Women Lawyer of the era 2021

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Women Lawyer
o f t h e E r a - 2 0 2 1
Vol. 10
Issue 08
2021
Naina Krishna Murthy
An Audacious Woman Leader

The Gamechanger of Indian Legal Game
he legal system is an indispensable
part of a civilised society, the
torchbearers of which are lawyers.
Lawyers are the legal architects who
facilitate legal, social, and political justice.
They serve the important purpose of
representing the interests of the common
man in front of the court of law.
The quote - “With great power, comes
great responsibility,” said by the world-wide
phenomenon – Uncle Ben, from the movie
Spider-man, is an apt description of the
kind of shoes a lawyer has to fill in. So that
begs the question – what does it take to be
a good lawyer?
Generally, lawyers that are proficient in
their practice have excellent
communication skills and are good
listeners. Good communication skills are
essential in order to argue convincingly in
the courtroom before judges and juries.
Both, the study and practice of law
necessitate absorbing a large amount of
information. The good among the lawyers
must be able to distil that information into
easy-to-understand data and asses what
are the next steps that need to be taken. At
times, the data may suggest that there will
be more than one precedent applicable, or
more than one reasonable conclusion. A
lawyer must therefore have good analytical
skills and an even better judgement.
To add to it, quick and efficient researching
ability is crucial to understanding the nooks
and crannies of each case, the needs of
the client, and the decisions that may
affect people’s lives.
A not-so-obvious quality that the lawyers
benefit from is the use of creativity in
problem-solving. The most obvious
solution is hardly ever the best one to
realise. Often times, in order to
outmanoeuvre your challenger, it is often
necessary to think outside-the-box.
All this and still we’re not even close to
exhausting the list of requirements that
are needed to satisfy the role of an
excellent lawyer. Conclusively, a good
lawyer is nothing short of being a
polymath.
In this special edition of Insights Success
Magazine –
audience the professional story of the
inspiring Founder and Managing Partner
of Krishnamurthy & Co. – Naina Krishna
Murthy. Naina is an exemplar of all the
qualities that make an excellent lawyer
mentioned above.
So, sit back, relax, take a break from your
memes and out your life on pause as you
read through the pages of this insightful
edition.
Have fun reading!
Aditya Umale
Aditya Umale
adityaumale@insightssuccess.com

Naina Krishna
Murthy
is recognized as
omen
Lawyer
of the Era - 2021
for being at the forefront of
women in business and one of
India's formidable legal
advisors.
Sumita Sarkar
Editor-in-Chief

Editor-in-Chief Sumita Sarkar
Deputy Editor Abhishaj Sajeev
Managing Editor Sayali Sangewar
Assisting Editor
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OCTOBER, 2021
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Naina Krishna
Murthy
An Audacious Woman Leader
“ Our motto is
nurturing relations,
delivering quality
“
C O V E R S T O R Y

In the age of feminism, women in India are making
remarkable progress and surpassing others in all the
spheres of life. They are known for delivering multiple
roles effortlessly and for giving their cent per cent hard
work to achieve success in whatever they do.
This is the reason that women are known as the backbone
of society. In a male-dominated society, women play the
most important roles of being a loving daughter, a caring
mother, and a capable colleague. Reaching heights in such a
male-dominated culture is a different kind of happiness as
people criticize them and try to pull them down. However,
they manage to stand strong and fight for their place in the
society.
One such woman with such a personality is Naina Krishna
Murthy. She is an exemplary leader, who inspires other
females to fight for their rights and accomplish what they
deserve.
A Formidable Leader
Naina Krishna Murthy, one of India’s most formidable legal
advisors, is the Founder and Managing Partner of
Krishnamurthy & Co. (K Law). She started her career
with Arthur Anderson followed by a stint as the In-house
Counsel at Biocon. With over 24 years of experience, Naina
specializes in corporate commercial law, specifically M&A,
JV, collaborations, and PE/VC investments. She is also a
trusted legal advisor to some of the foremost corporates in
India.
Naina is on the board of several leading organizations,
including the Universal Business School. She has cochaired
the Infosys Grievance Redressal Board for five

omen
Lawyer
of the Era - 2021
‘‘ What really differentiates
us from the crowd is
our relentless focus
on relationships as
opposed to transactions
‘‘
years. In addition to that, she has been on committees of
various companies involving sexual harassment complaints.
Some of these companies are Novartis India Ltd., Mphasis
Ltd., McAfee Software India Pvt. Ltd., GE India
Technology and British Telecom.
Naina has been appointed as the external Ombudsman of
SB Energy, a Softbank company. She has also served as the
director of various companies including National
Commodity & Derivatives Exchange Ltd. Currently, she is
on the Board of Bajaj Energy Ltd. since March 2019 and
IndoStar Capital Finance Ltd. since February 2018.
Naina has been acclaimed tremendously as being at the
forefront for women in business. She has been widely
appreciated by accolades including being recognised as one
of the Super 50 Lawyers in India by Asian Legal Business,
2021 and featured in the Managing Partner Roundtable by
Asian Legal Business in its December 2020 edition. She has
also been awarded the Woman of Excellence Award and the
Business Leadership Award hosted by Indian Achievers’
Forum, 2020, the Most Influential Woman in M&A Law by
APAC-Insider 2016, Woman Leadership for Excellence in
Entrepreneurship award by CMO Asia, Pan Pacific,
Singapore, and Woman Lawyer of the Year by Legal Era
Awards in 2013. Also, apart from her practice of law, her
interests go beyond to animal welfare, environment
conservation, and education of the impoverished.
Naina’s favourite quote: “Two things you are in total
control of in your life are your ATTITUDE and your
EFFORT.”

Delivering Excellence in Legal Space
K Law was founded in 1999 in Bengaluru, under Naina’s
leadership and guidance. It has become a major player in
the Indian legal market today. The firm is one of the
premier full-service law firms in India providing top-notch,
comprehensive legal and regulatory advisory, transactional
legal services, and dispute resolution support across a broad
spectrum of practice areas and sectors.
In a relatively short spell of just over two decades, K Law
has transformed itself into a national player with a rapidly
expanding practice footprint in mergers & acquisitions,
private equity, banking and finance, dispute resolution,
intellectual property, projects, media and entertainment and
real estate. The firm has a strength of around 85
accomplished and committed lawyers across offices in
Bengaluru, Mumbai, New Delhi, and Chennai.
Since its inception, the firm has grown exponentially into a
full-service law firm, rendering exceptional legal services to
its clients. K Law assists its clients by advising in
structuring commercial transactions (both domestic and
cross-border), obtaining governmental and regulatory
approvals, drafting and negotiating transaction documents,
and implementing transactions in India. The adroit team of
lawyers assists several national and international clients in
dispute resolution proceedings while representing them in
diverse fora including courts, tribunals, and other judicial
authorities across India.
The prime motive of the firm is to nurture relations while
delivering quality services to its clients. It is ensuring an
edge over its peer law firms with the unmatched level of
‘‘
There will be new
mountains to scale and
new goals to surpass
certainly. But for today,
what is being done is
enough and that
is a new blessing
‘‘

partner attention and involvement in each matter. Integrity,
assurance, confidence, experience, and an overarching
sense of service are some of the key elements that are the
foundations of K Law. The firm’s approach is client-centric,
solution-oriented, service-driven, and aimed at valueoptimization
through high partner-attention.
An Inspiration to Practice Law
Naina loves the practice of law. It has been her prime
motivation and continues to be so even today, without
compromise. She wanted to create an environment, where
this passion for the law was brought into the special and
sacred relationships between the client and the lawyer.
K Law was created based on the zeal to offer something out
of the box in the relevant domain. Naina aspired to devise
an environment that reflected the passion and purpose of the
entrepreneur. The venture converged on offering a joyous
and secure place for people to work at, and in turn, offer
best-in-class services to clients. The intention was to do
better, to do service, both for the people who worked at the
firm and those who sought work from the firm. After the
successful commencement of the business venture, Naina
headed forward with faith, courage, confidence, optimism,
and hard work, that paved the path to success eventually.
Obstructions Faced
Every entrepreneur at some point in their career, will face a
time when their expertise or skill set will fall short of what
the challenge demands. Nonetheless, with unshakeable
faith, courage, confidence, flexibility to adapt, hard work,
and lots of positive energy—knowing that every uncertainty
has its shelf life, and this too, shall pass—one has to keep
moving undaunted towards their target.
Naina started K Law in her 20’s. In a profession that values
age and experience, it was certainly an uphill struggle, to
convince clients to take a chance with her, especially in the
early years of inception of the firm. Further, at that time, the
legal industry was heavily male-dominated and a 20+-year
old woman starting out without any background or legacy
to show for her presence certainly made it a challenge to
convert apprehensive clients.
Today, however, the challenge is that of any growing
organization—talent building, people retention, client
service, quality assurance and above all, maintaining a
discipline of culture, integrity, transparency, accountability,
and service throughout the entire organization.
‘‘
Everyone is important
to the success of
K Law. No problem
falls on deaf ears and
every issue is addressed,
and addressed quickly
‘‘
A Glimpse on Personal Life
To explain Naina’s point of view on this, let us begin with
the fact that she has never understood the question, “How
do you keep a balance between your personal life and
professional one?” Her, definition of ‘balance’ is very
different from others. She tries to keep Sundays completely
work-free. But it is sometimes necessary to work as
everyone is going through challenging times and one needs
to be there for these people, who work within the firm or
the clients.
Since she enjoys what she does, she does not consider it an
unbalance, even if she has to work sometimes on Sundays
too. She gets ‘balance’ every day in the morning—with her
routine of meditation, workout, and prayers. It sets her up
beautifully for each coming day.
Naina revealed her aim in life and said, “My purpose in life
is to create a firm that will sustain after her and will
represent service to the people within and outside the firm
and to create a place people are happy to work for, and
where people are happy to come to work.”
Driving the Firm through Technology
Technology has certainly influenced the way we carry out
the business of law. From storing data to retrieving old
matters, to record keeping of time, to computing
productivity, to managing complex portfolios of clients;
technology has come a long way and has interspersed its
way slowly and effectively in the way we provide legal
services.

‘‘
My purpose in life is
to create a firm that will
sustain after me and, will represent
service to the people within and
outside the firm and, to create
a place people are happy
to work for, and where
people are happy to
come to work
However, these are all primarily the procedural aspects of
providing legal services, it still has a long way to go in
impacting the substantive practice of law.
A Different Perspective
Naina has never planned the future. In fact, she has always
despised questions like “where do you see yourself 5 years
from now?” Life is unpredictable and there lies the magic
and beauty of it. The future is what one makes of it. It can
be new and exciting or routine and dull.
For Naina, each day is a fresh start and a new beginning.
What she focuses on is taking control of the day and the
moment, to live that day fully. Curiosity and excitement
about what each day brings, and it will bring something
new is the promise of every new day. This is what the
present and future are for Naina. There will be new
mountains to scale and new goals to surpass certainly. But
for today, what is being done is enough and that is a new
blessing.
Remarkable Endorsements
Naina’s Achievements
‘‘
• Featured in the Managing Partner Roundtable by
Asian Legal Business (Thomson Reuters) in its
December 2020 edition
• Honoured with ‘Woman of Excellence’ and
‘Business Leadership’ awards hosted by Indian
Achievers’ Forum, 2020
• ‘Notable Practitioner’ for Corporate / M&A by
Chambers and Partners Asia-Pacific, 2019
• Included in India Business Law Journal's 'A List'
of India’s top 100 lawyers, 2016 & 2017
• Recognised as ‘Most Influential Woman in M&A
Law’ by APAC-Insider, 2016
• ‘Market - Leading Lawyer’ for Corporate/M&A by
Asialaw Leading Lawyers, 2016
• ‘Leading Practitioner’ for Corporate/M&A by
Chambers and Partners Asia-Pacific, 2016
• Honoured with ‘Woman Leadership Award for
Excellence in Entrepreneurship’ by CMO Asia
Awards, 2013
• Honoured as ‘Woman Lawyer of the Year’ by
Legal Era Awards, 2013
• Featured in Entrepreneur India magazine, March
2013 edition
Firm’s Accolades:
• Recognised as one of the top “Corporate &
Commercial” law firms in India at the India
Business Law Journal’s Indian Law Firms Awards
2021
• Ranked as “Tier 1” for “Copyright/Trademarks” in
India in 2021 by Asian Legal Business (Thomson
Reuters)
• Recognised for the following categories by
IFLR1000 2021:
o Project development: Infrastructure
o Project development: Power
o Project development: Transport
o Restructuring and Insolvency
• Shortlisted as one of the only 6 firms in India for
the “Firm of the Year” award at the Benchmark
Litigation Asia-Pacific Awards 2021
• Ranked as a “Notable Firm” in India in the
following three practice areas by the Benchmark
Litigation Asia-Pacific Rankings 2021:
o Commercial and Transactions
o Intellectual Property
o Insolvency
• ‘Tier 4’ for M&A by IFLR1000, 2021
• ‘Other Notable Firm’ for Corporate and M&A by
Asialaw Profiles. 2021
• Recognised for Corporate/M&A by Asialaw
Profiles 2021
• Recognised under M&A Rankings 2020 by Asian
Legal Business (ALB)
• Awarded the Best Corporate & Commercial Law
Firm 2020 - India by Acquisition INTL Magazine's
2020 Global Excellence Awards
• ‘Bengaluru Firm of the Year’ by India IP Awards
2020
• ‘Tier 4’ for M&A by IFLR1000, 2020
• ‘Other Notable Firm’ for Corporate and M&A by
Asialaw Profiles. 2020

‘‘
We focus on relationships
not transactions. Our
focus is on service,
walking the talk and
ensuring integrity
every step of the way
‘‘

‘‘
We look at every aspect of
a matter, identify and prioritize
the issues, and provide
innovative,appropriate, and
pragmatic solutions
to accomplish the desired and
necessary outcome to the
most complex of problems
‘‘
• Recognised for its Real Estate practice by India
Business Law Journal at the Indian Law Firm
Awards, 2019
• ‘Notable Firm’ for Corporate/M&A by Chambers
& Partners Asia-Pacific, 2019
• Recognised for its Corporate & Commercial
practice by India Business Law Journal at the India
Law Firm Awards, 2017-18
Building a Self-Perpetuating Team
This is what the team at K Law mentions about how they
expand the team, “We have never pursued rapid expansion
in terms of the size of the team; rather, we have been very
choosy when it came to the selection of the right individual.
We believe in the similarity of values between the
organization and its members and thus, ask only those to
join our team who fit well in our work and professional
culture.”
Academic brilliance and professional talent coupled with
integrity, ethical conduct, and client centricity are the key
attributes that Naina looks for in prospective lawyers of the
firm. K Law values a creative, dynamic, and solutionoriented
approach towards delivering excellence to its
clients and this is just what Naina seeks in her lawyers.
Along with inherent talent, she also strongly believes in
continuous learning and development. As such, she
encourages and provides regular in-depth professional
training to the lawyers.
Offering a Supportive Work Environment
Partners have regular calls with their teams. Sometimes,
these are one-on-one discussions. Naina is always
accessible to everyone within the firm from paralegals to
partners to the support staff. Everyone knows that they can
call her to discuss anything.
The K Law team ensures that talent is recognized and
appreciated. From an intern to a paralegal to a partner.
Every person is heard and seen in the firm. Nobody is made
to feel like they are just a cog in a large machinery because
in this firm they are not. Everyone is important to the
success of K Law. No problem falls on deaf ears and every
issue is addressed, and addressed quickly.
The team has regular town hall sessions, and the entire firm
is hosted by Naina herself to give hope, faith, assurance,
and optimism. The level of transparency and open
communication that has been proactively inculcated in the
team by the top management allows issues to be identified
at a very early stage and, steps can be taken to alleviate any
problem at its root. Also, there is zero tolerance for any
kind of politics.
A number of recreational activities are designed and
implemented to allow K Law’s culture to trickle down to
every level of the firm to keep the enthusiasm at its peak.
These include celebrating birthdays, Independence Day,
Republic Day, Christmas, and Diwali at the office locations;

having puja ceremonies at all locations; and organizing
office outbounds, lunches and dinners frequently. The firm
also regularly conducts welfare programmes such as online
meditation programmes and mental wellbeing workshops,
etc. for the benefit of all its members.
Just recently in 2019 (before the pandemic struck), the firm
completed two decades of its operation and thus, the entire
team (from all locations) was taken to the Bengaluru office
to celebrate this milestone in December 2019. This
combined with Christmas and Secret Santa ensured that
everyone had a gala time!
Mental health of its people is a priority at K Law. And the
team has set up proper structures to enable the protection
and wellbeing of the mental health of its people, which
everyone can take the benefit of.
At the end of the day, everyone feels that they are part of a
very cohesive family and that the firm has their back. They
are important to the firm and their presence means
something to the firm.
Setting the Goals High
Naina’s team mentions, what sets them apart from their
competitors, “Our motto is ‘nurturing relations, delivering
quality’. As such, our competitive advantage lies in our
unmatched level of partner attention and involvement in
each matter, which when complimented by our client
centric, solution-oriented, commercial approach towards
service delivery and high standards of integrity and
professional ethics, are difficult to replicate.”
“What really differentiates us from the crowd is our
relentless focus on relationships as opposed to transactions.
We focus on relationships not transactions. Our focus is on
service, walking the talk and ensuring integrity every step
of the way. Our clients have learnt that when we say
something we do it and then have their back every step of
the way. Our relationships are not transaction-based but
based on trust, service, and purpose,” they added.
‘‘
We believe in the similarity
of values between the
organization and its members
and thus, ask only those to
join our team who fit
well in our work and
professional culture
‘‘

Naina’s team aims to consistently meet the clients’ needs
and provide outstanding service in a timely, efficient, and
ethical manner. To this end, they follow the highest
standards of integrity, professionalism, and responsibility in
delivering on the commitments.
The high level of partner involvement and attention, the
commercial perspective, the client-centric approach and
value optimization that are at the heart of the firm’s
foundation allows it to ensure that nothing, but the highest
quality of services are rendered to the clients each and
every time.
Naina’s team said, “Our clients, their interests, and our
relationship with them are paramount to us. Thus, we assign
a great deal of value to swiftly assessing situations and
giving practical, commercial solutions to our clients’
problems.”
“We look at every aspect of a matter, identify and prioritise
the issues, and provide innovative, appropriate, and
pragmatic solutions to accomplish the desired and
necessary outcome to the most complex of problems,” they
added.
Words of Wisdom
Remember as Maya Angelou said,
“People will forget what you did or
what you said but they will never
forget how you made them feel.”
Despite your drive and your
ambition and your busyness, never
forget to respect and be kind to
people and understand that at the
end of the day, we are all
connected. That will take you
much further in life than all the
hustling you can do.