Hema Sampath, a designated Senior Advocate of the Madras High Court has carved a niche for herself in a male dominated profession with her unwavering dedication and hard work. She was born in Cuddalore to A. Srinivasan and Mythily but grew up in Chennai. Both her father and paternal grandfather were lawyers though her father practised as a lawyer for some years and later joined the corporate world.
Hema has two siblings- younger brother Raghu and younger sister Usha. She schooled in National Girls High School and pursued B.A. in Social Science at Stella Maris College.
She was married off at a young of 19 to K. Sampath, a lawyer. Marriage did not deter her from continuing her education and she joined the Madras University to do her Master’s degree in Social Science. Being a brilliant student, she topped the University in spite of having the responsibility of running a home and taking care of her newborn son.
Her two sons- Srinath now settled in the US and Anand, who works in Singapore studied in Don Bosco, Egmore and it was Hema who used to ferry them to school and back home. Encouraged by her father-in-law, she learnt to drive a car and obtained a driving licence in the year 1973 and was one of the few women in Chennai who used to drive an Ambassador car those days.
Her ambition was to become a lecturer but destiny had something else in store for her. Once her sons started going to full time school, time weighed heavily on her hands leaving her bored and restless. At times she used to visit British Council Library to read books to pass time.
It was at this point of time that she got a brainwave to study law and joined Madras Law College in 1980. She completed her law degree in 1983 and here too, she stood first in the College.
After getting enrolled in the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu, she started practice and joined her husband’s office where she was treated like just another junior. She started off with doing drafting work and found that she was adept at it. She slowly learnt the ropes and began appearing in court for small cases. She also picked up clerical work which is very essential for all advocates.
When her husband K.Sampath was designated a Senior Advocate in 1993, she had to take up more work and responsibility in the office but she managed it with aplomb. After he was elevated to the Bench in 1996, Hema had to take over the reins of the office completely. She has many juniors attached to her office and they have been with her for many years.
Hema Sampath was designated a Senior Advocate in the year 2006 and holds the distinction of becoming the third woman Senior Advocate in the Madras High Court. The first and the second women Senior Advocates are M.A. Janaki and Nalini Chidambaram. Now many women have followed suit and there are a reasonable number of them in the Madras High Court.
She is a Senate Member for the Dr. Ambedkar Law University and this is her second stint at this role. She is also an active member of Lions Club of Central Madras and has been the Secretary of the Club. It is here that she honed her public speaking skills and grew to be a more confident speaker.
Her hobbies include watching documentaries, reading books- mainly fiction and recipe books. Her favourite cuisine is South Indian without onion and garlic. She watches movies once in a while if it’s a good film and has rave reviews.
A true Piscean, she loves to travel and she has travelled all over the globe with her husband. After he passed away in 2016, she shuttles between Singapore and the US to visit her two sons during the court vacations.
Being a workaholic, she prefers to carry work home where she gets to work without any disturbance. She is tech savvy and uses an iPad for her work. She does online research by herself for her senior engagements and starts preparing for the case the moment the case bundle is handed over to her.
Hema is a witty, gregarious and a very inspiring personality. She is a role model for many women who want to make a name for themselves in the legal field. From being a shy, reticent and sensitive person, she has come a long way and has grown over the years into a bold, capable and a very independent woman.
As the quote by an unknown person goes ‘’A strong woman stands for justice, fights for equality and empowers others through the law.’’
Juliana Sridhar is a lawyer and columnist who was part of Hema Sampath’s office from 1991-1997.
