My limited understanding is that not all references are the same. A few years ago, I faced a similar situation, dint have too much approach, but whatever limited contacts I had, landed me two interviews with tier 1 teams and they did not convert. My sense is that for a reference to really result is an offer letter, the reference has to be solid, there has to be an actual requirement for a resource in the team, the timing of things has to also workout- for instance, it should not be that the team is going through a phase of low volume of work etc., they should of course at some level like you/your profile, it also really helps if this reference via which you have approached the firm, can be of some use to the firm later on (its all quid pro quo really) - law firm partners are smart they are generally able to assess your closeness to your reference - also matters how influential is this reference, is it a siting judge before whom the firm regularly appears or is it some lesser known former judge with whom the firm may not necessarily cross paths and may be of lil to no use to the firm in terms or contacts and favours etc. There is a very fine difference, things like personal terms with the hiring partner etc. also matter, it could be a variety of factors, I am just stating a few. But most of all I think it’s about the timing!

As regards to your fear of negative feedback from your previous team, this is less likely, normally ppl don’t go on to actively damage a freshers career like that. There may be a few exceptions to this, but mostly negative feedback from a previous employer would only come if you really did something grave - unethical/unprofessional, minor issues with competence, availability etc. are generally overlooked and forgiven as long as you dont have a reputation for being a ticking bomb.

Thank you for your genuine answer, Samaritan. I am also of the same opinion. Even considering working here for 5-6 years before a shift seems suicidal. I can't fathom the amount of life I will lose in the process. There would be nothing left at the end of the tunnel. It surely is for people who really enjoy template work.

If Dam comes, then all the honeymoon period that the students have with the admin will be over. He is a stickler for quality, a concept with which Noojies have no familiarity these days. No repeat exam, free attendance, easy grades, interning while bunking classes. The students aren't ready for someone good like him, no matter what they keep shouting.

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?

Stay on top of things, DAW happens each year - for next year keep an eye out for event dates in advance. Do some basic diligence, connect with the right ppl on LinkedIn, stay active on lawyers WhatsApp groups, engage actively in the community, a lot of these events dont have entry barriers as such, being proactive is the key!

Maha ▮▮▮, I’d say. DAW has posted quite a bit on YouTube. It was - at best - a networking event. They actually had debate on whether or not we should have institutional arbitration! Seriously, wtf!? Everyone - including the geysers, of whom there were plenty - gave super cringe, oracle like predictions on AI! There were some useful sessions on drafting etc which were clouded with mostly loads of bakwas. The one other Dumb as F pitch going around was - making India a global hub/ seat for arbitration. The only guy who called out that backc**di - surprisingly- rare moment - was MS, who rightly said that we should first get people to adopt domestically! I walked out of this event perhaps 0.1% wiser and - at best - with a new found respect for MS.

I joined a Tier 1 law firm last year and I am part of a very large team with six partners. I mostly report to one salaried partner who made partner about two years ago. Since the day I joined he has shown zero interest in training me. I do understand that with the workload and deadlines it is not always possible to sit down and teach, but in my case it has been absolute neglect. I keep asking him for feedback on how I can improve and it seems like i am expected to figure it out from the redline of my drafts?! the problem is whenever I make a mistake it is never pointed out directly to me. Instead it somehow gets discussed among the partners and the feedback spreads internally, but no one actually addresses it with me. So I do not even know what exactly I did wrong or how to avoid it the next time.

What is getting worse is that this partner has started throwing me under the bus in very subtle ways. For eg in one recent matter there was a non technical issue around the execution of an engagement letter and in the team group chat it was said that as the junior most I should have flagged it. The truth is I had no idea that this was something to even be flagged because with my limited experience I do not yet know the practical implications of that. Instead of guiding me he just lets it look like I messed up. This was just one example but it keeps happening. He never speaks to me about it directly.

He is passive aggressive, gives bad feedback behind my back, does not correct me, and never takes the time to guide me. I want to learn and I am open to feedback, but it feels like I am constantly set up to fail. Has anyone been in a similar situation??

Hi, can someone pls tell me how much time Toer- I law firms take to tell candidates that they have been accepted or rejected. I am aware that they do ghost often but let's keep that aside for now.

For instance, if I applied in August for an internship at SAM for May next year then by when can I expect any sort of reply?

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

I am a final-year law student from a tier-2, non-NLU background. Over the last few years, I have completed internships at firms such as Dentons Link Legal, Hammurabi & Solomon Partners, and a few boutique firms with highly experienced teams and diverse client work in General Corporate and allied areas. One of these boutiques even extended a call-back offer based on performance, which reinforced my confidence in this practice area.

Looking ahead, I am also scheduled to intern with Saikrishna & Associates (▮▮▮ ▮▮▮) and King Stubb & Kasiva (▮▮▮ ▮▮▮), and I am targeting more opportunities in January 2026 with both large firms and boutique practices. All of my internships so far have been secured through merit and performance-based selections, without institutional support from college.

My interest lies in General Corporate, and I am seeking advice on the following:

1. How should I navigate my upcoming internships to make them impactful and possibly convert them into long-term opportunities?

2. What should I focus on in terms of preparation and skill-building to build a career in General Corporate?

3. For assessment internships or interviews, what key areas (laws, skills, or case studies) should I study to stand out during evaluations?

Any guidance from seniors and practitioners would be invaluable.

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.

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.

Don't bother with it, these journals carry no credibility in academic circles. Nobody is going to judge you if you don't have publications in your first year - just focus on improving your research skills and legal knowledge , then apply to some actually good journals where you won't have to pay. NLS, NALSAR, NUJS, NLUJ all have good student law reviews. Slightly higher there are places like Statute Law Review which will accept good student pieces (but not of the first year level).

You need not worry at all. It would be one of the easiest things you would be doing, of course, other than sleeping. Since such work entails document review, DD, etc., you'll just have to work within certain templates that will be given to you. It's like, you'll be given a checklist and the documents. You'll have to see whether the documents contain the items in the checklist or not. That's pretty much the nature of the work you will be doing. It will seem fun at the beginning, but it gets monotonous. You'll realise by the end of your internship whether you like such work or not.

Firstly, the owner himself does not comply with any timelines for paying bonuses, or announcing increments, but he expects other people to abide by the timelines.

Secondly, many people put BD/CD, and don't attend office. It is the partners who are guilty of doing this more often. But the owner seems to be targeting the associates for this, and not his partners.

Thirdly, how can somebody target innocent admin guy (BMO) like this. He has been loyal to the firm, and he got this in return.

Fourthly, owner knows very well that senior partners won't follow this. But for the sake of writing, he has mentioned they need to follow this policy. Lame.

Fifthly, the direct consequence is non-entitlement of discretionary bonus. Even for other non-compliance like non-adherence to AI policy, WFH policy, not attending office parties, not filling time-sheets, and not filling appraisal forms on time etc, the discretionary bonus goes for a toss. So billing basically has no role.

Sixthly, the ▮▮▮-most ▮▮▮ partner (who is also ▮▮▮ ▮▮▮) neither comes to office nor will follow this policy.

Hello everyone, I hope you don’t mind me asking something very personal here.

I am a practising advocate in Delhi (NCR) but I must admit that I have zero practical exposure to litigation and procedure. At the age of 40, it is not really possible for me to follow the traditional route of working under a senior or doing long internships.

What I do have is genuine commitment, time, and resources. I am very keen to learn and I am ready to pay for proper mentorship from someone credible who can guide me, especially in areas like:

- Drafting and strategy (bails, complaints, NI Act, matrimonial matters, etc.)
- Cyber crime cases and procedures (an area I am very interested in)
- Understanding day-to-day court practice and client handling

I am not looking for a job; I wish to remain independent. But I would deeply value structured mentorship and guidance. I am also more than happy to assist with pro bono matters where I can be useful — learning while helping others would be an honour.

If you are a senior or even a well-experienced practitioner, or if you know of any credible mentorship avenues, I would be truly grateful for your guidance.

Thank you very much for reading, and apologies if this request seems unusual. I believe there may be others like me, and I hope this post can help them too.

It has always been said, especially after the 2008 crisis, that another recession can hit anytime. There's no need to speculate and discuss on that. Whenever it hits, it hits. The real question is, when a recession hits, how will it impact the young lawyers and law grads.

Broadly, lawyers/law grads have 6 categories of career paths:

1. Litigation

2. Law firms

3. In House (please note both 2 and 3 include foreign firms as well)

4. Govt sector (may/may not be law related)

5. Policy/NGO/etc.

6. Others

No. 6 will be too broad to speculate upon, so let's not get into that. One may pursue law and maybe be working in a LPO Unit or something. Let's leave it aside. Another assumption to make is that, we'll take a cutoff of 5 years PQE for young lawyers.

No. 4, if not contractual, will be insulated. If contractual, perhaps say a Judicial Law Clerk (yes, won't be govt, but still), they may get affected once their contract ends.

Nos. 3 and 5 will be very vulnerable. No. 5 especially so because they perhaps won't have a clear cut source of funding, or their income would be irregular. No. 3 - given the young age, companies would cut down on them and lay them off. Senior ones would most likely be retained if not fired as well.

No.2 may fire young lawyers. Mostly it would not. But hiring freeze would be there. Not so vulnerable for those already inside. Very vulnerable to those outside. Given the nature of the work No. 2 engages in, which is clearly anti-thetical to law's growth, they'd mostly survive given their monotonous paperwork-oriented nature of work.

No. 1 -depends. While they will not be out of work, their earnings may reduce, but since its a profession, they have no salaries. Those who consider working under a senior for a salary are slaves and an insult to the profession so let's not consider them. Graduates would face issues, but since there is no hiring in this sector for it being a profession, the only impact is the reduction in income.

All these aside, you know people always say that a recession is coming. You say "very respected analysts". They have always claimed something like that. Let us not fear monger into this.

Nakul Dewan became a King’s Counsel without relocating to the UK, didn’t he? I don’t think his move for tax reasons and his KC status are as intertwined as you’re suggesting. In any case, his return is good news for all of us — there was a real void of senior counsel of that calibre in the Supreme Court. That said, I’d imagine his fee structure will attract more high-stakes arbitrations and juicy commercial suits than special leave petitions!

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.

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.

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