Akanksha Sharma

As the sole legal counsel at Behtar Technology Pvt. Ltd., I lead and manage the legal function for the company and its suite of digital platforms, including Lokal (a hyperlocal news and classifieds app), DosttApp (a relationship support platform), AstroLokal (an astrology service), and Eaze (a tele-counseling service).

Contract Lifecycle Management:

• Drafted, reviewed, and negotiated a wide array of commercial agreements including vendor contracts, consultancy agreements, employment contracts, NDAs, offer letters, and master service agreements.
• Standardized legal documentation and implemented a consistent approach to contract management, significantly reducing turnaround times for legal reviews.
• Developed and shared contract templates and internal checklists to streamline coordination with the BD, Ops, and HR teams.

Strategic Legal Advisory:

• Advised internal teams on corporate governance, employment law, consumer protection, and data privacy regulations (including the DPDP Bill and IT Rules), ensuring legal compliance across operations and new product launches.
• Played a key role in resolving complex legal queries, providing pragmatic and business-aligned legal advice.

Intellectual Property & Platform Compliance:

• Handled IP protection end-to-end: trademark filings, enforcement, and coordination with external IP counsel.
• Successfully issued DMCA takedowns and legal notices to address app plagiarism, YouTube content theft, and misuse of proprietary assets.
• Drafted and updated Terms of Service, Privacy Policies, and disclaimers for all platforms in line with evolving legal requirements and platform-specific needs (including Play Store compliance).

Corporate Restructuring & Fundraising:

• Spearheaded legal efforts during the company's internal restructuring, setting up a parent company in Singapore including drafting and executing agreements for share allotments, SAFE conversions, and secondary share transfers.
• Managing and coordinating audit for the Singapore company.
• Led the legal workstream for Series A and Series B fundraising, independently handling legal due diligence (LDD), investor queries, VDD setup, and key documentation (SSA, SHA, SSHA).
• Played a pivotal role in onboarding two institutional investors, managing negotiations and documentation independently.

Dispute Management & Enforcement:

• Drafted and issued legal notices for various disputes, including recovery matters, contract enforcement, and IP infringements.
• Resolved multiple Play Store complaints, ensuring uninterrupted availability of apps.

Process Improvement & Cross-Functional Collaboration:

• Formalized the legal intake process to improve coordination with cross-functional teams and prioritize legal tasks efficiently.
• Proactively identified legal bottlenecks in remote collaboration and instituted weekly check-ins and legal stand-ups to improve team alignment and transparency.

• Drafted and prepared pleadings for debt recovery, corporate and civil litigation, and insolvency proceedings before the NCLT.
• Provided legal opinions on recovery actions, contractual disputes, insolvency issues, and regulatory compliance for corporate clients, including Kotak Mahindra Bank and Volkswagen.
• Conducted legal research and framed arguments on statutory interpretation, contractual liability, and procedural law.
• Represented clients before the High Court of Delhi, district courts, consumer forums, and tribunals.
• Drafted service agreements, commercial contracts, and internal policy documents for corporate clients.
• Assisted with Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) matters, including arbitration and mediation proceedings involving Volkswagen.

• Represented clients in a wide range of civil and criminal matters before District Courts, Consumer Forums, and the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).
• Drafted and filed bail applications, recovery suits, divorce petitions, arbitration claims, and complaints under the Negotiable Instruments Act.
• Assisted in high-profile litigation involving the Union of India, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), and complex corporate law disputes.
• Prepared petitions and appeals before the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) and the Debt Recovery Appellate Tribunal (DRAT).
• Appeared before courts and tribunals for arguments in matrimonial, criminal, and commercial matters.
• Advised clients and developed litigation strategy across civil and criminal cases.
• Drafted legal notices, franchise agreements, domestic violence complaints, and other commercial contracts.