Zia Mody (born 19 July 1956) is an Indian corporate lawyer and businesswoman. Zia is the daughter of Soli Sorabjee, a former

Attorney General of India The Attorney General for India is the Indian government's chief legal advisor, and is its chief advocate in the courts. They are appointed by the President of India at the instance of the Union Cabinet under Article 76(1) of the Constitution an ...

. A founding partner of

AZB & Partners AZB & Partners is a corporate law firm in India, with offices spread across Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Bangalore and Pune. The firm comprises over 90 partners specialising in General Corporate, M&A and Banking and Finance practice and other specialise ...

, one of India's leading law firms, Zia is one of India's foremost corporate attorneys. She has been recognized for her contribution to the legal world, both in India and internationally. She has worked with G.E.,

Tata Group The Tata Group () is an Indian multinational conglomerate headquartered in Mumbai. Established in 1868, it is India's largest conglomerate, with products and services in over 150 countries, and operations in 100 countries across six continent ...

Reliance Industries Reliance Industries Limited is an Indian multinational conglomerate company, headquartered in Mumbai. It has diverse businesses including energy, petrochemicals, natural gas, retail, telecommunications, mass media, and textiles. Reliance is ...

Aditya Birla Group Aditya Birla Group is an Indian multinational conglomerate, headquartered in Mumbai. It operates in 100 countries with more than 1,40,000 employees directly and indirectly. The group was founded by Seth Shiv Narayan Birla in 1857. The group ha ...

and the Vedanta Group. She also advises large private equity houses including

KKR KKR & Co. Inc., also known as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., is an American global investment company that manages multiple alternative asset classes, including private equity, energy, infrastructure, real estate, credit, and, through its strateg ...

, Bain Capital and

Warburg Pincus Warburg Pincus LLC is a global private equity firm, headquartered in New York, with offices in the United States, Europe, Brazil, China, Southeast Asia and India. Warburg has been a private equity investor since 1966. The firm currently has over ...

. She is ranked #1 in the most powerful women entrepreneurs by

Fortune India ''Fortune'' is an American multinational business magazine headquartered in New York City. It is published by Fortune Media Group Holdings, owned by Thai businessman Chatchaval Jiaravanon. The publication was founded by Henry Luce in 1929. The ...

in 2018 and 2019.

Biography

Mody's initial education was at

Elphinstone College Elphinstone College is one of the constituent colleges of Dr. Homi Bhabha State University, a state cluster university. Established in 1823, it is one of the oldest colleges in Mumbai. It played a major role in shaping and developing the ed ...

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

. She studied law at

Selwyn College, Cambridge Selwyn College, Cambridge (formally Selwyn College in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1882 by the Selwyn Memorial Committee in memory of George Augustus Selwyn (18 ...

, followed by a

master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

degree from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

in 1979. She passed the New York State Bar examination and qualified as an attorney in the State of New York. She worked for five years with Baker & McKenzie in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, before returning to India. Her husband, business tycoo
Jaydev Mody
is the chairman of Delta Corp. They live in

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

and have three daughters, Anjali, Aarti and Aditi. She started her own practice in Mumbai in 1984, which she merged twice with other firms to form

, one of India's largest law firms, where she is the managing partner. She has been featured in the

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

list of "Power Women in Business" and in the Top 50 Most Powerful Women list published by

. She is a Baháʼí by religion.

Achievements

Zia is recommended for M&A, Securities Law,

Private Equity In the field of finance, the term private equity (PE) refers to investment funds, usually limited partnerships (LP), which buy and restructure financially weak companies that produce goods and provide services. A private-equity fund is both a ty ...

and Project Finance in the RSG India Report, 2017. Clients commended Zia as "one of India's foremost corporate attorneys", "Problem solver", "meticulous", "thorough", "result oriented", and having a "quick grasp". Clients also commented that she is easily 'accessible'. She was recognized as a Top 13 female Acritas Star globally by Acritas Star 2018 and recognized as a "Leading Lawyer", one of the 300 leading female transactional experts by IFLR1000 Women Leaders 2018. Zia Mody is classified as a "Leading Individual" for Banking & Finance, Corporate and M&A and Investment Funds in The Legal 500 Asia-Pacific 2018. She won "Professional of the Year - 2017" at the inaugural UK India Awards. She has also been termed "Market Leader" for Mergers & Acquisitions by IFLR1000 Financial & Corporate Guide 2018 and "Market Leading Lawyer" for Corporate/M&A by AsiaLaw Profiles 2016 to 2018. Her other awards include: "India Managing Partner of the Year – 2016" by Asian Legal Business (Thomson Reuters); Leading Individual for Banking, Finance, Corporate and M&A and Investment Funds in the Legal 500 Asia-Pacific 2016; Star Individual for Corporate / M&A; Band 1 lawyer for Banking & Finance 2012 to 2016; Band 1 lawyer for Private Equity 2012 to 2015 by Chambers and Partners Global. She won the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Euromoney Asia Women in Business Law Awards 2015. '' Business Today'' listed Mody as one of the 25 most powerful businesswomen in India several times from September 2004 through 2011. She is a recipient of the '' Financial Express'' Knowledge Professional of the Year Award. She was also named one of India's 100 Most Powerful CEOs by ''

The Economic Times ''The Economic Times'' is an Indian English-language business-focused daily newspaper. It is owned by The Times Group. ''The Economic Times'' began publication in 1961. As of 2012, it is the world's second-most widely read English-language bus ...

'' in 2004 and 2006. She is also the recipient of the Economic Times Awards for Corporate Excellence as the Businesswoman of the Year, 2010. The awards are given out every year and are seen as the foremost authority in recognizing excellence in the Indian corporate market.

Memberships and Affiliations

Zia Mody serves as the Deputy Chairman and as Director of the Hong Kong & Shanghai Banking Corporation, Hong Kong. She is also a Member of the Governing Board of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA). She is a designated Foreign Arbitrator in the Panel of Arbitrators of China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC) and is also a member of the CII National Council. Zia was also on the panel of the expert committee set up by the Law Commission of India on 'Amendment to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996' to review the provisions of the Act in view of the several inadequacies observed in the functioning of the Act (2014) and a member of the

Reserve Bank of India The Reserve Bank of India, chiefly known as RBI, is India's central bank and regulatory body responsible for regulation of the Indian banking system. It is under the ownership of Ministry of Finance, Government of India. It is responsible for ...

Committee on Comprehensive Financial Services for Small Businesses and Low-Income Households (chaired by Dr. Nachiket Mor – 2013). Her other memberships include the Godrej Committee on

Corporate Governance Corporate governance is defined, described or delineated in diverse ways, depending on the writer's purpose. Writers focused on a disciplinary interest or context (such as accounting, finance, law, or management) often adopt narrow definitions th ...

set up by the

Ministry of Corporate Affairs The Ministry of Corporate Affairs is an Indian government ministry primarily concerned with administration of the Companies Act 2013, the Companies Act 1956, the Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008, and the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 201 ...

(2012) and the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...

Administrative Tribunal, Washington D.C. (2008-2013). She also served as the Vice President and Member of the

London Court of International Arbitration The London Court of International Arbitration is a British private company limited by guarantee with a head office in London. It offers dispute resolution through arbitration and mediation. History The City of London Chamber of Arbitration w ...

(LCIA) (2010 -2013) and as the Deputy Chairman and Non-executive Director of

HSBC HSBC Holdings plc is a British multinational universal bank and financial services holding company. It is the largest bank in Europe by total assets ahead of BNP Paribas, with US$2.953 trillion as of December 2021. In 2021, HSBC had $10.8 tri ...

Asia-Pacific Board.

Charitable Work

Zia Mody's charity almost entirely goes to the Baha’i fund. However, she has also contributed to Jai Vakeel Foundation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mody, Zia 1956 births Living people Parsi people from Mumbai Businesspeople from Mumbai Indian Bahá'ís 21st-century Bahá'ís Harvard Law School alumni Businesswomen from Maharashtra Scholars from Mumbai Alumni of Selwyn College, Cambridge 20th-century Indian businesswomen 20th-century Indian businesspeople 21st-century Indian businesswomen 21st-century Indian businesspeople 20th-century Indian lawyers 20th-century Indian women lawyers 21st-century Indian lawyers 21st-century Indian women lawyers