It’s high time lawyers realise that karma exists even in the legal profession and simply because you have authority or power that doesn’t mean you can do whatever you please. Devils luck is not available to everyone. Kindness, righteousness, compassion and ethics is above everything else. What goes around comes around and karma never fails no matter how influential or powerful you are in the organisation. If not in professional life, karma will hit you in your personal life which will be even more worse. Karma passes on to the next generation. Whenever I deal with my peers and juniors I remind myself that one day my daughter will also join the workforce and/or face the society and she shouldn’t be paying for my misdeeds.

I am sure this partner and her team have made you a villain within their firm instead of introspection. Such people never realise their mistakes and play victim card. I have been in a similar situation where the partners who made life hell for me reached out saying let bygones be bygones. I never tried to avenge myself but they kept digging their own grave by delivering poor quality work.

One suggestion- please make sure to give her some work in the beginning with unreasonable deadlines, uneconomical quotes for the sake of “relationship”, hell- give her urgent work on Friday evening, which is due Monday morning. Basically, make her life extremely difficult before you dump her. That way you can als justify to your management (should they ask why was xyz dumped).

NKK pays around 60-80k for starters. This is second hand information. Someone who has first-hand info may confirm.

Now as far as institutional bias is concerned, let's be real it's there everywhere (Firms, Chambers, In house, Think tank or wherever you go). And I do not blame them, because using the institutional reputation as a proxy for judging competence is a low effort and somewhat reliable way for employers. The truth is on an average (I'm not talking about outliers) NLU folks are likely to do better than non-NLU folks.

However, being someone who was getting into an NLU outside of the top 10, but chose to stick to NON-NLU for convenience and financial reasons; in my first year of college I realised that rather than pointing fingers at the system, you should focus on finding a way around it. Even If I think that the NLU vs. NON NLU bias is unfair, it is still going to be there.

However, the most important thing to understand is just because it exists does not mean that you cannot offset it. I know people from non-NLUs (like Private Unis in Maharashtra or ALS Delhi) and were 1st gen, but are still working in chambers of the top Sr Advs in SCs. One of them did a clerkship. The other did his LLM from abroad (does not necessarily mean that you must also do clerkship / LLM. But I'm just saying that people have done this and you need to make a considered decision based on your circumstances).

Other than that, I would say a lot people go deep down the rabbit hole trying to have items on their CV which they 'think' would look impressive or boost their profile (Internships, Moots, Publication, Certifications and what not). Sure, a good CV is a valuable asset to have and in some cases might help you get your foot in the door. But focus on improving your actual skills and competence.

As harsh as it may sound it is easy for me to say “Oh! I am as competent as they are – I just could not get into these places because I’m not from an NLU” However, it requires a certain degree of self-awareness to realise the discomforting truth that all I have been doing in law school is using ChatGPT and PPTs to somehow pass or even ace the exam but I am not gaining any real knowledge. If I am given a niche research question, I would probably not be confident navigating through it without AI. A 6000 page file with voluminous evidence and a big fat case compendium, would probably scare tf out of me.

Do the work, and get progressively better at it. Whatever area you are interested in, have deep subject matter knowledge about it. Have great speaking and writing skills. Even if you somehow manage to get you foot in places like these if you can’t do these three things it would be difficult for you to sustain. Give the world irrefutable proof of your competency and ability so that none can ever use your college as an excuse to question your competence

I think it was Carl Jung who said that “No matter how isolated you are and how lonely you feel, if you do your work truly and conscientiously, unknown allies will come and seek you”. Sorry I my message was harsh or if I went off topic; built I only intended to send a message to all the NON-NLU folks folks. Don't kill your ambition; work towards it. Never feel disappointed that you’re not in an NLU. As NF himself said it “it’s the lows in life that makes us cherish the heights, and if that’s not the case then I’m fine believing a lie” Stay positive, and enjoy the journey ;)

HNLU is still ahead of NLUO, especially because of its VC and better alumni network. NUJS NRI quota is fine if you can afford it. BSc LLB students are facing some issue with being away from the campus and paucity of hostel room. The classes should shift to the main campus by the time you join, hopefully. However, it is a new programme, so hasn't made a name for itself yet unlike the BA LLB.

I worked with Lawsikho for nearly 2 years and here's my honest feedback.

So I joined Lawsikho as an intern in their Test - Prep team back in January 2022 where I was responsible for preparing mocks, daily GK Quizzes, Notes etc., for even Judiciary and SEBI - Law Officer level exams. Yes, you read it right! A 3rd year law student, that too from a very average private college preparing the material you rely upon for cracking exams when you paid more than 1 Lakh for their courses.

You must be thinking that for all this hassle, I would be getting at least 10K per month as stipend. Well no, I got barely 5K per month, and if I took a leave for 1 day, I would lose out on my pay. In late 2022, when I asked for pay revision, I was told that I'd be getting 8K per month but I'd have to work for 7 hours daily, 30 days a month without any leave and if I failed to "justify" my 7 hour output, I would have to take a pay reduction.

Guess what? I never took that increment and finally left the organisation in late 2023 with the same pay (5K) which I was drawing at the beginning of my tenure, working 5-6 hours per day and preparing material for courses worth lakhs!

▮▮▮

A recent hiring post by NN for Associate roles drew attention for its unconventional entry requirement, an essay on “Piracy of the Public Domain”, coupled with the applicant’s understanding of technology law and law’s interaction with society.

Conceptually, the approach is sound but i have heard reports of nearly 1,600 applications and his post is silent on timelines or shortlisting criteria.

More troubling was the disclosure that an individual allegedly advertised essay-writing services for INR 12,000 on a freelancing platform.

With all these things, how likely is a 0PQE even competing with 3PQE? What are the alternatives that exist?

I was working there till recently and here's what it is:

- the place has has a tremendous culture historically and the impact and results still show, albeit much lower than earlier. This is the good part

- some teams have really nice seniors like corp team which flows a sense of calmness

- senior folks are here as retirement homes and hence their hunger to get in more work and do more work is limited. This hurts at times because lower work and hence more non billables

- compensation, firm management etc is decided solely by the old man, no matter what they keep saying. They made a couple of senior folks incharge but he took back decision making the min he didn't like something. So that's à battle you can't win - and everyone will agree with you on this internally but still nothing will change.

- the tax hit is pretty real.

So while the culture is good (which is what you'll hear of a lot from others) , the money on paper is good (not the post tax stuff) - there are enough red flags which you should consider - most important being lack of transparency and fairness which starts pinching more and more as you get even slightly senior.

"Grilled" is not the right word. The judgment is wrong, but Arnab has failed to point out why. He also fails to rebut any of the points raised by Gavai. Which is just dishonest, because it should not be that difficult. For instance, Gavai says if you read the operative paragraph of our judgment, we have said no more licenses until policy is framed. In response Arnab just starts reading what is precautionary principle. Kya lena dena? Why not say it clearly, confront him on those points, rather than just saying random things in anger?

1. It's like why USA and why not Nigeria.

2. Anywhere, just degree matters.

3. Same as above Ans. 2

4. Ans. 2

5. Everything possible. Even PhD in Entire Political Science.

6. Definitely. Major advantage is low cost.

7. General LLM

8. Everything has its own value.

9. I'll go further with Postdoc.

10. Ans. 9

P.S. I too have done MBA.

1. Why LLM karle ? Why not MBA ?

2. LLM karna hai toh better option ? Abroad or India ?

3. India, toh better kaunsa hai ? Central university or NLUs?

4. NLUs toh kaunsa ? Tier 1 or 2 or 3?

5. LLM karne ke baad academia? Research? Corporate? Judiciary? Litigation?

6. Non-NLU se NLU LLM fayda dega ?

7. LLM mei kaunsa specialisation best hai ?

8. Tax, Maritime, Cyber, Arbitration ka LLM worth hai ya bs niche hai ?

9. PhD bhi karle ? Same all above questions applicable.

10. Postdoc bhi karle ? Same all above questions applicable.

P.S. I am the MBA karle wala guy.

Comparing NLUD to GNLU or NLUJ is laughable. Where is NLUJ’s Rhodes? Where are GNLU’s regular foreign vac schemes? Both of them are much older too, mind you. Don’t waste time arguing just because you couldn’t crack the AILET and could never get the ticket to NLUD, NLUD is literally the only true NLU left in this country without some domicile reservation and massive batch size. As far as graduate outcomes go, it’s hands down superior to every NLU except the older 3 and that too only in respect of corporate placements. And the faculty is still superior to every NLU except NLS. Maybe you’ve forgotten that the NLUJ and NALSAR VCs are still permanent faculty members of NLUD.

I feel bad for Gen Z. An entire generation whose brains have been poisoned by online toxicity, be it from the right or the left. Andrew Tate, incels, Trump fanboys, Modi fanboys, Hamas fanboys, misogynists, racists, fringe woke Maoists… this is what they grew up with. 😔 The world is now hoping that the next generation can be saved, but it may be too late.

https://www.barandbench.com/news/madras-high-court-bats-for-australia-like-law-banning-social-media-for-kids-under-16

Nepo kids traditionally went to GLC or abroad. Now they go to Jindal or abroad. But the big change is that the children of NLSIU alumni are the new generation of nepo kids. They are studying alongside children of the old guard senior counsels and law firm owners. Thus, the present nepo generation is twice as large as the older one. Once the children of other NLU alumni turn 18, the nepo generation will probably be 10 times as large! They will all graduate from IB schools with very different mindsets as their middle-class parents (who too will become upper class elites).

The other day I met an NLSIU alum who said he will advise his son not to even sit for CLAT and instead do a dual BALLB-JD from Jindal and the US. I’ve even met NLSIU alumni from reserved category backgrounds being snooty and saying they want their kids to study abroad, rather than with “common” children (words to that effect). Twenty years from now, thousands of NLU alumni will be thinking like this.

I can’t help but wonder if this will impact recruitments down the line? Children of NLU alumni will obviously get preference in recruitments. So will we be in a situation where all recruits are graduates of foreign universities or Jindal? And maybe international law firms may even prefer foreign grads over Indian ones?

how are different kind of legal internships interpreted by professionals once they see the CV.

for example I need to know in general how are legal internship done under a company- any company- be it very well known not so well known but a well established one - judged! in comparison to a corporate internship done at a tier 3 or 4 firm?
eg- one company- addidas other company- some fertilizer company

in addition to that
an comparison of an internship done with an arbitration firm or an corporate litigation internship - which will be more effective on a CV when applying for a tier 1 or 2 corporate firms???

International opportunities in Dubai and Singapore after 3 years of experience / SA level without doing an LL.M or writing a foreign bar exam. Probably have to get recognition for good work on deals which open up referrals to lateral abroad.

London / US opportunities need at least LL.M. and a whole lot of luck. Not sure if solely working with recruiters helps move into these markets.

Easiest to lateral into M&A / General Corporate at A1 level since junior experience in transactional practices is very transferable. At A2 level you might have to discount some experience.

Source: I moved after an LL.M.

I am currently an SA at a Tier 3. Got an offer from a Tier 1. But they are willing to take me as an Associate only. Plus, the pay they are offering is marginally more than what I currently make and far less than what a freshly recruited A0 at the said Tier 1 would make. What to do ?

bombay has terrible culture when it comes to salary. You will really get fucked up on that part , many times seniors falt out dont pay their juniors. delhi has better salary culture but they are both shitholes for a first generation lawyer and youll have to struggle a lot. IN delhi its easier to get around and the rent will be cheaper ( plus you get to stay around courts ) having the apex court of the country i feel delhi may give you more room to grow. But if youre interested in something like maritime law naturally bombay is the better option.. best of luck brother !

They have a very below average reputation among the legal and VC/ PE circuit outside their clientele. I've heard a couple of funds refuse to work with them on the opposite side and got them changed. Instead of trying to get the deal done - they are the opposite. Having seen them on deals - can understand why. Most annoying T1 teams are also better than them.