A Day in the Life of Manasi Chaudhari, Partner – Numen Law Offices & Founder

This post is part of our ‘A Day in the Life’ segment, where we showcase the lives of legal professionals. The segment aims to help you make inspired and informed career decisions.

Manasi Chaudhari is the Founder of Pink Legal and a Partner at Numen Law Offices. With nearly a decade of experience at the Bar, she has built a distinguished career in the legal profession.

She is also the author of her debut book, Legally Yours, published by Harper Collins, which went on to become a national bestseller.

Can you describe your specific responsibilities in this role?

I wear multiple hats everyday – sometimes of a corporate lawyer, sometimes a women’s rights educator, and other times that of an author.

As a corporate lawyer my responsibilities are to advise my clients, draft and negotiate contracts, give strategic inputs on structuring transactions, and in general be my client’s legal partner throughout their journey. I also spend a part of my day to keep myself abreast about any new developments in the field of corporate and tech law, as both are extremely dynamic fields.

As the founder of Pink Legal, I run a team of 25 student volunteers pan-India, called the Pink Legal Squad. We focus on how each team is creating impact in educating women about their rights, addressing challenges, speaking to my team leads about the review of their team’s work, as well as conducting workshops for our partners (we have conducted workshops for Instagram, Tinder, Puma, Police commissionerates, and even public companies like Indian Oil Corporation).

As an author, I am often invited as a speaker on panels or literature fests to speak about the book. Along with that, whenever I travel to different parts of the country, I try to squeeze in book signings in each city, so that my readers can get signed copies of my books from the bookstore.

What is the most important thing you’ve learned since starting in this role?

That you have to be passionate about your work and love your work – only then it doesn’t feel like a burden. Whether you play a single role, or don multiple hats, each role will demand time and mindspace from you, and you need to be willing to give what it takes.

I have also learned that time management is extremely important, to be able to achieve everything on your to-do list without losing quality and efficiency.

What are the biggest challenges you face in running or managing a law firm as a partner?

I don’t think I have faced any major challenges in this aspect so far (touchwood!). But if I HAD to put a finger to something, I would say it is to help your client understand the intellectual value you add as a lawyer. Most clients in India still think of legal services as something they don’t need to pay for.

They want free legal advise. It is important to make clients understand that legal advice is where the strategic inputs of a lawyer matter the most, and that cannot be done for free!

What helped you transition from being a law student to becoming a partner at a leading law firm? Any pivotal choices or moments you can share?

My journey has been very colourful. I started as a litigation counsel in the Hyderabad High Court under Snr Adv S. Niranjan Reddy, then went on to work in the office of Justice DY Chandrachud for a brief while, before transition full-time to corporate law. I also worked part-time as in-house counsel while I was working for my senior, thus getting exposure to litigation and corporate law.

This diversity in exposure made me realise that I love corporate law and therefore, I made the transition. Thereafter, I went to Oxford to pursue my Master’s in Law and Finance – this was another pivotal point as I could put on the finance thinking cap along with the legal thinking cap after the exposure I got through my course.

After returning from Oxford, I wanted to expand my work and explore my full potential – I guess that is how the journey unfolded to lead to where it’s taken me today!

What does a typical day in your life look like?

A typical day in my life usually starts with office – I take stock of my day’s tasks and then work on completing the tasks. Then I may move out for meetings if needed. If I have some slack time, I always make it a point to go get a break at a nice coffee shop, preferably with the book I’m reading that week, with my litte dog for company!

In the evenings I prefer to wind down by going to the gym or doing anything that gives my joy – be it meeting friends, or reading a book, or spending time with my family.

What are the Pros and Cons of your work?

The pros of my work are that I get to play multiple roles. I can be a corporate lawyer the first half of they day, be the founder of Pink Legal the second half, or even take a quick writing break as an author.

This allows me to explore my creative side, without which life would have been very monotonous (and too black and white!). I can also work from outside of office, which means my work doesn’t get affected if I am working from elsewhere.

The cons would probably be that I don’t get a stable paycheck from an employer, and I am responsible for running my practice, along with taking care of all the allied expenses – but no complaints there, I chose this!

What was your experience like at the University of Oxford, and how has that shaped your legal thinking or career?

My experience at Oxford was like a dream – it felt like living in a Harry Potter movie for a whole year! Through my classes, I got exposure to finance, business valuations, how IPOs work, what the international market looks like, etc. Apart from that, one of my favourite experiences was a one-month intensive Entrepreneurship Program that I was selected for – which helped me deep dive into extrepreneurship and understand the journey of founders and investors.

This exposure enables me to step into the shoes of my clients and think from a 360 degree perspective with a business sense, instead of only being stuck in a one-dimensional analysis of legal rights, reps and warranties, or indemnities!

What motivated you to write your book and start your NGO? How have these experiences shaped your journey as a lawyer?

I had always thought that one day (many years later) I would love to be an author. And I always pictured myself being a Harper Collins author because HC is my all-time favourite publisher. So when Harper Collins reached out with an offer to write a book, it was too good to say anything but yes!

I started Pink Legal because I genuienely believe that women deserve to know their legal rights and there is no clear information about legal rights for women. Therefore, I decided to break them down and explain them in the simplest manner possible.

Writing Legally Yours and running Pink Legal has given me the opportunity as a lawyer to really make a difference in people’s lives and use the law to uplift people. It gives me fulfillment and allows me to use my legal knowledge and platform for the better good.

What advice would you give to students or young lawyers who aspire to lead or build a firm one day?

Get all the experience you can before starting your own – because nothing can teach you better than experience. Also, make sure that you get diverse experience (litigation and corporate), because otherwise you will not be able to think from all angles.

As a law firm founder/partner, you will need to advise your clients on multiple aspects of the law, and you cannot say that I only worked in corporate law and therefore, I will not be able to advise you on how this transaction could lead to a potential dispute and what the dispute resolution mechanism should be (for example).

Please recommend any books or resources that you think every law student should explore.

Legally Yours, of course 🙂

For corporate law, Khaitan and Co. has excellent lectures on their YouTube channel – this is an invaluable resource for students looking for exposure beyond the classroom.

For litigation, nothing can teach you better than observing court proceedings and learning how to read files.

Disclaimer: Interviews published on Lawctopus are not thoroughly edited to retain the voice of the interviewee.