All India Lawyers Association For Justice (left-wing organisation) issues statement seeking removal of NKC.

https://x.com/AilajHq/status/1971531164084207833

LI has been like that for years - suppressing some ideas while favouring others. If the (very low quality/low key) Reddit/TCLA/Legal Cheek/RollOnFriday equivalent for Indian lawyers and law students is like that, what do you expect some NLU kids' WhatsApp group to be?? LI was supposed to have been the role model, the shining light for "marketplace of ideas", a task at which it has signally and spectacularly failed. Considering this, why should anybody else be good at free speech?

As someone famously said, "aap kehna kya chahte ho?"

You wanted the world (that did not end at Jindal or Delhi gates) to know. Try again although just like your law school, this world too, doesn't care. It will when you/friends at Jindal do something truly spectacular. Good/ bad are just labels.

For anyone interested in what's happening in a private law school (not many of you are, i know...)

With the ushering of the new Executive Dean in Jindal Global Law School a few months back, things have just turned to shit. To quote a few professors, the old Executive Dean, had a truly 'open door policy' where a professor could walk in with an issue, on the other hand, the new executive dean (the residents of jgls call her 'the one who cannot be named'), has a 'closed door policy where she will open the door only to slam it on your face'. Multiple complaints have been raised by professors because of just poor management done by her.

The student base is also extremely frustrated. The biggest sign of this is the new attendance policy where a student only get 1 medical leave for a subject and one leave for a moot court or such, so only 5 days of leave. Further, the minimum of 75% is still being strictly enforced. This is all to comply with BCCI rules. The student body raised a contention in an open house discussion against this by stating that sports injuries have regularly seen students out for weeks, to which the Executive Dean replied 'If you wanted to play sports, you should have joined a liberal arts school, not law".

Worse things have been said about this new Executive Dean of ours, but when any professor is asked the question of 'why she is the executive dean in the first place?' everyone had the same reply that she had backing, unlike anyone else... Well, congrats to the VC and the College you have replaced one of the most liked Executive Dean with this.

For anyone who is gonna contest that JGLS had a lot of problems to begin with, and this is not a big thing... The general dissent of the new Executive Dean is very visible to anyone who regularly visits the campus, not limited to these instances which i gave as an example that both student and faculty will relate to. Moreover, JGLS, a college only around 15 years old, has been doing surprisingly well. However, now it is being undone. It is the basic things, such as the good faith that the Admin staff had while interacting with the student base, that is now deteriorating. Everyone was previously 'nice' when interacting in the stressful environment that a law school with a bunch of privileged teenagers can be. Now, the good faith has gone and the admin and student council is reguarly having friction. What you dont see is the additional friction between the admin as well.

All in the span of a few months makes it more starkly visible to anyone who pays attention.

If India persists in its ‘socialist’ cult of smallness, it will remain a society optimised for mediocrity
=========================================================================================================

Economic Times Op-ed

https://m.economictimes.com/opinion/et-commentary/if-india-persists-in-its-socialist-cult-of-smallness-it-will-remain-a-society-optimised-for-mediocrity/amp_articleshow/123952164.cms

Hey. I'm having 7 years pqe in Litigation. Plus having Phd.

Thinking of switching to Academia for next 10 - 15 years?

My query is in regard to -

1. Whether after switching to academia, my litigation experience will be counted later on in my years of practice if I again shift from academia to litigation.

2. Whether my License be vol. suspended? If yes, then can it be revoked later on, If I again join litigation?

3. Whether there are people like me in the litigation field or my case is an exception?

I interned there and hated it. The partner came across as very insecure. He would expect everyone to stand up when he enters as if he is the president of India and shout at other interns who didn't stand up. That too he only comes at 3 in the afternoon, some work ethic. Based on his mood, he will give research work or lectures about how education is a waste and how he became partner without a good education. No court exposure, only random research. No stipend also given, namesake national law firm.

Ex associate. They actually have a very high amount of transactions (approx 80% as you mentioned) - and while that SA left, the firm bolstered with another SA coming in - and with an additional ex Trilegal SA coming in as a Counsel as well.

Great quality of work, the delhi founding partner can be a task master but seems to know what he's doing and seems to be well known in the industry despite being fairly young.

Pay bracket (when i was there):

A0 - 50k + 1L bonus
A1 - 60-70k + 1.2/1.4L bonus
A2 - 80 - 90k + +1.6 /1.8 bonus
A3 - 1.1 + 2.2 bonus
SA1 - 1.5 + 3L bonus
SA2 - never had one at this level when i was there lol

Since you will be joining as an A0, avoid this one Bombay based team- while the partner is great, the senior leading the practice is extremely toxic and regularly plays politics- evidenced by multiple attritions in the levels below her. Others who report to her are unhappy as well. While you will have a good experience with the very intelligent partner and will learn a lot, you will have a very bad experience with your immediate senior. Weighing these two factors- the immediate senior being toxic outweighs the learning from the intelligent partner as your maximum interaction (given your level) will happen with that immediate senior.

What’s really going on with NDA (Nishith Desai Associates) right now? There’s a lot of buzz about its future and the recent decisions have only added to the confusion. Is the firm going to survive or are we looking at something unfortunate happening? One question that keeps coming up is about the sudden hiring of so many people from the Batch of 2026.

I’m not part of any of them. But will love to explain.

First reason: superior faculty. Though VC of both are mediocre and more or less equal, faculty of NUJS far superior to GNLU always in the past and even today.

Second reason: far superior alumni body: since 2000 to 2020, NUJS was always 2nd or 3rd choice of law aspirants. Even few kids left NLS to join NUJS every year. Those who graduated NUJS in 2005 and onwards (GNLU was not born in 2005) were brilliant individuals made their mark in every field. NUJS way ahead in this field.

Third reason: superior students: NUJS was and is always among top 2 or 3 choices of CLAT toppers. GNLU started as 6th/7th choice of law aspirants and by and large remains the same. Student quality at NUJS is superior

Fourth reason: unmatched legacy: NUJS was led by stalwarts. Menon was first VC like he was at NLS. Mitra, Chimni, MP Singh were best in India who led it. GNLU had Bimal Patel and now equally mediocre guy. It never got any truly remarkable scholar as its VC or director. That makes a lot of difference.

Fifth reason: Kolkata far ahead of Gandhinagar when it comes to law. Gujarat has business but Kolkata has one of the best HC, law chambers and some of the sharpest legal minds. That’s absent in entire Gujarat.

I can add ten more reasons but that’s waste of time. NUJS will remain ahead of GNLU but they must throw the VC out soon.

I dont know what you mean by this, but a very close friend got harassed by this associate in the t1. She took it up with her team lead, infamous horrible HR very largely conveyed that "strong independent women like her should not let that happen", so my friend refused to file a POSH complaint even though she gave a copy of all evidence to them anyway. The guy a little while ago quit and moved to a "better" law firm. So it happens, its bad but unless you're in a position of even semi decent power holding, you cannot do much

And you need to learn to articulate in English. That's the most crucial indicator. Someone badmouthing an entire generation, engaging in whataboutary, continuing to deny the presence of huge social wrongs or to admit their part in the perpetuation of such wrongs, all in terrible English... who else will they be, but a baby boomer Indian uncle? Which other category of person in the world is so lacking in self-awareness?

Kindly check EC records bfr you rate MPS so highly. Please scrutinize the actual role and operations of the so called standing committee that MPS had ▮▮▮ created. Why was it disbanded eventually and never made alive again by his successors? Also the seeds of subsequent distance education and UGC funds mismanagement were sown during his time. Ofc his successors and their minions have been constant gardeners and now we are receiving fruits from the poisoned orchard

Founding partner is into some spiritual guru and wants other senior management are obviously expected to embark on the same journey. The guru has a major say in policy matters of the firm. Is this common in law firms. Have also heard about similar stories in other firms but not to this extent. Senior management was taken to an ashram instead of a resort in one firm. Please share your perspectives.

Yes, because pursuing anything in London is no more feasible. Read up on abolition of "non-dom" in the UK. Due to this, H. Salve has also moved out to France. In short, the abolition means that people like GS and HNS will have to pay UK taxes on their Indian earnings. Well ofc they wouldn't be fine with that. Rishi Sunak and his wife are to blame for that.

As M&A lawyer:

I think the average CS focuses too much on compliance aspects without zooming out to see larger picture. In a global deal, that Companies Act fine upto INR 500,000 for some pointless missed / incorrect filing is hardly ever "material".

If you, as a CS, are able to think a little laterally and suggest approaches apart from parroting "do compounding", you will go far.

To add to my brother Alex above, please search LI for other threads on Banking. Banking is notorious for being voluminous and you will constantly be drowning in documents and working on weekends.

While B&F has decent exit options to banks for better WLB, the work hours and the brain dead work of revising templatised work in law firms is not worth spending 10-12 hours a day in office 6 days a week. But when you work in an environment like that for 6 days, you start normalising it just because the job pays you slightly above market. In fact, you might even feel proud because your peers in law firms may appreciate you. When you lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas.

Some might say there is interesting structuring work in DCM and banking, but that is post 5-7+ years PQE and definitely not at associate level. If you are a hard worker, who is afraid of taking risks and can put your head down and work for long hours, banking might be a good fit. If you are someone who is smart and who wants to do interesting work, you will realise there are better things to do in life

Giving you genuine advice my friend

See if you can find an inhouse that pays well (FinTechs have been very good paymasters of late for B&F lawyers), life will definitely be better there in most aspects.

Any decent tiered law firm with a banking practice is bound to be ruthless at some point on account of the lower fees you generally make in banking mandates. Which means you have to complete a lot of deals to justify the costs at the Firm. I really hope you find a place that fulfills your criteria (which from a logical lens is not unreasonable at all), but banking as a practice area is doomed, and will continue to be so in the near future. Even if someone does manage to shake things up a bit and try and improve the filth, the clan will eventually drag him/her down and force him to and make his team slog.

When you lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas.

Apparently both went to do something about the la Gogoi affair. Then things happened inside a blackbox and life continued. Maybe DYC is jockeying again for a cushy sinecure or assignment somewhere. In any case SC rarely disappoints it's own. So many arbs and commissions. Later can be created too.

A certain teacher at NUJS had collapsed in a epileptic fit. Due to stigma surrounding epilepsy no one but a senior teacher who was then the Registrar too knew about her history of epilepsy. The teacher had fallen face first and broke her tooth that pierced the lips and caused fracture to her nose as well. She bled profusely. Students rushed her to a well equipped hospital some distance away. Nearby hospitals hadn't come up then or lacked facilities. This was early days in Salt Lake. No one from admin even accompanied this teacher and her students. The teacher of course had no clue. Knocked unconscious. When the some of the students came back to plead the admin, esp the Registrar to at least intervene with insurance paperwork and further payments (students paid the initial amount with whatever they could manage then) the Registrar thundered, threatened and had the teacher sent to an infamous minimally equipped govt hospital in Salt Lake because the teacher did not have medical insurance. A certain student had an elder bro studying medicine and he used contacts to ensure the basics. Throughout her stay no one but students visited her during recovery. On returning to campus, she thanked students and resigned quietly.

Btw, this was the so called golden days of a great Padma, NRM Menon who was very much on campus and fully aware. Students had approached him and later even complained against the Registrar, his pet. He glared and boomed that students should only be seen in classes and hostel rooms. End of story. Also the planned health centre was later leased out to a bank, which continues to pay a measly rental despite holding crores of NUJS money. Here too the great Padma forced the bank on NUJS despite offers from SBI etc only because of a parochial reason. The same reason NLS also got the same bank on its campus.

I heard this from a former Noojie and could only mumble back that things remain the same even now. Thankfully we now have good hospitals nearby but rest is between God and that unfortunate person.

▮▮▮. The hospitals that he was taken to admitted that had he gotten timely medical intervention, he would've lived. ▮▮▮ We cry about admin issues because people like you try to normalise bad ones. We will cry because we don't want to show for one second that we are passively submitting to or accepting their incompetence.

Well Mr. Saraf

Let me reiterate some parts of what you said and then respond with our expectations.

MS: "Discipline and accountability are essential for our continued growth and success, and I expect all members to follow this policy without exception."

Response: That's true. But who is accountable for our delayed bonuses? Who is accountable for our delayed arrears? F£cking September is about to end we don't even know how much increment we are going to get. Where is the discipline when it comes to paying your associates on time? Do you call sitting over your associates' money, discipline?

MS - "All members of the Firm — from Senior Partners to Associates/ Support — must be present in office during office hours."

Response: Please understand that we work till late night, sometimes overnight. Unless you're willing to pay for overtime, don't make a fuss about coming on time. If you expect us to come on time, we expect reasonable working hours that allow us to leave on time. It can't be one sided.

MS - "Senior members are expected to lead by example"

Response: You delay our bonuses by 4-5 Months. You don't even pay the rightfully accrued bonus to those on notice period or those who have left, despite the fact that they stayed for the entire year. It was your fault that the bonus was delayed. Why cut bonuses of people who are leaving after completing the entire year? You're cunning enough to pay proportionate bonus to those who joins mid year, because they worked 4 months less than an year. But when it comes to someone who's leaving, you forget that the person worked for an entire year and then served notice too. You don't announce the increments till October, November and arrears are not cleared till then. You don't give autonomy to the partners to decide bonuses for their teams, instead, you randomly deduct people's bonuses who you've not even worked with. You don't know my work, you don't know how much hardwork I put in for the entire year. You just woke up someday and decided to cut my bonus by 5% from what partner recommended and you did it. Where is the accountability? Such a nice example you are setting. Stop talking about seniors leading by example, when this is the example that you are setting.

MS - "WFH is permitted only on Wednesday for counsels. The earlier WFH policy remains applicable. Please find attached the policy for WFH."

Response: Stop micro-managing already. We are professionals, not your employees. Treat us like professionals.

MS - "I am not happy with the way the Firm is presently being run. Discipline and commitment are non-negotiable."

Response: Neither are we. Trust me when I say this. Only complacent people are staying here willingly. Everyone is looking out already. It's just the pending bonus and the arrears that keeps people from resigning (I see why you don't release it on time) Headhunters know this. Hence they are poaching partners, PAs, SAs and Associate from S&P very aggressively. Last year we have seen this firm taking the hit of the exit of some top shot partners from disputes team. You may live in denial, but the accounts and billing team knows the impact it had on the revenue of the firm. I have reached out to accounts and billing teams to research on this. You should be grateful I'm not posting numbers here, but I have it and I know where this firm stands today.

Mr. Saraf, please know that this firm is more replaceable than we are.You are more replaceable than we are. You make things hard for us, and all of us will leave. Headhunters are in our inboxes at all times.

You don't have good revenue, you don't have good profits. So you resort to ▮▮▮ tactics like cutting bonuses arbitrarily. Keeping the arrears on hold, not paying bonuses and arrears to the people who leave.

Furthermore, the firm is in such a condition that you're now asking people to leave. Clerks and other support staff were warned of retrenchment. I know atleast 4 people that were asked to leave the firm. This included 2 trainee associates who had worked here for 1 whole year and then when the partner recommended their confirmation as an associate, you refused. If you don't have the capacity to retain them, don't play with their future. Don't waste their time. It seems you just want cheap labour with no intention to absorb them.

So yeah "I am not happy with the way the Firm is presently being run. Discipline and commitment are non-negotiable." And so is accountability and ethics.

Now how do I know all of this? I have good relationship with admin, partners (seniors and juniors) and associates. I see all the messages you post on the Partners' group. I know exactly what goes on in the partners' meetings. So I know.

▮▮▮

Regards,

Copilot

I also work at a Tier 1, and have more experience than you. Saraf is not a Tier 1 (alteast not as per Chambers). Tier 1s are mature on all the fronts. If you speak with your friends at other Tier 2,3,4, you will observe this quite frequently.

Not in any way supporting the approach which MS had in this email. This could have been way politely undertaken at the firm level.