Advocate Vaishali Bhagwat

Work Experience

Vaishali Bhagwat, Advocate is amongst the first technology lawyers in the country with prior qualification and working experience in the field of  Computer Science, Cyber Defense and Information Assurance. She earned the Degree in Computer Science and Law from the Pune University and a Post Graduate Certification in Cyber Security and Information Assurance from Cranfield University (UK). With an experience over 20+ years as a practising lawyer, she heads a 50 year old all service law started by her father VP Shintre, Advocate

Scholarships

Vaishali is the first lawyer in the country who was selected in the TCS Chevening Scholarship program on Cyber Defense and international collaboration on Cyber Policy by the British High Commission and Tata Consultancy Services. It was a 12 week residential program on “International Collaboration on Cyber Policy” at Cranfield University, Ministry of Defense campus, UK. The scholarship was fully funded by TCS. She was selected in a team of 6 members from all over India and was the only woman in the team. Vaishali also completed a Post Graduate certificate Program on Cyber Security and Information Assurance at Cranfield University, UK which included writing research papers on  Critical Networks and Process Control, Cyber Attack-threats and opportunities, Cyber Defense – Governance and Management, Social Technologies, Human Dimension and Understanding Risk and Information assurance.

https://medium.com/@UKinIndia/chevening-india-scholar-in-the-spotlight-70908b3aafee

Vaishali was also selected in the top 20 professionals 20 professionals from India and UK by the British High Commission for its flagship program “A Common Purpose scholarship on Innovative Leadership -DISHAA 3” on social entrepreneurship. The program chaired by PM Manmohan Singh and PM David Cameron and awarded a certificate from UK Prime minister David Cameron

Awards and Recognitions

• Vaishali and her law firm won the prestigious DSCI NASSCOM award for “Cyber Security Awareness” in 2016.
• Interviewed as an ‘eminent women leader’ in the IBM WISE (Women in Security Excelling), India chapter event
• She has also been conferred with the following awards by Rotary Distrct 3131 and Rotary International –
  • Vocational Excellence Award
  • The Woman of Substance Award
  • The Best Director for Literacy for the T-E-A-C-H Program
  • Award for the Outstanding Contribution as Director of Adult Literacy Program
  • Best President
  • The Changemaker Award

Speaking Assignments

Vaishali is invited to speak on various professional and industry forums such as UN Women, DSCI (Data Security Council of India) All India CISO forum, CII, MCCIA, ISACA ( Forum for Security Auditors) , ICSI (Forum for Company Secretaries), IAPP ( International Association of Privacy Practitioners) , ITECH Law Cyberspacecamp, Police Training Academy, Judges Training Academy to name a few.

She was also invited to speak at a Security Professional’s conference in Vietnam as a keynote speaker.

She is particularly concerned about “keeping children safe online” and collaborated with the National Crime Agency (CEOP) (UK) on this subject and was invited to address representatives of over 100 countries at the Rotary International annual Convention in Seoul on this subject.

She was invited by the British High Commission, New Delhi to participate in a panel discussion on “Cyber Bullying “

Vaishali is also a visiting faculty at ILS law college, Symbiosis Law college and Bharati Vidyapeeth’s New Law College.

Publications

Vaishali has co-authored a book titled  “Cyber Crimes – Technology Menace of the 21^st Century”  and is published in English and Marathi by Vishwakarma Publications https://www.amazon.in/Cyber-Crimes-Technologys-Menace-Century/dp/9383572531

She has also authored the course material on Cyber Law for the Post Graduate Certificate in Management ( Cyber Law) Symbiosis Centre for Distance learning (SCDL)

Vaishali has written several articles on cyber security and law relating to cyber crimes in leading newspapers and magazines and has been interviewed of several public platforms and forums on this subject including DD Sahyadri, ABP Maza , TimesNow, MirrorNow and All India Radio.

Other Positions

• Member of the Maharashtra State Commission for Women Panel on Cyber Laws
• Member of the National Commission for Women Panel on amendments to Cyber Laws
• Independent Director – Renishaw India (Subsidiary of Renishaw, PLC UK)
• Member of the team for initiatives on Digital Transformation – CII ( Delhi)
• Co-Chair of International Association of Privacy Practitioners (IAPP- Pune Chapter)
• Member of the Internal Complaints Committee (POSH)
• Approved Adviser – British High Commission
• Member of the Cyber Advisory Council of Suryadatta International Institute of Cyber Security (SIICS)
• Board of Studies at Symbiosis Centre for Distance Learning (SCDL)
• Data Security Council of India– Pune Chapter
• British Business Group, Pune
• Association of British Scholars , Pune
• Shintre Law Foundation (Trustee)
• Lila Poonawala Foundation (Trustee)
• Shelter Associates ( Trustee)

Litigation

Vaishali is a practicing Civil and Cyber lawyer and her work includes litigation support, litigation and non-litigation and advisory practice. She practices in the Civil Courts, District Courts,  Bombay High Court and Tribunals such as the NCLT, DRT, TDSAT and Adjudicating Officer ( Cyber). Her work also focuses on Violence against women and children in Cyberspace. She has handled several high profile cases of Cyber Corporate Fraud, Insider Fraud, Data and IP theft, Cyber Security breach, Hacking, Software License Infringement, Cyber defamation, impersonation,  Social media or website related crimes and cases relating to cyber crimes relating to women and children to name a few. She was also appointed and consulted as special counsel by Pune Police on some complex cyber crime cases.

Advisory

In the non-litigation and advisory practice, Vaishali is a legal advisor / legal retainer to several MSMEs and Corporates in Manufacturing, Banking, Fintech, Media & Entertainment, Healthcare, IT & ITES and the Education Sector as well as Individuals or proprietory firms and Her non-litigation work also includes assisting in legal and regulatory compliance, documentation of policies and contracts, conflict management and  dispute resolution and strategic advise in managing legal issues and vetting / review and negotiating contracts, Technology contracts, Joint Venture / Collaboration / Technology transfer Agreements, Employment Contracts, NDA,  Real Estate Agreements/ Lease Agreements, Cyber Security and Data Protection / Privacy Policy, Acceptable Computer Usage Policy, POSH Policy, and private documents such as WILL, Advanced Medical Directive and  family arrangements.

POSH Services

Vaishali is an external member on POSH / ICC committees of several companies to deal with cases of Prevention of Sexual Harassment at workplace. She has also conducted extensive trainings for Board members , Sr. management, ICC members and employees and has completed training approximately 6000 persons till date. The companies that have availed of POSH related services are Cummins India, Sandvik Asia, APM Terminals (Maersk), SKF India, Thermax, BMC Software, Hella Automotive, IDEAS, Knorr Bremse, Emerson Group,  MSCI, Jagran Group, Praj Industries, Ubisoft Entertainment to name a few.

Services for the Education Sector

Vaishali is also associated with schools and academic institutions as an advisor for framing and implementation the Child Protection Policy, Acceptable Computer Usage Policy and work related to POCSO Act and child safety on digital platforms.

Pro Bono Services

Vaishali is the co-founder of the not for profit entity “Cyber Maitra” which is a Cyber Psycho-Social and legal aid centre. https://www.facebook.com/Cybermaitra/ ; www.cybermaitra.com

She is also on the advisory board of Responsible Netizen https://www.responsiblenetism.org/

Vaishali is deeply committed to causes relating to girls education, women empowerment and keeping children safe online and has served on the Board of Trustees of the Lila Poonawala Foundation http://www.lilapoonawallafoundation.com/, Shelter Associates  http://shelter-associates.org/ and is a member of the experts group formed by the Maharashtra State Commission for Women on cyber violence against women.

Vaishali leads a program on women empowerment and skill development with the Family Court at Pune in association with Rotary https://rotarynewsonline.org/an-innovative-project-to-empower-divorced-women/