A0 mistake

We were working on an advisory for a foreign client and I had done a shit ton of research for the matter. My practice area is smaller and more niche so not a lot of research comes as easily as Gen Corp / disputes.

Turned over the research, sat with my seniors, finalised everything into one doc and got ready to send it to the partner. Started proofreading the doc on a whim right before sending and realised that I had switched the appeal status for two cases with the same party name (one of these was a writ and the other an appeal).

Completely lost my shit because I knew that it had the potential to change our legal opinion (which could take days longer) and hyperventilated for a full hour - finally summoned the courage to message my PA - who promptly got on a call with me - only for both of us to come to the conclusion that it didn’t really impact our assessment and a couple of words had to be changed. Apologised to the PA about 10 times only for them to say it was completely fine, and it caused no issues. Made the change - sent out the doc to partner and subsequently to the client - life went on.

Moral of the story is that fuckups are only as big as we make them out to be (usually).

My anxiety however, continues to pervade my daily work life, and I do check a case status thrice before I open my mouth about it now :p

When I was in my second year, I interned at a Tier 1 law firm and it was my first ever internship. I had no connections nothing, still got selected. There was no one to guide, or no one to explain that what needs to be done. I had hardly attended my college lectures. It was my second or third day at the law firm and one PA gave me a research work. I did some research and explained the PA about my research. After explaining her, she asked me one question - which legal database I had used for this research. And I told her INDIANKANOON. After hearing this she didn't reacted. And next time when I went to her asking for some more work, she was like I'll let you know. Now, at present date, i.e., after 3-4 years, whenever I remember this incident, I feel so embarassed and guilty. And in life you have to move on from things and start working on your mistakes. So, right now I am working at a Tier 2 law firm, with good pay and good work environment. And every I try to learn something and try to avoid my past mistakes, thats the only path to a successful career life. Cheer!

For sure - I got lucky, and I only realised this much much later in my career. In retrospect, there were many issues with that firm but I think it was much better than I knew back then. Since then having seen other Tier 1 firms at play, it is very clear to me that a lot of law firm partners run their practice on sheer brutality. It's kind of sad. Hope this changes as Gen Z and Gen Alpha get better at setting their boundaries.

As someone who made the mistake of joining in-house after graduation, I would strongly advise you to start from a law-firm. It is not only tough to switch from in-house to a law firm but nearly impossible.

Join the firm, work for a few years and then make the switch to in-house if you do not enjoy the work.

Hahaha yea, I agree. I genuinely feel litigation lawyers are “real” lawyers. The thrill of courtroom arguments, chalking abstract arguments, figuring our litigation tactics all seem in aggregation like a genuine “skill”.

Unfortunately, litigation is perhaps the most exclusive gated profession in the country. Not everyone can start out with 10k salary - I come from a small town and relocating to delhi would literally starve me with that income. Hence, corporate law is my only alternative.

I don’t think the point was about tangible vs intangibles outcomes. What “hard-skills” do you think you have developed after studying for 5 years in law school, and upon working as a corporate lawyer. Technologists can handle complex softwares like C++, Java, etc and can do math, coding and understand data structures and algorithms - somethings which an ordinary person can’t do. Similarly, architects have specific geometrical skills of creating building plans etc, data scientists and economists can work with tools such as R etc. Finance professionals understand quant and can create excel models. As a corproate lawyer - what hard skill do you think you have or that you practise that can’t be done by any ordinary person woth average intelligence. You only know how to read basic non-technical documents (you want understand data sheets or quant heavy documents), you do not know any tools (SCC and manupatra are search engines not tools), you only read regulations and laws and google what you don’t understand. How is that even a skill? Anyone can do that. We use language and jargon to fool ourselves to have some exclusive skill - we say things like stare decisis, in loco parentis etc which are in reality very simple basic logical terms shrouded in some random jargon. That cannot be called a skill. Look at the general day to day tasks of a corproate lawyer - Due Diligence, proof reading DRHPs, drafting contracts which are 95% boilerplate etc. these tasks are brainless.

This is going to be an old uncle lecture, but here goes.

If you're from the 2026 batch, then you haven't experienced being a lawyer. I get your sense of disillusionment - I've been down that road. But here's the thing; law school doesn't (and can't) teach you how to become a lawyer, and it makes little difference how many "professors of practice" have taught you. Realistically, law school can never teach you the realities of the profession, because each practice area in each city in each country will turn out differently. Law school will help you understand basic concepts, and that's pretty much it. Becoming a lawyer is something you start learning the first day on the job and then keep learning till you quit or die - it makes little difference if you're a corporate/transactional lawyer or a litigator. You will have boring days and you'll have riveting, intellectually stimulating ones. You need to learn to plough through both.

The "profession is built around talking jargon and moving documents"? How does that make it any different from other white-collar professions? You're just using different jargon and moving around different pieces of data. That data you're "mechanically" moving around may be stultifying to you, friend, but it means a LOT to your client's commercial or personal prospects. And, for the record, NOBODY talks more jargon and moves around more pointless documents than litigators, since you harbour the impression that litigation involves more skill than a corporate law.

You feel that your friends are more "skilled" because they're finance bros or tech bros? They're not. They just have a different set of skills than you and they're as untrained and inexperienced as you are. Besides, who will they turn to down the line when they want to restructure their businesses, or want advice on navigating new SEBI regulations, or when they're being sued for a breach of non-compete? They're going to turn to you. Your skill is helping these people get out of trouble, or get to where they want with their lives and their businesses. If you help them, they'll come back to you again and again, because they trust you. It's the same reason why most of us prefer to go to the same accountants or doctors or hairdressers - because we trust them with stuff that is personal, sensitive and really important to our well-being. A lawyer's true skill is the trust that they build - with clients, with colleagues, with courts and tribunals.

Is practicing as a corporate lawyer mechanical compared to a litigator? Up to a point, yes. But I know plenty of litigators who got pigeonholed into specific types of disputes who have the same complaint. You want an example of mechanical? Try doing merger/demerger scheme matters year after year and you'll see what 'mechanical' truly means.

I've dealt with all sorts of clients in my two plus decades of practice - startup CEOs not old enough to buy a drink, flash hedge fund managers, algotraders, genius programmers, civil servants, cops - you name it. Many of them would be bankrupt, screwed over by unethical investors or in prison for being frauds or just stupid and overconfident. They're not - because of us, unskilled, banal lawyers.

I started life as a gen corp/M&A lawyer, then did some cap markets, and then became a litigator (which I currently am). One of the reasons I moved to litigation was because I too felt that a corporate/transactional practice was process driven and boring. To my surprise and delight I discovered that my new litigator colleagues, while more familiar with court craft, didn't know how to read financial statements, thought ROFR was a dog's name and were clueless about FEMA other than it existed and the ED could come after you if you violated it. This was a huge disadvantage to them while dealing with a particularly tricky shareholders dispute. So, yes, I got bored with corporate law, but I had learned skills that were (a) not taught in my premier NLU and (b) none of my coworkers had. You see where I'm going with this?

This is somewhat out of context, but I feel this applies to our profession. One of my favourite movie monologues from Margin Call:

"If you want to do this with your life, and do it well, you need to believe that you are necessary. And you are. If people want to live like this...with their big cars and these houses that they haven't even paid for. Then you are necessary. The only reason they can continue to live like kings is because we've got our fingers on the scale in their favor. And if I were to take my finger off...then the whole world gets really fing fair, really fing quickly."

If you still want to get a degree in another discipline, sure, you be you. But remember that you're doing it after spending 5 years studying for a profession you want to ditch before even spending a day practising it. Good luck.

Corporate Lawyers create legal documents . The legal documents help in reducing future litigation costs for the company just like how the cybersecurity experts help in reducing malware related damages and future related costs incurred. So if you want to make something tangible you can see, use and feel then these fields are not for you at all. Same for Data science and economics.

You might be better suited to become an artist, cook, inventor, potter, lab scientist or may choose an MBA and open a business (since working as an HR or Consultant won't yield a tangible work product either) :)

Hii guys Im a 4th year student from tier 2 private college student, I have interned at Trilegal and 3 other boutique firms no one knows much about I've been mailing several firms for June and July but there is no response , just been feeling a lil lost honestly like how will things work if this is how's it going ;/

You are absolutely right, but as you have linked reservation with dilution of quality you will probably be heavily downvoted. People on this site do not tolerate any criticism of reservation.

Your comment about too many NLUs is also correct. When tier 2 IITs and IIMs are struggling with placements, what hope do tier 2 and 3 NLUs have? We should have has no more than 5 NLUs in India, each admitting no more than 100 students per batch.

Two factors have significantly eroded the overall standard of our universities.

First, reservations across various categories.

Second, the indiscriminate establishment of an NLU in almost every state. Maharashtra alone has two National Law Universities. When a “national” university exists in every state, the inevitable consequence is a dilution of standards across institutions, as talent is spread too thinly.

Further, private institutions such as Jindal Global Law School offer highly competitive pay packages to qualified professionals who are inclined to teach. This has drawn serious academic talent away from public universities and has further contributed to the decline in their standards.

I foresee a market-driven consolidation and correction in the years to come. These universities have produced a glut of attorneys, the vast majority of whom are underutilised due to a lack of good-quality, well-paying work. Most such work remains concentrated in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad, and is largely cornered by established law firms or senior practitioners breaking away from them.

A significant number of graduates are unable to secure law-firm or in-house roles. Instead, they are pushed into:

(a) lower-court litigation with fewer matters—an area particularly vulnerable to being disrupted or replaced by AI; or

(b) outsourced paralegal or secretarial work from the UK and the USA, often after spending considerable sums to qualify in those jurisdictions.

Only a very small fraction eventually secure quality law-firm or in-house roles overseas.

All told, we have produced—and continue to produce—far more lawyers than even tomorrow’s India will realistically need. There is no clear North Star, except the illusion of a high-paying starting salary of ₹1 lakh per month and the distant dream of becoming a partner earning ₹1 crore per annum.

Following one’s passion and succeeding monetarily is realistically possible only for a small elite—graduates from schools like Doon or Mayo—those with generational wealth to cushion risk and failure.

The overall situation is a mess.

Literally all white collar professionals are sending kids to IB schools nowadays. IAS and IPS officers too. Parents are taking loans for this if necessary.

After IB, aspirations continue. People either want to study abroad, or at universities like Ashoka or Jindal. This is a sea change from before, when people from elite families aspired to get into IIT, IIM, NLSIU etc. Nowadays, they are just not interested. Even if a kid is very bright, he or she would rather aim for a good engineering degree in a top 50 US University over even a top 3 IIT.

Won’t this eventually harm NLUs?

Concern for middle class, or trying to push conservative Hindutva values? This will be quite discriminatory against single people. As it is, there is a lot of pressure on women to get married. Now single women will be stigmatised further.

https://www.wionews.com/india-news/does-marriage-mean-lower-taxes-modi-government-may-offer-major-tax-relief-to-married-couples-in-upcoming-budget-1768831374142/amp

Sudhir is not building his own home. He’s building the University. You must bear with it. Whenever a new flyover is built in the city, everyone faces a traffic jam, many people get delayed in office or reaching home. Huge collective pain and inconvenience. But once the flyover is ready, life of every user improves. The city improves. The university is also a city. Construction is a necessity. Be proud that Sudhir is unlike past VCs who only wait to end their term in peace and comfort and choose to do nothing. Sudhir is taking huge efforts to take NLS to the next level. Appreciate him and bear with him.

The SBA is busy planning the next trek to Uttari Beta or the next leadership summit (Admin sponsored 2 day vacation to a resort for all the students who are in position of power). At this point, the admin is just bribing the student reps😂. There are countless other issues on which a protest could have taken place but ofc that will not happen because the SBA wants to go on trips on admin's money which is unfortunately being sponsored by the students' fees.

get rank 1, after you get a taste of mooting from 1-2 good NLU moots, go for international moots (Vis for Arbitration; Jessup for IL, etc.) go all in and main to win it or atleast make it to the top 16 and get a honourable mention. get good at QUALITY academic writing. Read top law journals to see how articles are structure, how an argument is structure or doctrine is analysed. Bryan Garner's book is also helpful. By 3rd -4th year try to publish in international journals. Intern from your first year. Also try to get international internships (eg. SIngapore / HK firms) before you apply to Vac Schemes. Develop commercial awareness.

For those who have successfully cleared the AIET, I would be grateful if you could share your preparation strategy for the examination. I am currently reviewing the previous years question papers and find the scope and complexity of the exam somewhat overwhelming, particularly in terms of where to begin. Any insights or guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Hi everyone,

Looking for a reality check from people here.

I graduated from a national law university and ended up working in the policy space straight out of college. Have been there for ~2.5 years now. Recently decided to move back into core law practice specifically law firms (more specifically general corporate / M&A teams). I’ll skip the “why policy to law” part and "why M&A" part, but this is a conscious and thought-through decision.

Over the last few months, I’ve been preparing from scratch again [Companies Act, FEMA, Contracts, etc.] and also trying to understand the practical side of things [DDs, SPAs, SHAs, BTAs etc.] with active guidance from folks currently working in Tier-1 corporate teams.

I’m realistic about the switch and don’t have expectations of shortcuts. I’m willing to start wherever possible and put in the hours to catch up. My question is mainly this: How do people here see the chances of someone with a policy background transitioning into general corporate/M&A at law firms after ~2-3 years out of “traditional” practice?

Would really appreciate honest views, especially from those who’ve seen similar transitions or work in firms. Happy to hear both encouraging and critical perspectives.

Growth prospects are limited. If you join at a junior level, you’ll be bullied and won’t get good work. If you’re joining as an SA or PA then give it a try. She’s a good bod but quite moody so the goodness varies. Is a friend who worked for 6 months and the quit because they couldn’t handle the team politics. Expect a lot of micromanagement if you’re a junior.

Fighting BJP? Check Root and Stem. Yes she has all those bells and whistles. Let her blow it. And having those does zilch beyond the safe, sycophantic confines of a mutual admiration society, which includes many from the campus that she is allegedly fighting. At a certain level she is one of the collective lion pack that is feasting on the kill that is us. How abt RG Kar?

Yes, I am from Bengal and I agree that the BJP wants the TMC to stay in power. They see them as the lesser evil, because they believe that the TMC will weaken the Congress and the Left, which are larger national rivals. To that extent, they are right. The TMC has completely decimated the Congress and Left in Bengal, and killed many of their supporters.

LI readers are spreading lies and showing their misogyny and jealousy against MG. She NEVER demanded that Mamata Banerjee be addressed as a three-time CM. She merely meant that the ASG should follow protocol and call her by her official title, which is “Hon’ble CM”. This is standard protocol in the government. The ASG is the law officer of the government, so he is duty-bound to follow it. She was simply telling the ASG how to do his job properly.

A nobody in your words, but some comments on your statements above - for section 377, please see who actually argued the matter and not the person who got the limelight. For being first LBGTQ lawyer, she came out much after designation. Saurabh Kirpal had been open about it. And for fighting fearlessly, she's just appearing in court as per her brief and if she gets a brief from BJP, she would do that too. Good lawyer but please don't make up stuff to canonise her.

Can someone provide some info about Keystone Delhi office assessment internships?

Do they have a specific criterion for selection? Do they prefer that you do a regular internship first and then subsequently an assessment, or can you apply for an assessment directly? Are there any preferred months for which I should apply for an assessment?

Is the duration for the assessment a month or more?

Is applying through the website enough, or do you have to send emails as well?

Overall, any info/tips for the application or anyone who can share some experience from the office... Thanks a lot to anyone who can help me out!!!

The role is likely to entail filings under Companies Act, LLP Act, labour laws, etc and maintenance of minutes/ registers/ books. May not be the best option if you are looking at intellectual drive. But you can consider this if work life balance is a priority (for growth prospects in this line of work, you should definitely have/ acquire a CS qualification)

I have received an internship confirmation from Singhania & Co. through a competition, and I am currently deciding which office to intern with. I would be grateful if you could share some insight into which team at Singhania & Co. has good exposure to general corporate and M&A work.

Listen - this is not meaningful work. Most of this work can be done by the deal team itself. The deal teams themselves grumble about this. Most of these green channel filings do not require more than an SA sitting on it. Gatekeeping CCI interactions are how most practices explain their existence. In merger control, some Form Is , and most Form IIs, are the only places where competition lawyers earn their money.

When firms don't find roles to promote GenX partners given their lack of leadership chops, this happens. Many will never go higher as they have made their own glass ceilings. Some of it is down to the limiting practice area, a lot of it is down to how some have conducted themselves as potential leaders in public. The constant drama from this practice area is a symptom. From the client side we cannot help, we have eyes and ears plus experience being there ourselves, sometimes we nudge but in the end we have relationships to preserve. Good luck to those who push off on their own.

I wonder seeing such questions. Even undergrad kids talking about leaving NLS for Nalsar or NLUD.

Is there any remote comparison?

NLS is a hundred miles ahead. Compare Faculty. Nalsar and NLUD combined can’t match NLS alone. Compare VC - Rao of Nalsar and Bajpai of NLUD stand nowhere close to Sudhir. Compare alumni, both Nalsar and NLUD together can’t match or come anywhere close to NLS. Only a foolish person will leave NLS to join Nalsar. Whether it’s LLM , PhD or BALLB

This was one of the worst internship experiences I have ever had. There was no proper guidance, no training, and no structured work. Interns are treated like free labor and are expected to figure everything out on their own without any support. Seniors rarely respond to queries and communication is very poor.

The work assigned was either irrelevant to learning or completely unorganized. There was no mentorship, no feedback, and no professional development. Basic professionalism was missing, and the office environment felt stressful and demotivating.

I would strongly not recommend this firm to students who actually want to learn and grow. It is a waste of time and energy if you are looking for real internship exposure.