"There is a signaling value to A0 compensation which we don't want to participate in....then it's a culture mismatch i.e. we are not the right firm for you." This is so weird. It struck me as odd to hear that discussing A0 compensation could be seen as a ‘culture mismatch.’ Transparency around pay is a basic part of informed decision-making. The very rhetoric they use around compensation speaks volumes about the team dynamic and work environment.

Policies and decision making ultimately vests with NMD. Earlier this year, he unilaterally decided that no one in the firm will get bonus for the work done by the team last year!! Imagine someone making you work and decides to dock near half of your salary because they just changed the rule of the game. This was the last blow and as a result some seniors who had stayed back even after everyone left in last couple of years, they also decided its time to move on.

I finished a BBA from a top British university in 2010 and my LLB from University of Mumbai in 2013. I practiced with a small boutique law firm for a couple of years and after that joined the chambers of one of the most pre-eminent Senior Advocates in Mumbai. I began my independent practice in 2018 and have appeared in the BHC, SC, NCLT, and SAT. I've appeared as arguing counsel / assisting counsel in over 50 reported judgments and built a fairly sizeable nest egg. But I'm no longer enjoying the adrenaline of individual practice and looking to join a Tier-1 law firm in their disputes department. Does this seem possible, and if so, how do I even go about it?

I know I am from the 2026 batch but I could offer help! This depends on your chosen way forward-

1. Financial well-being - Prepare for government exams, honestly taking year gaps after graduation reflects badly with recruiters, so try preparing for all applicable examinations, not just the UPSC or Judiciary.

2. Corporate law (risky) - Connect to alumni and share why you couldn't land a placement. Take even an assessment internship if offered. You must attract them with work quality and dedication.

3. Litigation - Try local district court litigation offices, gain the experience and move upwards. Accept any income, and get as much client exposure and drafting experience as you can. Wait for 1-2 years, then apply to law firms.

Same here. One of the top 5 NLUs. Doing assesment in a T-2 firm in Bangalore in disputes team but don't know what will happen, still very uncertain and unemployed. Also, Litigation is not for everyone bro, now I want to shift to corporate team. Litigation is challenging. Don't just apply to T-1 firms. Keep your options open and apply to T-2, T-3 firms as well. Best of luck!( to both of us lol)

BO'26, I did not make through KCO's GC PPO interview. What do I do from here to get into a T1 as a GC (Comfortable with TMT & Labour and Employment) Lawyer?
I have no T1 internships lined up as well but my CV is stacked and yet, i only get ghosted by T2/T3 firms. What do I do?
Do i make a shift to litigation and get into chamber practice or is there anyway to get into firms with atleast 80k a month?

Sounds easier than it actually is though since 35 is only the minimum qualifying age for DHJS. It is not necessary that the HC releases a notification for DHJS as soon as you turn 35, the notifications are rather scheduled apart and also delayed - though, this applies to DJS too. Also, it takes almost one year for the exam process to conclude in both DJS and DHJS (Prelims, mains, mains result, interview, final merit list) + not necessary that one can clear the exam in the first attempt.

For those recruited in DJS at 24-25 (few are), the promotions are better than a DHJS officer joining at 37-38. For those joining DJS at 29-32 (and many are), it is a long wait, especially if the rank is mid or low.

Hi,

I am an ex-T1 Associate who left to prepare for Judicial Services in Jan 2024. Have experience of 7 months. Applying back due to the 3-year experience requirement. Could anyone who knows of openings across T1 or T2 team's in Bangalore please comment for vacancies and help out.

Would be very very grateful.

Thanks!!!

Classic story of a starry-eyed Indian educated largely overseas wanting to serve his country: Started off as a great idealist, then became corrupted. He says in an interview that he had to argue very vigorously with people who told him, while he was overseas in England, the U.S. and finally Hong Kong, that there was little to nothing for him in India, that there actually was. I think it overall would have been better if he had listened to the wise advice of his mentors. He hasn't fulfilled the great ideals he set himself. True, he built a university. True, he got his uni into global rankings. But in what way and at what cost? By gaming the system, not actually in the right way. If you want to argue that a country like India needs a uni for its elite, and Jindal fills that place in the market, then also wrong. The students who go to Jindal are usually elites, true, but elite bad students. Most of the elite classes anyway don't really want their kids studying in India in any case, a problem Jindal hasn't solved effectively. No good student with an international education, unless they have enough money to be an elite in India but not enough to not struggle financially abroad, would go to Jindal. So it is, IMO at least, very much the case that India could have done without this guy's "contribution".

We can speak whenever you'd like.

Competition is an extremely niche practice area which barely hires and has just 1-2 rainmaker partners across firms in India.

The most fun part of the practice is enforcement, which is completely dependent on the geopolitics of the American federal government vis-a-vis India. Regulators here will bite only if they feel emboldended enough to do so, otherwise they'd be content with meowing.

The most boring part of the practice is combination - you just sit and tally stuff.

That's all there is to it. The idea that there's some cutting edge antitrust practice efforts going on in India are not based in reality. This is something all competition associates are aware of to varying degrees.

This thread is the epitome of the shrinking class divide in India, and also of how elites no longer control the online discourse. 15-20 years ago, only elite, urban, English-speaking NLU people participated in online discussions about law. Totally opposite now.

Look at LI of old and LI of today. 🤣🤣🤣

You make it sound like all the NLUS are rigorous. Barring the top few, the others are no different from the state law colleges, expect for better infrastructure and a student body that is drawn from different parts of the country. the lower you go, the more it resembles a state college in terms of curriculum, pedagogy, teachers and teaching -learning methods.

also let's not forget that the NLUs are still following a model that was crafted in the late 1980s. what innovation to teaching-learning has it done after that? writing term papers in a variety of subjects is not exactly cutting edge innovation in pedagogy.

and lets not forget that no matter which law school you went to, at the end the day the craft of working with the law in practice - be it in firms or in litigation comes only with practical exposure and its picked up as you keep working. this is not to demean the NLUs or their contributions but a mere fact of life.

the bulk of lawyers in India, especially the litigators study in 'these' colleges that you just demeaningly mentioned. the CJI has a good point in that we must pay attention to their needs too. it does not matter that they have not learned about crimes against humanity or international arbitration. what matters is that they are able to learn the stuff that is required for the legal market that exists in Bharat and not just India.

and lastly, all the Dworkin, Lessing or education on ICL is evidently a complete waste on you folks. there is an ongoing genocide and not a single NLU thought it fit to even make a measly statement about it. that education has clearly entered through one ear and left through the other.