Known to his clients as the “big picture guy” Raian Karanjawala is the co-founder and managing partner of Karanjwala & Co, which he started with his wife Manik.

Read his amazing journey from a barsati (a one-room apartment on the terrace with a verandah outside) in Maharani Bagh, New Delhi, with two desks, to one of India’s most influential law firms, serving everyone from governments and companies in trouble to celebrities and street vendors in distress.

ON LEADERSHIP CHANGE

Both my daughters -Tahira and Niharika, at the moment are working under their respective Senior Partners, one being Nandini Gore and the other being Sandeep Kapur. They are still too young to take over the running of such a large firm.

My elder daughter is in civil law and my younger daughter practices on the criminal side. I encourage them in addition to the work that they do, to play a more decisive role in the administration of the office, so that they get an early feel for the same and also encourage them to participate in several of the decision-making processes of the firm.

ON BIAS AGAINST WOMEN

Whilst people do feel that there is a bias against women in the legal world, nevertheless, I have before me the example of – (i) Zia Mody of AZB, who is running that firm; (ii) Pallavi Shroff, who along with Shardul, runs ‘Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas’; and (iii) Vandana, who along with Cyril, runs ‘Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas’.

In so far as our own firm is concerned, apart from the fact that Manik is the founding partner, out of the 10 partners that we have, six are women.

Next: Karanjawala 2.0

In conversation with Sangeeth Sebastian

Follow sangeeth @sangeethspeak