In conversation with Managing Associate Vibhav Mithal, Anand & Anand

“Good researchers are those that are able to break down the proposition that they are seeking to search on, in myriad ways, in order to reach the end result. Simply, you need to be able to approach the legal proposition you are searching for in different ways. I think that broadly a combination of intelligence and a fervent desire to find the answer that you are looking for, are important.”- Managing Associate Vibhav Mithal. Mr. Mithal is currently working for ANAND & ANAND as an Intellectual Property Law Litigator.

You have been associated with ANAND and ANAND since more than five years now. What does your job demand from you?

 

Just to give a background to our readers, I am an Intellectual Property Law Litigator and therefore practice IPR litigation in various forums. Simply put, Litigation is Court practice and as a part of my work experience I have appeared before the Supreme Court, the Delhi High Court and tribunals such as the Intellectual Property Appellate Board. Moreover, Anand and Anand is my first job and I have been with the firm since I graduated from my law school.

 

In terms of demands – a litigator’s job, pressures and timelines are by and large dictated by the Court and the timelines placed by it. As a litigating lawyer, and especially one who functions at trial court stage, your first job is to know your file inside out. You must be aware of the facts of your case, where in the files can you find the key documents you are relying upon, what the opposite party has stated and in turn what are they key documents they are relying upon. This is just an example of how litigation functions and one of the expectations from the job.  

 

Litigation is not just arguing before the Court, as shown in movies, or reported by the Media in articles. There is a lot of background hard work that goes into it for each hearing – and as a junior lawyer – you assist your seniors in the preparation of the case. This means that from day one when you join your job, and you may be given a matter to work on, each student must do two things. One – they should properly understand the task given to them so that it is clear what is the expected end result. In this regard, it is important for us to realize that all tasks are important and one should never really question whether the task given to them is important or not. Two, while the junior is assisting the senior with the assigned task, the junior lawyer must also endeavour to read the entire file so that they can understand the merits of the matter as well.

 

This process of learning how to prepare for a matter teaches you inevitably how to argue before the Court. Let me explain. If you read a file in a particular way, and you remember certain facts, when you discuss the same with your senior when you are briefing them, that interaction would teach you which facts to focus on and which facts might actually not be so relevant. You learn a lot when you brief your seniors. Thereafter, when you have understood the facts of the case, and you hear your senior argue in Court, you then learn how that information is conveyed to Court. All of these things collectively, would allow you to eventually argue yourself.

 

My main point really is – that there is as much learning in preparing for your matter and understanding your file, as there is in arguing yourself before the Court. Both are interconnected. I say this because one should not view litigation only from the perspective of an arguing counsel. Lastly, it is a process that takes time. One should give themselves around two to three years with one senior, before they can form a view on whether they like litigation or not. Sometimes, it takes longer. Personally, I started developing a far better understanding of the overall picture about 2 years in into practice. Therefore, patience and perseverance is key.

 

 

What motivated you to choose Intellectual Property Law as your main stream career option?

 

I think it is the fact that when you learn about Intellectual Property Law – and its existence – you suddenly start seeing it around you. Whether it be a doodle you might make on your notebook, or the trademark on the shoes that you may wear, it really is around you if you know about it. This aspect of Intellectual Property Law really intrigued me and kept me hooked in college.

 

Another fact that played a very important role was that in my school as well as college days, I was heavily into theatre. I have done a lot of plays – and in many, I wrote the script of the play in addition to acting in them. My point – I had a very strong creative side – and when I was taught Copyright Law, I knew this field was special. Thereafter, when I further learnt Trademark Law and Patents Law, I knew I wanted to be part of this.

 

Of course, as it always is, the teachers who taught me had a critical role in shaping my decision to choose Intellectual Property Law as the main career option. I would like to mention them. Anirban Mazumdar, who taught me Copyright Law and I owe it to him for it is his classes that changed my curiosity into a passion for the field. Shamnad Basheer for metamorphosing the interest in Copyright Law to Patent Law and whose impact is difficult to put in words. And finally, Vishwas Devaiah, who taught me Trademark Law and shaped the academic in me by guiding on various writing projects.    

 

 

Field of IPR is growing exponentially. How much scope does a lawyer have in this field?

 

There is a lot of scope in the field of IPR. For our student readers, they must view IPR as having four routes. There might be more that might develop with time, but these are four routes that might help students approach the IPR field.

 

The first route – is what we called registration of IPR or the creation of IPR. In this path, you may assist clients in registering their intellectual property before the relevant IPR office. For example, you may assist in the process of how to get a trademark registered. Moreover, if you have a science background and technical expertise, you have the option to assist clients for their patent filing. Usually, students who do not have a science or technical background, and want to work on the IPR registration side, prefer to get into trademark practice.

 

The second route – is IPR Litigation. In this route, you assist your Clients in IPR disputes before various Courts and Tribunals. The litigation part of it – is similar to other types of litigation. However, depending on the Court in which you practice, and the fact that IPR litigation is specialized, there might be further nuances present in your day to day job. When I say nuances, I mean IPR litigation may differ slightly from general litigation in certain ways, and these differences might be due to the nature of the field and where you are practicing it. For example, I predominantly practice in the Delhi High Court and the Delhi High Court has set up Commercial Divisions to deal with IPR disputes, pursuant to the enactment of the Commercial Courts Act in the year 2015. As some students might know, the Commercial Courts Act modifies certain provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908. Therefore, as an IPR practitioner before the Delhi High Court, you may practice law slightly differently.

 

One myth that I want to bust with respect to IPR litigation is that one must have a technical background to practice Patent litigation. I have personally worked on many patent litigation matters and I do not have a technical background. The key point – that students – who are looking to get into IPR litigation in the future – is to remember that in complex technical matters like patent, you may work with engineers. Your job is to assist in the legal side of the dispute and with experience you also start understanding the technical side. My point really is – do not back away from IPR litigation just because you do not have a technical background. Litigation in the end of the day is Litigation – just that your subject matter changes.

 

The third route – is where IPR forms part of a corporate practice. One example of this type of practice is Media and Entertainment Law. In this route, students learn skills of a corporate lawyer – but IPR is the subject matter of the law which they practice. Students may speak to people working in this area to learn more about what this practice entails.

 

The fourth route – is the field of policy or academia. Simply, in this path, one aims to become a policy expert or seeks to teach, and in the process, integrates IPR as a part of its profession. Students may speak to people working in this area to learn more about what this route entails.

 

With so many routes, it really depends upon the student – and what type of skill set one seeks to develop. IPR can form part of any route.

 

After graduation you went for masters at Boston University School of Law. Do you believe students who opt for masters have higher chances of getting better jobs?

 

I actually went for my masters to Boston University School of Law, after working for three years at Anand and Anand. So my first advice to students, is that, they must first work for a few years and then think about approaching masters, if at all, they are inclined to pursue the same. Work experience teaches you a lot of skills that would be helpful when you pursue masters and may also give you clarity about what is it that you really want to do.

 

For example, you may think you like an area of law but when you enter into practice, you find that it really does not suit you and you do not want to do it. Then pursuing a Masters, after work experience, may allow you to shift to a new area of law. The work experience in this case, or as a matter of fact, any work experience, always helps us. We learn things that we may not even realize. Similarly, if you like an area of law and say, you really like it, then a Masters allows you to build upon that.

 

In terms of job chances, I think it really depends on what area the student has pursued a Masters in, and how relevant is that Masters and what the student learnt in that Masters, for the job that the student has applied for. Of course a Masters does add to your CV, and looks good, but practically it is how the student uses the learning of its LLM program to further its career that really matters.  

 

 

About six publications are in your name which requires significant amount of Research. What are some of the skills that a good researcher has?

 

In my view, good researchers are those that are able to break down the proposition that they are seeking to search on, in myriad ways, in order to reach the end result. Simply, you need to be able to approach the legal proposition you are searching for on in different ways. I think that broadly a combination of intelligence and a fervent desire to find the answer that you are looking for, are important.

 

Of course, there are many times, that the point of the research really is to confirm that there is no answer. At the same time, I think student researchers must view the proposition of law that they are search on holistically and if they get stuck, to see if they can approach the proposition of law differently.

 

An important thing to be kept in mind is that students should not try too hard to try and find cases specifically tied to the facts of a case. I have seen it multiple times that students are always keen to find out the facts that underlie the legal proposition they are researching upon, and if communicated, they try too hard to find cases tied too close to the facts and in that process actually miss the larger point of the legal research and where it was directed.

 

How far do you believe building connections is important for a law student or a graduate?

 

Honestly, I think the most important focus area for a law student/fresh graduate, outside the college/classroom context, is to build trust through their work, in any opportunity they are given. In my view, good quality work communicates far more than any attempt to build connections with people you may or may not know. If you do good quality work, and people appreciate your work, then it might turn into a work opportunity at that place. If not, then at least your good work might give you someone who may act as a referee. Either way – the best way to make connections in my view, is through your work. The relationships built through good work either in internships or otherwise, are the most helpful ones when in college.

 

Of course, these days LinkedIn and similar forums are very popular. On such forums, a piece of advice. When students seek to connect with Alumni, or other people in the industry of interest, it would be nice if they invite can be sent with a personal note so that there is clarity about what the student is looking for. Also, if someone does accept the LinkedIn request, it is always polite to thank them for accepting your request. Once connected, an attempt should be made to engage in meaningful conversation first.

 

How can interns bag Pre-Placement Offers (PPO)? What expectations do you hold from interns?

 

It is possible to get hired if you do good work in your internship. Of course, it also depends on whether there is a vacancy in the organization that you interned or not, so therefore there is an element of luck involved. Of course, there is no guarantee of Pre-Placement Offers (PPO). In my view, students should focus on their tasks and do the job to the best of their abilities. Good work will get notice and you never know, it might lead to further opportunities.  

 

Illustratively, the expectations from interns are that they be sincere, hardworking, take accountability for their tasks and assist effectively in the tasks assigned to them. Of course, if students are seeking to intern in specialized areas of law such as Competition law, IPR, or any such area, a demonstrable interest in that particular area of law also helps. That said, the same is not necessary for applying for an internship. Lastly, as interns usually help in research tasks, good research skills are exceptionally useful. As I have said before, all tasks are important and therefore interns should not make the mistake to think that what they have been given to work on is not important. They should help in the best way possible.

 

Wishing all your student readers the very best !

Also read- In Conversation with Associate Lawyer Mukund Rawat