“I’ve noticed a clear shift in the GC community from being isolated and closed-door to be being more open and collaborative.”

An interview with Avneesh Chopra, Head Legal and Company Secretary at Valvoline Cummins Pvt Ltd in India.

How would you describe the state of the GC Community in your region? 

The General Counsel community, especially in the manufacturing sector, has undergone significant changes. Initially, legal departments were largely reactive. They primarily focused on risk avoidance, contracts, managing litigations, and ensuring compliance. While these areas still remain important, expectations for General Counsel (GC) have grown immensely. Today, a GC’s role extends beyond legal advice. They are also trusted business partners, strategic risk managers, and often serve as ethical guides for their companies. We, as GCs, are providing insights to business on how legal considerations impact business goals, helping businesses to mitigate potential risks and opportunities. In addition, we are delivering measurable impact through supporting ESG, digital transformation, and enterprise risk management. I’ve noticed a clear shift in the GC community from being isolated and closed-door to be being more open and collaborative, aligning with business objectives and driving results as business enablers.

How has it changed since you first moved in-house?

In recent times, we have seen more dialogue, witnessed in the industry forums and informal discussions as well as in collaborative, cross-company working groups. This trend has helped GCs to sharpen their strategic thinking, improved our practices, and encouraged us to collaborate on common issues such as supply chain, privacy, compliance with export regulations, regulatory investigations, and environmental, social, and governance reporting.

GCs are now adopting legal technology, bringing operational efficiency and transparency among their stakeholders. Digital tools like contract life cycle management, real-time compliance dashboards, and litigation management help the GCs & the legal team to monitor KPIs and take data-driven decisions. As a result of this, legal teams are transforming from being seen merely as cost centres to becoming key contributors of values in their organisations. This evolution reflects a broader understanding of the GC’s role as not just legal guardian, but also a business partner, crisis navigator, and culture steward.

Why is expanding your network important to you? 

For me, growing my network is about having meaningful connections.  As a General Counsel, I often face issues and decisions involving technical operations, sustainability, product liability, trade laws, and privacy and safety of our employees. In the last few years, we have seen the laws and regulations changing very fast and becoming more complex. It is helpful for me to understand and learn how my GC peers are addressing and navigating the complex regulatory environment. The GC network helps me to gain perspective and sharpen my own thinking. The ideas and experiences, including informal discussion, shared/exchanged are highly valuable and extremely important. 

What kinds of connections or discussions would be most valuable to you?

Discussions that drive practical solutions and support execution are relevant – how GCs and legal teams are navigating new regulatory changes, how they are leveraging technology, how they are supporting and managing risk and supporting business, and what future skill sets will be required for doing our jobs.

What do you want to achieve by collaborating with other GCs and senior in-house lawyers? Are there specific topics, challenges, or experiences you’d like to share or learn more about?

In India’s fast-evolving manufacturing landscape, collaboration with fellow GCs is invaluable. We are all facing similar challenges – navigating complex and often fragmented regulations, managing multi-state compliances under labour, EHS, privacy, and industrial law, and responding to growing ESG and sustainability expectations. Through collaborations, I hope to:
– Exchange practical strategies on regulatory compliances, environmental compliances under the Central Pollution Control Board/State Pollution Control Board (Extended Producer Responsibility) & Circular Economy challenges.
– Discuss and share experiences on how legal teams may better support business alignment and on developing legal frameworks and reporting for ESG, sustainability, and SEBI BRSR responsibilities and also privacy-related matters like consent management, etc.
– Encourage the creation of legal functions that are ready for the future, such as tracking legal expenses, AI-powered contract automation, and compliance dashboards. For the development of the legal team, their understanding of and support for business, their ability to offer workable solutions, and their shift from reactive to proactive.