TRUST LEGAL: A LAW FIRM THAT'S RUN LIKE A FAMILY By Mihir Srivastava
- Mihir Srivastava
- Apr 14
- 5 min read
Trust Legal is a unique law firm that's run as a family by friends. Partners are (best) friends first—everything else stems from friendship. They work well as a team because they have a strong bond and trust in each other; an appreciation and regard for their respective skillsets. The overarching friendship brings out the best in them professionally.
Trust Legal is a celebrated media and environment law firm, adjudicated as one of the best 100 law firms. Founder and managing partner Sudhir Mishra and the two partners Ritwika Nanda and Petal Chandhok provide the law firm with strong leadership. Their unorthodox way of running the firm is a case study for the Ivy League business schools.
The professional pragmatism is fueled by strong emotions. And when that happens, the first causality is the work-leisure duality. They love to be at work, doing their bit, and it's almost therapeutic . Therefore they have a personal need to see each other, interact and work—a must for their own general wellbeing. So, they make it a point to come to work even when health doesn’t permit, so many times feverish afternoons are spent working, making them feel better in the evenings. This usually happens when personal, professional and institutional goals merge—motivates and inspires; and empowers life in general.
Trust Legal was founded by Sudhir Mishra almost two decades ago, and in due course, Ritwika and Petal joined, rose ranks, became partners and are now for good ten years, they—the trio—are synonymous with the law firm, very integral to the success story. Though it may seem ironical, but the trio can’t be more different, perhaps, is what makes them gel so beautifully as friends and as partners.
The firm has an enviable dynamic stability. The partners love each other, love to work with each other. They can be an ardent critic of each other only strengthens their camaraderie. ‘Whether it was standing up for each other or behind each other, we have done it all. We celebrated victories, supported each other through setbacks, and found reasons to smile or joke with each other even on the busiest days,’ as Petal puts it.
Sudhir is a bit of a maverick, and doesn’t really fall into a category. A bit of an enigma, he is difficult to describe. He’s proud of his humble beginning, it gives a perspective to his phenomenal success and, at the same time, keeps him grounded. He provides the safe haven to his partners and the rest of the team, to get better, grow, self-actualise. The firm is an extension of family. The good thing is that they all know that.
Sudhir, by his own admission, is a woman magnet. It’s not a false bravado. Trust Legal is women driven, with Sudhir, despite being at the helm, is a notable exception. ‘Be loved, be admired, be necessary; be somebody,’ famously wrote Simone de Beauvoir in Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter. It goes without saying, women power rules the roost here. In that sense, Trust Legal has broken a glass ceiling and has set an example for others to emulate. “I have transformed into being a person which I did not realize that I had the potential to be,” concurs Petal.
The bond between the partners and the rest of the team is about underlying trust, and climbing up the ladder of success together. Their heart and mind are in the right place, don’t get me wrong, they can get competitive yet never negative. And they gel well for they remain their quintessential self and play on their strength.
Sudhir, Ritwika and Petal are distinctively different, and, it is for this reason, they complement each other beautifully. They respect each other's individuality, and understand and appreciate their respective idiosyncrasies. Therefore, the firm has an enviable dynamic stability. The partners love each other, love to work with each other. They can be an ardent critic of each other only strengthens their camaraderie, and they know it well. ‘Whether it was standing up for each other or behind each other, we have done it all. We celebrated victories, supported each other through setbacks, and found reasons to smile or joke with each other even on the busiest days,’ as Petal puts it.
While Ritwika is solid with the paperwork, law and its nitty-gritties, she is a bit of an introvert. She did part of her education in England, doesn’t talk much, but her work speaks volumes about her capabilities. Her mother, Rita, is a retired professor, who is still a student of languages and art; Ritwika lost her father during her college days. Younger brother, Saurajay, also a lawyer, has a different approach, yet, they both are very effective in their own rights.
Petal, on the other hand, never shies away from speaking her mind and is a bit of a charmer. She’s the extrovert one, and is versatile, performing many roles as the need may be. Married to the businessman, Varun Goswami, who sports a handlebar moustache, they make a lovely couple. Outgoing and suave, Petal has become the face of the firm. ‘What Trust Legal is to me cannot be expressed in words,’ says otherwise articulate Petal, ‘is an extremely integral part of my life, just like waking up, sleeping or eating food.’ A sentiment shared by her fellow partners.
While they are very fastidious when it comes to the interest of the firm, and not very conscious about their personal finances, they love what they do and rejoice in it. They don’t have a quintessential and fairly exhaustive checklist of prerequisites to be considered a success—like a big apartment, a bigger bank balance or a swanky car.
Their coming together has given impetus to the growth of the firm. And Sudhir describes them as his two hands, though he didn’t clarify which of the two is his right hand. If he had to make that choice, he’d perhaps say—I’m ambidextrous.
Sudhir is a man with Sufi inclination who appreciates poetry, nuances of life, emotional coefficient is high, and has a penchant to get things done. Material possession doesn’t define him, people around him do, and the relationship with people he loves, and looks up to, is what matters to him and has shaped him the person he has become.
He is rock solid behind not just Ritwika and Petal, but the rest of the employees, his friends and family--the stabilising force in many lives. “Of course, the journey wasn’t always smooth—there were tough days, demanding deadlines, and moments of doubt. But in those very moments, I found the strength to push through, backed by incredible support from Sudhir Sir and Ritwika that turned the office into a second home,” explains Petal. They are emotive professionals par excellence. In their case, sentimentality seems to be a potent force.
Sudhir is not a conformist, a benign revisionist, is reflected in his choice of clothes, colours he wears, a simpleton who has an exquisite collection of shoes sourced from the length and breadth of the planet. He speaks on the matter of law, particularly about environment and wildlife, with heart. As a podcaster. and also as a lawyer has enormous presence in a courtroom. He has a way with words, and the uncanny ability to explain complex issues and ideas cogently and colloquially. He is hooked on the larger picture, yet is acutely aware of the details as well.
Sudhir is the umbrella under which Ritwika and Petal have bloomed, flourished, and their transformation in the last decade or so has been a matter of great satisfaction for him. Ritwika is considered amongst the eminent jurists, including a former chief justice of India, as a shinning star with a bright future.
As their work gets noticed, and recognised, many firms would love to have Ritwika and Petal run the show for them; they routinely get lucrative offers, and they, almost intuitively, ignore such suggestions. Can anyone quit their family to join another firm?
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