From a model to an entertainment lawyer, Priyanka Khimani has been creating her niche, leading to the formation of her own firm, Khimani & Associates. In an exclusive chat with The Pioneer, she speaks to us about being a female attorney, challenges, and more.
Shikha Duggal
Today’s employees aren’t the same as before. If it does not meet their need for flexibility, it may lead to great resignation. And then we have a heterogeneous mix of workers these days.
Out of which we spotted somebody very quirky, whose profession is also quite eccentric! Let’s talk nineteen to dozen with Priyanka Khimani, an entertainment lawyer. The businesswoman who represents celebrities from Sonu Nigam to Anurag Kashyap begins with a wide smile: “I always have an opinion on why a law firm partner is’’t looked at as an entrepreneur yet. We don’t work on the basis of funding, but we have all the ingredients of any other start-up ecosystem. I run my firm more like an entrepreneur than a lawyer. My team consists of legal practitioners, all under 40, and most of us are female attorneys.”
She placed more emphasis on being a female attorney for a reason: “There is already a pre-existing notion that a woman donning the shoes of a lawyer is going to be extremely aggressive or she won’t be able to get the job done because they are delicate by birth.
She wouldn’t get her hands dirty! One of the main reasons for me to start a law firm was the fact that I witnessed a toxic and abusive workplace culture. And we don’t call them out! The legal fraternity has horrible work hours, and I see legal officers wearing them as a badge of honour. Single parents feel unsupported by it. That was bothering me. So my targets were: a healthy working environment and to be culturally inclusive.”
Belonging to the youthful criteria doesn’t stop her from climbing the ladder of success ever, but she still recalls when, “Opposing for big names earlier used to be a barrier somewhere down the lane for me. In spite of having an impressive work profile, I was still asked whether I was too young to be exchanging blows for celebrities or if I had the bandwidth. Those questions have died down now!”
But they always have gaps, such as “Nowadays legal advisers are running behind popularity or new acts like sexual harassment at the workplace. Because, in such a case, a lawyer must be objective towards both the company and the victim. Take the example of data privacy. To contest this, we lawyers must be acquainted with artificial intelligence too. I hope AI never replaces core lawyers though!”
