Having been in the UAE for over 30 years, coming from a legal background, Shilpa has held the position of Head of Legal in global companies, and is now an independent legal consultant, under her management consultancy firm Focal. She has worked as the in-house Legal head with Smit Lamnalco and Svitzer (part of the Maersk Group), doing work with major corporations worldwide. She specializes in corporate legal work, and her expertise is in contracts of all nature.

Always working in the interest of her clients, Shilpa is a strong believer in alternate dispute resolution, mainly mediation. She is a member of leading international legal bodies, of the Chartered Institute of UK (CIArb) and a Mediator with the Oman Commercial Arbitration Centre and an IMI qualified mediator. She has been invited to be a judge in many Mediation competitions held in universities. She has successfully negotiated and resolved issues for her clients before they became disputes.

Shilpa had a close to death experience in 2003, when she slipped into coma and was waist down paralysed. She wrote a book “All Battles aren’t Legal” in 2005 based on her life-death experience and her story of recovery. Her second book “Unfiltered and Unapologetic” was released in August 2025. Shilpa is a lawyer by profession and an author by passion. She is a strong advocate for diversity and inclusion. She has written articles in Khaleej Times in UAE and Lawyers Update magazine in India for many years on diverse aspects of life. Shilpa is a recipient of several awards for legal excellence and writing. She has been the cover story for many magazines for her resilience, excellence in profession and real-life inspiration. She is a member of the Women Board of Directors.

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