One may be good at the art of interpretation, drafting, and negotiation. Even at times, his/her success rate as a counsel may prove as a distinguishing factor in his or her role as a Legal Executive. These exceptional attributes would definitely open up avenues for taking up the management role in a corporate house. But one self-introspection which one needs to do before taking up such a position is to ponder over the question-Am I prepared for a management role? The answer would probably be ‘No’. This is because management in a dynamic business ecosystem with everchanging multi-variate elements of VUCA is a different ball game for which different skill sets, potential, and expertise are required.  Those can only be garnered through a right combination of application-oriented academic programmes, workshops, and on-field training, which not only enhance and upgrade your capabilities as lawyers but installs business acumen within one.

MBA (Law) – a is programme of its kind, which aims exactly at that. It is the solution to the problem stated above and the only way through which legal professionals/scholars can help themselves in learning out the key business concepts, methodologies and all that is important to take up the key management role in business organizations and legal consulting firms to meet contemporary expectations of clients.

NMIMS in India has already attained the first mover advantage in the country in this unexplored arena and to a great extent has justified the meaning of the programme in letters and spirits. The course structure has been so thoughtfully designed that it equips a law graduate with all tools to navigate through the management like a captain of the ship / a true leader. Specific business activities or roles where these professionals can significantly contribute can be M&A, Investment Banking risk-enabled performance and contract management international trade, forex management, consultancy and so on. For example, if we talk of risk assessment, their contribution can be very crucial as it will be a reflection on legal risk assessment keeping in consideration all the finance and business risk involved as they have an idea and understanding of all corporate brand, finance, and business risk exposures.

To reiterate, risk assessment analysis can be one such area in the management where the legal executives can play a key role in the management of the organization. Business impact analysis A risk management plan are important parts of any business continuity plan. By understanding potential risks to the business and finding ways to minimize their impacts, one can help their business by preempting and also to recover quickly if an incident occurs. Types of risk vary from business to business, but preparing a risk management plan involves a common process. A risk management plan should detail out the strategy for dealing with risks specific to the business.

Members of the Board of Directors, with personal liability as directors of the company, need to be satisfied that any issue which exposes their fiduciary responsibilities to risks will not only put the enterprise into risks but they themselves individually. A person with both legal and management skills set would be a most sought-after person to handle such issues at the core level. Albeit we in an era of multi-skilling it is not that a legal manager with MBA (Law) degree will now have to do all the job himself and is a threat to all the existent roles. It is the increase in effectiveness, quality, and speed which one brings in his / her work matters the most by the display of understanding of what all are to be managed, how one issue may impact other and how a cross-functional coordination is to be achieved by implementing the right strategy and SOPs.

Legal risk management refers to the process of evaluating alternative regulatory and non-regulatory responses to risk and selecting among them. Even with the legal realm, this process requires knowledge of the legal, economic and social factors, as well as knowledge of the business world in which legal teams operate. In an organizational setting, risk management refers to the process by which an organization sets the risk tolerance, identifies potential risks and prioritizes the tolerance for risk based on the organization’s business objectives, and manages and mitigates risks throughout the organization.

As much has already been said above, its high time now to look up to things from a solution-oriented approach in an organization, i.e., simplistic way of managing complex tasks in a company and to look for such persons who have the right set of skills and ability to provide an all-pervasive solution to all the needs of an organization. A professional with MBA (Law) degree will soon be the most sought-after professional due to his / her all-round holistic approach to the task of business management with required skills needed by primarily a legal professional aiming for management roles.