In Conversation with Avani Pathak – Corporate Head, Live Law

Ms. Avani Pathak is currently Corporate Head at LiveLaw. She has done her bachelors in Law from Amity Law School, Noida. We managed to ask her following questions.

How would you like to introduce yourself to our readers?

A big hug to all the readers of Lawbhoomi. I currently work as the head of corporate and business with LiveLaw – Asia’s No.1 Law Company. I was born and raised in a family of government officers in a small town in Madhya Pradesh. I don’t have any siblings and so I inculcated the habit of reading very early on in my life. My parents were particularly strict about academics, hence I had to always study hard which also made me more competitive. They always pushed me to strive towards excellence in everything I do and never compromise for anything mediocre in life. So, yes, I was raised up with a sense of competition and ambition – a trait quite important in today’s world.

Please tell us something about your pre-college life? What inspired you to pursue law?

I was quite a nerdy kid since my school days. Apart from academics, I was also inclined towards public speaking and writing. I was always fascinated by the authority and fame attached to a career in law. However, my parents are both government officers and they always wanted me to prepare for civil services.

It took me a while to convince them of my plans of pursuing a corporate career in law. Now when I look back, I think I made the right decision.

How was your time at Amity Law School, Noida?

To be honest, the best memories I have from my law school days are those of enjoying Delhi street food, shopping like crazy with friends and travelling all over India for attending moots and other competitions. I can proudly say that those 5 years were the best years of my life.

As far as studies go, I was never a last-minute person and always used to start preparing for my exam’s months in advance. I am an avid reader since childhood and after my classes, I used to spend most of my time reading books and lectures related to world economic history and politics.

Please introduce our young readers about LiveLaw and your experience so far.

LiveLaw as we all know is the go-to portal for every lawyer in India looking for legal updates.

My journey at LiveLaw has been more of a life-changing experience than just being a job. The passion and dedication of the team is extremely inspiring. There have been days when the work gets too chaotic. But to my understanding when you are scaling and calling good, chaos will follow and that will be the testament to the fact whether you can grow or not.

What would be your parting message to our readers who are primarily law students and young lawyers?

I think in the expanding field of law, it’s important for students to understand what their strengths and weaknesses are while weighing their career options. Most of the students remain ignorant of their own strengths and when the time comes to make a choice, they feel lost and clueless. They are uncertain when it comes to figuring out what their next steps are.

While in law school, students should try to get exposure to all the different domains through internships so that they can have a better understanding of the practical functioning of courts, firms etc. One advice which I would like to give to all the readers is to work hard and complain as little as possible. Nothing is impossible if you stay positive and keep working hard towards achieving your dreams.