Columbia Law School, LLM
Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar
India, 1989
California, 1994
New York, 1997
District of Columbia, 2007
Sandhya Mehta
Sandhya Mehta is a founding Partner in the Firm’s Washington, D.C. office. She advises Fortune 50 and smaller U.S. companies with regard to commercial and technology transactions. Ms. Mehta’s clients also include several Indian companies, including very well-known household names and smaller companies: seeking advice related to the U.S. for their respective acquisitions, commercial transactions, U.S. government contracting, and significant IP infringement matters. Industries represented in these matters include: aerospace, defense, automotive, medical device, genomics and IT consulting industries.
Ms. Mehta is an experienced attorney in the U.S. and India, with extensive transactional and litigation experience, as outside counsel as well as in-house attorney. These qualifications and experience enable her to give strategic advice to U.S. companies with regard to doing business in India, as well as Indian companies with regard to the impact of U.S. law on their activities.
U.S. Experience: Ms. Mehta worked with Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison and Thelen, Marrin, Johnson & Bridges as a corporate associate, advising in the fields of general corporate law, securities law, mergers and acquisitions, equipment leasing and project finance. In 2000, she joined the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company as in-house attorney for technology and corporate transactions. She was part of the team that managed MetLife’s acquisition from Citigroup of Travelers Life & Annuity and Citigroup’s international insurance businesses. During 2006 – 2009, she was Of Counsel in Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz’s Washington, D.C. Office, doing a range of technology and other transactional work, in addition to creating and leading the firm’s India practice.
India Background: Ms. Mehta did transactional and litigation matters in India, the latter including matters before district courts, the High Court (the intermediate level court) of Delhi and the Supreme Court of India. Her work included participation in a landmark securities matter before the Supreme Court of India, appearances before the Monopolies and Restrictive Practices Tribunal, several bank litigation matters, landlord tenant matters and family law matters.
Although her first language is Hindi, she is conversant in Urdu, Punjabi and Rajasthani (Marwari), and has studied Arabic, Mandarin and Spanish.
Speaking Engagements
Intellectual Property Law in the US – an Overview component of Orientation in the US Legal System program, International Law Institute, Washington, DC, August 2010.
Keys to Drafting Exculpatory Clauses that Minimize Risk, National Constitution Center, co-presenter with Kenneth A. Sprang, January 2010.
Biosimilars – Patent and FDA Issues , International Technology Law Association conference, Gurgaon, India, February 2009.
Outsourcing in the Health Care Sector, conference on “U.S. and India: Doing Business in Today’s Economy,” organized by the U.S.-India Business Council, the American Bar Association Section of International Law, Practising Law Institute (PLI) and Bar Association of India, New Delhi, India, January 2009
Taming the Intellectual Property Beast: Views from India and China, seminar in Nashville, Tennessee; Huntsville, Alabama; Atlanta, Georgia; and Birmingham, Alabama, May-October 2008.
Highlights of Indian Law Regarding Patents and Clinical Trials, annual conference of Global Alliance of Indian Biomedical Professionals, Rockville, Maryland, June 2008.
Key Issues in U.S. Health Care Transactions, International Technology Law Association conference, Mumbai, India, February 2008.
Commercial Dispute Resolution, Enforcing Commercial Rights and Litigation in India Use of Mediation and Arbitration, conference on Legal, Tax and Financial Strategies for Structuring Investments in India by Alliance for Tax, Legal and Accounting Seminars, New York, New York, April 2007.
Chair – Telecom and New Media panel, International Technology Law Association conference, Bangalore, India, February 2007.
IT Contracts: Universal Stumbling Blocks, LawAsia conference, Goa, India, September 2006.
Other Relevant Information and Interests:
Co-founder of Jaipur Foot organization in the United States, supporting provision of artificial legs and rehabilitative assistance.
Co-anchored cable news-magazine for South Asian community in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Anchored news for All India Radio’s overseas Hindi service. Translated for BBC, London. Anchored program for Indian national television as child anchor.