In this 6th episode of the SpicyIP Podcast Summer School Edition, I was delighted to have had the opportunity to have a conversation with Ms. Zara Kaushik, a strategic and versatile commercial and media lawyer, now an independent general counsel. During her time with us at the summer school, she covered a broad spectrum of topics including the intersection of Sports and IP, media law, mediation and many more, bringing to life how these rights apply on the ground. The class was also thrilled to understand her approach of working with businesses and the real world dynamics.
Of course, she had to be on the podcast! In this episode, I speak to her about challenges that arise while negotiating contracts with sporting bodies, integrating business strategy and legal expertise while educating businesses as well as some guidance for students who want to pursue a career in the sports, media and entertainment law industry.
Some of the highlights from the conversation that you will love diving into include her emphasis on applying commercial logic to contract negotiations, educating businesses on the contents of the contract and the two golden tips for students: Educate yourself around your interest area and Demonstrate that interest via multiple avenues. I thoroughly enjoyed the discussion about approaching contract negotiations as lawyers and the importance of not just rational reasoning but also maintaining mutual respect with the counterparty, a reminder to keep in mind a win-win situation for both sides. Her ability to simplify her wide-ranging experience and knowledge into brief and concise insights was remarkable. Watch on to find out more from her about this fascinating area of sports, media and entertainment. (Earlier episodes include: 01 with Mr. Murali Neelakantan here, 02 with Mr. Sandeep Rathod here, 03 with Mr. Adarsh Ramanujan here, 04 with Ms. Chetali Rao here and 05 with Mr. KM Gopakumar here.)
SpicyIP TV: The Summer School Edition – Episode 06 Zara Kaushik on Careers in Media, Entertainment & Sports Law
In this episode (06), Sonisha Srinivasan speaks to Ms Zara Kaushik (bio below), a seasoned media and commercial lawyer, now an independent counsel. She reflects on building a career in media, entertainment, and sports law. She explores the structural challenges and power imbalances that arise in sports corporates, and the crucial role lawyer’s play in educating clients about what contracts actually mean, and why negotiating from a clear commercial rationale makes agreements flow better. The episode finishes with candid advice for students, who wants to pursue this as a career.
About Zara Kaushik: Zara Kaushik is an experienced commercial and media lawyer with over a decade of practice across global law firms, major media networks, and startups. She graduated from NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad in 2009 and holds a European Masters in Law and Economics from Rotterdam, Bologna, and Hamburg. She began her career at Trilegal, later serving as Senior Legal Manager at Disney Star, where she managed acquisitions of billion-dollar sports media rights with ICC, BCCI, and the International Hockey Federation. As former General Counsel at Mahila Money, a financial platform for women in India, she was part of the five-member senior leadership team. Now an independent general counsel and strategic advisor, she leads legal strategy for companies in industries ranging from AI and media to SaaS.
SS: Ma’am, today we just want to know from you, a couple of things. Having worked with a lot of big corporates across the sports industry, what challenges do you find in the legal framework of these industries, like in terms of contract negotiations or any other challenges that you would have faced working with corporates?
ZK: I think one of the challenges, for sure, when you’re negotiating with sporting bodies or federations is that there is a lot there is a power imbalance. It’s not evenly distributed because there’s someone who’s holding the rights and there’s someone who wants the rights. I think one of the things that I always say we should be aware of is we go into contracts wishing to negotiate them as far as possible for optimal positions, for whichever side we’re representing. But the way a contract negotiation really succeeds is if we apply logic to all of our asks from both sides. So if you have an ask and you’re able to back it up by commercial logic, rather than coming from an ego position or maybe negotiating for something that perhaps could be dispensable, and you could ask for something more meaningful instead, which is actual business impact. I think coming from a place of logic is very important.
And the second thing is if you are up against, let’s say there is a power imbalance and you are not able to negotiate the best position for yourself with a counterparty, I think it’s important as lawyers to educate our businesses on what exactly is in the contract. Right. So if it’s an optimal position, then that’s great. If it’s not, that’s fine as well, as long as everyone in the business is very well educated on what they need to do to maintain compliance with the terms of the contract. So either you get the best possible position for yourself or you live with what you have, as long as it makes commercial sense for the business. And you take on the job of educating the business on what the contract actually says.
SS: Right. Could you give some examples of things you’ve worked with on how you could bring the business mindset while negotiating contracts and how you’ve been able to do it?
ZK: Yes. I think as a business lawyer, like I said, first and foremost, you can’t be coming from a place of ego. You really have to know why you’re negotiating for a certain position. And you would get caught out in a negotiation very quickly if you don’t have a rationale for why you’re asking for something. And the rationale can’t be, you know, this is how we’ve always done it. That’s not good enough. If this is how you’ve always done it, you should know why it’s been that way and why it benefits the business. And I’ve always found that when in negotiations with you know, very often we negotiate with other lawyers, right, it flows well and with a kind of mutual professional respect. If we’re coming from a place of these are the commercial reasons why I need this position, and if you give me these rights or you give me these benefits, this is how I’m going to be better able to perform my obligations under this contract. So really coming from a place, contract. So really coming from a place, you know, your counterparty, lawyer, is a human being too So really coming from a place where we talk very logically about why we’re asking for something. And I personally believe that that decorum between lawyers is important. important.
SS: Right. Also, for anybody who wants to get into the media and entertainment industry or the sports industry, what guidance would you have for them? Considering a lot of people consider this as a very niche area and not a lot of people are very attracted towards it. But I’m sure there’s a lot of scope and it’s one of the most interesting areas, I would say. So what guidance do you have for them?
ZK: I mean, it’s a fascinating area, especially because we are consuming media in some form or the other all the time. And as our attention spans are reducing, we are consuming different forms of content. If you look at the way your day goes, you’re probably spending a lot of it switching just from switching between methods of content consumption, essentially. Right. I think I won’t call it advice. So I always feel saying that you’re advising someone is very, you know, I’m not sure I necessarily have advice to give anybody. But I think one of the things, again, I would approach this logically, I would say, if you have an interest in something, a genuine interest, chances are you’re going to be consuming a lot of information around it. Right. So pick up all the information you can, educate yourself. If it’s a topic you enjoy, if media or sports is something you enjoy, it’s likely you’re going to consume it willingly.
So that’s part one of it. Part two of it, I think, is going to be demonstrating that interest to others. Right. It’s great to have an interest in something. But if you really want to work in a space, you have to be able to demonstrate to others why they should work with you, why they should take you on. So I think traditionally, law students have done this through papers and moots and publications and internships. And I think all of those methods remain very valid. But I think technology has expanded, I think, to the point that we can, you know, a podcast like this about a topic that you’re interested in or running a blog of your own . You know, think, think innovatively in terms of visibility. And in terms of simply to answer the question, even if I say I’m interested in something, how do I demonstrate it? And that’s really the question.
SS: So people need to know that you are actually interested in it. So you build more connections that way.
ZK: Correct.
SS: And then you get into it.
ZK: Correct.
SS: Thank you so much, ma’am. It was a really nice interaction with you. And I’m sure people would listen to this and like gain a lot of insights from it.
ZK: Thank you so much.