1. Draft Advocate's Act 2026 debars foreign law firms from all work expect appearing in arbitrations involving foreign law

2. BCI stands by decision to oppose enrolment by Korean national JGLS grad ("but since the law was clear we could not stop").

Incidentally, the South Korean Ambassador had taken up the issue of the student with the MEA and succeeded.

https://images.assettype.com/barandbench/2026-07-21/qqnhukmg/BCI_draft_advocates_act.pdf

Hi,

I am associated with a Tier-1 IP Boutique and looking for a move to KCO in their Patent Practice. Can someone throw light on the Pay (Retainer + Variable) for a SA role (Probably SA2) at KCO. How good is the IP team, under Adheesh Nargolkar? How is the Promotion to partnership track (No. of years/KPI if any), work life balance, details on weekends off and benefits if any? Would appreciate your thoughts.

What crap. It is absolutely bereft of any historical context.

West Bengal has substantial industry and industrial capacity. Kolkata was once India’s financial capital. With the communists and TMC out of the way (for now), there is every hope that much of the industrial capacity lost over the decades will be reclaimed.

That will naturally generate legal work requiring lawyers of high calibre. KCO is the only major Tier 1 firm in Kolkata. It is only obvious that others will want a share of what promises to be a generous pie. Businesses follow money and the path of least resistance. Remember that.

It's called being young. You'll find it harder to do after 30 (unless you're very careful about eating healthy and staying in shape) and near impossible after 40.

Also of course, most of the work done is of mediocre quality, but most of the work done by juniors is never read by judges or doesn't make a difference to the transaction anyway...so the impact of bad work is relatively limited.

The sharpest seniors sleep in court, it's extremely boring and lethargic. Everyone who says that observing proceedings is a learning experience is exaggerating. It's like panning for gold, you've to go through tonnes of shit to find a solitary speck of gold dust. The key is to be sharp the moment you wake up and be quick on your feet. You can then bullshit your way to glory.

I've around 5-6 years of experience in a niche practice at a Tier 1 law firm. Technically, I've learnt a great deal under my Reporting Partner and have had the opportunity to work on complex matters. I don't question the quality of the technical learning.

What I struggle to understand is the complete lack of client exposure.

I am routinely excluded from client meetings and calls. Even when I do attend, I'm expected to remain completely silent. On one occasion, I was asked to wait downstairs while the partner met the client. On another, I wasn't even allowed to hand my own visiting card to the client.

What has made this harder to process is that when I raised the issue, I wasn't given any constructive feedback about my communication skills, judgment, or readiness to interact with clients. Instead, the response I received was a dismissive response about how these clients are of the partner**.**

That left me wondering whether I'm missing something.

At this stage of my career, I would have expected to gradually develop client-facing skills, learn how to build relationships, and be trusted to contribute in meetings.

I'm genuinely trying to understand whether this is:

- - common in law firms;
- - a deliberate strategy to protect client relationships;
- - a reflection that the partner doesn't think I'm ready (although that was never communicated); or
- something else entirely.

My concern is less about immediate frustration and more about long-term career development.

If the goal is to eventually move into a leadership role, technical ability is only one part of the equation. Client management, communication, relationship-building and commercial judgment are equally important. If senior associates are consistently prevented from interacting with clients, when are they expected to develop those skills?

To be candid, these experiences have taken a huge toll on my confidence. Being told that "these are my clients," rather than being given any developmental feedback, made me question whether this is simply how some partners operate or whether I'm in an unusually restrictive environment.

I'd really appreciate hearing from lawyers who've experienced something similar.

- - Is this common in law firms?
- - Did things improve with time, or did you have to move teams/firms to get meaningful client exposure?
-

Hey, if anyone can tell me about good Dispute Resolution and Litigation teams at Tier 1 and Tier 2 law firms(which pays decent enough). I wanted to know about teams that genuinely offer good growth and learning opportunities.

I know people often say that no team can guarantee learning and that you have to learn yourself, but I request you to answer only if you have genuine feedback about teams that actually help with the learning curve and have a good culture, especially in Mumbai and Delhi.

Thankyou and looking forward to positive and honest answers!

Not a good look. The CJP needs to reform the core group if it wishes to be taken seriously.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/cjp-removes-spokesperson-vijeta-dahiya-condemns-deeply-insensitive-actions/amp_articleshow/132534529.cms

Hi, is anyone who is an OCI (Overseas Citizen of India) currently a litigator? Was enrollment friction-free?

How do OCIs working for law firms looking at the proposed Advocates Act amendment that looks to do away with reciprocity and looks to bring law firms under its ambit viewing this amendment? Will they fall under the definition of "foreign lawyers"?

See: https://www.barandbench.com/news/law-firms-in-india-must-register-with-bar-councils-bci-proposes-changes-to-advocates-act

1) What is the usual timeline for Blogs on NLSforum, particularly the IJLT Blog and the NLSBLR Blog? I've heard they've got years' worth of backlogs.
2) Do they acknowledge the receipt of the articles through mail, and communicate the rejection, modifications, or is it more like no response = not accepted/in consideration?
3) Do they allow mail inquiries regarding the status of submissions, or have they blocked incoming mail for the same?

Any help would be appreciated.

Please reread and reconsider, because the twisting of my logic which you have done is frankly mind-blowing. This is not even the 20th biggest issue that the BCI has to work on. As far as I am concerned, it's a non-issue - firms and chambers need to be working at it on their own. The BCI shouldn't be wasting its time.

The point was not about lawyer competence at all. It was about something far more basic i.e., this team was not desirable within CAM. Their client base was thin, their book was shallow, and they never managed to align with CAM’s culture or collaborate in a way that mattered. For a firm like CAM, that makes the decision straightforward. From CAM’s standpoint, keeping a team that does not integrate, creates more risk than value. A clean, controversy‑free exit is simply the commercially rational move by CAM. But interesting that your takeaway was that the comment was about competency.

The point is spot‑on, and honestly the simple truth is this team never managed to built any real relevance inside CAM. In a place like CAM, that becomes obvious very quickly and let’s be blunt, when a firm actually values a team, the firm digs in and fights to keep such a team Here, there is no real pushback, no real noise, nothing. A smooth exit at CAM is basically a verdict on what this team is worth (point to be noted by the new employer). In my view, CAM is a demanding place but is equally predictable. It backs people who deliver. This team didn’t, and that’s really all there is to it.

This reads less like an assessment and more like an attempt to rationalise an exit. The team comprises experienced and competent lawyers with established client relationships and a credible body of work. Whether they were the right institutional fit for CAM is a different question altogether.

Treating the manner in which an exit is being handled as conclusive evidence of a team’s value is a considerable leap. Departures are influenced by multiple commercial and institutional considerations, most of which are not visible externally.

CAM undoubtedly has several excellent corporate teams. That does not require diminishing the credentials of lawyers who choose to leave it.

No, he/she is absolutely right.

Scrapping BA subjects will effectively mean phasing out BA-LLB (NLU bread-and-butter) altogether in favor of BBA-LLB and BSc-LLB. Combining law with other practically useful domains and subjects like business, management, economics, and technology makes a solid combination with relevance in the next 30 - 40 years. Such a change is a game-changer for the entire ecosystem (aspirants, students, faculty, universities, job-seekers, organizations, and employers).

True and well said. Very few good faculty from older generations are there now. Those still there are people who need to be in Delhi for personal reasons and still see Jindal as a better option than NLUD, Munjal, Bennett etc. But if NLUD gets an NLU alum as VC like Sudhir and does a mass recruitment drive of NLU alumni faculty, then these people will quit and no one will be left except DJ.

Amitification of Jindal is underway. They gave a lot of facilities, benefits and higher than market salaries to faculty when they were new and needed to build their brand. Now that their brand has already been built, they would rather spend money on other things rather than on faculty. Faculty is being seen as easily replaceable, a cost-centre to be optimised, rather than a core part of the educational environment. Sad!

Just to clarify:

1. She is well over 18 and no longer a student.

2. It was Dharmendra Pradhan who dragged his daughter in the education debate by claiming that his daughter studied Marathi till class 8 (in the context of the CBSE language debate). The impression one may get from this statement is that she went to a regular, middle-class CBSE school. That may be, but certainly over the past decade her educational background has been extremely elite and insulated from the issues that middle-class Indians attending ordinary government colleges face.

3. Scroll’s broader point is that children of all the Modi govt ministers attend university abroad and this is indeed true. Literally every minister’s kid. Many work abroad too.

All links below.

https://scroll.in/article/1094109/education-crisis-in-india-puts-spotlight-on-cabinet-ministers-children-studying-abroad

https://x.com/BlewMedia_in/status/2079717773866110987

https://www.ndtv.com/video/dharmendra-pradhan-defends-cbse-s-three-language-policy-my-daughter-studied-marathi-till-class-8-1105915

This is a bad take. Have you considered it’s the BCI and not the NLUs ? That they could have done everything right and the BCI may be stalling ? That’s not even an uncommon thing to happens and unlike private law colleges NLUs don’t bribe regulators to get through the process smoothly.

https://www.barandbench.com/Law-School/nlus-listed-with-expired-bci-approval-ahead-of-july-31-deadline

These are serious administrative lapses that depict the deplorable state of affairs of the leadership and decision-makers at these state law schools. So much so that these law schools don't take any action unless they are forced to do so due to public embarrassment (like RMLNLU recently). Combine these with the recent protests that have happened in multiple NLUs.

It is a race of losers.

As someone who was recently diagnosed with mid level anxiety; had to leave the firm as it started affecting the work; and had to take assistance of the psychiatrist and medication. There is something I need to suggest, dont go for medication unless its absolutely necessary, even my psychiatrist was of the same opinion. He explained me that they give medications only in those cases where a person is not able to carry out social or work related obligations as it affects you adversely. SSRI, do have a tripping effect, you would feel sleepy, euphoric, would effect your reproductive organs and trust me you would start tripping and zoning out. had to rely upon the same, because the symptoms were worse. luckily was able to function properly after two months ssri as consuming it was more troublesome then not consuming it though there were some withdrawls when i left. resorted to spirituality during this time, it became a saviour. Go find something apart from work that suits you, dont think too much life waise hi chalni hai, thoda indifferent ho jaoge towards life would be better trust me.

Hi guys,

I am desperately looking to leave the lala boutique firm that I am currently being held hostage under, the firm is so incompetent and frustrating to the point where I am telling partners how to do adminitrative/management work on top of explaining the facts (I am okay in doing this) and giving interpretations of the law (which is accepted as it without a second thing from their end or input). The partners are the only seniors directly above me, we have one nearly absent Principal associate who is only there on paper, and sits at some other office.

Nothing intelligible comes from the Partners mouth which is acknowledged unfortunately by all the counsels we have worked with (in some form or another); clients, who simply refuse to speak to the partners in the absence of the associate/senior associate who is handling the matter, and; for the transactions team, I have seen the other law firms not even registering the partners names and calling them by random names.

There is absolutely no one who guides and literal verbal vomit comes out of their mouth, they are the most ill-read, non-knowledgable batch of seniors who give random instructions and you end up becoming the poster child for embarassment before various courts and tribunals.

TLDR:
I AM BEGGING YOU, IF YOU HAVE ANY LEADS AS STATED IN THE CAPTION, PLEASE DROP THEM IN THE COMMENTS! I AM GOING INSANE!

I am in desperate need of a job. tier 2 nlu, day zero or internships didn't help. now I gotta know which partners have responded to cold mails/linkedin. I have already reached out to many with no response. I have a good enough cv with t2 internships. if I dont get placed I might have to go back to my t3 hometown with no prospects. pls help

I have secured internship at luthra for their delhi office under sanjay kumar and at saraf and partners in their noida office for nov in the disputes team. Can anyone who has last interned their share their experience, like should i expect a call back, i currently am in my 5th sem from a t1 nlu.