Law, Laughter and Beyond Law, Laughter and Beyond

Sarath Ninan Mathew is a full-time DPhil Researcher in the Law Faculty and a member of St. Hughs College. He completed his Bachelor's in Law, B.A. LL.B. (Hons.) from the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences; and his Master's in Law, LLM in Commercial Laws from the University of Cambridge. He graduated his LLM with the 'CMS Prize for Coporate Law' for distinction in Corporate Finance Law examination, and was the Pratibha M. Singh Cambridge Trust scholar during his LLM year.Sarath's present research is at the interface of E-Sports and copyright law. He seeks to understand how US and EU copyright law regulates E-Sports streams, and how the doctrinal position contrasts with the self-regulation presently found in the industry. The research is expected to include both doctrinal and empirical work. Sarath's other academic interest areas include contract law, company law, corporate finance law, and legal methods. Sarath is also highly interested in teaching and has taught modules for NUJS Intellectual Property and Technology Laws Society, and the non-profit legal education program - Increasing Diversity by Increasing Access.Sarath has served on the editorial boards of the Cambridge Law Review and the Journal of Indian Law and Society. He was the Chief Editor of the Journal of Indian Law and Society during his last 6 months with the journal. Sarath worked for 1 year in Ambala district in Haryana as a Chief Minister's Good Governance Associate wherein he worked with the State Government and the District Administration to improve public administration. Sarath has also served as the Administrative Head of the NUJS-HSF Bridge Project, a project that educates underprivileged kids living in the slums of Kolkata. 

Pranav graduated from NUJS in 2019 and currently works as a Senior Associate in the Energy and Infrastructure practice at Trilegal. He joined the firm's Dispute Resolution practice as a fresher before switching internally to focus entirely on the renewable energy industry and has acted on a variety of contentious, non-contentious, and policy mandates for clients in the sustainability sector. 

Swarna is a Research Fellow at the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy working in the area of Fintech. She graduated from the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata with a B.A. LL.B (Hons.) in 2021. Her areas of interests include financial regulations, data protection laws, commercial laws and the emerging frameworks of new financial technologies. She previously worked with the law firm L&L Partners wherein she was involved in advising on various issues under the Companies Act, the foreign exchange laws and the employment laws. She has also worked with the Vidhi Kautilya Society at NUJS and has contributed to the NUJS Law Review.

In this podcast, we have interviewed Swarna on her time at NUJS and how her activities at the universities allowed her to shape her interests and profession. We have talked to her about her experiences at L&L partners and the differences between working at a law firm and a policy think tank in India. We discussed her interests during law school and the work structure that the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy follows. Towards the end of the podcast, Swarna and the hosts talk about the situation of law schools in the country and what law students can do to cultivate their interests.

Shubhangi Agarwalla is a lawyer based in Delhi where her work focuses on international trade law and public international law. She has previously worked with Max Planck Institute of International Law and the United Nations International Law Commission under the Helton Fellowship. In a previous life, she interned with the international arbitration teams of two multinational law firms. To make sense of these varied experiences and reflect on the life of international law more generally, she runs a blog International Law and the Global South. In this episode, she discusses a career in international law, higher education, and being a woman in IL from the Global South.

Ameen is a Senior Resident Fellow at Vidhi, and leads the Centre for Applied Law and Technology Research (ALTR). His interest and research focus lies in AI ethics, and the governance of AI. Within ALTR, he has been leading the team's collaborative research on data trusts, and artificial intelligence. Ameen has also worked on the intersection of technology and the justice system, as a senior fellow working on the JALDI mission's engagement with the Supreme Court of India's AI and E-Courts' committees. Ameen has a formal educational background in social research methods and evidence-based policy. He completed his master’s programme from the Institute of Education (University College London), focusing on the use of research evidence in policy processes, and was awarded an MSc. with an overall distinction. Before this, he completed his undergraduate legal studies from the W.B. National University of Juridical Sciences [B.A. LL.B. (Hons.)] in 2012. Prior to Vidhi, Ameen worked at J. Sagar Associates, in the firm’s regulatory and policy team. He has practised in the Supreme Court of India, the Delhi High Court, and numerous tribunals. In this Podcast, Akshay and Sri have interviewed Ameen about his experience with the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy and his time as a student at NUJS and UCL. In this podcast they talk about about the integration of AI with the country's judiciary and discuss recent events and development in policy and affiliated research.

Malavika has worked as a research fellow with Nyaaya under the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy and a graduate of Symbiosis International University and holds a B.B.A.LLB degree. Her main areas of research include women's rights, child rights, social welfare legislations, gender based violence and information design. She also writes regularly on publications such as Live Law and Firstpost. Before joining Vidhi she completed a summer course on International Relations from Kings College London in 2017. She has worked on the Legal Development Project funded by WHO on ‘Road Safety and Design’ and in the National Policy and Research Team by IDIA (Increasing Diversity by Increasing Access).



In this Podcast Sri and Astha have interviewed Malavika about her experience with the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy and her time as a student at Symbiosis and Kings. They have discussed the growth of the legal field in the country, especially the ideas about legal research and development. In the episode, Malavika further talks about the various activities a law student should take part in their pivotal years and the best possible ways to shape ones legal acumen.