Hi, I am 40 now. My friends from law school who went into litigation are earning around 50% of what I earn today. I own a luxury car, live in a 4bhk in Mumbai, and have taken at least 1 foreign trip in the last 10 years; my kids go to the top school in the city. Can't say the same about any of the litigators from law school. (I am not considering people whose parents were senior advocates/judges of HCs)

Bottom line is that I would choose 50lakhs- 1Cr per annum in my 30s than 10Crs in my 60s. In terms of shaping the law, do you think all loopholes are plugged only when a big case comes up? We find loopholes every day, and the regulators try to plug them. We also work with the Government and the regulators and push policy changes. We actually bring value to our clients when we save a debt-ridden company or save Crores of taxes.

Happy holiday season LI folks. I get a lot of kids reach out around this time to ask for survival tips in law firms. Thought I'd make discourse out of it on LI. My go-to tips for surviving Indian law firms.

1. Working past 9pm is failure, not a flex. Look, there will be genuine emergencies. Deals close, courts have deadlines, shit happens. But if you're consistently working past 9pm, either you're terrible at managing your time or someone's taking advantage of you. Neither is something to be proud of. I've seen too many associates wear their all-nighters like medals. It's not impressive, it's concerning. The best lawyers I know are efficient and have boundaries. The ones bragging about working till 3am are either disorganized or have nothing else going on in their lives. Don't become that person.

2. You need to push back sometimes. This is hard when you're junior but it's essential. Some seniors will test you with unreasonable demands - draft needed by morning when they've sat on it for a week, "urgent" calls at 11pm that could've been an email. You have to learn when to push back. Not rudely, but firmly. "I can get this to you by tomorrow afternoon" instead of scrambling at midnight. Most bullies respect people who stand their ground. The ones who don't aren't worth working for anyway. Obviously pick your battles, but don't be a doormat.

3. Don't skip meals. If you're regularly skipping lunch or dinner to meet deadlines, you're doing something wrong. Either your planning is off or your senior is unreasonable. Your body isn't optional. I've seen associates genuinely proud of not eating all day to finish a draft. That's also not impressive and your body will begin showing signs of discontent very soon, some of it irreversible. Any senior who expects you to skip meals for work is a bad senior. Period. Tell them you need 30 minutes to eat. The draft will survive.

4. It's okay to do the bare minimum sometimes. Yes I said it. As long as your work ethic is solid overall, there will be days/weeks where you phone it in. God knows I do. Not every deal deserves your soul. Not every partner deserves 110% effort. Learn to identify which matters actually need your A-game and which ones just need competent work. Save your energy for things that matter to YOU - your health, your relationships, your life outside work.

5. Remember what this job actually is Here's something that took me years to accept - our work isn't that important. If every law firm shut down tomorrow, would the world be worse off? Probably not. We're not doctors, we're not teachers, we're not building anything. We help companies move money around and we draft documents. That's it. The money's good and the work can be interesting, but it's not your identity. I've watched too many talented people get consumed by this job, sacrifice their health and relationships, and for what? To make partner at 35 instead of 38? Law firms are golden handcuffs. Biglaw can be valuable experience and the money helps. Just don't lose yourself in it. Set boundaries early, push back when needed, and remember there's an entire life outside those glass towers. The documents will get done either way.

I can share this because this because happened in private outside class. This ▮▮▮ professor has a habit of blaming India for the Kashmir problem and rants against “Hindu fundamentalism”. I met him outside class and asked him whether he felt Islamic fundamentalism was blameless. I made the point that jihadis in Kashmir are brainwashed at madrassas run by the likes of Hafiz Sayeed and taught to hate non-Muslims. I said that the same problem is now being manifested in Bangladesh. He smirked at me and said that I don’t have a basic understanding of history and I am “uneducated”. He said I should go to a library and read basic history before speaking to him. He said I was “parroting BJP talking points”.

It’s disgusting that professors have such intolerance towards students who disagree with their viewpoint and who are not their groupies.

Aviva completed her schooling at Delhi’s prestigious Modern School. She went on to study Media Communication and Journalism at OP Jindal Global University. According to her Instagram bio, she works as a photographer and producer, using her creative work to highlight social issues and promote positive change. She has presented her work at several notable exhibitions in recent years, including ‘You Cannot Miss This’ at the India Art Fair in 2023 and ‘The Illusory World’ in 2019.

She is also a co-founder of a creative/photography production unit called Atelier 11. Beyond her artistic pursuits, Aviva is also a former national-level football player.

https://www.news18.com/india/priyanka-gandhis-son-raihan-vadra-gets-engaged-to-girlfriend-aviva-report-ws-l-9799413.html

Congratulations!! 🤗💐❤️ And it means that if Raihan lives up to the family tradition, a Jindal grad could be the future First Lady! 😍

Speaking from experience, disputes before the charity commissioners. Have seen advocates who practice solely before the JCC/ACC and mint money like crazy. The core dispute before the charity commissioners is almost always disposal of lands and there’s always a steady flow of income since redevelopment activities (around Bombay atleast) is at an all time high. There are large land parcels held by various public charitable trusts and builders are ready to pay up good amount of money to acquire rights with respect to these lands for their projects.

Nclt and nclat has the most money apart from sat. But sat is very much fixated in mumbai and dominated mainly by bombay counsels. Drts and drats come next. Then aptel etc. Yes if u compare two people with equal standing practicing in hc/sc and the other in nclt/nclat, chances are the latter would be charging more and earning more. But the issue with a sole and exclusibe tribunal practice are the following:

1. Looked down upon by almost everyone - like it or not; there is a unsaid hierarchy in law where sc lawyers>hc lawyers>dist court lawyers. Tribunal lawyers stand at the very bottom

2. V less scope of senior designation - regardless wof what judgements say, this is true. Experienced it. Ask anyone around.. you dont practice in hc/sc - hardly any chance of getting semior gown

3. Very specialised - while it can be a plus, but all your eggs are in one basket being the tribunal..sc/hc lawyers who primiarly practice in hc and occassiomaly in other fora do better in this regard

I checked out https://community.lawschool.cornell.edu/academics/degree-requirements/dual-degree-programs/

there it says that JGLS students 'must complete 62 credits at Cornell over two years.'

so JGLS students have to spend 2 years in Cornell, however, the JGLS website https://jgu.edu.in/cpgls/special-pathways/ says that the JD + BA-LLB is 6 years combo, so do they spend 4 years in Jindal? if yes, how does the Indian law degree work? as BCI rules clearly state that after +12 there must be five years of classes for an undergraduate qualifying degree in law. They made this clear a number of times esp in relation to foreign degree qualifications (where undergraduate after +12 is for 3 years, like in the UK)

my maths doesn't seem add up, can someone from JGLS clarify please

I think what they do is give you a BALLB degree, instead of BALLB (Hons). That saves a few courses and a few months of study, but both degrees are eligible to qualify as advocates. Then they also perhaps cut down the internship period and replace it with courses. All of this saves a year or two, I guess.

Anyway, even if they don’t comply with BCI rules, you have children of senior ministers in this law school, while politicians across party lines dance at the owner’s daughter’s wedding. 🤣🤣🤣 Who will dare to act against them?

Being a Graduate who is working in an In house role, I would like to call out the concept of Unpaid internship in name's sake of learning. In my current company I see interns from other department who are getting paid quiet well like around 20k to 40k just makes me feel miserable for choosing law the most cruel Individual work in this profession leveraging the tier 1/2 tag just get work from intern should stop. These law firms are evil man imagine a student going into a big city like mumbai paying for rent transport and grocery completely out of his own pocket doesn't a law firm think about this fact. This should honestly stop when I see students flexing their tier 1 internship on LinkedIn I can't stop thinking about the fact how much financial burden this must have caused them in the background. We need strict labour laws in India.

It's worth to be noted that he comes from a post of privilege as well as connected family, look up his father. So take whatever he says with a grain of salt, also what happened to his reforms? The only thing which somewhat worked from his recommendations was the AADHAR system that also is a point of debate these days.

Yes, UPSC is sheer waste. Idk why people even consider IAS IPS (not IFS) as respectable at all. You are nothing but a public servant who is also working under politicians, most of whose credentials are questionable. There is no respect for IAS IPS etc. Its just pure delulu. So is this craze for upsc and other such examinations. You are nothing but a sarkari babu. A senior advocate who is even in the govt panel would have more soft power than these babus who think they are on the top of the world..

As for 80 percent of legal work being done thru AI ...true, entire documents can be drafted by AI, they can clearly replicate the drafts of great books like tejoriwala, d'souza, or atkins, but then sir, someone has to correct it and all. Court work will.not go away. Lawyers are still needed. Substantial work will go yes. But still human level supervision would be needed. Useless clerical law firm work like mergers etc can go to Ai, but litigation not so easily and soon

NLU-ites won't like this!! 🥲 And Sudhir Krishnaswamy is gonna be 😖

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVKHx241Nzc

https://www.financialexpress.com/jobs-career/education-pms-economic-advisor-sanjeev-sanyal-calls-upsc-pursuit-a-complete-waste-of-time-why-he-said-so-4091750/

I don’t know why LI censored the comment. Google for the author of the Wire article. He openly proclaims that he is an Ambedkarite. On his X handle, he wears his Dalit identity openly and makes some pretty abrasive comments. Example: “Mr. Anand Narsimhan, Bramhin journalist of Timesnow, are you a Manuwadi? Why are you upset, feel proud to be Manuvadi !”

https://x.com/jayantsr29/status/1005142116618498049

He has also tweeted a very offensive anti-Brahmin cartoon. I am not sharing it, but you can see it if you go through his tweets.

Fact is a fact and LI should not exercise selective censorship.

You already have states blatantly disregarding the Supreme Court and implementing caste reservation of over 50 percent through the back door.This has led to GC students becoming a minority. Now this ▮▮▮ ▮▮▮ writing for the Wire is complaining about PRIVATE universities. Bro, if you can afford to pay Jindal or Ashoka fees how are you backward????

I aspire to be this associate not in his arrogance or over-smart ways but his job overseas and how his old partners line-up to meet him.

Manifesting that job in 2030, when I know I am a better lawyers and can contribute better to my organisation than I am doing currently.

Yes. Its alot. Surely in crores. You'll be 10 years out of your law school and be a salaried partner. Max within 15 years if you are successful. But then add another 5-10 years, and maybe you are an equity partner- say even in the top tier law firms, and how much would you be earning? 5-6cr max? That's what someone in litigation would easily be minting who is equally successful. And that is only going to increase for them substantially as opposed to what one earns in a law firm. In addition they'd get their silk, have their own name instead of being a partner @ some lala law firm, and be truly independent and shape the law - their name would be in the judgements- whereas you the partner? What would you have achieved till now?

Hi, this usually happens for a few reasons. Top of my head, I can think of the following reasons (along with how to help each situation):

1. You’re not prepped enough: if you don’t know stuff, it’s inevitable you feel nervous. The only way to get over this is to actually prepare. For GenCorp, have a good understanding of the Companies Act, and Contract Act, including any caveats or special conditions. Transfer of Property Act is a bonus. The section numbers are ideal to know, but as long as you know the concept well it should still be fine.

2. You’re well prepared but not used to interviews: I think at this point this situation should have gotten better, but if not and you feel you’re prepared enough, I’d suggest making a one page summary of each of your interviews and questions so far from memory and see if there’s a common topic you messed up and work on it. You should also aim to practice answers in front of a mirror or have a friend or two take a few mock interviews. Another advice is to pretend you’re teaching the topic to someone else, so you become used to verbalising the things you know.

3. You’re over-prepared and take too much pressure: if you’re over-prepared, even the simplest question can throw you off since you think you should know each and everything. Here, instead of an exercise, you just need a mindset shift: understand that you don’t know everything and it’s fine, in fact it is expected of you to not know everything and fumble a few times. There’s nothing else to do about it- as long as you make peace with the fact that it’s okay to be incorrect, you’ll be able to remain calm and not feel the pressure to say and do everything correctly and not make it such a huge deal in your head (I know the past rejections make it difficult, but you just have to shift this mindset.) Also, remember they don’t want you to be perfect- they’re not assessing you on how much you know, but on how calm you are under pressure and how quickly you can adapt. In most of my interviews, there were technical questions which stumped me and someone I didn’t even know the basics. So whenever I didn’t know anything, I asked my interviewer to tell me what it was. Every time (yes, each and every time), they told me the concept and asked me to apply it or answer the question again with this additional knowledge, which I then did. It’s okay to not know things, it’s not okay to not want to know things and it’s the latter you should focus on.

All the best, I’m sure you’ll ace the next one!

Its worth practicising in in the same way as it is far better to be a king in a poor country than a pauper in a rich country. If you succeed, nothing like it. Since money is less, the way to work around it is to obviously do matters in bulk. So you earn more. Yes scope of work and culture is bad, but if you are successful, sky is the limit. There was once this advocate who was the father of a senior advocate-now sitting HC judge who practiced in district court and at his peak had over 100 appearances recorded in his chamber itself. Appearances here means haziras. That you are present in court. So yes its definitely good but not too good and not too bad either. If u want to shift, shift to the principal seat of your HC.

Let's keep the generation gap aside and let's speak our hearts out! Seniors at T1 must learn that everyone is a human with different styles, different personalities and individuality. Not everyone comes for the money! Some want to learn as well, and what is that poor guy's fault who wants to learn but is not guided anyhow. This silent treatment and toxicity just reflects incompetency of the Sr's. I remember I was a lateral when i joined a "T1" A few years back and the guy I reported to bashed me on some aspect of a draft, and I just smirked and muttered in my mind eah buddy having worked with a very reputed Senior Advocate (one of the most sought after) you will teach me how to draft when I was groomed by a Sr Advocate and followed his drafting tips. The reality is narcissistic behavior will never end. I've been a victim of blatant silent treatment and Favorism to the extent that my so called colleagues have the liberty to work on drafts as per their whims and fancies, no deadline Applicable, no holes barred, while I am pressurized to wrap up the drafts (be jt appeal ,evidence statements) in one day . The one common trend is that these guys will work at the last minute and sadly the lowest in the hierarchy faces the brunt! You want someone to prepare for final arguments, without even telling them the research propositions! Wow!

I have gotten a decent rank and am eligible to get Both NLS and NLU Delhi for LLM 2026-27 batch. I am based in Delhi, a 2025 graduate, enrolled with bar council of delhi, with a long term goal to join the judicial services waiting to get the 3year practice eligibility. Which NLU should be preferred between NLS and NLUD? And specialisation excluding commercial/company laws? (Based on faculty, subjects and other factors)

current 3rd year BALLB student at NLSIU

1. very true. grades are highly arbitrary (or in nls lingo- arbit) due to extreme sectional disparity. also, 'moderation' at nls is fucked. btw, 'moderation' is a mathematical formula that places students along the bell curve. the bell curve is quite steep, meaning that a few do very well, many do just well enough, and many more do poorly (for example. out of 200, 5-6 students will get an O, 10-15 will get an A+, 40-50 will get A, so on and so forth). so yes, batch rankings may be a problem, and you need to be willing to engage in relentless, ruthless competition with your batchmates if you want to come to NLS and have a good batch rank.

2. campus is tiny- there are no common/social spaces, 50% or more is under construction, and it is just one straight line (like someone else mentioned). the last is the biggest problem- you can literally walk from the start of the campus (gate zero) till its end (gate four) and see everything there is to see. there is no campus life whatsoever, cause everyone is too busy studying or abusing substances.

also- keep in mind that this is a campus meant for 400 people (5 batches of 80 each) and now currently has 1200+. so we are three times over maximum capacity (this has led to worsening living conditions for those lucky enough to be on campus. many have been provided accommodation outside campus as there is not enough space in the hostels). but i cant lie, the hostel life is amazing, very fun, and the community is super tight knit. but the tight knitedness of the community is also fading due to the above reasons.

all in all, i went to nalsar for trilaterals last year- so i have stayed on both campuses. NALSAR's campus and campus life is much much much better. not even comparable to NLS.

3. yes, it will make it more difficult. but those same students will be competing for ur jobs even if ur in nalsar so honestly this is a misplaced concern imo.

4. yes. not much personal time or time for a robust social life. you'll have friends ofc, but pls forget whatever fantastical college life you have otherwise imagined for yourself. most time will be spent in class, or studying. this is, of course, only if academics are a priority for you. many choose not to succumb to the academic pressure and study all the time (these are, unfortunately, the people who get backlogs or year losses). the bottomline is that within 3 months you are expected to do 4 courses (each course having enough syllabus for a 6 month semester, being taught in 2.5 months or less). these 4 courses each have class participation, term papers, mid terms, in-class assignments, end terms, and many other evaluation components that keep you occupied throughout the trimester. in addition to this, if you decide to do moot courts (you should) or other extracurriculars, there goes the rest of your time. so yes, the NLS trimester is a constant and unforgiving demand on your time.

based on the above considerations, and even generally, let me tell very unequivocally that you will have a better college life in NALSAR. The campus life is better, the community is better, the NALSAR campus itself is vast and beautiful. their hostels are also nice. there will be far lesser academic pressure, and you will still get similar opportunities with internships and moots.

but let me tell you something else as well- others on this thread have touched upon this, when they spoke about the superiority of the NLS faculty. which is- the quality of education you will receive in NLS is unparalleled within India (the only real competitor here being Jindal, because they can afford to pay the biggest scholars a lot of money). yes, the trimester system is hectic. yes, it is hard to have a good batch rank. yes, the academic rigour is stifling. but pressure makes diamonds, and that is the principal value that the NLS system provides. it moulds you into a competent and capable law student and future professional.

there is a palpable, not ostensible, difference between an NLS grad and a NALSAR grad. not because NLS students are better than NALSAR students, but rather because the NLS academic system is more effective at producing advocates capable of studying and synthesising large amounts of legal information under high pressure, within tight timelines. this does not mean that there are no NALSAR students that are WAY more competent than NLS students (surely there are), but rather that, on average, the NLS student is more competent than his counterparts from other NLUs.

so my advice to you being this- what makes NALSAR better than NLS is precisely what makes it worse (and vice versa). the decision that YOU have to make is what you value, both in the short term (next 5 years of college) and also long term (next 10-25 years). i honestly wish i had gone to NALSAR, cause I am someone who would thrive better in a chiller, calmer environment. the rigour of NLS has made me anxious and depressive. but at the same time, I have never felt smarter and sharper in my life. that being said, I would still choose going to NALSAR if i were given the choice again, simply because my values are different (i don't value success at all costs. i would rather have had a nice, chill 5 years of college)

GNLU passout from 3 years ago here. Sorry for the long reply, but I wish I'd had someone to speak to all those years baxck when I faced a similar dilemma.

So NLUJ has a great reputation, their moot/journal culture is legit impressive. But since you're still figuring out what you want from law, I think GNLU might actually be better for you. The relaxed academics at GNLU aren't just about chilling (though that's ofc a bonus lol). You get actual time to explore stuff - internships during semester, moots, startups, whatever. I knew people who used that bandwidth to figure out what they genuinely liked instead of just grinding through coursework. The culture is also just less stressful? People aren't constantly competing in an unhealthy way.

My batchmates who ended up in top firms or good roles weren't necessarily the ones with perfect grades. They were the ones who used the flexibility to build real skills and network properly. GNLU gives you that space. NLUJ's intense schedule works if you thrive under pressure and know your path. But if you're still exploring, that intensity can be counterproductive. You'll spend all your energy keeping up with classes and tests instead of actually figuring out what interests you.

Employment wise - GNLU's corp outcomes are really strong now. The gap with NLUJ has narrowed a lot. Yeah they might have an edge in some international placements but unless you're sure about that, doesn't matter much. Honestly, if you're self driven and want freedom to explore, go for GNLU. City's great, and you won't graduate completely burnt out.

In my batch at my NLU, a pretty big fight broke out between a Congress guy and a far-left ▮▮▮ guy over whether Nehru was a “sellout”. The ▮▮▮ punched the Congressi in the stomach, not knowing that the Congressi had various health problems. The Congressi had to be taken to a doctor (fortunately nothing major).

Today, the ▮▮▮ is working abroad as a financial lawyer, boasting on LinkedIn about advising offshore entities - tax evasion by another name! And this guy used to rant against “neoliberalism” in college and criticise Nehru for not being socialist enough and for not aligning with Mao. 🙄

honestly gnlu's perception has improved quite a bit over the years. faculty is somewhat decent - you'll find some really good profs who genuinely care and then some who are just meh. but thats pretty standard across nlus i guess. Admin is lazy af not gonna lie lmao. they take forever to get things done and bureaucracy is annoying buuuut they're largely supportive when you actually need something important, so there's that.

infrastructure wise we're definitely better than most other nlus. library's good, hostel facilities are okayish, campus is well maintained. ofc there's minor flaws here and there but nothing major to complain about compared to what I've heard from friends in other nlus. Gandhinagar as a city is really clean and safe which is a huge plus. It's for sure not as happening as delhi or bangalore but it's peaceful and you can focus on academics/internships without too many distractions. Employability is at an all time high right now. Placement stats have been pretty solid, lots of good firms coming in, and alumni network is getting stronger. So if you're worried about job prospects after graduation, gnlu's in a decent place rn