Education

B.A., LL.B. (Hons.), National Law School of India University, Bengaluru
LL.M., Columbia Law School, New York
LL.M., Europa-Kolleg, University of Hamburg

Profile

Varun Thomas Mathew is a corporate and technology lawyer admitted to practice in India and New York. His practice spans mergers and acquisitions, corporate structuring, and technology regulation, with a focus on how law and policy intersect with digital governance and civil rights. He has advised some of the world’s leading technology platforms and multinational businesses on complex regulatory, transactional, and compliance matters across jurisdictions.

Varun has worked with several leading Indian law firms, advising on cross-border transactions, joint ventures, and strategic investments, as well as representing clients in regulatory and commercial disputes. He was a Dr. Angela Merkel Fellow at the University of Hamburg, where he received the Dr. Edmund Siemers Award for best graduating student.

Earlier in his career, he co-founded Dekkoh Innovation Technologies, a hyper-local e-commerce start-up that leveraged chat and natural language processing to connect customers with local stores; it was acquired by an Indian e-commerce major in 2016.

His current work and teaching engage with the evolving relationship between technology, commerce, and civil rights in India—particularly how constitutional, criminal, and commercial frameworks are being reshaped by digital regulation and the enforcement of online controls.

Outside professional practice, Varun is also a writer and the author of the award-winning novel The Black Dwarves of the Good Little Bay (Hachette India, 2019).

Research Interests

Corporate and commercial law; mergers and acquisitions; technology regulation and platform governance; privacy and data protection; digital evidence and criminal procedure; and constitutional litigation involving technology and civil rights.