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Overview:
The Legal Officer will be responsible for overseeing the organization’s legal, regulatory, and compliance framework. The Legal office will serve as an internal legal advisor to business functions, ensuring that all operations, transactions, and business decisions are legally sound and in full compliance with statutory obligations. The role involves drafting and negotiating contracts, conducting legal due diligence for investments, managing litigation (including appearances before courts and consumer commissions), and advising on regulatory matters.
This position demands a self-driven legal professional with the ability to balance business priorities with legal prudence, working collaboratively across departments to mitigate risks and safeguard the company’s interests.
Key Responsibilities:
1. Contracting, Negotiation & Documentation:
Draft, review, vet, and negotiate a wide array of legal documents, including:
- Master Service Agreements (MSAs), Vendor Agreements, NDAs, Consultancy Contracts, Marketing & Licensing Agreements, Partnership Agreements, Joint Development Agreement, Saas Agreements and Rental Agreements.
- Establish a centralized contract management system and ensure version control, approvals, and renewal tracking.
- Advise on contractual risk mitigation, indemnities, limitation of liability, and dispute resolution clauses.
- Provide legal input in commercial negotiations to ensure alignment with company policy and statutory compliance.
2. Legal Due Diligence & Transaction Support:
- Conduct legal due diligence for investments, shareholder transactions, and internal restructuring exercises.
- Review and draft transaction documents such as Shareholders’ Agreements (SHA), Share Subscription Agreements (SSA), Share Purchase Agreements (SPA), Term Sheets, and ancillary instruments.
- Prepare due diligence reports identifying legal risks, non-compliance areas, and recommending corrective measures.
- Coordinate with external legal advisors, investors, and financial teams to ensure smooth execution of transactions.
3. Litigation & Representation
- Represent and appear on behalf of the company before Civil Courts, District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions, and State Consumer Commissions.
- Draft, review, and finalize pleadings, notices, affidavits, complaints, replies, written submissions and Arguments.
- Engage and coordinate with external counsel for litigation strategy, hearings, and case management.
- Maintain a litigation tracker with status updates, next hearing dates, and risk summaries for management reporting.
- Handle pre-litigation disputes, mediation, and settlement discussions to reduce litigation exposure.
- Handle Police station matters.
- Conduct Enquiries.
4. Compliance & Regulatory Management
- Ensure the organization’s adherence to all applicable statutory laws including the Companies Act, Labour Laws, Consumer Protection Act, and relevant sectoral regulations.
- Monitor legal developments and notify management of any regulatory changes affecting business operations.
- Coordinate with statutory authorities, liaison officer, maintain compliance registers, and oversee internal audits related to legal and governance functions.
- Draft and review internal policies, codes of conduct, and compliance manuals.
5. Legal Advisory & Risk Management
- Provide strategic legal advice to management and various departments, HR, vendor management, and customer contracts.
- Conduct risk assessment for new projects, partnerships, or product launches, ensuring compliance with legal and regulatory requirements.
- Support in dispute prevention by issuing legally sound advice and notices where required.
- Ensure internal processes are aligned with legal best practices and regulatory expectations.
6. Policy Development, Training & Awareness
- Draft and implement legal policies and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) across departments.
- Collaborate with HR, Finance, and Operations teams to institutionalize legal governance.
Key Skills & Competencies:
- Sound knowledge of corporate, commercial, civil, and consumer protection laws.
- Proven experience in drafting and negotiating contracts, conducting due diligence, and representing before judicial/quasi-judicial bodies.
- Strong analytical, problem-solving, and negotiation skills.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills with attention to precision and detail.
- Ability to manage multiple assignments simultaneously and meet tight deadlines.
- Professional integrity, confidentiality, and stakeholder management abilities.
Educational & Professional Qualifications:
- LL.B from a recognized university.
- Enrolled Advocate with the Bar Council of India.
- 6-7 years of post-qualification experience, preferably in both corporate in-house and litigation roles.
- Prior exposure to investment due diligence, contract lifecycle management, and consumer litigation will be preferred.
Key Deliverables:
- contract review and negotiation.
- Successful handling and closure of litigation and consumer cases.
- Quality and comprehensiveness of due diligence reports.
- Internal stakeholder satisfaction index on legal support.
