Interviews

Zia Mody, founder and senior partner at AZB & Partners, recounts the trajectory of her career, beginning as a young lawyer in New York City to becoming one of India’s top corporate lawyers. Mody began her career at a time when women were a minority in the legal profession, both in India and abroad. In the interview, she discusses some of the obstacles she faced while starting out her career—earning the respect of her male colleagues in India, adapting to the Indian legal environment, building up a client base through pro bono work, and balancing this demanding career with motherhood. Although she credits her father, Attorney General of India Soli Sorabjee with inspiring her interest in law, Mody explains that her father’s influence on her career was more as a role model and mentor rather than active partner.

Mody goes on to discuss the evolution of law and the legal system over the course of her career, specifically the rise of judicial activism. In her interview, she discusses how and with what consequences the Indian Supreme Court has become something of a “policing authority” for its own decisions. In the past, she explains, many Supreme Court decisions and rulings did not get implemented. Increasingly, however, the court has become more active in both monitoring and enforcing the law. She describes judicial activism at work with two examples: the case of Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala and the Sriram cases concerning the manufacturing and processing of toxic chemicals. Mody continues to address the challenges facing an activist judiciary—most fundamentally a lack of human capital and state capacity—but she also explains that the Supreme Court also has a unique ability to encourage political transparency and push for political and social development.

A key theme running throughout Mody’s interview is the place of women in Indian society, and how she has seen it change during the course of her career. Mody is encouraged by the increasing number of women entering the legal profession in India—her own firm has 50% women as partners—but still notes that there is still much to be done to improve opportunities available to women and girls in rural areas necessary for them to achieve economic independence.

Concluding the interview, Mody reflects on her experience as an entrepreneur with the founding of AZB & Partners. The idea to found an independent practice, she explains, grew both from personal ambition to advance her career and from the liberalization of the Indian economy in 1991. This next step wouldn’t have been possible, however, had she not worked to cultivate a reputation of trustworthiness. “All you have is your reputation,” she explains. As a result, “if somebody worked two hours, I would work three hours.” Over time, she developed deep and intimate knowledge of the Indian legal system for which she is known. This dedication and energy helped her grow a small boutique firm into a major Indian law firm with 400 associates across India.

In a supplementary interview in 2021, Mody discusses the issue of corruption in India and how the law can constrain it. She describes the Prevention of Corruption Act, India’s primary anti-corruption legislation, which was passed in 1988, and explains how the law has evolved to become stronger. Mody compares the corruption laws of India and other countries, and shares her thoughts on which forms of corruption will be hard to tackle going forward.

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