A Commendable Journey--Pavani Reddy

Pavani Reddy has made a commendable journey from a little town in Andhra Pradesh to building a very credible profile for herself in the field of law in the UK. Pavani is first female managing partner at Zaiwalla & Co. Solicitors. In a candid tete-a-tete,” I get to do what I love and I love what I do” says Pavani.

Could you share anecdotes about your early beginnings in AP and later as an advocate?

 I come from Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh where I studied in early part of my life. Back home in India, the region where I come from, presently the literacy rate is over 70 per cent, but this was not the case when I was studying. Women were not very ambitious about studying especially a subject such as Law which required a lot of dedication and above all, investing into a good course.Thanks to my parents, they helped me follow my dreams .I then moved to the UK to study further and transferred my qualification to that of an English Solicitor with Zaiwalla & Co Solicitors.

 Zaiwalla & Co Solicitors was my big break and  Sarosh Zaiwalla has been such a wonderful teacher to me. After that there was no looking back -- I went on to become the partner in 2005 and now I am the Managing Partner of Zaiwalla & Co Solicitors.Currently I head the ‘litigation team’ handling multi-million pound disputes in the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court.

I aspire to soon become an expert in arbitration having recently won three London arbitrations for Indian clients’ worth over £10M dollars each. 

To sum it all up, my journey has been very rewarding and fulfilling because I get to do what I love and I love what I do.

  Tell us about your journey from small-town AP to UK.

My journey has been a long and endearing one. I have had the opportunity to work with some of the most reputed cases which have taught me so much about my profession as well as my life.

It has been a challenge to handle multi-million pound arbitration and litigation matters involving energy, commodities, shipping, construction, company disputes and commercial issues for clients including some Fortune 500 companies. I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to handle high value commercial cases in the London High Court, Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of England and Wales.

One might think that problems exist only in our country but when you work away from your home country you realize that crime is prevalent all over the world. It just so happens that some countries have better processes and judicial laws in place to bring justice to the needy and put a proper system in place.

  Did you face many hurdles while establishing yourself in UK?

I believe, people are very quick in establishing prejudices and generalizing situations especially when it comes to an idea of the west. The drive to establish myself in the legal field was so strong that I was averse to any negative conditions that would come my way right from the beginning.

I noticed in India that being a lawyer was completely considered as a man’s profession and in a way discouraged me from going ahead. Only the support and encouragement from family and friends made me stronger with my belief and hence I decided to take the next step forward

When I moved to the UK, I realized the importance of dignity of labor. I was treated with a lot of respect which made me feel very motivated . I felt accepted very quickly and loved the work culture instantly. But this is how it works in the county, every profession is treated with due respect.

   What kind of litigation do you specialize in?

 I specialize in litigation and currently head the ‘litigation team’ at the firm handling multi-million pound disputes in the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court.

  Some high-profile cases you have handled-- recent ‘Billionaire Divorce’ case of Imerman v Tchenguiz, the ground breaking case of Shah v HSBC which has changed the law on the way banks can report suspicions of money laundering, the case of Haswani v Jivraj which has changed the law on discrimination of arbitrators and the TNEB suit--- can you share some details about these cases?

In the famous Shah v HSBC case the Court of Appeal ruled that parties which had suffered loss as a result of suspicion activity reports (SARs) filed by bank employees with the authorities were entitled to demand proof from the regulated institution responsible, that the suspicion on which the SAR was founded existed and the bank is required to show that it had suspicion and the Money Laundering Reporting Officer will need to come to court and explain why he made the report that he did.

TNEB case involved £170 million pound claim against Tamil Nadu Electricity Board brought by the Claimant, an Indian company with an American stake holding. The dispute revolved round a Power Purchase Agreement, specifically the Actual Capital Cost, used in calculating the tariff of the energy sold to TNEB by the Claimant. The Tribunal accepted TNEB’s arguments and ordered the Claimant to remit to TNEB, the excess monies held by it on account of Capital Costs. 

Solicitor, managing partner, mother and homemaker--- how do you juggle these all-important roles?

Well, I do nothing different in comparison to millions of women out there who balance family and work life perfectly well and still somehow manage to excel at both. I feel women are very strong and focused when it comes to achieving tasks. I am not being a feminist, but I believe women can multitask well because they know where their priorities lie.

Of course, having entered a male dominated profession, the stigma of being a feminist or a rule-breaker has been attached, but I believe that is exactly what I pride myself on.

I want to reach out to all the women out there and tell them that nothing is unachievable if you set your heart and mind to it. It might seem difficult at first, but you need to be passionate about a task or a responsibility you take on.

My profession is certainly very important to me but nothing in this world could ever replace my family or change what they mean to me. So it has not necessarily been very difficult to juggle both. I have been blessed by a very loving and supportive family who also make things easier for me.

 In October 2010, Pavani was awarded the Gold Award for Women of the Year at the Asian Achievers Awards ceremony and in January 2012 she was awarded Glory of India Award for her outstanding performance in the legal field.