Vivek J.

About Vivek J.

A dynamic and dual-qualified legal professional (India and New York) with close to 23 years of diverse and high-impact experience across top-tier law firms, Big 4 consulting, and in-house legal leadership roles. A gold medallist from National Law School of India University (Bangalore) and a magna cum laude LLM graduate in International Business and Law from the U.S, he brings a rare blend of deep legal acumen, commercial insight, and strategic foresight.Currently serving as Executive Director at PwC, he is the go-to counsel for complex legal strategy, regulatory risk, cross-border transactions, and cutting-edge domains like Generative AI, data privacy (DPDP Act), and data governance. Over the years, he has led transformational projects, high-stakes M&A, and joint ventures, and has built governance frameworks from the ground up. His legal leadership is characterized by a consultative and mentorship-driven approach—guiding senior legal, risk and business teams across various domains. His team mates both current and ex- regard him very highly, not least because of his exceptional mentoring, training and camaraderie. He has successfully crafted litigation strategies in critical disputes and regulatory matters, instituted frameworks for open-source compliance, and led privacy initiatives such as GDPR rollout and internal data risk governance.Earlier in his career, he honed his expertise in general corporate structured finance, M&A,” and cross-border legal work at premier law firms and banks such Amarchand Mangaldas and ICICI Bank (where he was seconded by his law firm), adding versatility and depth to his already robust portfolio. He also held a successful senior legal, risk and reputation role at Deloitte.With a foundation built at La Martiniere for Boys, Calcutta, and a career marked by intellectual rigor, ethical grounding, and a forward-looking mindset, he is exceptionally well-suited to serve as General Counsel and legal leadership roles for forward-thinking organizations navigating complex regulatory landscapes and digital transformation.

Experience

1. Executive Director

   PwC

   Jul 2023 — Present · New Delhi, IN

   Mentoring: Strong focus on coaching and mentoring senior LOS counsels across Assurance, Advisory, Tax and IFS on complex legal and business projects, consultations, troublesome practice matters and disputes.Data privacy: Conceptualised, anchored and providing strategic legal inputs on the Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDP) compliance plan since 2023- covering documentation, controls assessments, process improvements, counselling and advisory to CISO/IT/Risk and other cross functional stakeholders.Generative AI - Lead India OGC counsel for advising on Gen AI related regulatory and contractual aspects towards driving the adoption of Gen AI tools with necessary guard rails (business rules etc).Data Governance: Lead OGC counsel for data usage policies - worked closely with data office for creating a suite of policies and associated governance frameworks towards responsible and in vocative data use strategies. Litigation strategy - Crafting litigation strategy on complex litigations/troublesome practice matters/regulatory matters; hand hold and instruct external counsels and junior team members; supervise drafting of pleadings, monitor updates etc. Demonstrated history of driving complex litigations to successful outcomes.

Education

• La Martiniere For Boys, Kolkata

  ISC, Science (Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Biology)

• National Law School of India University, Bangalore

  BA LLB (Hons), Law

  1997 — 2002

• Stetson University College of Law

  LL.M., International Business Laws

  2004 — 2005