Legal Counsels Management Development Programme
| Start Date: | Jun 22, 2026 | End Date: | Jun 26, 2026 |
| Last Date for Application: | June 8, 2026 | Last Date for Early Bird: | June 1, 2026 |
| Programme Fee: |
160000 INR Plus, GST |
Early Bird Fee: |
148800 INR Plus, GST |
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Pay Now |
The programme is designed primarily for in-house lawyers aspiring to become Chief Legal Counsel/General Counsel, as well as lawyers seeking to transition into in-house legal roles.
The Legal Counsels in a company function under the leadership of Chief Legal Officer/General Counsels (CLO/GC). The duties of legal counsels are extensive. It covers - assisting CLOs/GCs, drafting contracts, undertake compliance functions, working with law firms and litigation teams, strategizing with cross functional teams, support in due diligence for mergers, acquisition and distress/insolvency, ideating on new initiatives, negotiate with clients, provide legal advice to departments, assess legal risk in the working of a company or activity, provide communication support etc.
Given the multifaceted nature of their role, In-house Legal Counsels is an important partner in the operational and business success of a company. As such, they are expected to understand critical management skills and tools that are necessary for effective functioning within the company.
The “In-house Legal Counsels Management Development Programme” will be taught by IIMA faculty and external industry experts.
It covers key management and leadership concepts, real life experiences, layered understanding of the world of business and management, and using AI tools to improve decision making and many others. The key objective is to enable participants to develop key managerial skills to work as in-house counsels effectively and under the General Counsels/CLO.
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Genesis of the Programme In 2023, Prof Ram Mohan and Shri Sidharth Sharma, Group General Counsel of Tata Sons designed and offered the first of its kind leadership and management development programme for General Counsels/In-house Counsels across the Tata Group. This program is now in its 4th year!
Based on the experience, an open enrolment program for Chief Legal Officers was offered for the first time in 2024. The third edition of the programme is scheduled for August 2026.
Across all these programmes, one of the feedback received was that the programme should be made available to legal counsels across levels. This programme aims to address this gap. |
- To provide necessary managerial skills and tools to in-house counsels to function effectively within the company and under Chief Legal Officer/General Counsel.
- To develop in-house counsels into a future Chief Legal Officer/General Counsel/Legal Heads.
- To help cultivate lawyers to transition to in-house legal counsel by providing general management and business skills.
- Company’s Objects and Business
- The session(s) will cover idea of corporation, business objects of a company, and running of a company.
- Learning strategy formulation
- These sessions would provide an initiation to the idea of strategy formulation and execution. From a leadership perspective, the focus would be on how the legal counsels could understand their strengths as leaders and develop these further as they grow in their roles.
- Working with General Counsels/CLOs
- The legal counsels’ day to day interaction is with Chief Legal Officer. Further, the CLO position is the likely ambition for most legal counsels within their organizations. These sessions will deal with understanding the working and mindset of CLOs, the kind of challenges they face and what adjustments need to be made by the legal counsels while working with CLOs.
- Navigating artificial intelligence-oriented changes at the workplace
- The world is moving towards new technology-oriented workplace. The conventional employment and business need to adapt to the changing requirements. These sessions would help provide legal counsels with an understanding of technological, specifically artificial intelligence related challenges to their work and how they could navigate them.
- Preparing for and leading organizational culture changes
- In the present times, employees face various elements that bring changes to the workplace culture. These sessions would help legal counsels with developing a better understanding of factors that can bring drastic workplace changes, and the kind of adaptations needed at their end to navigate these, including behavioural and mindset-oriented adjustments. The sessions would also help with how legal counsels could play active role in bringing relevant changes at their workplace.
- Cross functional team dynamics
- Skills and training of a lawyer sometimes conflict with expectation when working for a company. These sessions would focus on how legal counsels could navigate workplace interactions specifically focusing on dealing with interpersonal and team related dynamics and challenges.
- Negotiation Skills and Managing Contracts
- Management of contracts and disputes are critical components of lawyers’ role. The sessions will cover management techniques of negotiations
- Learning the basics of financial management
- These sessions are geared towards proving legal counsels an understanding of finance and financial management topics. For many legal counsels, finance may not be their core area of work, and hence these sessions would help them to explore how the world of company finances work, and also to understand the financial vocabulary and concepts better.
- Business and crisis communication
- Making business decisions and communicating to the world forms a critical part of company’s visibility. The session covers the art of business communication and the methods of behaviour and influence. These sessions will also focus on crisis communications.
- Roles of in-house legal counsels
- Legal function of a company is not a profit centre. Legal is expected to be an impartial voice to look for possible risk arising from business operation. However, equally it is important to understand business side of company. We will explore the role of legal counsels.
The programme is primarily targeted for
- In-house legal counsels across levels
- Lawyers aspiring to become CLOs/General Counsels/Legal Heads
- Lawyers seeking transition into in-house legal roles
- Members of corporate legal teams across industries
The programme adopts a mix of case studies, case-based discussions/sessions, lectures, experiential exercises, and participant presentations.