by attendance 1) BCSBI Code 2) Great Manager’s Programme 2007.
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