This interview has been taken by Preeti Kumari, who is a campus leader at Lawctopus.
Please introduce yourself to the readers.
I am Nancy Garg, an advocate by profession who also runs a legal tech startup ‘Vidhi Parivartan’. With that, I have become a writer, educator and an entrepreneur. I am someone who is ready to utilize every opportunity that comes my way.
I am receptive to new ideas and concepts that I can absorb and adopt effortlessly. My personality strives for perfection and I am constantly on my toes till I achieve and accomplish my goals.
I have been very studious from my school days. I completed my schooling from Panipat and further went forward to study law at SRM University, Sonipat, Delhi NCR. Presently, I am pursuing my masters in Law (IP & IT Laws) from Chandigarh University.
Why law? What inspired you to choose law as a career?
I decided to pursue law very early during my schooling. I have personally witnessed certain situations in my life where people have suffered a lot due to injustice done to them. Since I am someone who is very emotional by nature, I always wanted to do something for such people.
Like every other girl, I myself have faced hardships and believe that pursuing law as a career can bring a lot of difference to one’s personality. This actually motivated me to pursue law. With an aim to be a Judge someday, I would like to contribute in a positive manner to this country.
Tell us something about your college life. How’s life there? The academics, co-curricular, fests, competitions, etc.?
I had a beautiful journey at SRM University. I was pursuing a 5 year B.B.A. LL.B. (Hons.) Course there with a specialization in Corporate Law. I was awarded a gold medal for being the batch topper along with the chancellor medal for my outstanding performance as a student throughout my journey at SRM. I was very active and disciplined throughout the 5 years.
I used to participate in as many events as possible for me and always tried to strike a balance between academics and co-curricular activities. I was a part of the placement cell of my university for a year and also contributed to different law clubs wherein I assisted the department in organizing various events from time to time.
The entire department including my professors, juniors and seniors admired me a lot for the kind of personality I built and the passion I had for law. I have completed various internships at reputed places and have rendered my services in different capacities such as a relationship manager, senior editor, content writer, decoder and campus ambassador.
I have many accolades and publications to my credits so far. I have won several competitions during my law school. I always had an opportunity to learn and grow under the tutelage of experienced professors at SRM who have been motivating me each day till now in every manner possible.
At Chandigarh University too, I am trying to maintain the same standard. In the last year of my law school at SRM, I developed a strong interest in IP laws. After I interned at Singhania and Partners for 4 months under the IP team, I was sure that I can narrow down my areas of interest and can create my niche in IPR.
This is why I thought of pursuing my LL.M. in IPR. Since Chandigarh University was offering dual specialization in IPR and IT Laws, I felt the combo to be extraordinary and perfect.
Studying here has been a complete pleasure and I am sure that once I complete my masters here, I would be a confident individual with a more effective personality who would be self ready to contribute to the field of law in a much better manner.
Do you think that the tag of NLU matters in our profession? Have you ever felt disadvantageous of not being a NLU-grad or top law school grad?
No, I personally believe that NLU tag does not matter at all. If you have the capacity to influence someone and prove your worth, you can do that being a law student from a private university or a government law school too.
I have never felt that not studying at an NLU affects your career and growth. It depends upon a student how he shapes his journey. I have seen many students getting internships and jobs at reputed places, even though they were not from NLUs because they had the calibre to perform well and have so much to reflect through their CVs.
Tell us about Vidhi Parivartan. What drived you to found that?
Vidhi Parivartan is a legal platform that seeks to hone the skill-sets of all the budding lawyers, aid the law students in all possible manner by optimum utilization of resources available at their disposal and thereby empower the legal fraternity eventually.
The platform aspires to undertake a host of short, medium and long-term activities and programmes for the legal community to enhance their professional, academic, extra-academic progression.
It’s committed for the cause of empowering especially the first generation lawyers who face innumerable hardships in the profession. Moreover, it aims to live up to its motto of ‘‘Nyaydaanam Shreshtam Daanam’’ through every activity that it undertakes.
At Vidhi Parivartan, thus, the members seek and aspire to change the fate of not only society and nation, but also their own. We aim at utilizing the legal stream as a ‘panacea’ to wipe out every tear from every eye of the aggrieved and victim in society.
We strongly believe that – ‘Law is a king of all kings’ and ‘Justice is truth in action’. It’s your ‘One Stop Legal Destination’ and all are invited to join in.
The journey so far:
Vidhi Parivartan was started on 1st Feb, 2021.In a span of 2 years, we have been involved in the following activities:-
- Webinars – 25· Legal Events – 20+ (Article Writing Competition, Case Comment Writing, Debate, Moot Court Competition, Quizzes, etc)
- Served 900+ clients (Assisted in CV and Cover letter drafting, reviewing, research assistance, profile management, study material, judiciary prepration etc.)
- Trained 150+ interns
- Uploaded 150+ Legal News Updates
- Released 3 issues of Vidhi Insight Journal
- Owns a website, Journal, YouTube Channel and social media platforms
We have invited Justice Subodh Shah, Advocates from the Supreme Court of India (including Adv. Pallavi Pratap, Adv. Jayant Bhat, Adv. Ashish Goel), Industry Experts (Adv. Meenu Padha, Adv. Sushanth Samudrala, Adv. Chaitanya Bhandari, Adv. Vishnu Tandi), Partners and associated from reputed law firms (Mr. Hemant Thandani, Ms. Nabila Zehra, Mr. Nitin Podar, Mr. Anurag Katarki, Mr. Anuj Aggarwal, Mr. Vibhav Mittal, Ms. Sana Singh) for delivering informative lectures at our platform.
We offer various services like Publication assistance, Profile management, Research assistance, Mentorship programs, CV and Cover Letter drafting, Job and Internship Help, Career advice, study material , etc to help law students and professionals build their career in Law.
As I mentioned that I have worked in various capacities before while I was in my law school, I got an opportunity to work with a lot of startups which helped me hone my skills and create expertise in the field of law.
During lockdown, I felt that I had got a lot of time which could be invested into something fruitful where I can build something of my own. Since I had the right skills and expertise, and then that I have got plenty of time too, Vidhi Parivartan came out as a result of the same.
You have a keen interest in writing, please tell us about it. Also, how did you manage academics with extracurricular activities in your college days?
Writing becomes an art when you work upon it sincerely. I see students struggling to write research papers, generate content and publish articles under their name even in the last year of their law school just because they are never guided upon the basics of legal writing.
Many a law schools in India do not encourage their students to write papers, all they want is the students to attend classes, pass each semester and graduate which makes no sense because unless and until you don’t know the writing aspect, one cannot draft documents, one cannot prepare arguments well and one cannot contribute to the field.
Writing becomes very important, not only to a lawyer but to every profession. This is why I personally worked a lot on my writing skills from the 1st day of my law school. I used to set up targets for myself that all had to be completed by the end of each semester.
I always kept a track of what I did. Maintaining a balance between academics and extracurriculars is a game of hard work, time management and passion. Academics increases your knowledge, simultaneously, co-curricular and extracurricular enhances your skills and personality.
Both go hand in hand. So targeting things in a proper manner, scheduling them rightly and preparing then performing well helps in managing it accordingly.
What motivates you to go on and do what you are doing?
My aim to be a judge soon makes me go on to do and pursue what I am doing. I have a passion towards law and I am very confident that I as an individual can move mountains if I am given the opportunity to do something for the Country.
I always believe that right guidance is a factor that is unavailable to students these days. Therefore, I always welcome everyone with an open mind so as to provide them with the right guidance which can help them shape a better career.
Please give a small piece of advice for readers who are budding lawyers.
All I would suggest to law students and freshers is:
– Explore the field of law as much as possible because you can create multiple career options out of it.
– Never procrastinate and be dedicated to whatever you do.
– Never compare yourself with anybody because everyone has different situations and circumstances in their lives.
– Be organized and stay updated. Work on your skills and knowledge simultaneously.
– Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Keep backup options for yourself and work accordingly.
This Interview is a part of our Star Student/Faculty interview series wherein our campus leaders interview the star student/faculty of their college. Stay tuned for more!
Source: Lawctopus
