Payal Chawla: Ensuring a More Equitable Legal Future
The growing role of women in the legal profession marks a major shift towards a more inclusive society. This shift is propelling greater social advancement in addition to reshaping the legal environment. As more women enter and excel in legal careers, they bring essential yet unique perspectives and drive growth in legal practices and policies.
Payal Chawla, the Founder of JusContractus understood this need of equitability in the legal profession and came with a unique idea of nation’s only all-women law firm. As a full-service legal firm, JusContractus offers the best possible legal services. Its practice includes equally robust corporate, arbitration, civil, and criminal litigation.
Payal Chawla became a lawyer inspired by her father’s deft art of persuasion. Her father wanted Payal to pursue a career in law, but like many youngsters, she initially resisted her parents’ advice. During Payal’s years at St. Stephen’s College, she was deeply involved in theatre and harbored ambitions of becoming a full-time actor. Naturally, her parents were not thrilled, but they knew that if they explicitly asked her to pursue law, she would likely resist.
Instead, her father suggested that she fill out an application form for the Faculty of Law at Delhi University, with the understanding that she wouldn’t be required to attend classes regularly and could continue to pursue her theatrical interests. It was with this understanding that Payal filled out her law school admission forms. Since she had good grades, getting into law school was not difficult.
Once she started law school, Payal found the subject so captivating that she completely forgot about her acting ambitions. Her love for the law continues to inspire and drive her to this day.
Drive for a More Just Society
Payal’s mission at JusContractus is to make it the premier arbitration firm in the country. For her, it is equally important to have a more equitable space for women in the legal profession. With this vision, Payal founded JusContractus, the nation’s only all-women law firm.
JusContractus is dedicated to fostering equality for women, nurturing young female professionals to compete on an equal footing with their male counterparts. Its commitment is to deliver top-notch legal services with integrity, professionalism, and a client-centric approach.
A Leader at the Helm
Payal’s career has been shaped by several crucial moments. The first was winning the Gold Medal at the National School Games in 1983. This achievement, along with other accolades and academic successes, paved the way for her admission to St. Stephen’s College. A decade later, she topped an all-India contest to win the prestigious Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholarship. This scholarship allowed her to pursue a Master’s in Law at the renowned University of Chicago Law School, where she was honored with the Russell Baker Fellowship and the University of Chicago International House Grant.
Payal had the privilege of serving on the Nirbhaya rape tragedy Judicial Commission, which was presided over by Hon. Justice Usha Mehra (Retd.). She is also a director of the Nani Palkhivala Arbitration Centre, a Chennai-based arbitration institute and non-profit organization with its own set of regulations. Payal was most recently named to the Arbitration Bar of India’s Executive Committee.
These achievements opened doors for Payal to work with top multinational companies as their in-house counsel and with prominent law firms. Beyond the legal field, she also had the opportunity to develop skills in various areas, such as managing teams both laterally and vertically, also learning how to manage finances, marketing, human resources and, most importantly, mastering the art of time management. This ultimately set the stage to begin her own legal practice.
Building a More Seamless Future
As the founder of a women’s law firm, Payal views technology as more than just a tool for increasing efficiency; it is essential to the firm’s success. Technology offers women the flexibility to work beyond traditional office hours, addressing the inherent disadvantages they face in the workplace. Women often bear the additional burden of domestic chores and have heightened safety concerns, limiting their ability to work extended hours.
Payal emphasizes the importance of technology by giving professionals the freedom to work from home and releasing them from the confines of conventional physical offices. She and her colleagues at JusContractus take great satisfaction in being innovators in this area, having adopted remote work far in advance of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the future, Payal wants to further use technology to improve productivity, simplify procedures, and build more seamless timekeeping, billing, and other operational systems. She is determined to keep innovating and establishing benchmarks for a flexible and fair work environment.’
Payal’s Inspiring Voyage
Payal Chawla admits that her gender has been the primary cause of her greatest obstacles in life. She has experienced domestic abuse in addition to employment discrimination while pregnant and a young mother, despite her accomplishments. Her corporate case was fought in public before the Apex Court and was the focus of a Tapasya Films short documentary. The movie has received multiple accolades, and earlier this year on International Women’s Day, its poster was shown in Times Square in Manhattan, New York.
Payal believes that one of the reasons the producer was drawn to her story was how universal her story was—the majority of women face some sort of violence at some point in their lives. She therefore takes great personal pride in the accomplishments of women. Payal has the opportunity to significantly impact other women’s lives now. Instead of using her influence for charitable purposes, she prefers to empower other women in order to help them realize their own agency and realize their own potential.
Commitment to Ethical Practices
The success of JusContractus can be attributed to the unique strengths that women bring to the table. Women are naturally adept at multitasking and possess a keen attention to detail. Moreover, the firm emphasizes a client-focused approach, delivering personalized legal strategies and maintaining a steadfast commitment to ethical practices. By understanding each client’s unique needs, JusContractus tailors its services to ensure they receive the best possible representation and support.
The firm has garnered numerous prestigious awards and was honoured to be photographed by Pulitzer-nominated photographer Ms. Lynn Johnson of National Geographic, in celebration of the 100-year anniversary of the US suffrage movement. Payal was recognized as one of Forbes India’s “Thinkers to Watch” in 2015. Additionally, she is a recipient of several notable accolades, including Top Lawyers, 2020 & 2021 – Forbes in association with Legiquest.
In many ways, mentoring and supporting young people is similar to parenting. Payal believes in leading by example. Igniting a passion and drive within others, she says, is a job well done by a mentor. Her initiatives focus on fostering a lifelong thirst for learning, encouraging a relentless hunger to achieve, and inspiring the ambition to reach the highest echelons of success. Through these strategies, Payal aims to empower women to excel and thrive in their legal careers.
Payal Chawla emphasizes the irreplaceable importance of reading. However, she finds that regularly writing, giving lectures, speaking at conferences, teaching, and conducting workshops are excellent ways to learn and stay updated. Payal frequently writes and speaks on arbitration and women’s issues, and she encourages her young colleagues to engage in these activities as well.
To young women considering a career in law, Payal offers this advice: “There couldn’t be a better profession. It is empowering, intellectually challenging every day, and nuanced. Most importantly, it allows one to make a real difference in the lives of others.”
Looking ahead, Payal aspires to devote more time to advocacy and writing. In the third quadrant of her life, she hopes to create abundance in every aspect while maintaining her commitment to pro-bono outreach.
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