About

Rashmi Kathpalia gained a wealth of experience as a litigator between 1988 and 1998 in the Supreme Court of India and various High Courts and Tribunals. Representing and advising various Indian and foreign corporate clients on a range of matters, during this early period in her career the UK Government awarded her the Chevening Scholarship for Young Professionals, which recognises future global leaders in business and world affairs. She then moved to Bechtel, the largest US construction and civil engineering company, as its sole in-house counsel in India, covering all of the company’s entities and projects in the country. During this phase Kathpalia was managing counsel for the Dabhol power project settlement saga, gaining recognition by achieving a final resolution, with the help of a team of over 30 in-house and outside counsel, spanning four continents. Her success on that this matter led to a promotion to senior counsel in the global Bechtel legal department. Joining French engineering and construction company Technip in 2015 as senior vice president and country head of its legal department, Kathpalia is currently responsible for: advising and directing on legal issues raised in commercial transactions and the contract negotiation process; supervising on transactions, litigation, deal and compliance related matters; and provides advice to the local board of directors. More specifically, she is responsible for establishing and administering the company’s short, medium, and long-term legal strategy and as a member of the senior management team, she contributes to the effective leadership of the company. Given the heavy regulatory framework in the hydrocarbons and petrochemicals sector, Kathpalia plays an important role in supporting business growth. Demonstrating her managerial skills, Kathpalia centralised her team of six to focus on providing core services. As she says, ‘the strategy for having a top-class legal team is to instil in them the value of knowing the company’s business inside and out, so as to astutely apply relevant law, of which they already have expertise. The more a lawyer knows about the business or project, the easier it is to unravel the legal issues, draft and negotiate related contracts‘.