I am a symbi grad and currently unemployed. While many of my batchmates have secured jobs, many are still navigating the same uncertainty. But there is one thing I can say with complete conviction. I secured most of my internships because of the relationships I built with alumni. The college did help in few, but that was also mostly because of the alumni network.

Over the years, I had had the privilege of interacting with some exceptionally hardworking partners, principal associates, senior associates, and associates at law firms from SLS, Pune. One lesson has become abundantly clear. Your network is your social capital. Your college can open a few doors, but the relationships you cultivate determine how many more remain open.

After all, today's conversation could very well become tomorrow's client, referral, mentor, or opportunity. People invest in people long before they invest in credentials.

What genuinely surprises me is how underrated networking and interpersonal skills continue to be in law school. We spend years mastering statutes, precedents, and drafting, yet often overlook the art of building trust, nurturing professional relationships, and having meaningful conversations. In today's legal profession, being technically competent may get your foot in the door, but emotional intelligence, curiosity, and the ability to connect with people are what keep you in the room. Also, underrated is having fun at workspace, while also cracking quality and deadlines.

One thing I will always be grateful for is the Symbi alumni community. The partners, in particular, have been incredibly generous with their time, remarkably approachable, and genuinely invested in helping students grow. And also the base in UK, US and Singapore. Folks at NYU, Oxford, Cambridge and Harvard. Folks securing scholarships and TCs abroad. Folks cracking deals at law firms and companies. And every symbi hustler, finding their space in this world! Perhaps that generosity is something they themselves inherited from those who came before them, and they continue to pay it forward.

You don't need to know everything. You simply need the courage to reach out, ask thoughtful questions, and start conversations. More often than not, you will discover that people are willing to help far more than you expect.

Your degree may introduce you, but your reputation, relationships, and character will carry you the rest of the way.

Shout Out to Akshay Malhotra, Gouri Puri, Abhilash Chandran, Roxanne, Nikunj Maheshwari, Anjan Dasgupta, Kunal Chandra, Neeraj Menon, Gautam Chabra, Gautam Singh and Richa Choudhary!

Look, one can't generalise. Depends from partner to partner and team to team across firms. Some will be more empathetic, others less. But yes, as a general rule of thumb, you'll fare better at law firms when you reconcile to the fact that an individual lawyer's personal troubles are not really a high priority concern for anyone. You are useful till the time you are able to bill. Harsh but true.

Ask AI this question and you will get all garbage responses about professional management and current practice leaders becoming MPs even in the large family firms. Shows the limitations of AI in understanding the Indian Lala culture.

Also this is now in a way also linked to opening up to allow foreign firms, assuming it happens in our lifetime 😝

I am doing my ba llb from lpu cause sadly I did not give any entrances. I have published a few papers and constantly write on blogs while constantly preparing for clat pg to get a llm from a good nlu for either a job or a phd futher on. I am trying out for placements in thinktanks and LPO's and in courts for for position of legal researcher. ​am I doomed. Trying my best to prep for exams and curate skills. Also if I do a llm from some nlu can I get a good job from there?

2026 pass out. I have done good internships & am in top 5 of my college ranks. did one assessment only to be told recently, hiring is frozen. I was sure I was gonna get placed. College offers no support except poorly paid no name litigation chambers. What are my possible options? I absolutely cannot settle for any any small firm given my experiences, its embarrassing and my friends have accepted very low paying offers like 15000 pm, I dont want that, thats been my stipend in the past.

No. You will get the degree of MNLU but will will be a student of NISM and it's curriculum which is unique, niche and different from MNLU LLM or other NLU LLM. It's NISM.that will bring campus placements to you as you, not MNLU.

And ig this is India's only LLM program with good placements.

https://chambers.com/articles/dll-further-strengthens-its-capital-markets-practice-with-the-addition-of-timothy-franklyn

Reviews? Looking to apply

I get the impulse, but this is kind of flattening the forest, so it is never a dangerous approach. Much better to learn boundaries and how to trust one's instincts and not treat mistakes like the end of the world. Kiss a few frogs, learn to identify control early, and invest in friendships that keep you stable through the mess. You can't police the whole world.

It’s true - wait for the confirmation to hit very soon. Agree that they are a very hardworking team but they’ve been unable to hit their targets here for the last 6 quarters. Leaving SAM was not a mistake, that team is also struggling with billables but has deeper pockets to cushion the headwinds. Interesting times

Hi , I have recently joined NUJS, .

Background - 24 y old , with science background did a year in bsc zoology after giving neet twice then dropped out to do some business and trading, joined bsc physics on the side a year later , then currently while finishing my final year gave clat as I found a lot of stuff surrounding the legal side of M&A, VC interesting, I had a liking towards the legal profession for few years but due to financial constraints and not being from a legal family I was unable to commit to it back then

Now I get that I am a older student and 2 out of 10 top firms might reject me completely on the basis of age ( cause of ageism, still I have heard that law firms don't care that much ) .

So I request anyone here if they can guide me , specially nujs alumni or any suggestion or anything on how to manage stuff , how to intern, which co curriculars would help, how is Calcutta HC( heard not good), also i have a keen interest in policy think tanks as well ( but currently more interested in the financial side of things)

PS- anyone asking why ballb, cause NUJS don't have llb, wanted to be with my single mom ( I lived in Delhi for 5 years) , plus I am more comfortable in my city,

Please moderator help

I live in Mumbai and have passed out of a not so notable law college and so far have only had one internship from a not so notable place. I was burned out from all the travelling i had to do during the course of this internship and as somone with a crippling social anxiety i was filled with dread over having to appear before a judge. I also think litigation demands accountability and responsibility i'm reluctant to shoulder at the moment. Having had a bad experiance i pivoted to finance and spent two years learning before i hit the wall and now i'm forced to fall back on my law degree with a substantial time and skill gap. Based on what my friends have described to me working in firms can be very challenging because of the long strenous hours. As someone who has hobbies and values personal time a lot, i'm unable to commit to this kind of an arangement because it's the very thing that made me leave law in the first place. I was wondering what maybe the best bet for me, which department shows promise of making me the most money while being relatively less demanding and keeping a healthy work-life balance?

So my question to you all is this: many a time, we go out for drinks even on weekdays and return home at 2 a.m., or sometimes between 2 and 4 a.m. The next day, we have court, early morning client meetings, discussions with our partners, and all the other aspects of a lawyer's job. On top of that, we have our own pending work that needs to be completed.

On weekdays, as I have seen many people do, they go out, drink until 3 or 4 a.m., come back, sleep for a few hours, and then head straight to the office or court. Throughout all of this, they never seem to complain about a hangover, sleeplessness, or anything else. They appear as energetic as possible, and their focus at work also seems to be very good.

Whereas I face a different problem. The moment I sit for a while, whether I am looking for case law, sitting in court while other matters are being heard, or drafting something, I just fall asleep.

So how do these individuals manage it, and what is the difference? Because I have seen many of them, a great many.

No, non-compete clauses are generally not enforceable against employees. However, employers often find other ways to create hurdles for someone joining a new firm. It is also quite common for them to contact the prospective employer and provide negative feedback about the employee. Unfortunately, this is fairly rampant across many top firms.

A prominent litigator has now sounded AI job loss alarm bells. What's next for juniors/ early career lawyers?

https://x.com/i/status/2076526634954608812

this is actually a good thing we should remain the senior designation to those who are actually deserving not that evey alternat year some 10s of 100 are getting designation it should remain previlage but DHC has really outworked themself throwing designation left right and centre

86K followers @traceyourcase

WOW

Racist country that committed a genocide against indigenous people. Shocking levels of cheating.

Yes, I support England. They may have committed human rights violations but not in the scale of the Argentinians. And they did many good things too. Their team is multicultural.