Zia Mody

Zia Mody is one of the founding partners of AZB & Partners.

It was her childhood dream to become a lawyer and follow her father's footsteps, Soli Sorabjee India's former Attorney General. She never went through the trauma of choosing a career except for a short period of six months in which she wanted to be an air hostess. Close your eyes and one can't even imagine the most powerful lawyers of the country demonstrating to an audience the safety precautions ina na aircraft. Soli Sorabjee says he wishes she had continued with her litigation practice as she has great argumentative skills. <ref> to India </ref>

She pursued her L.L.B at Selwyn College,Cambridge University and then an L.L.M from Harvard. After which she joined one of the largest law firms in New York Baker & McKenzie. In 1984 she moved back to Mumbai and got married to her childhood sweetheart Jaydev Mody. She also started her litigation practice under the name Chambers of Zia Mody(CZM). She agrees the Indian market was a different terrain compared to work at a big New York firm. Though she fondly recalls the turning point in her career was when she won her first case. Even with her background she really had to prove the fact that she was equally good as a woman lawyer compared to any male attorney. Although Zia Mody today is not known for her litigation days but her successful transactional practice.

Tagged as a workaholic by her colleagues and even rivals. Clients agreee that the quick response time is a big asset of the firm. Zia is addicted to her blackberry and sends opinions till the wee hours of the morning.

She is also a follower of the Baha'i faith by religion and serves as a member on various Baha'i organizations in the field of education and empowerment of rural women though she wishes she could do more for the community.

Personal Life

Zia who turns 56 this July(19th) is a mother of three daughters. The second one, Aarti has decided to pursue law while the other two have studied design and mass communication. Zia agrees that work did take a toll on her personal life but she attended every single parent teacher meeting of her children and functions in which they performed. She also adds that she was blessed with an extremely supportive mother-in-law and a best friend for a husband.

She plays safe in her investments and says would put invest money in mutual funds-debt instruments. She also extremely fond of jewellery and cars. If she ever won a jackpot she would give most of the chunk in charity.<ref>|Interview with Zia Mody</ref>.

Achievements

• Business Today listed Mody as one of the 25 most powerful business women in India several times since September 2004.
• She is a recipient of the Financial Express Knowledge Professional of the Year Award.
• She was also named one of India's 100 Most Powerful CEOs by The Economic Times in 2004 and 2006.
• She is also the recipient of the Economic Times Awards for Corporate Excellence as the Businesswoman of the Year, 2010. The awards are given out every year and are seen as the foremost authority in recognizing excellence in the Indian corporate market.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
• The American Lawyer has identified Zia Mody as being one of ‘country’s leading stars’.
• She has been featured in Asian Legal Business’ 2009 edition as one of Asia’s top 25 M&A Lawyers.
• The Asia Pacific Legal 500 & Chambers Global has ranked Zia Mody as among the leading individuals in the Merger & Acquisition sector, Private Fund, Private Equity, Litigation and Infrastructure Sectors.
• AZB & Partners was nominated as the best Indian National Law Firm 2006 by the International Financial Law Review and received the National Law Firm of the Year Award for India from The Chambers Asia Awards 2010.

Related pages

Indian lawyers

References

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