1. Join another firm. There is a dearth of good people at the senior level. If your current firm isn't promoting you, some other firm will.

2-3. What do you mean by an equally successful litigator? An average first gen lawyer will not even come close to a salaried partner after 10 years of practice. Majority of first gen lawyers in litigation will still work under a senior or will just start their independent practice. Once you become a salaried partner, you slowly move towards building a book, it is tough and takes time. Unfortunately, not everyone can do it, similar to how it is for litigation as well.

4-5. Job satisfaction means different things for different people. It can come in the form of managing a team, ensuring that the deal you negotiated makes the client happy, or the contract you drafted, holds up in contract. I don't see why litigators glorify their work while diminishing the work of transaction lawyers. The work of a commercial litigator only comes in when a transaction lawyer has fucked up.

6-7. People have their own realities. Majority of the Senior Advocate positions are built on generational wealth. People who dont come from such background have no place in litigation. As you said, I can earn around a crore per annum without bringing in any business in law firms but I can't say the same about litigation. Clients don't come to you because you have done a superb job in some xyz case, they come to you because someone else has recommended you and that comes from generational connections which many of us lack. For us, earning over a crore per year, fulfilling all the childhood dreams and going on a foreign trip per year takes care of all the other negatives that you had just mentioned.

Now, you would say that we are dreaming too small. The answer is no. We are dreaming and targeting as per our realities. If you ask an IITian what he wants to do in future, he will probably say a job in Google and settling abroad is the main goal of his life. While for the Bill Gates' daughter, that is a reality that has been passed down by her father.

I agree with you on the T1, or even law firm structures being better. However, a few queries:
1. What would those who can't make it past SA/PA do? Leave firms, then what?
2. How is one even satisfied being a salaried partner and not bringing in business?
3. Sure, a salaried partner in a T1 would be earning 1cr a year [assuming everything in today's money]. An equally successful person in litigation would be earning perhaps 50-70% of it at that stage, and definitely much more than what that salaried partner, irrespective of whether he/she becomes a EP or not, would earn in 5-10 years. How can a salaried partner be happy with this? Any successful person in litigation at the same level would be outearning you.
4. How are people even satisfied in doing such clerical work for years at a stretch?
5. Even assuming that they are satisfied since it paid off their loans, or they actually like such clerical work, or they like the stability, or whatever, knowing that they are in a profession, and have become an EP, how are they even happy that their name is not on the wall?
6. Yes, correct - you become a partner, perhaps almost always a Salaried one in 10-12 years - wonderful. But sir, what after that? The road ends? Sure, one can become EP, become the head of the firm (like people head firms like EY) without having their name on the wall [only if its a family run firm, which is the case for most law firms in india, leading or not], but then what? You can't become a government counsel/AG/SG/Senior Advocate/Judge?
7. What are you even contributing? How are you even satisfied? Yes, you may close deals in M&A, but you are just a part of a larger DD. Yes, you may procure a license or advise them on some business deal. In disputes, perhaps yiu drafted something - but that got vetted by a Senior Advocate and their juniors, and definitely argued by someone else. Yes, you are contribuing to the society at large - but what contributions do you have towards law? afaik only a few certain heads of firms have become parts of govt set up committees, but that's it? In litigation atleast - your names are there in judgements and records - and your name goes down in law reports - for eternity to remember.

I genuinely want to know the answers. How are people even wanting to get into such T1 or in general such firms? Why? When you cannot have mental satisfaction and nobody would know you. Let it not be marked trollish, i seriously want to know why people want to choose clerical sectors like law firms which have all of these drawbacks.

If you're really junior, I would take a beat and assess whether you have all the pieces of the puzzle to conclude that your senior is wrong. We often take positions that are beneficial to our clients, which may not per se be correct but may fit into an overall legal strategy. Frequently, seniors who regularly appear before certain judges have a sense of what idea they may successfully pitch to a judge, even if that idea is not per se correct*. There can be cases where the answer is black and white, such as limitation, jurisdiction, court fee, roster or maintainability. These inputs you should feel free to give to your senior, if you're sure about them. If your senior does not take the input, be humble enough to see that maybe you don't see the whole picture and drop the issue then. At a later point you can bring it up again.

I was in your position three years ago. I completed my undergraduate degree from a lesser-known college and aspired to work in the corporate teams of a law firm. To increase my chances, I decided to pursue an LL.M. from an NLU (Top 5).

Fast-forward to today - I am working in the transactions team of a Tier-2, pan-India law firm.

Now, did my LL.M. or the NLU brand directly help me get this job? Absolutely not.

Law firms do not hire from LL.M. batches through campus placements. I’ve been at an NLU, and I have close friends from SLS and JGU - we all started with the same expectation.

However, what my LL.M. did give me was clarity, it helped me understand what skills and knowledge I needed to be employable.

So,

7. If your intention is to learn, build strong fundamentals, and genuinely become good in your chosen field, then an LL.M. from an NLU, SLS, or JGU is an excellent opportunity.
8. But if you’re expecting that law firms will come to campus to hire LL.M. students, that is unlikely to happen.

Hi,
I’m currently pursuing my BA LLB and considering doing an LLM after graduation, preferably from an NLU in India. However, I’ve often heard people say that an LLM doesn’t really add much value in the Indian job market unless you’re planning to go into academia.

I wanted to understand from people who’ve actually done it or work in the field. What do hiring and job prospects really look like for someone with an LLM from a reputed Indian university (especially an NLU)? Does it make a tangible difference in terms of career growth, pay, or opportunities in law firms or corporate roles?

Basically, what benefits (if any) does it add for someone who isn’t looking to teach but wants to strengthen their professional profile?

Would love to hear your experiences or insights.

OP here.....

https://www.deloitte.com/content/dam/assets-zone1/in/en/docs/services/risk-regulatory-forensic/in-rrf-indian-digital-forensic-market-report.pdf

Full report:

https://www.deloitte.com/in/en/services/consulting/services/risk-regulatory-forensic/indian-digital-forensic-market-report.html

beware this is mostly going to be ranting so sorry in advance for that ~

I have always been a good student, and good as in the top 5 of my batch. But ever since I stepped foot in an NLU, everything vanished. I have no identity of my own, got average marks in midsems, scared as hell for my first ever moot and already know I am going to get average marks in endsems as well. I already know how mediocre and average the next 5 years of my law school are going to look like because if I compare myself with others in my batch, there are people who somehow are acing literally every single thing they do, how is that even possible? I've been living in anxiety and paranoia for so long it has already had an affect on my physical health. My main point is how do I be ok with mediocrity after the kind of performance I used to pull during my school days? Even better, how do I pull myself up to the standard of these people, because everyday I wake up scared to go to classes and sleep, crying my eyes out. I need to know whether this feeling persists or does it ever change. How do I prepare myself for "average-ness" for the next 5 years and simultaneously not meeting my parents expectations?

This is such an unhelpful and disappointing argument, repeated unthinkingly by so-called fighters for social justice.

1. The law field in India and in most other common law countries operates in English, to a great extent. Yes, there are niches for local language work like in local state district courts etc, but English is still very much needed. We aren't like Canada, where English and French are both official languages. Due to our cultural setup, we cannot have an Indian language declared as an official language or given official language status equivalent to French in Canada. Therefore, we need to follow Lee Kuan Yew's example in Singapore and increase, not decrease, the prominence given to English, especially for aspiring lawyers.

2. Therefore, it is the on-the-ground reality that applicants to read law at university are facing. These are, as far as learning the English language or dealing with English is concerned, pretty shitty. Most students with school-leaving qualifications from Indian exam boards do not know how to structure, let alone write, an essay, construct a coherent argument, conduct a rigorous literary analysis... none of the techniques and skills in the social sciences and humanities that good educational systems consider necessary. A similar story applies to the sciences to the extent that students learn them at school, or why would the JEE curriculum be considered as advanced even compared to school? An Indian school-level history student, if given a proposition like factor x was more important to the rise to power of Hitler than factor y would, even if she had learned about Weimar Germany and the Nazi regime in the class, not be able to come up with a very good response, either in favour of, or against, such a proposition, because the buck stops at memorising the facts, rather than teaching people what to do with them! We all know this: school-level English literature and/or history exams look much more like comprehension/tasks of simple fact regurgitation, than any level of critical thinking or analysis. Such a thing should be within the capability of a five-year-old (and AI), not an 18-year-old! The School Review Commission for NLSIU, composed of three of the world's foremost legal academics, pointed this out in their report as a difficulty NLS is facing - with students of certain backgrounds having to be taught essay writing from the ground up, whereas those from others, very simply, don't. Change this reality first, and then we'll be in a far better position.

3. One way to pressure exam boards to change is for universities to play hardball. For a good university like a top five NLU to be brave enough to stand up in front of them and say, "Yo mate, your standards are fucked up, so I am re-designing the playing-field" would be the principled thing to do. When the exam boards feel the pressure that the good universities in our own country are operating at a level we aren't preparing the students for, that's when, IMV, things will begin to change. You can have as many students as you want going to foreign universities at postgrad or, nowadays, even undergrad, and then saying that school educational standards in our country for humanities and social sciences are, to an extent, at the bottom of the drain. However, that ain't gonna influence nobody, until we start operating like the systems we want to get ahead of.

While I completely get your point, but with the advent of AI, I'm very sceptical about the job security. Even now, ChatGPT writes my assignments, my case briefs and other internship related work while also preparing notes for exams. Clearing UPSC would be the cure of all the problems, also, how hard could it even be? I'm knowledgeable, smart, good background, 1 year won't hurt right?

I am a final year student at a T-1 NLU. I have, till now, only done corp internships and just one litigation internship in delhi which i really liked. I also sat for placements but no luck there, looking at the placement conditions everywhere. In my mind, I always had an idea that I would do litigation in the end but I just wanted to play safe which is why I wanted to pursue the corp side first.

I have no law bg in my family but have good connections in the city and my city has a HC as well. I’m not able to decide if I should go and learn the procedure and work in Delhi HC and District courts and then come back and work in my city or should I start from my city only?

I have no idea about hiring and Tri’s internal decision rn. However, I would suggest you to not panic (most difficult thing I know) and have faith. Ofc be prepared, in case things go awry but also don’t overthink any cue, especially because it’s diwlai so this just might be delayed.

Best way rn is to call the HR and ask them about what to expect. I was in a similar situation, not wrt hiring but I made myself so anxious for two weeks and ruined my other interviews after overthinking based on some rumours and thinking that they rejected me, only to receive a late confirmation! If only, I had stayed grounded, I am sire I would have cracked the other one as well because I had the knowledge but the probability of rejection affected my self confidence while I knew everything on my CV and carries good knowledge of the subject.

The application form specified that the acceptance will be conveyed by 17th Oct and people have received confirmation for Winter Months.

Sorry for this bad news mate, I am everything will work put for you perfectly in the end, don’t take it to heart if you did not receive one.

Last time the teachers were very concerned about the biometric attendance thing. Not all though. Some saw more profit in WEBEL securing the contract because just with PWD no one scrutinizes the downstream contracting.

So the teachers upset with biometric scrutiny, riled up the students on other issues as well as how attendance tightening could have negative implications for students too.

While the students rightly went after PIB for dodgy CCTV deals etc, the biometric thing got waylaid. Teachers got their work done and students realised much later that shots were fired from their shoulders.

Same thing this time as well although I fully support the eviction of NKC. But the root and stem survive. Wonder what students will do about that.

Apparently an recently resigned EC member upset for being eased out along with his Guru insisted that truancy among certain faculty has been on for a long time but ever since the Professorial promotions got done, it has gone out of control.

EC agreed to bring in new rules concerning faculty discipline. It is in this that the old PIB proposal on biometric attendance got dovetailed with BCI directive on attendance

wow, triggered are we :P

you must be in the cartel which the person above mentioned, rarely seen on campus but getting a fat paycheck at the end of the month, materials not updated since pandemic, with published research so poor that even the NUJS regulatory journal will not publish but will count for API

On 23 October 2025, Gavai is in Bhutan.

On 14 May 2025, Gavai was appointed as the Chief Justice of India.

On 19 May, Gavai was in Mumbai.

In June 2025, Gavai went to the UK.

On 25 June, Gavai was felicitated at Amravati.

On 27 and 28 June, Gavai was felicitated at Nagpur.

Gavai was in Nagpur from 27 June to 3 July.

In first week of July, Gavai went to Mumbai.

On July 6, Gavai was in Kochi.

In the second week of July, Gavai went to Telengana.

In the last week of July, Gavai went to J&K.

On 2 August, Gavai was in Nagpur.

In the second week of August, Gavai went to Arunachal Pradesh.

On 17 August, Gavai was in Kolhapur.

In the 1st week of September, Gavai was in Nepal.

In the second week of September, Gavai went to Ranthambore.

On 27 September, Gavai was in Nashik.

In the 1st week of October, Gavai was in Mauritius

In the second week of October and on 11 October, Gavai was in Vietnam.

On 12 October, Gavai was in Mandangad and Ratnagiri.

None of the trips mentioned above were part of Gavai's duties as the Chief Justice. No wonder Collegium meetings are rushed, and no administrative reform in the Judiciary takes place.

A similar exercise for Chandrachud would be very illuminating.

Hi, I'm assuming you have a Mac and Ipad, and an android phone. Have you encountered any difficulties with regards to the transfering of files, or dealing with work matters, when dealing between the 3 devices? OP here. Since I'd have only my Ipad as an apple ecosystem device, and someone commented here that Liquidtext is supported on windows, I think I might continue with my current windows laptop. But honestly, would I be facing any issues? I think i might eventually change to the entire apple ecoystem, but before that, my concern is if i'd face any issues, nothing else. Money is not that great of an issue [to buy a Mac and an Iphone], but I don't want to unneccesarily splurge on something which may not be neccessarily required.

Recently shifted to mac (m4) from HP Envy (which is almost the same price as Mac Air). Mac is definitely worth the shift with the security, airdrop, and the tag feature that has helped me immensely with the file management. Mac is also more secure, and overall the Apple ecosystem is actually worth it when most of your work is saving, reading PDFs and involves drafting on word. HP has the worst customer service and even their high end laptop had consistent issues. Working on pdfs is also a lot more convenient on mac.

I think a macbook air is a great fit for you, if budget is an issue then you can also go for the M3 or M2 which will also work just as great as the latest M4. I am assuming that you are a student, as you mentioned that you will be starting in a few months so now is a good time for you to shift because you can buy it with you student ID discount (you will be able to get in around 65k-80k) which imo is a great price given that laptops last around 5 years and you already have an ipad so you be able to access all your documents if they are saved on one device.

Only problem here is that you will have to buy a Word subscription (You can use web version for free, but as someone who has used the app for years, I just find the web version uncomfortable to work on). If that price is not an issue for you then you should totally go ahead with a Macbook. Get a good protection sleeve and go for silver colour only because on all the other colours scratches are prominent (even on lighter ones).

Been re-watching the Big Short and learning a lot about the trends on the stock market. I would love to learn more about the legal facet and the repercussions of the failing of the market. All the credit swaps and agreements that stated that in case the mortgage bond fails, the repayment would be done with an insane premium. I'd love a discussion or just learn what were the repercussions when Goldman Sachs actually lost out on so much money, what would have been the instance of a default?

Would love to be referred to some reading material also. Explain like I'm 5, lol. Thank you!

Trilegal has a band system. I think KCO also has a band system. All the other firms fix your retainer on your last drawn salary, giving you a 20-25% hike. It might be more depending on your partner and your negotiation skills. However, you will be brought to parity during the review cycle if your performance is good.

Otherwise it's quite common for A1/A2 to be earing less than home grown associates.

In most T1s they deduct two years from your experience when you are moving as a lateral. Your pay would be based on the deducted experience. There is a wide gap between the lower limit and the upper limit of the pay scale where the discretion of your hiring partner and thier budget comes in.

This is definitely toxic, inappropriate and not normal.

I have interned in multiple firms and have now worked in Tier 1 firms for more than a decade. The brand of the firm is not always representative of the team's work culture. Within the same firm, you could have nicer teams and teams that have horrible work culture. My go-to tip would be to pick the team (if you have the ability to exercise a choice).

I understand if you don't feel like working/ interning with other tier 1 firms but please don't get discouraged on the basis of this experience. Majority of people who have become successful in tier 1 firms, have had humble beginnings and also come from middle class backgrounds and tier 2/3 cities.

Wish you the best and hope you find your way to nicer work environments.