Dr. Anita Rao is the Director, of the School of Law, GITAM (Deemed to be University). Before taking up this position, she was Director of Saveetha University & dean at VELS University Chennai, and also a Visiting Faculty at the National Law University and Judicial Academy, Assam (NLUJAA), Professor, School of Law, GITAM Deemed to be University, Visakhapatnam, and A.P.

She has been a guest faculty at Premier Law Schools such as NALSAR -Hyderabad and NLSIU - Bangalore, and a Visiting Professor at XLRI, Jamshedpur. Professor Rao served as Principal, of NBM Law College, affiliated with Andhra University, and as an officer on special duty to the Chairman of GITAM Institutions. The position that she had held immediately before joining GITAM, was as an adjunct professor in DSNLU. She had undertaken and completed major and minor UGC projects. She has delivered expert lectures at UGC-sponsored programs on Women and Justice, Intellectual Property Rights, and Medicine and Law. She is an advisor for the National Selection Committee and a member NAAC Expert Committee for Redesigning Criteria for Law Schools. Professor Rao has vast experience in Curriculum Design in Law, conducting many executive development programs for industry on IPRs and women executive development.

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You held key positions at various prestigious institutions throughout your career. What is that one thing that made you excited and walk with GITAM University on the journey?

I am driven by a passion for learning, excellence, and research. I am an energetic, self-motivated academician with effective verbal and written communication and wonderful mentoring skills. I am having almost 38 years of experience in legal education and research in various universities, and I have rich experience in academic administration like course planning, execution, and innovative pedagogical techniques. I isolated many administrative responsibilities and was able to set guidelines for the effective growth of the institution. Having served GITAM for several years in various positions and capacities, I have seen its journey too close, which is thriving every year. The interdisciplinary nature of the university excited me, especially given its emphasis on the new education policy. With the young and dynamic leadership of our president, GITAM is equipped with digital infrastructure aids and ensures more comprehensive as well. Enhancing the learning of the students. This has ensured accessibility and transparency for students, faculty, parents, as well as the administration. Enabling GITAM to be one of the trendsetters for the modern education in India. This has given me more insights and more learning for continuing to be with GITAM during my long years here. 

Especially, what I like is the student-friendly educational ambiance with the dynamic opportunities presented for challenging the students. It also allowed me to commence some credit-based internships for last year's students which is the first of its kind in India. So this will keep up the pace with the industry also. These are a few of the things that made me excited to be with GITAM.

How do you balance the needs of faculty, students, and administration as a head of a School of Law?

There are many stakeholders here, not only the students. The parent, the industry, the bench and bar, and within GITAM we also have many. So every one of them and their voice, their thoughts have to be balanced and we have to go ahead with our policies. I always feel that creating intellectual harmony amongst the faculty, students, and administration is the primary goal for us, as an administrator sitting here in the School of Law, we create an approachable culture. Faculty who believe in encouraging the students to be well-rounded individuals to deal with the opportunities and challenges of the future.

As part of building up rapport between faculty and administration, at the School of Law, we always give respect to each other's opinions and small things like celebrating the birthday of the faculty as well as the administration team and contributing to creating a sort of memory in their mind to share this happiness.

We do regular meetings, to discuss issues and ensure that every faculty and administration viewpoint is honored for the greatest benefit of all. My office is always open to dealing with all these issues, as well as sharing growth opportunities. Every achievement of the faculty, students, and administration is appreciated and celebrated, through the celebrations of various occasions at the law school. 

As a Head of School of Law, what is the USP or what are the differentiating factors that make GITAM University stand out from other colleges?

When we create an institution, we should showcase what exactly the USP we have in-house. Otherwise, why would the child come and join us and why would the parent come here especially when they come and put his/her child for five years? Five years is being spent here with us and sometimes you feel great. The child joins after +2 and he graduates and he grows up. Grown up in all aspects. So we see the difference in their approach, in their attitude, and not only in the physical form. So I feel GITAM has a lot of strengths. What I feel is that interdisciplinary, no doubt that the new education policy is now insisting upon, but right from the beginning GITAM has this policy like, we have all the institutions and the knowledge should flow from all sides. So the student will be getting acquainted with various disciplines and he will be acquiring the skills of solving the problem by using the basic concepts from different disciplines so interdisciplinary is one of the most important things. It will always encourage students as well as faculty to go about this type of teaching as well as learning.

They also like induction programs. For example, when the student joins the university as a whole conducts the induction program so that they are familiarized with the University Culture, university policies, everything, and in addition to that, at the School of Law, we conduct the bridge course because plus induction. We tried to bridge the gap between +2 and law.

It is a different course altogether, so science graduates can also take up, commerce graduates can take up, and we put them all into a straight line and we will introduce them to the basic concepts of the legal and illustrative exams. How law can be applied with their basic knowledge for example, they must have had an interest in science so much to play the science has so much to play law and science, law and arts, law and economics, there is no branch of study where you can say that law is not applicable. So those types of basic concepts will be introduced. And finally, at the end of the day, they all come together and look for new frontiers to learn from the legal background for the most important thing, especially the USP we are talking about, is the internships part. Because I strongly believe that in experiential learning, for example, the children should go out and they should practice, they should see from the seniors how they are practicing how they are arguing, how they're interviewing their clients, and what techniques they use so they learn right from the beginning, first year onwards. That is the thing that the GITAM School of Law emphasizes. 

All these things will inculcate and give them a feel that they are very strong and they are empowered with good communication verbal as well as written skills. And other than that, we have very good infrastructure. Full-fledged smart classrooms enable them to click anywhere and you know you can see the proceedings that are going on at the Supreme Court or any High Court. So the live demonstrations will be given by those teachers also. All these are a few of the USPs that GITAM Law School adopts and see that the student is not lagged.

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How do you stay updated with the latest trends and developments in the field of Law and incorporate them into the curriculum and programs offered by GITAM University?

This is an evolving course. You cannot say, we completed Law and we know everything. There is nothing like that till the end. We should know what's happening in and around the country and scenarios because it is not only necessary that we know what is happening in the company in the country, but also in the global scenario that has a tremendous impact on the nation. Every branch has its international sphere and the student ought to know what exactly is happening. Because we are all under a globalized scenario, for example, the World Trade Organization, and international trade, everything is under international law. Not only the students, even the faculty, and even the helm of our affairs, like me every day, we keep noting what exactly is happening in the contemporary legal fraternity and whether there is a constant interaction needs to be there with the industry. What type of judgments the judiciary is giving etc.? There is nothing like a constant factor here. It is always like changing times.

New concepts are developing, so we have to upgrade ourselves and we teach that type of attitude to the students. Also, the students right from the beginning will be grounded rather grounded with the knowledge saying that they should observe the latest trends, and latest legal happenings so that way after they upgrade their knowledge, we conduct seminars and we conduct expert lectures from all the fields because they will be talking about the latest trends and also there are some papers called clinical papers, for example, a house surgeon or Doctor who gains experience by doing the operation similarly, they are also supposed to conduct. The legal aid cases, every Friday we conduct free legal aid in the School of Law, and people from in and around come, they give their problems and the people from the District Court, and one or two people are appointed from the district Legal Service authority. They also teach the students what exactly the practical Issues that are going on.

The third important thing is accumulating the library with the latest journals. The latest database is one more important thing and having a fantastic library which normally we keep open up to 10:00 P.m. Even on Saturday, and Sunday Students come and do a lot of case studies, and all those who are willing to study, and of course, many of them stay on campus also and this is in addition to the main library, we have a huge main library.

How well is GITAM University focusing on maintaining industry relationships with companies and organizations to leverage them for live projects, training, and placements for the students?

The backbone of the entire legal study is that they should know what is happening and then only they deal with the cases in a very holistic manner. One important thing, I have done is, experiential learning every semester and they go for internships. It has been mandated by the Bar Council of India, so we have a structured internship policy and each internship is credited.

 That means they have to go for a properly structured mandatory internship. It is not just like that they go away and come. During the internship period, their continued course exercise is being monitored by the teachers. Each teacher is given around 10 students and they keep in contact with the teachers. Through emails and then e-mail correspondence is completely been documented, so end of the day once they come back, there will be the presentation as well. That way, we will see how much they learned and how they enjoyed the entire period of their internship by associating with the senior lawyer and their chambers.

The students also get paid during their internships and once they complete, they may prefer the same candidate to come and join in their chambers. Also, it happened in the law school. So that way a very structured internship has been executed properly by our faculty. We insist on it. Internships not only help them gain experience but also will give them a chance for career growth. Also, they might get chances in the pre-placement offers.

What is something a law course aspirant can expect from joining GITAM University?

Students often have high expectations from their education, anticipating that completing five years of study will fully prepare them. However, I always emphasize to them that the learning journey continues until the last day, and we are all continually evolving. Each legal case is unique, requiring a nuanced understanding of the application and interpretation of law. I stress that the judgments rendered are influenced by various factors, including sociological and economic backgrounds.

Students are expected to be well-rounded individuals, knowledgeable in diverse fields such as accountancy, medicine, media, cinema, cinematography, and photography. The interdisciplinary nature of the law demands a broad knowledge base, and the credit-based internship approach reinforces this. Students are motivated by the prospect of earning credits and gaining experiential insights from senior lawyers.

Our emphasis on competitions, seminars, expert lectures, and extracurricular activities cultivates a multi-faceted personality in our students. As alumni, they have gone on to work as advocates in the Supreme Court, High Courts, British courts, law firms, and corporate settings. Some have even secured admission to prestigious international universities. This comprehensive approach ensures that our students are well-equipped for the diverse challenges of the legal profession.

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Does the law school take a role in addressing conflicts and overseeing disciplinary activities within the college?

The general tendency all over the country is wherever there is a Law school there will be problems because the law schools only raise the issues. They only fight for these rights. But raising the voice is one part of it. But, educating the students, for example, our students go to each unit of the university colleges, educate them about the basic human rights discipline. The removal of racism, sexual harassment, ragging all these topics, they take it to their heart and they demonstrate. That way they are the educators to the other branches of students. When the student goes and talks with the other students, they appreciate rather than the teacher teaching them.

We celebrate Constitutional Day, Environmental Day, Human Rights Day, etc. All these things have an educative purpose.

What is your vision for the coming years as Head of the School for GITAM University?

As a relatively nascent institution completing seven batches, our growth trajectory has been remarkable. Starting with an initial batch of 35 students, we have significantly increased our student body without compromising on quality. We admit students through CLAT and our nationwide test, prioritizing the selection of high-caliber individuals. However, we also make concerted efforts to encourage and develop aspiring students who may face initial challenges.

Our commitment to quality education extends beyond courtroom practice. Students are molded to contribute meaningfully to various fields, such as policy drafting and legislative work. We offer two undergraduate programs (BA LLB Honors and BBA LLB Honors), an LLM program, and a PhD program. Looking ahead, my vision includes establishing collaborations with modern universities for exchange programs, forging more partnerships with industries, and creating a niche for the school in areas like intellectual property rights and corporate law.

In the short term, I am actively working on these ideas, with plans to bring internationally renowned academicians on board. While the long-term vision is expansive, I am confident that, with the support of dedicated faculty, we can achieve the ambitious goals set for the future of GITAM School of Law.