Our Global Advisory Board
We are guided in our mission by leaders from around the world who share our values and serve on our global advisory board. Our board members also personally mentor our students. One of the features of our programmes that stands out from any other law school in India is our small class size that allows SoLJ students to have incredible opportunities for personal and professional development. Each semester, our students are matched with a different mentor, so that by the end of their five year programme, our graduates will have built meaningful relationships with globally recognised leaders in law, academia, business and civil society.
Dr. Aditya Sondhi
Dr. Aditya Sondhi is Chairman of SoLJ’s global advisory board. Dr. Sondhi is a Senior Advocate practising before the Supreme Court of India and the High Court of Karnataka. He has served as Additional Advocate General for Karnataka. He graduated from the National Law School of India University, where he has returned to teach constitutional law and other courses. He holds a PhD in political science from Mysore University and has contributed to ‘The Oxford Handbook of The Indian Constitution’. Aditya has been a TEDx speaker and has lectured widely across the country, as also abroad. He has published thrice with Penguin (India) and his debut play ‘Famagusta’ was shortlisted for the Sultan Padamsee Playwriting Award 2020. He has been a winner at the Deccan Herald Short Story Competition. He founded (a) Usher – an amateur theatre circle (b) the General K S Thimayya Memorial Lectures (c) the Ravi Sondhi Spirit of Bangalore Lectures, and (d) The Podcaste – Conversations Around Caste.
Timothy Franklyn
Mr. Franklyn is the founder of the Bengaluru School of Law and Justice (SoLJ). He is an international corporate finance lawyer, having worked at some of the world’s most prestigious law firms, including A&O Sherman and DLA Piper. He is currently Deputy Managing Partner and National Practice Head for Capital Markets at Fox & Mandal. He received an LL.M (Master of Laws) degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and is qualified as an advocate in India and as a solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales. In 2020, he was one of 11 leaders from around the world selected for the prestigious Obama Scholar Program at Columbia University.
David Murray
David Murray is Director of Development at Columbia University in the City of New York. He is a fundraiser and philanthropy evangelist with 25 years of global experience. David chairs SoLJ’s Advancement Council.
Susheela Rivers
Susheela Rivers is a Partner at the global law firm, DLA Piper. She is the firm’s Global Co-Chair of Real Estate Sector and Leadership Alliance for Women, and Office Managing Partner in Hong Kong.
Dr. Thomas Asher
Thomas Asher is Director of Research and Engagement at Columbia World Projects at Columbia University in the City of New York, and former Senior Fellow at the White House Office of Management and Budget.
Dr. Marcus Iske
Dr. Marcus Iske is a Partner in the Düsseldorf office of the German law firm Fieldfisher. He advises companies and executive employees in all aspects of individual and collective labour law.
Shruti Vidyasagar
Shruti Vidyasagar is a lawyer and editor based in Bengaluru. She is Consulting Editor at DAKSH Society. She has a master’s degree in law (BCL) from the University of Oxford.
Bob Charlton
Bob Charlton is an ccomplished leader in global law firm management. He has held leadership positions in Clifford Chance, Freshfields, DLA Piper, BLP and Addleshaw Goddard.
Nisha Menon
Nisha Menon is Global General Counsel for M&A and Business Development at Diageo PLC, with expertise in corporate commercial transactions.
David Pendergast
David Pendergast is a Partner in the Santa Monica office of the law firm Goodwin. He represents companies and investors in the firm’s Technology practice.
Ulrik Haagerup
Ulrik Haagerup is the founder and CEO of Constructive Institute. He is a former Executive Director of news at the Danish Broadcasting Corporation.
Abhilash Puljal
Abhilash Puljal is a Trade Policy & Private Sector Development Expert with special interest in South South and Trilateral Development Cooperation with a multi sectoral expertise, especially in Agriculture and allied sectors of Africa and Asia. He is SSA Consultant at the World Food Programme, and is a graduate of the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).
Manav Nagaraj
Manav Nagar is a partner at Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas. He has experience and expertise in several local and international transactions in private equity, venture capital, mergers and acquisitions, fund formation, inbound and outbound investments, debt financing, general corporate and transaction advisory matters. He has a particular expertise in impact and social investing in India and has also worked extensively with foundations and philanthropic organisations in grant making and patient capital social sector investing. He graduated from the National Law School of India University.
Mark Liu
Mark Liu is a senior capital markets lawyer in the Los Angeles offices of Akerman LLP. Mark has a diverse corporate practice representing U.S. and international corporations and financial institutions. His experience includes a variety of capital markets transactions involving issuance of equity, convertible bonds, and debt securities, as well as initial public offerings (IPOs) and secondary equity offerings on the Nasdaq, the New York Stock Exchange, and the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong.
Dr. Julien Laurent Chaisse
Dr. Julient Chaisse is a Professor of law at the City University of Hong Kong School of Law, specializing in international law, with a particular focus on globalization, foreign investment and digital assets. He has published academic articles in all the best law journals, including the Stanford Journal of International Law, American Journal of International, Journal of International Economic Law, World Trade Review, and the Journal of World Trade. In 2020, he was awarded the Tenth annual Smit-Lowenfeld Prize which is awarded annually by the International Arbitration Club of New York to recognize an outstanding article published in the previous year on any aspect of international arbitration.
Ronald Philip
Ronald Philip is a senior real estate and infrastructure industry leader, with over 2 decades of global experience in strategy, investment and corporate development for a pipeline of over $1 trillion of projects, across developed and emerging markets and across real estate and infrastructure sub asset classes.
Ronald currently serves as Vice President – Portfolio Investment & Programme Delivery, on the management team of the Dubai World Trade Centre. Earlier in his career, he worked with the World Economic Forum in New York, PwC’s infrastructure finance practice, GE and the World Bank in south Asia.
Anind Thomas
Anind Thomas is a partner in the Bengaluru offices of AZB & Partners. He has 17 years of experience in Information Technology, Telecommunications, Data Protection and Dispute Resolution. Anind regularly represents his clients in various fora including the Supreme Court of India, High Courts, the National Company Law Tribunals and domestic and international arbitral tribunals.
Anand Sanjay Nuli
Sanjay Nuli is a Senior Advocate at the Supreme Court of India. He is also a senior executive member of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA).
Andrew Ridgen Green
Andrew Green is a dispute resolution partner at Stephenson Harwood and he is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and a member of the Singapore Chamber of Maritime Arbitration. He is an arbitration specialist with particular experience in dealing with shareholder disputes, joint venture disputes, asset financing disputes, international sale contracts, trade and commodity finance, marine disputes, shipbuilding and offshore oil & gas. Andrew is head of the international arbitration team in Hong Kong and co-head of Stephenson Harwood’s Asia international arbitration team.
Dr. A. Ebenezer
Dr. A. Ebenezer is an award-winning educator. He is the former Principal of Bishop Cotton Boys’ School and Director, Department of Collegiate Education, Government of Karnataka.
Kirsten Brosbøl
Kirsten Brosbøl is a Danish politician. She represented the Social Democrats in the Folketing from 2005 to 2019, and served as Minister for the Environment from 2014 to 2015. She is an Obama Scholar at Columbia University. In 2020, she founded 2030beyond, a non-profit do-tank for the Sustainable Development Goals, to accelerate action and delivery on the 2030 Agenda.
Maya Sharma
Maya Sharma is an award-winning journalist. She started her television news career with Doordarshan, as part of the very first batch of trained TV journalists in India. She moved to New Delhi Television Ltd (NDTV) in 1995 and worked there as a reporter and anchor for 26 years. She was Executive Editor (South) for the channel and headed the Bengaluru bureau. She is a Fulbright Fellow and spent her Fulbright year at the Newhouse School of Communication in Syracuse University in New York State.
Dr. Devashish Bharuka
Dr. Devashish Bharuka is a Senior Advocate practising before the Supreme Court of India. He is a Harvard Law School LL.M. graduate and holds a PhD in law from OP Jindal Global University for his thesis titled, “Time as Jurisprudence: Indian Courts, Delays and Transformation of Justice”. Dr. Bharuka specialises in constitutional law, commercial litigation and arbitration. Apart from multiple books and articles to his credit, he co-authored a book on Indian constitutional history, “The Indian Makeover: From Being Ruled to Being Governed”. He is an empanelled Arbitrator with the Delhi International Arbitration Centre. He is also an ardent follower of and trainer in use of technology and AI in the field of law.
David Kuo
David Kuo is a partner and a member of the Mergers and Acquisitions practice group of the Global Law Firm, K&L Gates. David has extensive experience in various transactions throughout Asia and the US, including cross-border M&A and business combinations, private equity, and venture capital transactions, particularly in the real estate, technology, and energy sectors. David is US and HK qualified and graduated from Columbia University School of Law.
Anjali Balagopal
Anjali Balagopal is the General Counsel of Tata Technologies. She is a senior counsel with expertise in corporate law and trusted partner to business leaders. She was ranked among the 100 Most Powerful Women in Law in India. She is a regular speaker at domestic and international forums and is a trusted policy adviser to regulators.
Sabah Mistry
Sabah Mistry is the Chief Executive Officer at Increasing Diversity by Increasing Access (IDIA). Among other things, IDIA identifies underprivileged students with an aptitude for law and trains them for law entrance exams over a one or two year period.
Sajai Singh
Sajai Singh is a Partner in the Bengaluru offices of the law firm JSA. He is an acclaimed transactional lawyer with more than 32 years of experience representing a wide variety of industries, businesses and sectors funnel investments into India. His broad-based practice focuses on Mergers, Acquisitions, Joint Ventures, strategic alliances, restructurings and financings (whether debt or equity), with particular emphasis on cross-border transactions.
Prof. Graeme Simpson
Graeme Simpson is the director of Interpeace USA and senior adviser to the Director-General of Interpeace, a global peace-building organization headquartered in Geneva working in 20 conflict and immediate post-conflict zones around the world. Graeme is also adjunct faculty member at Columbia Law School. He worked extensively on issues related to transitional justice, including work with the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and on the transformation of criminal justice institutions in South Africa. He has a LL.B. and a M.A. from the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa.
Ashish Sen
Ashish Sen is currently Editor of Community Radio News, a journal brought out tri-annually by the UNESCO Chair on Community Media, and an adviser with RadioActive, Bangalores first community radio station. He is also founder President of the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC) Asia-Pacific region, he has been actively associated with the movement since its inception in India.
Francesca Folda
Francesca Folda is an Italian award-winning journalist and executive manager, with over 25-year experience in the media industry and the impact sector who believes communication is a powerful tool for change making when messages and values align. As director of all the digital properties of Sky Italia, she created independent newsrooms for SkyTg24.it, SkySport.it and many other satellite websites.
Samantha Slater
Samantha Slater is Director of Communications for Media Relations at Columbia University’s Office of Public Affairs. Prior to coming to Columbia in 2018, she spent nearly a decade on Capitol Hill, serving as a communications director in both the Senate and House of Representatives and as executive director of the House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee. A native New Yorker, Samantha graduated from Brandeis University and received a master’s in public administration from the School of Public Affairs at Baruch College. She started her career as a journalist for Politico.
Prof. Bill Grueskin
Bill Grueskin is a Professor at Columbia Journalism School. His career includes senior print and online editing roles, as well as six years as academic dean at Columbia Journalism School. He is the former Deputy Managing Editor of the Wall Street Journal, and Executive Editor of Bloomberg. He has a B.A. in classics from Stanford University and an M.A. in international economics and U.S. foreign policy from Johns Hopkins’ School of Advanced International Studies.
Meghna Suryakumar
Meghna Suryakumar is a lawyer turned business leader who founded Crediwatch with the aim of providing financial access and mobility to millions of unbanked businesses. Her vision is to remove barriers and unlock value for businesses using cutting-edge technology, and building a culture of trust in business.
Prior to founding Crediwatch, Meghna ran a cross-border law firm based in India and the US, where she used alternate sources of data to assess risk for target firms in M&A deals. Meghna received her law degrees from Bangalore University and Columbia Law School and has a certificate in entrepreneurship from Stanford University.
Stephen Tall
Stephen Tall is Director of Development at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). He has worked in education for 25 years, leading fundraising campaigns at the University of Oxford as well as heading up partnerships and communications at the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) in the UK. He is a trustee of social mobility charity The Karta Initiative, which supports disadvantaged young people across India, the UK and Canada.
Prof. Nick Couldry
Prof. Nick Couldry is Professor of Media, Communications, and Social Theory at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). He was formerly a lawyer at Clifford Chance.
John Thaliath
John Thaliath is General Counsel of Zetwerk. He is a graduate of the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). He previously served as General Counsel of GE for South Asia and as the founding principal of Christ University’s school of law. Outside of his professional career, he is a patron of the arts, especially classical music.
Mithun Gerahalli
Mithun Gerahalli is a practising advocate at the High Court of Karnataka and Supreme Court of India. He is the Founding Partner of Gerahalli Law Offices. He is also admitted to the practice of law in New York State, USA, the United Kingdom and Wales. Mr. Gerahalli also serves as the honorary General Counsel of SoLJ.
Dilip Nandipur
Dilip Nandipur is a Founding Partner at Tatva Legal, a full service law firm having its offices across India at Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai, New Delhi. Chennai and Vijaywada. He was previously a partner in Dua Associates. He holds a B.A., L.L.B (Hons) degree from the National Law School of India University, Bangalore India.
Biswajit Chatterjee
Biswajit Chatterjee is the Dubai Managing Partner and India Co-Chair at Hogan Lovells, a leading global law firm. With over 20 years of experience in corporate law, he specializes in capital markets, mergers and acquisitions, and private equity transactions across India, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. Biswajit holds a law degree from the University of Michigan Law School and is based in Singapore. He serves as a member of the Global Advisory Board at Bengaluru School of Law and Justice.
Praveen Raju
Praveen Raju is a founding partner and head of the Corporate Practice Group at Spice Route Legal, bringing over two decades of experience in corporate and commercial law. His expertise encompasses general corporate matters, domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, private equity, and venture capital. He advises clients across various sectors, with a focus on alternative energy, healthcare, technology, industrials, and defense. Praveen has been recognized as a leading individual for Projects and Energy by Legal 500 and for Corporate M&A by Chambers and Partners. Clients commend his commitment, dedication, and trustworthiness, noting his ability to guide them through legal complexities with precision and diligence.
