This month, India Law Journal spoke to Gitanjali Saraf, Legal Head, Perot Systems, Asia Pacific about the how working as an in-house counsel is different from working in a law firm.

Ques: What according to you is the difference between working as an in-house counsel and working in a law firm?

Ans: As an in-house counsel, you are involved in the end to end execution of an assignment. Your role in the Company is to facilitate business, define strategies, identify and mitigate risks, to provide business solutions within the legal framework.

Ques: In-house counsels are often dependent on law firms or external lawyers for specialised advice related to legal work. In this regard, when according to you, does the role of external lawyers come into play?

Ans: In-house counsels do rely on external lawyers for advice in specialized areas, litigation being one of them. In case of litigation, we do rely on external counsels for court appearances.

Ques: Being an American company, are you offshoring your work to India?

Ans: Yes, we do and to other Asia-Pacific countries, as well.

Ques: Being in the profession for a long time, would you recommend law students to pursue more degrees, diplomas, or other courses after completing their LL.B?

Ans: LL.B is the basic degree which a student is required to have for pursuing the legal profession. But as they say, "Knowledge" is "Power" and the more the better.