Unfortunately, no place in India is worth it (not that any random bullshit foreign place is worth it either, but the only places which are worth it are outside). If you can't go for a foreign LLM, then no problem, do it from an NLU, but know that you are doing something whose quality levels are in the toilet. NLUs are primarily designed for undergraduate education.

Hi, I've been in that anxious state of mind some years ago. That said, I'm also someone who got the maximum number of job offers in my college, and I was ranked in the bottom 40% of my batch along with 8 repeats & 4 fails in my transcript. So, I strongly believe that most people have the ability to get offers from T1 & T2 firms. It's very much possible, and I'll try my best to give you as helpful & detailed an answer as possible as a how-to.

At the outset, let's get one thing cleared up: noone looks at your transcripts for corporate jobs — internship applications will include your CV & cover letter, and interview scheduling mostly happens through your PCC — so, as long as you get the degree in the end before joining, it's all fine.

Secondly, the important thing you need to understand is that your ranks and grades serve as a proxy to your skills and abilities for an HR personnel who is swamped with work. So if you want those to value less, you have to replace those with some really powerful achievements — and present those in a way that is easy enough for the HR to notice. I, for example, had significant mooting & research achievements — which may not have been enough for T1 HRs because they wouldn't have gone through my CV otherwise, but such achievements would probably be enough for one to get boutique & T2 internships. [If you still have trouble getting accepted in those, then try targetting & cold-mailing firms & partners that work on areas & issues related to your achievements. Of course, if you're lucky enough to have contacts, that will make this easier, but I've seen many of us get through without any contacts too — the achievements just have to be worth it.] So, I made sure to first intern with such firms run by ex-T1 people and get powerful references. Once you have those, you can then reach out to their friends, colleagues, and batchmates at T1s for internships, via a well-written short cover letter that highlights those achievements. Once they forward your application to the HR, the HR will now have to open the email and read those achievements, which would often lead to acceptances thereafter.

Thirdly, you'll also have to keep in mind that getting the internships is only the first step. At the internship, you may not be the most intelligent person, but you must visibly be the most hard working. This can be done through effective, meaningful, and well-rezearched communication. For example, your 'I'm available for work' mails should mention your key experience & knowledge relevant to the practice area and, if possible, the ongoing work. When you get the work, you should get clarity on what you're supposed to do before doing it, and if possible, keep the seniors informed on the progress and direction of the work — it's best to ask rather than waste anyone's time. You must also keep the seniors informed of possible inevitable delays, and post submissions, ask if there are any follow-ups that you can contribute to — and if they have any feedback. You must visibly inculcate the feedback, once again. In fact, once you get an idea of the key set of applicable sections & laws, you should ideally pick up e-books on that and read up in order to keep doing better. The more privileged you are, the easier it will be for you to develop quick familiarity with the words & the law — so if you've also not attended a top school etc, you'll also have to spend more hours here. I used to read up for 3-4 hours daily after office.

Fourthly, once you feel you've created some goodwill with the seniors, it is very important for you to ask them for some time & have a clear and frank conversation with a senior — one where you inform them that you're a serious candidate, and are strongly here to be meaningfully assessed for a PPO — as such, any recommendation from their side to the partner for work etc would be deeply appreciated. Once you do that and eventually get to work directly with the people responsible for giving PPOs, repeat the process and work even harder.

At the end of it, in the absolute worst case scenario, you'll have another recommendation from their side to another T1 firm, or a callback, or a PPO interview. If you show up as well-researched for interviews as well, there would be no reason for them to not take you — they won't need your rank to serve as a proxy for your ability & performance because by that time they would've already seen your performance, and liked it.

Yes, a good rank would probably enable to bypass this whole process and get a campus placement. But honestly, this will make you a much better associate & a lawyer than that. Just keep repeating this process till you get an offer — which, for the record, I'm sure that you're fully capable of getting. All the best!

Only posting about Mumbai scenario

If you are associated with any chamber, then you will make around anywhere from 15k-35k in the first two years given you have some previous experience in litigation or atleast have the basics of drafting/filing/knowledge about courts, etc

The upside is if the Senior has good work coming in he will let you argue small applications in civil courts and high courts which acts as a major boost for any fresher advocate plus will slide not so important matters to you which he can't take up, giving you some side money. If you are associated with designated Sr Adv chamber then the exposure is unparalleled and you get to learn from the best and helps in making easy contacts with the top advocates.

In law firms it will depend as per the firm size and from where you are graduating. Normally it starts from 20k and will go anywhere till 60-70k in a very good law firm.

I wonder what NKU’s departure email from Trilegal will be like. And if Trilegal leadership will just passively accept that their business is walking out the door? OR maybe it be a lil fun if this leads to an Indian version of the infamous - John Quinn/ Faith Gay email exchange. Well, one can only hope that history repeats itself and that we get to witness this interesting email exchange ;)

LI is beyond redemption. The site was earlier dominated by centrist Gen X and Gen Y people, and the discourse was rational and sensible. Since Gen Z took over, exacerbated by the rise of Modi/Trump and woke influencers on TikTok and X, the site has become a radical communist echo chamber.

The problem with Christ is it's conservative nature. I know some of the faculties that are good. There are some placements as well and you live in a tier 1 city in a good area, although the uni provides no accomodation. But it's run by the priests, with its morals heavily rooted in the past. Female teachers, for instance, have a dress code. The attendence requirements are even stricter than NLS and attendence closes within 10 minutes of the class. People who don't know much run the place. A friend from Christ, working in a tier 1 NLU, said that he won't go near the place and would avoid it with a 6 feet pole.

ESOP work in law firms are either done by (i) employment teams; (ii) gen corp teams; or (iii) tax teams. Generally, company’s choose to go to entities like Aon or ESOP Direct which help structuring equity incentive plans. Some law firms may have specific partners though very rare like Shabnam Shaikh in KCO

You seem to have a very surface level knowledge of the field and degree. Finding a good corporate placement after a 3 years LLB is a difficult task. Also, you wouldn't be preferred by employers because of your age.
Threat to life etc. is pretty low lol, that is not even a consideration most have.
However if you really want to study law you can enroll in some distance course or one that doesn't have a strict attendance requirement like CCS and do a job alongside.
Studying a 3 years full-time course and that too LLB this late is not a good idea. I myself started LLB pretty late - will graduate just before 26 - and it troubles me. Many of your peers will be earning and growing while you will be studying for a degree.

You need referrals. Look around, since you have mooted, connect with some people you met there and ask for assistance or just elsewhere. If nothing else, ask your seniors who have previously interned at the firms you want to intern for HR Id and number. Hope it helps. Also, please do not stress much about not getting such internships, it is not the end of the world if you don't get them.

Hello friends, which are the good litigation chambers in Delhi to learn ropes for a new graduate. I am a first generation lawyer and not from Delhi. I need help with offices which are encouraging for outsiders and where I can learn and ultimately start my own independent practice one day.