Oh and if you get a job, most firms have no signing bonus. For a city like mumbai, you will need 40k rent to live closer to office in a furnished room, brokerage, 3 month deposit and first month living expenses. You’re already in the whole for 2-2.5 lakhs before you even join. I want to say it gets better once you get a job but initially it does not.

1) 5k-10k is what I spent living in the same city as my internship. If you're an outside it's easily 25-30k per internship.

2) Burnished law journal is the most unethical journal and firms should stop entertaining them. Spending 12-20k to get a T1 internship is bizzare.

3) Despite having numerous internships on Cv it has become difficult to get placed. It's not that the student lacks skills but the opportunity to get an interview/ assessment is almost nil without a placement cell.

4) The amount of internships a student does these days could easily get themselves placed in any other field with a better paying job than tier-1 firms.

5) The pay across tier-1 firms is nothing as compared to other fields for the number of hours spent on working. A lawyer easily spends 11-14 hrs a day on job whether it be litigation or corporate. Weekends are never off and social life, wlb doesn't exist.

Broadly speaking, litigation relating to commercial transactions. It's not really a strictly defined field for you to say what is included & what is not.

Be extremely well versed with CPC & Commercial Courts Act. Other than this, Contracts Act, Sale of Goods Act, Arbitration & Conciliation Act, Specific Performance Act, Limitation Act, Court Fees Act & Suits Valuation Act.

Some may consider this to include intellectual property rights, some others do not. Technically, matters pertaining to IP are also commercial suits as per CC Act.

If you're looking to get into this field and want to prepare for your internship beforehand - be thorough with CPC and generally understand the broad principles of the other laws I mentioned.

I understand that there are existing threads on LI discussing the presumption of expenses of 50% applicable to lawyers. I am still very confused on whether I should be calculating tax on just 50% of my income (let's say it is 16LPA) and whether leaving it in my bank/FD will be violating the Income Tax Act? My dumb brain has more or less understood that I can't be holding this other 50% of "expense" amount in my bank/FD.

But ITR3's point 62 states "50% of Gross Receipts, or the amount claimed to have been earned, whichever is higher". So how do I still hold the amount and also maximize my benefit by using the presumptive expense deduction under Section 44ADA of the Income Tax Act.

Please do help me out since I have been getting more confused with every explanation I read.

Cyril Shroff and AM Singhvi are not at all on the same level. The disparity between the Founding Partners of T1 firms and highest-paid senior advocates in the country is quite a bit.

AMS, AD, MR, HS, AS all earn potentially 200Cr+ a year. In fact, few years back, AMS was the highest tax paying Indian.

Not sure where you’re getting your ideas from. Dayan Krishnan, as mentioned, simple life, lives in Jangpura. Akshay Jaitly, lives in Nizamuddin, drives an Innova. As far as I know he spends his money on bicycles and running shoes and hangs out with school and college friends and his sports buddies. Garmin watch. Some of these people are more normal than you expect.

I am from Mumbai so my insights will be limited to Mumbai lawyers:

1) They mostly live either in bungalows in old money areas like Cumbala Hill, and Peddar Road etc, or in apartment complexes like Oberoi 360 West, Lokhandwala Minerva, The Park by Lodha, etc.

2) We Mumbaikars aren't too crazy about cars. While some of these partners own high-end cars like Maybachs and Land Rovers, others prefer traveling in more ordinary vehicles like Ertigas. Their choice of cars is largely influenced by personal preference.

3) Partners do generally splurge on vacations (if they are married, that is), I have seen many of them go to places like French Polynesia, Iceland, etc. If they choose to vacay in India they go to top hotels like Umaid Bhawan Palace or Aman Khas.

4) No one wears crazy suits, just your normal formal Raymonds. Some have good watches through, I know one partner who wears an AP and another who wears an MB&F. Rolex, GS, etc are common.

5) Generally they party at their house or any local nightclub in Lower Parel.

6) They hang out with friends at work lunches at Wasabi, Seven Kitchens, etc

7) They hand out with corp honchos mostly, and, contrary to popular belief, not with actors.

Life is truly so different and ever changing. As I opened LI right now, there's a thread of guy burnt out while working in a disputes team. And there's this thread where OP is desperately looking for a good opportunity to work.

This makes me question, what are we truly seeking in our lives? Will we ever be happy? Will anything ever suffice?

@Mods: this along with that crowdsourced salary thread should be pinned to the home page.

@OP: can you please ask allow edit access.

@LI users: please populate with more commonly asked questions

Not at all, you're right. But consider that in a few years you might also think back fondly to this time, burning the midnight oil when you were still young and energetic, providing you're in a happier place by then. So find a way to find a place more suited to what you would like out of life. Usually it is easier to change from a workaholic style place to a more chilled out firm, rather than vice versa.

I’ve heard KCO Mumbai (as well as other tier 1 law firms) has some of the most arrogantly talented people on their block. Usually don’t consider interns worth their while and time, is that true? I heard we get assigned a social and work buddy who assess you but in most cases they take you unseriously. Can someone please confirm if I should go in just for the namesake or can I pin my hopes for good mentorship?

The immediate family is not supposed to be concerned with the matters dealt with by the judge i.e. they cannot be lawyers or parties interested in matters presenting before a judge related to them. They can however practise is the same court. Stop pulling rules out of your ass

Look at Kian as a case study. He was an unknown corporate lawyer. Then suddenly he became a known figure that law firm partners and law school VCs began to appease or fear, for favourable or adverse publicity. But because legal journalism has a left-wing bias, such power is wielded by left-wing journalists. So the right-wing has FOMO.

Update as of 11 June: The SJA is NOT giving up, contrary to rumours being spread on LI. With the chaos of elections now over, discussions are taking place within the SJA regarding the next steps. This includes approaching both the mainstream media and legal news media. A follow-up petition, with strong language, may be drafted.

I'd say wait till 20 June or so, you'll definitely see some movement.

Do you stay on this campus, have you been chased and attacked by hordes of angry chattering monkeys? Have they pried open the nets of your room to get into your food when you’re asleep? Have you been stuck in your room or in the washroom because the monkeys are outside toppling “monkey-proof” dustbins and baring their teeth at you? Have you been late to classes because the monkeys are blocking your path? If the answer is no then kindly shut the fuck up.

How likely is it for a corporate lawyer working at a T1 to retire as early as 40s? Lets say, after making partner at 32, he works as a partner for 8-9 years more. Can he save up enough money through smart investments to achieve FIRE? Is the money in tier 1 enough to make someone live comfortably post 40s without working again?

The compensation for equity partners varies from firm to firm. I can only speak for SAM Mumbai. I’ll not disclose the exact amount but I can give a ballpark amount for each segment.

1. Salaried Partners: It starts with minimum 85lpa to 1 crores PA as a junior salaried partner with fixed to bonus component ratio about 60:40. With a few years down the line in partnership, salaried partners in SAM Mumbai can expect a compensation north of 2 crores PA. (This is strictly applicable to the M&A/PE Practice only)

2. Equity Partners: Once the salaried partners buys into equity, the fixed component is capped at 1.2 crores PA with bonuses going upto 200%+ of the fixed component. I can speak for equity partner of my private M&A practice only and she makes approximately 3-3.5 crores PA.

3. Rainmakers/Practice Heads: Barring few practice heads with a below average book, the rainmakers in SAM are making upwards of 8 crores PA. One popular partner who heads the M&A and PE practice brought home 13 crores in FY2023.