Mahima is a lawyer and a groundbreaker for other women who want to pursue careers in law.  She had the audacity to challenge social norms by entering the world of the traditionally male-dominated legal profession.

Mahima Sharma is a law professional from Patna. She is a law graduate from Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed University, Pune.

After completing her law graduation in 2017, Mahima was confused, as were other law graduates, about which field to work in. Finally, she thought about starting with corporations to gain experience. She worked for three years in Mumbai with pharmaceutical and health sector companies.

Mahima remembers those years when she used to visit the Mumbai high court and get fascinated by the lawyers wearing black coats and formal attire. She always felt that a corporate job was not her calling, and she listened to her heart and joined the court to practice law.

To follow her calling, Mahima resigned from her job in March 2020, but in between, the COVID period hit. She stayed in Mumbai for the next three months due to the lockdown. When the lockdown was lifted,  she came back to her hometown, Patna, and started searching for work. But had to face a hard time as the impact of the pandemic was visible even in courts and lawyers’ practices. After a while, she got the opportunity to start her practice with the support of her seniors and friends. Now, it’s been three years of her practicing law in the Patna High Court.

Mahima was born and brought up in Patna. She received her school education from Kendriya Vidhyalaya in Patna. Remembering her childhood, she says she is blessed to have had a companion from birth, as she has a twin sister. She and her three siblings had a happy and wonderful childhood. She credits her parents, especially her mother, for giving them such a beautiful childhood. Mahima says that now that she herself is a working woman, she understands how her mother sacrificed her career for her kids.

After her marriage, Mahima received a lot of support from her family to continue her law practice.

Mahima says she and two other siblings of hers are first generation lawyers in her family. She was very much influenced by her cousin, who is a law professor at Bennett University. Mahima was pursuing graduation in Economics, but then she realized that it was better to choose the degree course that would lead to becoming a lawyer.

When she started practicing, Mahima realized that the practice of law was much different from the theory lessons she learned in law school. She learned the intricacies of the field over time and developed a specialization in the Intellectual Property Rights field.

When asked about her role models, Mahima says she considers all the women lawyers as her role models who have established themselves bravely in this field. There are several names of women in the law field, from Bihar, who have made it to the Supreme Court of India, and they inspire her a lot.

In response to a question regarding her mistakes, Mahima states that what is the purpose of life if there is no mistake, So one should make a mistake each day and learn from it.

Mahima laments the general attitude of people who do not completely trust women's advocates. She says that women are doing their best to enter the male dominated area of advocacy. She anticipates that women will hold an equal share of the legal profession in the near future.

Mahima advises young people interested in the law profession to never be shy about seeking help from more experienced individuals. She says that seniors enjoy mentoring youthful, inquisitive minds that genuinely show a desire to learn. Therefore, without hesitation, always attempt to learn more about the subject from your seniors.