Senior Counsel-Development South Asia | Hilton
Anubhuti Agrawal
Senior Counsel-Development South Asia | Hilton
What are the most significant cases, projects and/or transactions that you and/or your legal team have recently been involved in?
In recent years, Hilton has experienced significant growth, formed key strategic partnerships, and addressed various complex challenges in South Asia, with the legal team playing a central role throughout these developments. The major areas where the legal team works with the business team are (a) Strategic Growth & Brand Expansion and (b) Crisis Management/meeting operational challenges.
As a legal counsel, I worked closely with the development team on various major partnerships, which are key to Hilton’s ambition in India.
All these deals involved intricate licensing negotiations, regulatory review and background navigation, and alignment of the commercial terms with Hilton’s global standards and ensuring protection of Hilton’s brand standards.
On the other end of the spectrum, we faced a major challenge with the temporary closure of Hilton Kathmandu, Nepal’s tallest hotel, following Gen Z-led anti-government protests. The legal team was an integral part of emergency response coordination, insurance claims, and reputational risk management.
Thus, our legal work this year has spanned transformative growth, luxury brand launches, and high-stakes crisis response, guiding, assisting and working with other work-streams within the organisation during both opportunity and adversity.
Our recent work has clearly highlighted the dynamic and expanding responsibilities of in-house counsel within the organisation. We are no longer limited to the traditional role of providing legal advice; instead, we have become strategic enablers and critical stewards of the company’s resilience. This shift means that our function extends beyond the practice of law to also encompass the practice of leadership, guiding the business through both opportunities and challenges.
As an in-house legal team, it is essential to recognise that the ideal level of risk within a company is not zero and complete avoidance of risk would result in stagnation, preventing the business from adapting and growing. Our role, therefore, is to work closely with the business to ensure that risks are understood, managed, balanced appropriately. By doing so, we help the organisation move forward with confidence, clarity, and control, supporting sustainable growth and long-term success.
How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crisis to ensure the organisation’s resilience?
In times of crisis, legal strategies must be agile, aligned with business goals, and focused on proactive risk management. We collaborate closely with leaders to integrate legal plans into operational priorities, using rapid risk assessments and scenario planning for informed decision-making.
Clear communication with internal teams and external advisors allows us to anticipate challenges and preserve business continuity by identifying risks, ensuring compliance, and protecting vital contracts and data. When needed, we consult external counsel while retaining oversight and control to align actions with our strategy.
This approach was essential during COVID-19, as we responded quickly to property closures, regulatory changes, and contract issues, renegotiating agreements and supporting workforce decisions to help the organisation remain resilient amid uncertainty.
Based on your experiences in the past year, are there any trends in the legal or business world that you are keeping an eye on that you think other in-house lawyers should be mindful of?
During the last year or so, some notable trends have emerged that I think in-house lawyers should monitor closely. A few of the main ones that most in-house counsel should be thinking about right now are the ongoing global and regional tensions affect regulations, supply chains, and business operations. Legal teams must remain informed and adaptable to guide businesses through these changes.
Regarding regulatory acceleration, geopolitical changes and global business trends are speeding up regulations, especially in trade, technology, ESG, and data. Legal teams must quickly ensure compliance, support innovation, and work closely with business units to proactively manage risk.
On business skills as core legal skills, legal knowledge is crucial but not enough, today’s in-house counsel must also grasp business strategy, finance, and change management. Leading legal teams now need to pursue cross-functional training to boost business results beyond compliance.
What factors influence your team’s decision to use external legal services versus handling matters in-house, and what criteria are used to evaluate their performance?
At Hilton, the choice to engage external legal counsel is primarily determined by the complexity and specific nature of the legal matter at hand. Matters that require specialised expertise or require legal privilege or relate to very niche legal domains (like intellectual property or tax) are typically outsourced to external advisors – but the in-house team maintains overall responsibility for ensuring that the legal strategy remains aligned with the organisation’s evolving business needs. Additionally, we, at times, engage external counsel to address temporary increases in workload or to fill short-term resource gaps within the team. However, when dealing with issues that involve highly confidential or strategically sensitive information, the preference at Hilton is to handle these matters internally, as the in-house team can have greater control over the process and can ensure that legal recommendations are actionable and closely aligned with the organisation’s business priorities.
Performance evaluation of external counsel is based on several criteria, such as their track-record/ability to act as proactive business partners, whether their advice is actionable and informed by an understanding of our risk tolerance, adherence to agreed budgets and timelines, and transparent communication, especially about potential cost overruns.
Senior Counsel, South Asia and Special Projects | Cargill
Senior counsel, development and operations – India | Hilton
Anubhuti Agrawal joined Hilton in 2015 as counsel, development and operations (India), and was promoted to the senior counsel role in 2018. She is now part of the larger Asia...
