If you are afraid of offending your senior, then always pose a correction as a doubt that you have regarding your own understanding of the issue. Example: "I thought it should be X instead of Y due to Z reasons, but that is incorrect right?" If your senior is paying attention to what you are saying, then this should be enough for him to realise the incorrect nature of his own view.

Why should a public servant get any fancy car at the taxpayers' expense is what my question is. If they want to buy one on their own, then they are free to do so if they can afford it. Why should we pay for anything more than what's adequate for taking them from point A to point B?

See the performance of the Lokpal:

Among the 620 orders available on the website, ThePrint found five cases in which the Lokpal granted prosecution sanction, with three of these orders involving bank officials.

(Source: https://theprint.in/judiciary/five-years-on-lokpal-is-now-god-of-small-things-its-been-catching-tiny-fish/2681750/).

The economics of lokpal doesn't justify the cost incurred on it.

Armed forces are very corrupt- defence procurements evidence that. And I am not talking about the junior officers like havaldar, etc who are honest. I am talking about the higher ups.

Don't call me an anti national, those who eat money meant for weapons are the biggest anti nationals!

SC judges, atleast till about somewhere in the middle of DYC's tenure, had Skoda Superbs. Thereafter, BMW series which were beautiful and elegant. The Superbs, subject to correction and perhaps I maybe wrong, went to the Registry thereafter. So I don't see why the Lokpals would want a BMW. If you are given such royal treatment (Lutyens Bungalow, BMW, etc.), and you get a post retirement stint as a Lokpal, its only natural to a human to have some if not all of the luxuries as you had before. In any case, it was indeed a PR disaster for the Lokpal. All this aside, as for Bom, Mad, Cal, Guw and a few other HCs, they mostly get Innovas, which I feel are far better in terms of being elegant and getting the job done. Your transportation is taken care of, car is still considered classy, is a beast, etc. A luxury sedan, with the driver and your Security Officer (in case you are not in a convoy, which, most ofthe times, you won't be), would leave rather less space for just the dignitary and their spouse.

The CJI gets an E-Class while the puisne judges get 3-series. All this started during DYC's era.

What is puzzling to me, personally, is that they previously had Superbs (and Del HC has Camry Hybrid - previously had Superbs) - the backseats of which are far more superior than the 3-series'. Unnecessary on this count alone.

Is it true that SC judges are also routinely entitled to BMWs? If so, the retired judges populating the Lokpal probably feel that they deserve nothing else. The question is why SC judges or any Indian government functionaries need BMWs at all, unless there's a very specific requirement for bulletproofing or something.

The Lokpal should have 75% private sector representation: eminent people like Kiran Mazumdar Shah, who don’t need to leech off the taxpayer for goodies, unlike govt officers. The remaining 25% can be from the armed forces, which are generally known for their honesty and efficiency. A retired SC judge can head it—- preferably a successful, wealthy individual who already owns a luxury car.

1. I agree. However, I do not agree that every single Indian institute is bad for research. We have to seperate the wheat from the chaff. Let's help people identify atleast somewhat decent institutes to research in, like the top NLUs of NLS or NLUD.

2. I agree. However, not everyone has the means, qualifications, intellect and/or finances to go abroad and not everyone can secure a scholarship. Therefore we have to settle with what's available here. So back to my point 1, let's identify atleast few that are decent for a respectable pedigree in India.

3. I disagree. Maybe you are enamored by the tag, but NLS is currently not a great place to be in for a research scholar. Reason being low input and extremely low output. For the last few years, only one candidate out of 50-60 applicants is being selected. I can understand the reason of quality over quantity. But just one !? Moreover ask the current scholars there, their PhD has been halted with no explanation. People who have been working diligently for the last 5 years have their final thesis submission delayed despite receiving a pass from the advisor and the RAC. Low input and low output. Moreover, the research publications are low to nil. You may check the indexes, there is hardly any publication from NLS scholars.

4. If going abroad and NLS are the only choice, then that's a sad state for Indian education since every single professor requires a PhD as qualification for promotion. However I disagree since you forget that other institutions like JNU, IIT, NLUD, NALSAR, Jindal, Ashoka are producing better publications than NLS.

5. I believe the OP is planning to get into academia, maybe that's why they asked this query. So instead of sending everyone abroad or to NLS. Why not suggest better alternatives ? However for people like you who only salivate by seeing a "foreign" degree, you wouldn't bother knowing which Indian institutes are actually doing great work.

---- This is for you OP. I would suggest clearing the JRF if you can and apply at JNU L&G, NLUD, NALSAR, NUJS, GNLU, Jindal, Ashoka, IIT or IIM (the last three for interdisciplinary socio-legal research). That will get you a "tag". In the meantime understand that more than the institute your proposal and publications will determine your future. So work smarter and target universities abroad for postdoc. See which kind of publications and conferences they accept and work towards it for connections. Then apply abroad for postdoc. The difference between PhD and postdoc abroad is that you need an advisor approval, not easy for every Indian, or scholarships. However, for post doctoral opportunities, you get paid to work based on your PhD work and publications which is definitely a doable job during your PhD. So get your PhD tag, publish and aim for postdoc opportunities.

Let's start with biometric attendance for both, faculty and students. And no relaxation from the BCI mandated attendance percentage. As for 'useless research papers', surely you have got excellent papers of your own that are widely cited and acknowledged by the experts, for you to judge the quality of others' work. There are many academics and teachers who work round the clock and keep themselves available for students. This is not a 10-5 job. As for automatic promotion, there's no such thing. There are scores that need to be obtained every academic year and interviews which are held for all UGC-prescribed promotions. Given the sheer ignorance that you display, it's a wonder you have learnt anything at all, within the university or beyond.

Wouldn't biometric attendance for faculty trigger tortuous liability and cause a certain cartel to fracture? Ofc competition law has to be followed. And the sheer politics of it all. Maybe there will be some corporate and securitization implications as well.

Any further hints are welcome.

You are engaging in deliberate misconstruction! All I am saying is that your arguments are expressed with such an overtone of bitterness that you seem to have an agenda of some sort other than intellectual armchair discussion in the abstract.

LSAT may not be an "entrance exam" the way that the CLAT is, but you know perfectly well that people whose scores are below a certain level, regardless of other achievements, won't dare apply to Yale or Harvard. I believe that cutoff is generally understood to be 165 or 170.

Trilegal put out a statement in an interview about a Chennai Office opening in 3 months in June. Considering we are a week away from November, has the plans to start an office been scrapped considering no communication or even announcement of partner or office space has been made?

link to the statement below?

https://trilegal.com/news-insights/law-firms-need-to-rethink-strategy-for-ai-era-with-focus-on-innovation-and-governance/

I had interviews at Trilegal in july then gave the second interview in August (its october now, we are in the thick of the diwali week), I heard from them in September that they have paused hiring because they are shifting offices but they have not rejected me yet and have only received good feedback from the partners but asked me to wait till october. I contacted them in the first week of october and was told that they will have to confirm with admin when they can do the hiring and reaffirmed the fact that i received positive reviews from teh partners and asked me if i have any other offers and i told them that i am in the process with sam. I am extremely interested in trilegal and want to know everyone's thoughts on this - what to expect? And, everyone's experience with tier 1 firms' hiring?

you get a stipend only if you're from a T-1

for real estate, there are no vacancies. There are 3-4 Projects PE/VC teams. AN is the best of them. DC is the worst- stay far away from them.

Else, it's an okayish place. You're expected to be there around 10:30-11. There's a canteen at the rooftop, has few options and mid-veg food. Not many options around office either. Interns generally leave by 7:30, unless you end up in a bad team that makes you work till late.

So I was interning at a T-1 firm and few days in, the way I was made to feel in that place was unbearable. I personally feel the judgement and the outsider treatment came from the fact that I come from a middle class family unlike people who were a part of this team who were loaded AF. On top of that incredibly crass comments were made about me to my face, calling me 'uptight' and not 'flexible enough'

Also, people started shipping me with a male associate who frequently assigned me work. I overheard some seniors even tell this guy and I quote, "enjoy, till she is here". On top of that things like 'oh wow, you're so diligent' (sarcastically) Other women (middle class or not), please tell me this isn't normal, because if it is I want to quit.

P.S: And yes this is a T-1 firm. One of those hallowed places that people die to work at.

Honestly yes but it depends on your luck also like which team you got allotted too what time of the year you were interning in. Its looks good on your CV for sure the chances of you getting shortlisted increases during placement. But also the truth help you till their only nothing more than that if you are not good enough yourself then nobody can save you. Try squeeing the most out of it while you are interning and just be there for the certificate.

If you already have a loan burden which is so much that you cannot accept anything less than 10lpa, then firstly, you are screwed, and secondly, going for government exams like UPSC (which is shit anyways) and judiciary is out of the question. Even if you manage to crack it and become an IAS officer or a judge, the bank would still want its money back. Rather, intern in decent places, try to get into T1s, and get a job there. Because of your financials litigation cannot be an option till you clear your loan and have some savings, but i'd highly recommend that once you are done with a job that pays your loans.

While I don't have any Delhi names to suggest, my 2 cents for you would be that you should not dismiss the idea of practising in district courts. I agree that the calibre of the average lawyer working in trial courts is not very good, but there are quite a few outstanding lawyers in every district (at least as per my experience). Trial practice is just as fascinating and intellectually demanding as appellate practice due to which I would suggest that you also search for good DC lawyers, whether in your home town or elsewhere.

Try to look for any connection as you can for your state HC. If money is really not a consideration, start at your state HC. Perhaps take a week and go there, observe the seniors, ask around who is doing well, who is a good mentor, etc. Approach them. In case that fails, come back to your DC, start practice, and eventually you'll get to know who are doing well both in the DC and in the state HC, and so thereafter approach them and make the switch. All the best

Hi, can someone please provide an explanation on the timeline / developments towards the entry of foreign firms in India? We really need foreign firms' presence in India to drive an otherwise stagnant salary scale prevalent in corporate law in India. Further, I was contemplating if perhaps a representation may be made by a collective to the BCI / Ministry of Law / Ministry of Corporate Affairs that may push them towards opening up the market in India?

I do not mind the work, I really do not. But comparatively, people in parallel professions such as banking etc have much higher scales at the elite levels than us, and also have a great work culture. 1.2 Lacs odd is rather average, and there is no reason why the slab has been stagnant for so many years when incomes and profits are rising.

I just do not feel like I am getting the money commensurate to the work being put, and wish there was a way to communicate that comprehensively. Law firm partners often complain about associates not being as driven to work as they were 5/6 years back, but then again, incomes from that time to now have barely increased, whereas inflation is a reality. I just feel extremely annoyed with the industry. This was intended to be a rant, but I feel that it may have turned out as such. My apologies for the same.

I've had the good fortune of being taught by fantastic profs at NLS- Prof TS, Prof. Nigam, Prof Mrinal, Prof Sudhir, Prof RS, Prof Mihir, Prof Ambasta, Prof Sahana, Prof Sudhanshu, Prof Raag, Prof Ashritha, Prof. Atreyee, Prof. Saurabh- all in no particular order. Each of them have in some way fundamentally changed the way I view the world and law and I couldn't be more grateful for this privilege