Exciting Journey of Master of Business Law...

I captured my journey in this article right from decision to do MBL and key learnings in MBL and way forward...

MBL - Master of Business Law is a unique course from the top LAW institute in India, National Law School of India University, NLSIU, Bangalore.?

My motivation to do the course:?

After my Ph.D, senior management program from IIM Ahmedabad expanded my thinking process in general management aspects. After that, I have completed a course from IICA to become a qualified Indedpendent director from Ministry of Corporate Affairs.?

1. Being an expert in AI and prolific inventor, my focus is on Trusted AI, Ehtical AI, Edge AI and a lot of regulations are going to come up in AI as it is a double edged sword.?

2. I want to use the knowledge of law in decision making at the board level and AI ethics / regulations in future.

So, I reached out to a couple of professors and CxOs to check the suitability of this course for me. As per their inputs, I want to expand my knowledge from law aspects and MBL became my choice. Some subjects are directly relevant whereas a few other courses are for knowledge purpose only. One needs to clear 10 subjects in 2-5 years timeframe to be MBL graduate.?

Cohort:

The MBL cohort of 2021–23 is extremely diverse and experienced. They all serve as self-motivators. If not, they won't sign up for the course itself. I became close friends with at least ten or more classmates from my class who have backgrounds in engineering, law, accounting, computer science, and human resources. Enriching and thought provoking discussions from the batchmates added a lot of value in terms of practical learning beyond professors' teaching. This cohort's combination of intellectual depth and diversity is incredibly eye-opening.

Professors:

Professors were committed and knowledgeable. We really enjoyed a few subjects as the professors made it interesting. I struggled to think from law perspective in the beginning of the course. However, interaction with professors and reading of 500+ cases across 10 subjects and months long discussions with Amit helped to think in law perspective. Live virtual classes of 350 hours over 2 years and we need to spend at least another 350 hours to gain the knowledge and come out with flying colors.?Thanks to professors:

Prof?Dr Ajar Rab?(Contracts Law)

Prof?Prashanth Sabeshan?(Banking Law)

Prof?Aditya Kamath?(Corporate Law)

Prof?Saurabh Bhattacharjee?(Industrial Relations Law)

Prof Harsha Nagaraj (Environmental Law)

Prof?Praveen Tripathi?(Investment Laws)

Prof?Sharada Shindhe?(Insurance Laws)

Prof?Anil B. Suraj?(Law relating to International Commercial Transactions and Foreign Trade)

Prof?Ramakrishna Thammaiah?(Intellectual Property Laws)

Prof Sanyukta Choudhury (Taxes on Corporations and commodities)

Prof?Bhavin Patel?& Prof?Sudhir Krishnaswamy?(Introduction to Law and Legal Systems)

Evaluation:

After Covid, the evaluation mechanism and paper pattern were revised by VC Sudhir Krishnaswamy. They have introduced Formative and Summative assessments for our batch, which is a savior for many of the students who are regular with the class work.?Choice is there but one needs to be through with the concepts, cases and how to apply. Part-A t tests the conceptual part where as Part-B tests the real application of concepts and cases learnt in the classes.

2 formative assessments cover 50 marks and summative assessment covers 50 marks. If one wants to give only annual exams for 100 marks, that option is also available. My recommendation is to opt for both formative + summative assessment to clear MBL in 2 years. Learners have option to write the summative/annual exams twice an year. Be ready to write 3 hour offline exams demonstrating your concepts and apply your business law knowledge. Most of the batchmates are busy with their office work. So, they choose a few subjects each time if they are not able to write all 5 subjects at a time.?

Course work and its relevance:

Intellectual Property Law (IPR) is one of the closest subject for me being a serial patent inventor. I am able to understand the law aspects from copyright, patent, design, trademark, Geographical identification which are very crucial in the organizations with Generative AI. Does ChatGPT has copyright on the content created and used for training? Who is responsible if autonomous car makes an accident? The knowledge gained can help to answer such tough questions where it is not a straight forward answer.?

Next set of interesting subjects include Contract Law, Corporate Law and Investment Law where I can use the knowledge in board room discussions. Environment Law covers sustainability aspects in detail. Remaining subjects such as Banking Law, Insurance Law, Industry Relations Law, Foreign Trade Law and Taxation Law adds to my general knowledge while dealing with BFSI domain, startup eco system and in discussions with CAs.?

Networking is the key:

Kudos to dedicated learners in our cohort. I really admire the efforts from dedicated souls such as Gaurav Gupta, Ph.D. Engg., M. Biz. Law , Ayushi Rungta, Tausif Shaikh , Abhay Patil, Vinayak V M. , Bharath Muralidhar, Kajal Kiran Kalanauria and my dear study partner Amit Singh . I had wonderful learning though the MBL and able to expand the knowledge which is different from my technical/management background. Great achievers in the cohort inspiring others. Thanks to my family and friends who supported in this learning journey.

I wish to use the knowledge gained and the networking established to make right decisions at the board level and contribute in building Ethical and Responsible AI.?I was able to complete MBL with a CGPA of 6.0/7.0.

Proud to be an alumni of NLSIU.