In Conversation with Harshil Vijayvargiya
Deputy Manager, Hindustan Zinc Ltd.
At AMA, we connect with young lawyers who are exploring unconventional paths, taking on unique roles, and creating an impact beyond the traditional practice of law. Today, we bring you an insightful interview with Mr. Harshil Vijayvargiya, Deputy Manager at Hindustan Zinc Ltd., a lawyer and YouTube creator with 70,000+ subscribers.
Working as an in-house counsel, a career path that has gained significant prominence in recent years, Harshil shares his experiences of navigating the intersection of law and business, along with valuable insights into contracts, litigation, compliance, and corporate legal practice. He also speaks about his journey as a content creator, author of How to Kill It at Law School, and the importance of developing skills beyond the conventional boundaries of legal education.
Do read the interview till the end for valuable insights and practical advice for law students and young lawyers.
1. Could you take us through your professional journey so far, including your transition from law school to your current role as Deputy Manager at Hindustan Zinc Limited?
Harshil Vijayvargiya:
Hi, I'm Harshil and I hail from Bhilwara, Rajasthan. After completing my Bsw LLB from GNLU, I joined Hindustan Zinc Limited in 2022 as Associate Legal Manager and got promoted to Deputy Manager role in April 2025. In my 4 years of work experience till now, I have worked at both mining and smelting (factory) locations. My day to day work revolves around drafting & reviewing contracts, managing litigations, handlings complex legal compliances, responding to legal notices, Show Cause Notices, among other things.
2. What led you to pursue law as a career, and what factors influenced your decision to build your career in an in-house legal role?
Harshil Vijayvargiya:
Honestly, I don't think most people know for sure at the age of 16-17 which profession they are suited for. Just like many other students, I also attempted CLAT only because I liked the GK, Reasoning, etc and knew my strengths align with what this exam demands. Thankfully, by god's grace, things turned out to be good and I could succeed in my first attempt.
Now regarding what motivated me to go in-house, again it was because I got placed at HZL, and still working here because of the variety of work and the exposure we get in the legal team. Each member of the legal team is responsible for a unit/factory/mine employing 1000s of people. There is high visibility of the work we do and we get to directly work with the CXOs which make you highly professional in your conduct and work ethics.
3. Could you please share a professional experience or milestone that had a lasting impact on your legal career?
Harshil Vijayvargiya:
I would like to repeat what I partly mentioned in the last point. The thing which had and still has lasting impact on me is the 'level of responsibility' we are given. When you directly report to the CEO/Head of a business unit, you need to have your fundamentals very very clear. You also need to show confidence in the decisions taken by you, else the people won't trust your opinion.
You can't fake such things, it is only when you do deep research and gain actual understanding of both legal and business aspects, that you are able to gain trust of the your boss and the head of businesses.
4. What would be your advice to law students and young lawyers who are beginning their professional journey, particularly when it comes to developing the skills that truly matter?
Harshil Vijayvargiya:
My biggest learning as a lawyer as been - 'knowing how to ask the right questions'. Just think about it - you can gain knowledge about anything on this planet if you ask the right question, whether it be rocket science or it be a complex legal matter. Tools such as ChatGPT have helped lawyers a lot here too.
So I'll suggest students to hone their critical thinking skills and ask questions wherever necessary. This skill is what differentiates us from normal people involved in other professions.
Harshil Vijayvargiya:
Here are some advise I will give to someone who wants to join as an in-house counsel -
a. When you work for a company, know entirely about their products, how they are made, how raw material is sourced, what machines do what work, what work does each department do, what kind of contract they enter into etc.
b. Get copies of all the fundamental documents such as Consent to Operate, CTEs, ECs, NOCs, Licenses, that are granted to the company. Once you get them, read them in detail and end to end. These are the documents upon which all your legal compliances are based upon.
c. Get a deeper understanding of all the litigations the firm is involved in.
d. Don't rely on ChatGPT, or Claude for drafting legal documents, rather prepare the first drafts yourself, else you won't ever learn to write by yourself. I'm thankful that ChatGPT wasn't there when I joined inhouse, else I wouldn't have learned how to write documents from scratch.
e. As an inhouse lawyer, your work will come from other departments such as Sales, Finance, Environment, operations, etc - treat them as your client. This will help you if you plan to go into litigation later.
f. Last, and the biggest advice - you are not there to stop people from doing work by giving legal advice. You are there to help them to figure out how to do things legally. Don't be a person who says 'no' to things. If you don't follow this, you won't be able to grow as a good in-house lawyer.
Regarding what I think are the strengths of existing legal framework - I'll focus more on 'areas which require reform', and that will be 'strong contract enforcement'. Just think about this, if every contract could be strictly enforced and deviations could be punished or fined heavily, we will become high trust country and will get heavy investment in our country. This is the reason why Singapore or New Zealand are on top of the list when it comes to ease of doing business.
7. Could you describe your role and key responsibilities as an in-house legal counsel? How significant is contract drafting and negotiation in your day-to-day responsibilities?
Harshil Vijayvargiya:
Regarding my role and responsibilities as In-house counsel - I'm working as a Deputy Manager at Hindustan Zinc Limited. As of Sept 2026, I am responsible for handling the legal affairs of Chanderiya Lead Zinc Smelter. As I'm the sole person posted at the location, I have to look into everything that has a 'legal angle'. For example, if we receive some legal notice from a government authority, I have to respond to it after coordinating with the relevant departments of the company (HR, CSR, etc). If there's a new Water Treatment Plant being set up at CLZS, I will be the person handling the contract from end to end. Similarly, if the HR team has some query about Labour laws, and the changes brought by government in the form of newly introduced labour codes, I will have to give them answer and resolve their query.
I would say that approx 50% of my time goes into Contract drafting, negotiation, interpretation, research etc, 20% time goes into Litigation, 20% time goes into notices and business related risk management and 10% time into resolving core legal queries of the different departments of the Company.
8. Is there any message, insight, or piece of advice that you would like to share with our readers and the wider legal community?
Harshil Vijayvargiya:
Okay, few suggestions by me for the readers -
a. Intern as much as you can and at different types of places during your law school phase. Once you join the workforce, you won't be able to explore. So don't fix a practice area in your 1st or 2nd year. Most of the students do this out of insecurity, they feel that they'll be able to secure a job easily if they specialize. You need to know how to keep a balance
b. Interact with non-legal professional people wherever possible. This is why I suggest 1st-2nd year students to intern at off-beat places such as Newspaper Headquarters, corporate communication teams, NGOs such as Isha foundation, among others.
c. Keep asking questions and develop critical thinking skills.
d. Gain other stackable core skills such as writing, video editing, public speaking, etc so you can develop something unique. Personally speaking, learning all these skills helped me become a YouTuber with 70k+ subscribers, write a book with 1500+ sales, and much more.
e. Last suggestion - read my book 'How to kill it at Law School' :) Honestly, there's no other high ROI product available in the market like my eBook that can teach you everything about your law school journey in just 2 days,
