☀️ Panel at SABA, Interview, and New Roles
6 min read

☀️ Panel at SABA, Interview, and New Roles

Desi-derata

This email goes out to 1,654 South Asian legal professionals.

Going to SABA?

Are you going to the SABA National Conference this year? I'll be moderating a panel on an exciting topic, I'll share more details soon.

If you're attending, or if you're on the fence and are wondering whether to go, hit reply and let me know!

Interview with Rosanna Mannan

When we last caught up with Rosanna Mannan, we profiled her successful use of Pani Cooler for a lateral move. Since then, Rosanna ventured into new territory as a Contracts Manager at BitTorrent. As someone in legaltech, I saw this as a striking move and I wanted to learn more about the opportunity Rosanna identified.

So what is contract administration?

Contracts Administration, Management, Drafting, and Negotiation can have many forms. In my experience, they look like the following: Contracts Administration is the record keeping and logging of contracts. Contracts Management is the communication of the contract status with internal and external parties, as well as getting the contracts executed. Contracts Drafting is the creation and writing of a contract prior to execution. Contracts Negotiation is the redlining of contracts to put forward favorable terms for your side when negotiating with a counterparty.

In my current role, I do all four.

How did you research and identify this role?

I know a few Santa Clara Law Alumni who became Contracts Managers. Santa Clara Law also emphasized having the option of having a "JD Advantage" career, which is a career that does not require being an attorney but requires legal knowledge.

What was missing for you from your experience in biglaw?

BigLaw experience is one of a kind. The training and quality of work I received was top notch, especially when you're working with startups and companies in the Silicon Valley. The quality of life is what I found was missing, because I worked 24/7 (at my desk) and I did not have time to eat meals with family/friends, exercise, cook, spend time with my dog, or get a daily good night's rest.

How did your coach help you in the job search process?

Celina Souffrant is an amazing interview and career coach. She is an expert at helping people get tech company jobs. She really took the time to understand my law firm work background and then helped me to articulate how I would be a good fit for the tech company positions I interviewed for.

For example, she helped me understand the Amazon Leadership Principles for my interview with Amazon and how to be Googley for my interview with Google.

I first started interviewing for any in-house attorney role I could interview for, but with the help of Celina's coaching I ultimately decided that I wanted work-life balance above all else. I chose the Contracts Manager role because I would be doing the commercial legal work that I love and I would still have time to live life and do other things I enjoyed. I decided to put my mental health and free time above having a high salary or fancy title.

How does the company fit in?

I'm really excited to work with BitTorrent and be a part of the crypto industry. It is a growing space (despite market fluctuations) and I'm really enjoying managing and negotiating the contracts at this company.

So what will you be doing with your new free time?

I can live abundantly and sleep, cook, exercise, walk my dog, go to networking events, spend time with friends and family, and enjoy my evenings and weekends. Summer is here so I would like to visit a few of the California coastal beaches.

The Jobs

The mission of Pani Cooler is to build direct connections between South Asian lawyers. A key part of that is getting South Asian lawyers hired and promoted. The below roles include direct contact information for your colleagues. Reach out to these lawyers in a manner consistent with the goals of building community on this platform.

In-House

Legal Adjacent

Government

  • ​Hiral Mehta: Hiral is Deputy Chief at U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of New York. The U.S. Attorney's Office is looking for an Assistant U. S. Attorney. Reach out to Hiral at [subscribers only]

Law Firm

  • ​Nikhil Gore: Nikhil is a partner at Covington & Burling LLP. Nikhil's team is looking for a financial services regulatory associate, mid- or senior-level. Preference for D.C. but we also have offices in New York and the Bay Area that could work for this role. Reach out to Nikhil at [subscribers only]
  • ​Shanti Katona: Shanti is a member at Polsinelli and Vice Chair of Polsinelli’s Bankruptcy and Restructuring Practice. Shanti is looking for attorneys with 2+ years of substantive Chapter 11 and bankruptcy litigation experience. This position can be based in our Wilmington, Dallas, Kansas City, Chicago, Atlanta or Los Angeles office. Reach out to Shanti at [subscribers only]
  • ​Ajay Mago: Ajay is managing partner at Edwards Maxson Mago & Macaulay, LLP. Ajay's team is looking for mid-level and senior attorneys to join the firm’s Technology Transactions, Commercial Contracts, Corporate – Private Equity and M&A, Corporate – Venture Capital and Emerging Companies, and Banking and Finance practice groups. The positions can be remote anywhere in the U.S. or hybrid in Atlanta, Austin, Chicago, Dallas, Ft. Lauderdale, and New York. Reach out to Ajay at [subscribers only]
  • ​Tejas Shah: Tejas is a partner at Barnes & Thornburg. Tejas's team is looking for an Immigration Staff Attorney. Reach out to Tejas at [subscribers only]