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.

1. During my time as an A0, I had to prepare and send my senior some 125 signature pages to be signed next morning. It was my first month in the job and I didn't knew that emails through Outlook are actually sent around 5-10 seconds after hitting the send button. I was working on this till very late; was super sleepy so just pressed the sent button and immediately put down the laptop lid (before the mail was actually sent) and went to sleep. Unfortunately, the email was not sent and remained in my outbox. Senior kept waiting for the signature pages to be sent to the client. He even called me but it did not wake me up. Eventually, the signing was delayed. My Partner was super angry and I was scolded a lot. Nevertheless, the signature pages were sent in the afternoon and were signed the same day.

2. A few months later, I issued a CP Completion certificate to investors even though one of the CP was not completed. Informed my senior about this and he panicked a lot after learning about this blunder. We soon contacted the Company Rep to issue us the completely executed document which was the missing CP. Resent the CP Completion email. No one said anything and we never discussed about this mess I created.

Your impression that law firms or most lawyers in firms at least do “clerical” work is unfortunate and respectfully, absolute ignorance on how law firms function today.

law firms draft, file, defend and argue and most importantly strategise and some also argue. Very often, the biggest of the senior counsel fail in strategy. Most law firms today handle statutory tribunals and arbitrations matters in house which is also great legal work and “shaping the law”.

On the corporate side - If law firms did clerical stuff, then why are the biggest PEs and MNCs going to the top firms instead of letting a senior counsel’s clerks or office handle it.

It is only unfortunate that law firm lawyers don’t get the recognition and “senior counsel” gown that they equally deserve.

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.

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) :)

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.

As usual ATU has vacancies but avoid this group by all means. If you must consider JSA bnf, then please try AM/PK or KM or SM. You can also consider the vertical which is supposedly only under AS but then no one can guarantee that you will be able to avoid working with T & U since all clients of T & U have been originated by AS. T has something of his own book and is comparatively a better team within ATU.