Veena Rajes is an advocate with over 12 years of experience in dispute resolution and corporate laws, having served both as a litigation counsel and corporate counsel at reputed law firms. Her areas of expertise include civil, commercial and criminal disputes, arbitration, contract negotiation, and compliance.
She has also served as a Central Government Counsel for the Union of India at the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, Lucknow Bench, and as a Panel Advocate for the Uttar Pradesh Transport Department. Her professional journey includes significant tenures at I.B Singh Associates (Lucknow), J Sagar Associates (Bengaluru), and Ingram Yuzek Gainen Carroll & Bertolotti LLP (New York).
She holds a BA LLB (Hons) from Amity University, Noida and an LLM from the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, Philadelphia.
Veena is passionate about providing strategic legal solutions across sectors, mentoring young lawyers, and offering pro bono legal aid. She is fluent in English, Tamil, and Hindi.
Aishwarya is a legal officer with four years of experience in litigation, real estate, and transactional practice, with leading law firms such as JSA and Touchstone Partners.
She has extensive experience in drafting and negotiating real estate documents, advising on fund formation and on various aspects of transactional practice ranging from structuring and due diligence to documentation and closing. She has also worked closely with litigation counsels on various civil and corporate matters.
Aishwarya received her Bachelor’s degree in Commerce (Hons.) from University of Delhi, and L.L.B. from Amity University, Uttar Pradesh. She also holds an LL.M. from NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad.
Akanksha, NLS BA LLB 2013, is a lawyer by training and has previously worked as a principal associate at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas with the public mergers and acquisitions team. Her work included advising clients across industry sectors on corporate restructurings, stressed asset acquisitions, domestic and cross-border investments, and corporate governance.
As a student at NLS, she was awarded the Nani A. Palkhivala Memorial Trust Scholarship for Constitutional Law, and the Temasek Foundation Leadership Enrichment and Regional Networking (LEaRN) Scholarship at the Singapore Management University. She was the Chief Editor of the Indian Journal of Law and Technology (IJLT) in 2011-12, and was also on the editorial board for the National Law School of India Review.
She joined NLSIU in September 2021 as the University’s first Alumni Officer to handle alumni relations. As an alumni officer, she helped in systematising the University’s continuous engagement with alumni, deepening the relationship with our alumni, broadening access to include alumni from all our programmes, and managing NLSIU’s alumni platform (alumniconnect.nls.ac.in).
In her new role at NLSIU as Chief of Staff, Akanksha will work on a wide variety of administrative and executive priorities, duties, special projects, and initiatives.
Anakha Anilesh has previously worked in a startup ecosystem, where she honed her contract drafting, negotiation, and review skills. Subsequently, she transitioned to a legal advisory role.
She is interested in research on the intersection of law and AI, and gender justice. Having had the experience of providing academic administrative assistance as well as teaching assistance she is enthusiastic to pursue her career in academia.
Anakha has a Master’s in Law (LLM) degree from National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bangalore. She graduated with a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree and a Master’s degree in Corporate and Commercial Law from the University Law College, Bangalore.
Anjali Varma joined NLSIU in November 2021 to establish the People & Culture function at NLSIU. Anjali plans to drive a high level of employee engagement, through identifying, establishing and managing appropriate people policies and processes across a variety of functions at the University.
An alumnus of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, Anjali is an HR Professional with over 16 years of experience in building and leading HR functions for enterprises.
She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Mount Carmel College following which she completed her post-graduation in ‘Social Work, Family and Child Welfare’ at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. She has worked in different aspects of Human Resources spanning talent management, talent development, policies and processes. Since 2019, she has been in the HR consulting space, partnering with small and medium enterprises as well as firms and public institutions on various HR matters. She also works in the area of Prevention of Sexual Harassment at the workplace.
She is passionate about Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and writes in a variety of publications on topics that explore the intersection of gender, diversity and work life. Links to her publications are available here.
Bijay has a Bachelor’s degree in Science from St. Xavier’s College, Calcutta and a Master’s Degree in Economics from Jadavpur University. Prior to joining NLSIU, he was associated with Azim Premji University at the Institute of Assessment and Accreditation, and the Piramal Foundation. At APU, his responsibilities involved setting up the online repository of questions, generating question papers, and providing quantitative analysis on its quality. He also contributed in streamlining student assessment processes for various State boards. During his eight years at the Piramal Foundation, he set up the Center of Excellence-Assessment team to develop quality assessment processes and systems for students.
Lalnunzami joined NLSIU in July 2022, as an Office Assistant in the University’s Academic Administration Department (AAD). She has 15 years of work experience and has worked across various sectors.
She began her career in a private bank called NEREFS Ltd as a Customer Care Executive. She has previously held the following roles – Office Assistant with the North East Rural Livelihood Project (NERLP) under the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) and World Bank; Administrative Assistant at the World Health Organisation Country Office, India, Mizoram Unit; Administrative member at Cube Architect & SYS Construction in collaboration with Kaptain SA Greece; and Senior Relationship Manager at STSK Protech Pvt Ltd.
She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in 2009 from Mizoram University.
Chandana A, joined the Academic Administration Department (AAD) at NLSIU as an Executive, in December 2023.
She has previously worked at the Orchids International School as a financial literacy teacher, and played a pivotal role in educating students about financial concepts, ranging from basic savings to complex topics such as investing in stocks and cryptocurrencies.
Chandana holds an MBA in Human Resource Management and Finance from Jain University. She complemented her B.Com degree from the Mount Carmel College, in Bengaluru. During her college years, she actively participated in various extracurricular activities, including event organization and volunteering for college festivals.
Chandrashekar joined NLSIU in 2002 as a Technical Assistant in the IT department (formerly Computer department). He has also worked as a Training Centre Officer before transitioning into his current role in the Department of Professional and Continuing Education (PACE). Prior to NLSIU, he has worked as a Hardware Engineer across various companies including Zenith, HCL, Apple Dealers, and Godrej Computer Dealers.
With over 20 years of experience, Deepti Soni is a communications and management professional with extensive experience in media, diplomatic missions, international organisations, academia, and PR & communications agencies. She has a proven track record in PR and strategic communications, stakeholder management, project management, crisis communications, and digital media. She has worked with organisations like the British High Commission in India, International Committee of the Red Cross, and Indian School of Business. She is adept at leading cross-regional teams, fostering government relations, and championing diversity and inclusion.
At NLSIU, she will help develop, implement, and enhance strategies and internal processes across the following functions:
– Communications
– Alumni Relations
– Careers and Placement
– Development/Fundraising
– Admissions.
Deepti holds a Bachelor in Science from the University of Lucknow and a PG Diploma in Advertising and Public Relations from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication. She is also an aspiring shooter (10 m air pistol) and is a State level medal winner.
