From Berkeley to the Bar: How Aarushi Jain built a global legal practice from India

When Aarushi Jain represented her first client in the United States at the East Bay Community Law Center in California, she was stepping into unfamiliar legal territory. Pursuing her LL.M. at the University of California, Berkeley, she was entrusted with a case involving a woman who had been wrongly denied paid family leave and disability benefits. An administrative error relating to the client’s immigration status had also resulted in the loss of her Medi-Cal health coverage.

Aarushi built the case meticulously, negotiated with government agencies, represented her client before the appeals authorities and secured more than USD 5,000 in retroactive benefits while restoring her healthcare coverage.

“That experience taught me that irrespective of the country or legal system, advocacy ultimately begins with empathy, meticulous preparation and persistence,” Aarushi tells The Global Indian.

The lesson continues to define her work today. As Founder and Partner at Chambers of Jain and Kumar, a New Delhi-based full-service law firm, she advises clients across litigation, regulatory and commercial matters, with a practice that extends well beyond India’s borders.

Building a global practice

International work has become one of the firm’s defining strengths. Over the years, Aarushi has represented clients connected with more than 15 jurisdictions, including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, the Middle East and several European countries.

Those relationships, she says, were built gradually through years of professional networking and the international connections she developed during her time at Berkeley. “Many of these relationships grew organically from the global network I built during my time at Berkeley and through years of consistently nurturing professional relationships.”

Today, Chambers of Jain and Kumar provides end-to-end legal support through its principal offices in Connaught Place, New Delhi, and Chandigarh, an associate office in Poland and a trusted network of professionals across multiple jurisdictions.

Some of its most enduring international partnerships began with a single brief. In 2020, a Canada-based law firm engaged Aarushi to handle trademark objection proceedings for its clients in India. What began as a limited assignment evolved into a long-term strategic partnership built on consistent delivery and commercial understanding.

“Today, we act as their trusted India counsel, advising on regulatory and commercial matters, and representing them in some of their most significant and complex litigation across the country.”

Another relationship took shape after a Polish lawyer approached her regarding a client who had allegedly been defrauded by an Indian company and had almost lost hope of obtaining relief. Aarushi’s team devised a litigation strategy and secured a court order directing the police to conduct a thorough, time-bound investigation. “The successful handling of that matter laid the foundation for a strong professional relationship,” she says.

People before precedent

While cross-border matters have helped establish her firm’s global footprint, Aarushi says the cases that stay with her are often those involving vulnerable individuals.

She has represented members of the LGBTQIA+ community in matters ranging from blackmail and intimidation to abusive relationships where legal remedies were far from straightforward.

“My exposure at Berkeley, particularly the training on gender identity, inclusivity and trauma-informed advocacy, enabled me to approach these matters with greater sensitivity and a deeper understanding of the lived realities of my clients.”

Another memorable case involved defending a man falsely accused of rape. The matter demanded painstaking analysis of evidence, timelines, electronic records and witness statements before Aarushi’s team secured his bail.

Her approach, she says, has always remained the same. “Where a matter calls for robust courtroom advocacy, we litigate fearlessly and with complete conviction.” Registered with the Bar Council of India and the Bar Council of Delhi, Aarushi believes that every legal strategy must ultimately serve the client’s best interests, whether through litigation, negotiation or commercial advice.

A global education

If Berkeley expanded Aarushi’s legal knowledge, it also broadened her worldview. After graduating from Montfort School, Delhi, in 2012, she pursued a five-year law degree at Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University. As a first-generation lawyer, she was determined to gain practical experience early, spending three years working at a law office after college while interning with law firms, litigation chambers, judges of the Delhi High Court and corporate legal teams.

“Being a first-generation lawyer, I knew I had to learn everything from scratch.” A judicial clerkship with a judge of the Delhi High Court gave her an understanding of the law from both the Bar and the Bench before she headed to the University of California, Berkeley, for her LL.M. in 2019.

Berkeley exposed her to classmates from across Asia, Europe, Africa, Latin America and the United States, turning every classroom discussion into an exchange of legal systems and perspectives. “Working on projects with classmates from diverse cultures taught me that there is no single ‘correct’ way to solve a problem.”

Learning from professors who had shaped public policy, argued landmark cases and advised governments was, she says, an extraordinary privilege. Outside the classroom, Berkeley’s Thursday Bar Review became a favourite tradition, reflecting the belief that meaningful professional relationships are built as much through genuine human connection as through academic collaboration.

Her international exposure extended beyond campus. Aarushi was selected for Berkeley Law’s iTrek Programme, travelling to Israel to study the country’s legal institutions, constitutional framework, technology ecosystem and the complex legal, political and societal issues shaping the region. In 2022, she attended the Berkeley Global Society Annual Gala in Paris, where interactions with alumni from Berkeley, Harvard, Yale, Columbia and other leading universities reinforced the value of a truly global professional network.

“Through the Berkeley Global Society, I have remained connected with accomplished professionals and leaders across industries and jurisdictions.”

Building a modern law firm

Returning to India after Berkeley, Aarushi joined leading law firms to deepen her experience before venturing out on her own.

A few months later, she co-founded Chambers of Jain and Kumar with her life partner, Yojit Pareek, and her law school senior, Prateek Kumar. Their vision was to create a firm that combines rigorous legal advocacy with practical commercial solutions.

“We wanted clients to see lawyers not merely as litigators but as long-term strategic advisors.” That philosophy continues to shape the firm’s work across litigation, advisory and cross-border matters.

Law beyond borders

Having worked in both India and the United States, Aarushi believes each country’s legal system reflects its own constitutional philosophy, history and social realities.

“India and the US are both common law jurisdictions, but each has evolved according to its own constitutional philosophy, history, culture, institutions and societal needs.”

She points out that India’s scale and diversity inevitably produce a far wider range of legal issues and a much heavier volume of litigation. At the same time, she deeply admires the role Indian courts have played in expanding fundamental rights and strengthening access to justice through public interest litigation and progressive constitutional interpretation.

While she values India’s constitutional jurisprudence, Aarushi also believes lawyers and institutions must remain open to global best practices, a lesson reinforced by her international education and practice.

Beyond the law

Away from the courtroom, Aarushi’s entrepreneurial instincts have found expression in other ventures. Along with her mother, who began her own entrepreneurial journey after the age of 50, she launched Artphonso, an art-inspired café designed as a community space for conversations, books, music and creativity.

“I always envisioned a space that blended art, conversations, books, music and community, a place where people could come together to share ideas and experiences.”

A coffee enthusiast, she also developed Artphonso’s signature coffee blend, inspired by cafés around the world that create communities rather than simply serving beverages. Her love for writing led to the creation of Ink Spillers Guild, a platform for writers, poets, storytellers and artists. The idea grew from her own writing journey during law school, when she regularly contributed to newspapers, magazines, blogs and online publications. “We realised there were countless talented writers who lacked a platform to showcase their work and connect with like-minded people.”

Outside work, Aarushi enjoys travelling with family and friends and makes it a point to visit museums, galleries and cultural spaces wherever she goes. She reads widely, from law, history and public policy to psychology, entrepreneurship and literature. “Writing, whether for legal publications or personal reflection, helps me organise my thoughts and continue learning.”

For Aarushi, whether she is arguing a case, building a law firm, running a café or nurturing a community of writers, the underlying purpose remains the same. “Every successful venture, whether a law firm or a café, ultimately revolves around people.”

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