Societal definitions of a perfect woman may vary; however, according to Justice Asha Menon, “As women, we may be more emotional but shouldn’t be apologetic; we are made of steel.”
On a similar line, being an ardent Advocate and Legal Head – Nupur Jain – defines ‘A Perfect Woman’ in her own terms:
A perfect woman is genuine and lives with integrity. Even when it would be simpler to lie, she displays her true personality and tells the truth with sincerity. She leads a sincere, true life free from deceptions. She always thinks and behaves consistently with her principles and beliefs.
She is exceptional because she appreciates everything she has in life. She is grateful for her spouse, family, friends, career, and all the individuals she has met along the way. She never fails to express her thankfulness and appreciation to people who did something for her, whether the gesture is small or huge. And it is her sense of gratitude that makes her happier.
Her life isn’t free from challenges and struggles, but she doesn’t allow them to defeat her. Overcoming and learning from those challenges made her the great woman she is now. Her growth and success come from embracing every challenge that comes her way. Instead of resting on her laurels, she prefers stepping out of her comfort zone. Her struggles shape her to become fearless, stronger, and wiser.
And lastly, she knows what she wants in life and isn’t afraid to speak her mind. She possesses a positively strong personality and can stand up for what she believes in. And she’s highly opinionated and never gets swayed from her beliefs or lets the opinions of others influence her. A great woman is determined to achieve what she wants and make it happen. She has the drive, commitment, focus, and determination to succeed.
Redefining the Norms
Coming from a family of lawyers, Nupur began her professional career after obtaining a degree from Rizvi Law College in Mumbai in 2018. She worked at Regstreet Law Advisors for a few months and simultaneously started pursuing her LL.M. in Intellectual Property Rights from the University of Mumbai. She was also a visiting faculty member at the Government Law College, where she taught Environmental Law for a semester.
In 2019, Nupur mustered the courage to focus on preparing for the Union Public Services Examination. She states honestly, “I wasn’t successful in my venture, but these two years of preparation helped enhance my thought process.”
She restarted her legal career as the Legal Head of a Private Limited Company, where her key responsibilities were to research, draft contracts and agreements, coordinate compliance and due diligence as per company law, and negotiation. As a legal practitioner, she started her independent practice. Her focus areas are dispute resolution, arbitration, and family law. In these few months, she has drafted many wills. She recalls, “Within a couple of months of drafting the Will and making a Partition Agreement, the descendant died in an accident, and his estate was distributed as per his wishes and without any dispute.”
In 2021, 787 cases of mutual consent divorces were registered in the family courts in India, and the pendency of cases in the family courts in 2021 was 8863 cases. Nupur successfully resolved divorce cases by mutual consent through dispute resolution. She adds, “But I still feel that even this can be avoided if we make prenuptial or postnuptial agreements. I am currently registering a living will, which is extremely rare since passive euthanasia is not recognized in Indian law.”
A Noble Goal
When Nupur was pursuing a Master’s in Law, they had no access to any guides or study material. With work, it was extremely difficult to research the study material in the library. So, she recently signed a contract with Write Order Publications to publish LL.M. textbooks and guides on her behalf. “I hope this will facilitate pursuing a master’s degree in law for professionals,” she says.
In another feat of achievement, in March 2023, Nupur was accepted by IIM Calcutta to pursue their Executive Programme in Business Management in Corporate Law. She shares that approximately sixty per cent of the participants are from non-legal backgrounds, and about 40% have expertise spanning more than 25 years, enhancing everyone’s learning experience.
Being a travel enthusiast, she’s a frequent flyer of GoFirst Airlines because of their competitive prices, but recently she noticed a pattern in the frequency of flights getting delayed and/or cancelled, causing inconvenience to its customers. She is now in the process of filing a class action suit against GoFirst Airlines for its inefficiency and inconsiderate attitude toward its customers. She claims, “My goal is that justice should be served to all because justice delayed is justice denied.”
Breaking the Barriers
When probed about the various challenges she faced in her personal and professional life, Nupur remembers how her grandmother dragged her and her mother into a 12-year court struggle when Nupur’s father passed away intestate, which was ultimately resolved through mediation. Naturally, she began investigating alternative dispute resolution, which protects the parties’ best interests, avoids conflicts, is less time-consuming, and isn’t as complicated as going to court. It was also because of her great maternal and paternal grandfathers and her mother being lawyers that she entered the legal profession. In fact, her paternal grandfather, Mr Mangalchand Baid, was the Legal Head of erstwhile Esso Standard and now Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited. “It was his legacy and my mother’s unconditional support which helped me to achieve all of this,” she states.
Further quoting Justice Indu Malhotra, a well-known Supreme Court judge, who once said in a conference, “Even in the 21st century, women advocate faces difficulty, to establish themselves, to grow their network which is an important thing in the legal field.”
By Overcoming Obstacles
Nupur adds, “My struggle with salary and time was one of my biggest obstacles.” Women were compensated less than men for work that was more effective and of higher quality. There were several late evenings when Nupur struggled to get home safely and was not given any drop-off services. One of the firms had a single restroom for men and women and no trash can. It was really challenging for her to use the washroom, and she frequently needed to walk to the nearby mall to use their restrooms.
The law firms offered them many opportunities, although there were many difficulties. Nupur’s mentors showed her how to research and go deeply into any subject. Daily obstacles were put in front of her, which kept Nupur moving forward. They helped her learn how to negotiate and deal with conflict.
Natural Inclination
Also, Nupur passionately believes that Law is an excellent match for her personality and strengths. First, she has a great memory, excellent communication and argumentation skills. She is also extremely ambitious but has a strong moral code at the same time, which she believes is a good combination for any lawyer.
Since she has a natural inclination to stand up for what is right, Nupur started pro bono work for stray animals at a very early age and became a member of the Animal Welfare Board of India under the Ministry of Forest, Environment and Climate Change.
To Fight for What Is Right
The legal career is no longer limited to civil and criminal litigation. There are multitudes of subject’s in law- family, banking, criminal, and taxation law. Each subject of law nowadays demands a specialized lawyer; thus, the market for lawyers grows steadily. Legal career options would not be confined to working as a lawyer, but choices are open to becoming a legal adviser or working in politics or social work.
Also, an accomplished lawyer would be well renowned and respected within their community, society, and even nationally. A legal career would provide the option and opportunity for one to invoke social change. Revolutionary changes can be made with a simple Public Interest Litigation filed before a High Court or the Supreme Court. Prestige would be guaranteed with a good-paying job. Self-confidence is integral to job satisfaction.
Triumphing Today and Tomorrow
It is this self-confidence which keeps Nupur future-ready. Many busy legal practitioners struggle with a heavy workload with ongoing professional development. Many people also view professional development as a burden they have to complete rather than a flexible endeavour that might advance their lives and professions.
She adds that one of the ways to keep yourself ready for the future is to commit to keeping yourself informed. Small modifications can have a big impact on the manner and effectiveness of your work. And while keeping personally informed of every change in state and central law that might affect your practice isn’t a simple feat, all attorneys need to take steps to ensure that their work product reflects a current understanding of the law.
They use automated alerts to keep updated with the latest legal information like Google Alerts. This free tool enables legal professionals to create individual alerts that will notify them of any new content on areas of interest. Users can then be emailed immediately, daily, or weekly with a ‘feed’ of items of interest.
Knowledge management is another strategy for ensuring your future readiness, as opposed to training. Some methods for learning outside the classroom include teaching, conducting legal research, writing about the law, shadowing in a workplace, and completing a dissertation.
The Vital Factor
It is also essential for legal professionals to consider areas other than law in which they can expand their knowledge. Many developments now shaping the practice of law are coming from outside the profession, and as such, the more you can add these to your existing expertise, the better prepared you will be to tackle the challenges and opportunities you will face.
You can study innovative topics like legal technology, sales, and marketing, as well as contemporary business trends in legal practice and legal design, in addition to learning about the more conventional management skills of team motivation, communication, project management, and finance.
For Lifelong Success and Happiness
In her profound message to everyone reading her story, Nupur says, “Every flower blooms at a distinct rate, as my mother had always said. Give it the proper encouragement, sustenance, morals, and values, and leave the rest to the Lord.”
Every person’s definition and degree of success are unique. Nupur’s mother always made an effort to instill in her qualities like kindness, humanity, patience, and tolerance—things that are challenging to adopt but not impossible. Nupur says, “My mother always maintained that hard work and knowledge never go to waste and that you will always reap the rewards of your efforts.”
“I’ve discovered how to appreciate life’s little pleasures and lend a hand to the weak and marginalized, which has brought me great joy and contentment. It is the key to success and happiness,” she concludes.
