Tier 1 and that too Disputes practice. You didn’t think this through I’m guessing? Disputes practitioners don’t get weekends. Weekends are infact the most crucial time to prepare for the coming week and rightly so as you’re stuck in court the week till 4pm. You need to re calibrate your priorities and take a break from work if upsc is your sole aim in life.

I’m an A0 in the disputes team at a tier-1 law firm. I’ve been planning to sit for a competitive exam that has three stages: prelims, mains, and interview. The problem is that the prelim and mains fall on Sundays, and in my team, weekends are rarely free, even Sundays can mean calls, filings, or urgent assignments.

I never mentioned my exam plans during the interview, even though I knew I’d eventually write it. Now I’m not sure what to do. If I tell my partner that I need Sundays off for the exam, I risk being replaced immediately, whether or not I clear it. But if I don’t tell anyone and just go write it, I’ll be unreachable for about three hours and that could backfire badly if work crops up.

I hardly get one or two Sundays off a month, so I can’t rely on casual leave or luck. How do I handle this without sabotaging my job or my exam attempt? Should I disclose it upfront, keep it vague, or quietly manage those exam hours? Would really appreciate some practical advice from people who’ve navigated something similar.

Okay, so it wasn’t nothing at all, but more like a series of quizzes sent via email, and honestly, they were even less fun than “nothing”! They’re saying the firm retreat is off the charts because “associates can’t behave,” but let’s be real, it’s probably because they don’t have the budget to treat us to anything.

In a nutshell, no retreat, no Diwali gifts, but just a whole lot of management-centric annoyance.

Other related threads:

https://www.legallyindia.com/convos/topic/185058-recommended-books-for-disputes

https://www.legallyindia.com/convos/topic/164466-book-recommendations-for-lawyers

https://www.legallyindia.com/convos/topic/390352-good-reference-books-for-college

https://www.legallyindia.com/convos/topic/233228-reading-list-for-fy-law-students

https://www.legallyindia.com/convos/topic/171612-the-best-books-on-constitutional-law

https://www.legallyindia.com/convos/topic/319733-recommended-books-for-general-corporate

https://www.legallyindia.com/convos/topic/246895-reading-list-for-freshers-to-law-school

https://www.legallyindia.com/convos/topic/409507-book-recommendations-on-evidentiary-law-principles

https://www.legallyindia.com/convos/topic/198510-projects-lawyers-need-advice

There's a book called Key to Criminal Courts (link below) that I found to be useful for beginners. Avoid typical books like Kelkar, R&D etc. Not good enough text books, imho. Then you have theproofofguilt blog. Quite good too.

https://store.lexisnexis.in/key-to-criminal-court-practice-procedures-7th-edition?srsltid=AfmBOoqBdb1-M7DOKnjKn12OTVPhrPtPhiimWFh-86IY9T4_5yFbj4bd

No no I think you're inaccurate it's not just unconstitutional. It violates the basic structure doctrine as well. The CJI must ensure a constitutional ammendment is made, passed by the parliament and ratified by 50% of the states for such a decision.

Please study for your courses or CLE as applicable

/s

Nick Robinson was a law clerk to Chief Justice Y K Sabharwal. However one wrong which no one challenged cannot justify continuing the wrong practice. There is a Constitutional Bar. Law Clerks to Supreme Court Judges cannot be foreigners. This has to be the logical conclusion from the requirement of Article 124 that a Supreme Court Judge must be an Indian Citizen. Anyone involved in the judicial process of a Supreme Court Judge must also be an Indian Citizen.

Under Article 124 of the Constitution of India, a Supreme Court Judge must be a Citizen of India. Therefore, any other person involved in the process of "Judging" by a Supreme Court Judge must also be a Citizen of India. Law Clerks or Law Researchers are part of the judicial process adopted by a Judge. Such persons cannot be foreigners. They must also be Citizens of India. The same principle applies for High Court Judges and District Court Judges.

Nepal and Bhutan citizens may be considered for Government of India jobs. But Nepal and Bhutan Citizens cannot become Judges in India. Therefore they also cannot assist Judges in the judicial process by acting as Law Clerks. There is a Constitutional Bar. Justice Gavai's decision is wrong.

https://thewire.in/news/in-letter-ex-scba-chief-documents-strained-relations-with-ex-cji-chandrachud

even after this, you call it stellar

Hi for future reference if anyone wants to know which team operates from where in Trilegal -

The website link for applying for internships has offices which you have to select, once you do it shows the teams working out of those offices in Mumbai.

Exceptions are WCC and FRP - WCC works out of Fort a lot due to court, and FRP has maybe a hybrid office working from 1-2 days in BKC and the rest in LP.

Pay a little less but ensure your associates get some time off. Not saying they should never work 15-16 hours a day but this should be an exception. 8-10 hours usual days, with some days with 11-12 hours and rare 15-16 hours days is good.

Please don't make your associates work on Diwali or other major festivals, or on their birthdays, sick days or when they take pre-planned leaves. I agree with a small team managing absence on an associate is tough but please strive.

Pay them what you promise them. Never deduct unnecessarily.

Ensure you give them some WFH.

And most importantly, when you ensure all the above, also ensure you don't have NPAs in your team. Kick out the leaches immediately. These non-performing associates take an unnecessary toll on the whole team.

Cheers and Congratulations, Mx. Managing Partner!!

As a gen z just entering into the profession, I think that there need to be a balance, firm has certain needs, the client also has needs and so do the associates.

I understand that sometimes there will be a crunch period during a high stakes transaction, and I am very well ready to put my foot down but it should not be a regular affair as it would only result in burnout.

I find firms especially boutique ones also work on Saturdays or that God awful half day culture (Krida I am looking at you) that is not good, you need atleast a couple of days to get ready to tackle work again, even research shows that productivity drops as you work longer hours.

I personally think WFH policies should only be present for extraordinary circumstances, i personally dislike working in offices with a hybrid work culture, as a junior as I don't get that level of mentorship and assistance from my seniors in that sort of an environment.

Apart from that i think what fosters a good culture is when the bosses are approachable, when your immediate seniors don't throw you under the bus just to save face or impress the client/partner.

There needs to be a proper feedback loop, many people especially seniors take it to their ego if a junior speaks up/suggests something new, similarity for the juniors they need to be mentored, their mistakes corrected at first and then reprimanded, insults and abuse will only make them fear you and not respect you.

All the best, i think you know more than me but still it's nice to see seniors into the profession asking is juniors for feedback, I hope we see more seniors like you.

All the best with your new venture.

few pointers:

1. do not pit associates against each other, till the point they are not expected to build a book. they should collaborate and work as a team, as opposed to be in locked into a dog eat dog world.

2. pay a little less but ensure the juniors have a semblance of work life balance. best work product comes out of well rested mind.

3. try not to promise the moon to the clients, try gauging actual sense of urgency.

4. passive aggressive texts and emails do not serve much purpose, the associates will complete the work but it will be done with a lot of resentment. better to just convey that its going to be tough, you acknowledge it as the boss but it is what is.

5. do not encourage a culture of people staying up all night, just waiting for drafts reviewed by seniors at night.

6. give out generous bonuses in good years, give some more than what is promised.

7. encourage associates to be entrepreunial. promise them a 10% bill share if they can bring a client.

8. family health exigencies should be non-negotiables, make the entire office work overtime but do not expect the kid whose dad is in hospital to attend a call or take a "quick look"

9. a fun annual retreat, which is not all about vision for the firm and work. maybe a few hours/one evening.

10. encourage a culture of owning up to mistakes and be there to firefight

This is so thoughtful, appreciate you :)

Having gone up the ladder yourself, I'm sure you would have seen all the way in which work culture can be awful. The one thing that I think would make workplaces a bit better is to get to know employees as people on some level, especially the quieter ones. I think that a monthly check in with one's reporting partner at an A0/ A1 level would make a big difference

Market is too saturated. More likely than not you'll end up at a boutique form doing prosecution work, which is a black hole to be stuck in unless you can escape in a couple of years. Starting salaries are low, even in Toer 1s they are lower than other teams. Even at T-1 partner level there is limited growth. If you do like IP and want succeed, start with litigation and take IP work as it comes along.

OS is dominated by Parsis and AS by the Marathis. To break into OS, you need to be in the good books of solicitor firms and get cases, very few from outside, like Dr. Birendra Saraf have broken into it. For AS, you need contacts in the district courts to really break into, or just have good clients, or a good Marathi connection with any lawyer. Of course, these are things which are not essential but a plus. What is essential to break into is hardwork. To simply asnwer your question, AS is much more easier to break into. traditionally, the OS of the Chartered HCs have always been a parochial bar and very difficult to break into, and that is still the case in Bombay, and Madras and Calcutta HCs especially. As regards Delhi HC, they have an OS/AS but since they are a newbie HC without any tradition, it does not matter much

I am studying in one of the top NLUs of India (not naming the nlu because I don't want to become the college gossip anymore). I have BPD and struggle a lot in college and with things that are happening at home. I also struggle a lot because I am a Dalit queer student coming from a very small town in UP. Two weeks before, the college administration informed my so-called family about my condition (glad they didn't tell them abt my sexuality), that day I was going through a major BPD trigger. I completely understand that being in college sucks. I hate how these top institutions work; the way things happened was so triggering that I don't know if I can ever step into that place again. The way friendship works in this college, no one realised how invasive living with BPD can be, and I developed this because of my trauma; it was never my fault. Home is also not a safe space. I have been taken to babas to cure my depression. I am not allowed to take medicines, and I struggle a lot at home, as much as college, and I have no one to talk to here. I feel like running away, but where? College and home are equally horrible places; I have no one to talk to, no one who can understand, no college friends except one or two. I am in urgent need of help. And yes, I have tried talking to parents abt mental health. The more I talk, the harder it will be for me here, the more mandirs and baba I will be taken to and telling abt my sexuality would not be mentally and even physically safe for me. Help.

Independent practitioner here, never worked in firms. Answering on the basis of what I've gathered over the last 6-or-so years.

Whether parters appear & argue in court depends on the specific partner. Naturally, they don't appear in the high-stake matters (of which there are plenty). I've seen firm partners who argue and let their team argue. I've seen partners who don't have the confidence to argue (or competence - and when they do, they mess up). Naturally, their juniors don't get opportunities to argue either.

If you want a practice in which you primarily argue & appear in court - especially throughout the city and not just at HC/SC/NCLAT, go for a chamber.

Interning during both semester breaks. By the end of 5 years have high valued internships, publications and good grades. Grades are not a problem for NLUJAA. Work on your CV. Speak to your seniors, there are a few who have gone abroad for LLM. Also decide whether you want corporate or academia. Both their journey's are different.

Slightly tangential, but I wish I had gone to my lectures / classes more.

Getting an education, even an average quality one, is a privilege, and I squandered it by being lazy, having a conceited view of myself (oh, the folly of youth!) and by exaggerating (in my mind) the tedium caused by the mediocrity of Indian colleges. I wish I had attended all my lectures in all my subjects diligently. I really like the law and I think I have missed the only opportunity to learn the basics of this great field in a structured manner and in a broadly conducive environment.

Another thing is that being a bad student becomes a bad habit which is particularly difficult to shake off. A good lawyer is always learning and if you take an early view that you can only be taught by a certain type of persons (e.g. only by the very smart and very polished) or in a particular manner (e.g. only in interactive, stimulating sessions as opposed to boring, one-way lectures), you take away your ability to be humble and grab every learning from whoever, wherever (e.g. learn something interesting from a dull client who nonetheless came to know something very useful from another of her cases / transactions handled by someone else).

SO, DEAR READER, DO NOT SKIP LECTURES EVEN IF YOU THINK IT IS NOT WORTH IT OR IF YOU THINK YOU ARE "TOO COOL FOR (THE ACTUAL LAW) SCHOOL". NLU or non-NLU. You take 100% of what life has given you for your three or five years of law college.

Why don't you check the career trajectory of law graduates in litigation after 2000 and see how your claim about TLCs doing better than NLUs falls flat on its face? You are just jealous of NLU students who are doing well in all the spheres of legal careers. When is the last time you heard of a good student from a TLC joining a good policy body? How many of them get foreign scholarships or do well in academia because their institution helped them? TLC students achieve success despite their universities, not because of them. The point is simple. NLU students have the choice to join whichever stream of legal career they want. TLC students lack that choice at present. You ask any student and they would prefer the former. People only join TLCs because they couldn't make it to a good NLU. That clearly shows what students want as well as the reality.

GLC isn't a practice oriented institution. It simply does not care about its students and lets them figure things out from outside the best they can, finally handling over a degree to them. If the Indian legal system allowed one to give the bar exam straight without having a law degree, then places like GLC would have to shut down shop immediately.

Hi every one

I’m currently working at a law firm, but due to some health reasons, I’ll need to move back to my hometown. I really want to continue working, so I’m exploring remote opportunities.

Honestly, I’m a bit clueless about where and how to start — would really appreciate any guidance or suggestions on how to find good remote legal roles. Names of firms , any leads would be really appreciated

esg is a corp gov concept from stakeholder management perspective, unfortunately lawyers have reduced it to a box ticking exercise

what type of ESG activties are you looking at? for example green tribunal lawyers have excellent E, CAM has excellent form fillers, trilegal has excellent G capacities, explain what you want

Hi, at my T1, most people from outside the city choose to live in the same locality (Richmond Town) with a lot of people being neighbors alongside colleagues. It's a decent walk/short auto to office (should be for SAM, Tri, Indus and even JSA), decent flats at not the most egregious prices. Get in touch with your team and ask around, they'll be the most helpful.

In terms of budget, I'd say 30-40% of a T1 A0 salary would go into living expenses (rent + bills + food) in such areas. Most places in BLR ask for a really long security deposit (6-12 months) so you'll have to figure out that expense.

The mass in Bengal will never vote for BJP because of its undue interference in people's personal lives. What people eat, wear, where they go to, with whom, when they can step out. Plus the divisive politics and zero idea about Bengal's culture. And there's no difference between Bengal BJP and TMC, those two parties have a revolving door between them.