Kudrat Dev personally strives to live the principle: ‘Strong Back. Soft Front. Wild Heart’. She is a believer in the youth as the R&D force of the human species and says: “Jindal Global Law School has been conducive and transformative for my growth personally and professionally. I keep returning to campus for different engagements with students to see how the same is absolutely true even today for the current law students.” She is the Founder of India’s First Youth-run Conflict Management and Community Mediation (Y-CMCM) initiative at JGU Clinical Programmes, Sonipat, India. She is also the Vice-President of the JGU Delhi Alumni Executive Committee. She endeavors to facilitate next-generation lawyers and budding law students to innovate ideas to achieve citizen empowerment and “creative justice” by challenging the status quo as well as strategically integrating into existing frameworks of dispute resolution. We follow her journey to understand the making of this agent of change.
In the past two years, she has initiated dialogues in India and conducted training sessions for mediators of the Delhi government mediation centres, Art of Living teachers, law students and underprivileged youth on ‘conflict management skills’ and ‘non-violent communication’. She shares: “my experience on the field as a young law student as a part of the Cross-National Human Rights Clinic, co-founder of the JGLS Women & Law Society, Centre for Health, Law, Ethics & Technology at JGU drove my confidence to dare to initiate collaborations with different and unknown stakeholders”.
She has diverse expertise as a Commercial Dispute Resolution Lawyer qualified in India, a Civil & Commercial Mediator accredited by the Civil Mediation Council, United Kingdom and a Facilitator-&-Instructional Course Designer. She has worked as a consultant, mediator and conflict coach with leading mediation organizations in London. She fondly recollects: “My first professional exposure, internationally was through an internship with White & Case, Singapore and then the exchange program with Cornell Law School, New York. These opportunities came my way due to the global level collaboration and networks built by our esteemed VC and faculty members”. She is currently the Legal Counsel for Siemens Limited where she has been recognized as a next-generation leader as a part of a global leadership program. She has been recognized for her innovation for integration of conflict management as a useful tool while handling critical transactions and disputes.
From winning the Best Mooter award at JGLS in 2013, she has come a long way and has represented client in landmark cases involving arbitration laws, environmental laws, white-collar crime and construction contracts. She has practiced commercial dispute resolution and represented clients in international arbitrations, negotiations and mediations with Khaitan & Co, India. She has represented companies before the Supreme Court of India, State High Courts and Tribunals. She co-founded the JGLS Women & Law Society in 2010 and later in 2015 was instrumental in demanding and causing the formation of the Statutory Local Complaints Committee in Gurgaon in 2015, required by the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013.
She completed her LL.M. with a high distinction as a Chevening Scholar and specialized in Law, Development and Globalization at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. She completed her B.A. LL.B. (Hons.) at Jindal Global Law School, Sonipat, India with merit scholarships. From commercial to community, this JGU alumna is driving change and making an impact. Value creation in challenging times, particularly in conflicts is her passion and challenging the status quo in stable times is her mantra for growth.
