Interview with: Irfan Mohsin Tayebaly, Managing Partner

What has been your greatest achievement, in a professional and personal capability?

In a career spanning over 39 years I have achieved many professional and personal milestones but my greatest achievement perhaps is having been able to develop and create a top-tier law firm which is considered by my peers as one of the leaders in the legal community as also having trained and developed the next generation of lawyers with impeccable legal skills and a result orientated business-minded approach.

What do you do differently from your peers in the industry?

In-depth knowledge of the law and understanding every aspect of our clients’ business needs, situation and legal requirements. Advice to clients is solution oriented and rendered on the basis of practical implication and implementation of the legal requisites and stipulations along with the commercial environment. Additionally, being part of a full-service law firm enables us to provide comprehensive and complete advice to our clients. My approach is to find effective and easy-to-implement out-of-the-box structuring solutions which require least involvement of discretionary approvals of regulators and keeping timelines in control of the client.

What advice would you give to your younger self?

To always put yourself in the shoes of the client for understanding the requirement of the client, understanding the business and facts of the client and to try and find solutions with the legal knowledge and experience, which best suits the client. The first job is to ask the correct questions to streamline instructions, which is half the solution going forward.

Can you give me a practical example of how you helped a client add value to the business?

Taking advantage of having an MBA degree and experience as an international corporate and banking legal advisor has allowed me to structure commercially viable transactions for clients to ensure not just absolute legal compliance but also commercially feasible and sustainable arrangements, ventures and projects. While my clients would be best placed to comment on the value addition, my firm’s advice and structuring of mergers and schemes of arrangement

through Court to achieve results where contractual negotiations have failed can be an important value addition element.

Within your sector, what do you think will be the biggest challenge for clients over the next 12 months?

Given the current situation being faced the world over as a result of the Covid-19 virus the next 12 months are going to exceedingly challenging for both our banking and commercial clients, varying from regulatory compliance to recoveries to reorganisations and restructurings. While the State Bank of Pakistan (the central bank) and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (regulatory authority for companies and company related matters) are already taking steps in order to attempt to curtail the fallout from the impending recession, further concessions in the form of additional regulatory initiatives will be needed during this period to assist in the recovery of the economy. Our firm expects to be actively involved in advising and assisting our clients in mitigating their losses and facilitating the rehabilitation of their businesses.