Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Harsh Arora. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Harsh , looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?
I grew up seeing my father succeed in starting and expanding various business ventures through hard work. My father built and ran a chain of luxury resorts and was a true self-made businessman. His work ethic helped our family and the families of those employed by my father’s businesses. I have followed my father’s footsteps in maintaining the same work ethic as him, where I get up early and go to bed only after I have finished everything on my checklist for the day. My father taught me a simple way through which I can keep myself accountable for productivity by following a system of checklists. I learned very early in my life that in order to be productive, I must maintain a daily work checklist and a monthly goal checklist. I have consistently followed this system from the time when I was a student in middle school through now. My father inspired me to maintain a routine and remain organized through using checklists to assure that I can measure productivity and progress on a daily and monthly basis with my work. This was a very useful habit that gave me control over my time and taught me how to manage my workload in an effective manner and avoid last-minute stress. If the checklist is followed daily, then the goals set for the monthly checklist will also be met.
Author and public speaker, Robert Greene, in his book, Mastery, explains through biographies of historical and contemporary masters the traits and strategies that are required for sustained success. His message in this book is that most people have the misconception that the extraordinary accomplishments of great masters like Da Vinci and Mozart stemmed from natural talent and inherent genius. However, Greene in his book explains that this is not true. There is, in fact, no natural link between inborn talent and the mastery of a skill or field. The simple trick is to just find your field or subject and follow the steps of the great masters before you by discovering a field of interest, engaging in some kind of apprenticeship, developing a creative and open mind, then going on to achieve mastery through consistency and hard work. My way of keeping checklists is one of many ways to keep things on track. In the legal field, time management and methodical organization of work are both very critical. Prioritizing tasks and breaking down each step based on legal strategy is instrumental for success. Checklists keeps things compartmentalized and therefore manageable. It ensures that I am on the driver’s seat every time I create and control those checklists.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I am a partner at Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP where I lead the corporate law practice out of the firm’s Fort Lauderdale and New York City offices. I provide value through practical legal counsel infused with business insight in corporate transactions and related dispute resolution. My firm provides legal services in almost all areas of law and covers much of the country. I leverage my focus in the area of business law to provide bespoke commercial judgment and vision to execute action plans and ensure success for privately held and publicly traded companies across industries. I broaden access to opportunities and support my clients, boards, and colleagues by resolving governance disputes with creative solutions and minimal acrimony. I also assist with eliminating the root causes of compliance and operational problems for business executives. Essentially, I act as a courtroom advocate, boardroom strategist, and an active leader in the community to help businesses of all sizes succeed in their management and operational objectives.
With over 17 years of experience, I have counseled business leaders to fuel missions, knock down barriers, and shape markets. I lead a legal team that works seamlessly across different industries to deliver highly effective solutions to propel success. As a business attorney, I bring my personal passion and legal prowess to bear in every matter for my clients. I am a very service-oriented lawyer as I routinely seek feedback from my team, colleagues, and clients to assure that the objectives of each engagement are met as intended. In 2024, I plan to continue to provide substantial preventative counseling as it provides the best return on each client’s investment in using a business attorney. If legal issues for businesses are dealt with prior to litigation and diplomatically resolved or strategically handled, then businesses can be best positioned to avoid costly legal mistakes. I enjoy problem solving; and further, preventative counseling provides an opportunity for businesses to take control of legal issues before they escalate and before other parties or tribunals get involved. The key to having a good year in the face of economic uncertainty is to start strong and manage carefully. I focus on the fundamentals early in the year with my clients, which make a big difference as the year progresses. Even if the clients are operating in a challenging economic environment, consistent review of legal issues and taking preventative steps assists the clients in avoiding pitfalls and reaching their goals to ensure a successful year.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
The three traits and skills that have remained instrumental in my professional journey are – first, learning the reasoning behind why laws were created or came into existence rather than just learning the law; second, always appreciating the difference of opinions; and third, remaining respectful to all participants in controversies. As a business lawyer, I am proficient in deal-making strategies. By making sure that I research and try to understand the history and evolution of certain laws, I have been able to effectively guide my clients in cutting edge issues where there is no clear answer for the best solution to a legal problem. Guidance on newly developing legislation relating to artificial intelligence is one such example, where privacy and technology concerns must be understood by the clients to build internal policies and systems that comply with these new laws. I also take pride in carefully listening to adversaries so that I can appreciate and fully understand a different opinion and related position that may not be favorable to my clients. This approach has helped me in developing creative solutions and I have been able to work on effectively offering opportunities where parties can compromise and strike a deal that ultimately benefits both sides. In difficult situations, it is important to remember that respecting adversaries can be very helpful in deterring harmful knee-jerk maneuvers from opposing parties. By keeping negotiations professional without personal attacks on parties or on opposing attorneys, difficult positions can be handled with care.
Young lawyers who are entering the legal profession have to deal with new challenges with technology, demanding needs of the clients who are under financial pressures, and learning how to practice law effectively and efficiently. By understanding that most business executives want advocacy that makes sense with their business objectives, it is very important to learn the reason why certain law exists or what the legislative intent was or how the courts will construe certain law considering applicable public policy. Young lawyers should also be cautious with following the professional rules of responsibility which requires lawyers to remain respectful to each other. This is important to maintain respect and candor within our legal profession. We have a duty to also maintain the utmost trust of our clients. By being civil with adversaries, it helps everyone advocate for their respective positions through their attorneys in an effective manner so that the legal process remains fair for everyone who is involved. This is an important topic that I have covered through the years when I have mentored young lawyers who are entering our esteemed profession so that these new members of our legal community can maintain their reputation and earn respect from their adversaries while zealously advocating for their clients’ interests.
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
I would like to collaborate with accountants and wealth management advisors who are routinely dealing with complicated business issues. I can be reached through email at [email protected]. I also welcome connections through my LinkedIn page that is provided below. I routinely work with talented accountants and wealth management advisors to structure business transactions, assist clients with their overall business and personal growth strategies, and to resolve complicated commercial disputes that require review of tax consequences and managing financial and investment portfolios. I also get called upon by these professionals frequently to assist them with legal issues that they encounter with their own clients. I enjoy meeting new professionals and sharing creative strategies with them with a common goal of assisting business executives and their companies through providing stellar client service. I am looking forward to expanding my network of accountants and wealth management advisors in Florida and New York. I invite those that are interested in connecting with me to reach out to me so that we can introduce ourselves to each other and build a strong community of service-oriented professionals who enjoy working on sophisticated assignments for our clients.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.nelsonmullins.com/professionals/harsh-arora#main
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harsh-arora-esq
Image Credits
Studio by Carmen Photography
