Manjula Chawla is the co-founder and partner in Phoenix Legal, a leading full-service law firm with offices in New Delhi and Mumbai. She focuses on the areas of strategic corporate investments, mergers and acquisitions, foreign direct investments, private equity, corporate finance and restructuring, divestitures and general corporate and commercial matters.

Chawla was one of the first corporate lawyers in the country after the liberalisation of the Indian economy in 1991; advising then on cross-border transactions. Since the early years of liberalisation, she has assisted many multinational corporations (including Fortune 500 companies) in establishing their presence in India in sectors including automobiles, aviation, biotechnology, chemicals, energy and infrastructure, financial services, F&B, healthcare and pharma, information technology and outsourcing, oil and gas, ports, transportation and telecommunications.

She advises clients on a wide range of laws involving anti‐corruption, competition law, corporate governance, general corporate advice, exchange control laws, data privacy and protection of personal information, labour and employment and real estate. She has also been involved in several complex litigation and arbitration matters arising out of commercial and cross border transactions. She is actively involved in rendering pro bono legal advice to international and foreign non-profit organisations in relation to their activities in India furthering social causes.

Chawla’s commitment to her clients and consistent delivery of high-quality services has been well recognised. She was awarded the National Law Day Award – 2000 by the union law minister for “excellence in corporate law” and for her “unique contribution in bringing foreign exchange into India”. She featured in the LexisNexis “100 Legal Luminaries of India” which throws light on some of the most illustrious legal minds in India. Among various accolades, she has been recognised as a World Leading Practitioner in Lexology 2025 ,‘Inspirational Woman Icon’ by Fortune India, 2023, “Visionary Women Counsel of the Year” by the Corporate Counsel Association of India at the Legal Excellence Awards 2021, ‘Corporate Governance Lawyer of the Year’ at the Women in Business Law Awards 2021, Asia by Euromoney Legal Media Group, Most Promising Women Leaders 2021 by The Economic Times and consistently been included in IBLJ’s A-List of India’s top lawyers.