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As legal and integrity specialist at Hitachi Energy, Agrata Sujith is a young lawyer who is climbing the ranks. She attended Middlesex University Dubai before earning her LPC LLM from the University of Law in England. After interning at Eaton, ABB, and Hitachi ABB Power Grids, she found her way to Toastmasters International, where she moved up to administrative manager before moving to Hitachi Energy.
What is one of the biggest misconceptions about being an attorney or the legal function itself?
When I took the decision to study and become a lawyer, the first thing my grandmother asked was, “Are you going to lie for a living!? Are you sure you can do that given your personality?” I have always been the simple girl next door—dancer, presenter (emcee)—different from a stereotypical argumentative, aggressive lawyer personality she is aware of. Ever since then, it has been a journey to explain to her (and her peers) that there are different types of legal professionals and how vast the legal field really is. It surely was an eye-opener for them to understand the existence of the role of in-house legal counsels. For them, the world of lawyers started and ended with barristers and the lengthy court system.
My fellow lawyer friends and I have been on a mission, as we’d like to say, and continue to spread general awareness about corporate and in-house lawyers to those who’d want to understand (this includes all generations). Importantly, passion, genuine interest, and hard work can bring the best lawyer in you.
What’s a piece of unconventional advice you’ve received that was helpful?
I would say it is more of a question that began making me curious. “Have you thought of how you could involve legal technology to support your work?” and my life has not been the same since! It is important to be up to speed in the fast-paced world we live in, I started to research and learn about how digitalization and technology can make legal work more efficient. As an in-house professional, we tend to heavily support the various businesses and functions within the organization. At the start of my journey with the company, I supported a very key automation developed—Legal and Integrity (L&I) Chatbot serving as a connection point between L&I and the various internal stakeholders within the organization. [I am] proud to say that I am an active part of the company’s global technology team within the L&I function where we explore and implement technology tools for a more efficient work/life balance and continue to make the most of already available digital tools.
