Hi!

I am from a mid-tier NLU, about to join a disputes team at a Tier-1 firm that handles a wide range of matters, from arbitration to litigation before courts and tribunals. I’d be incredibly grateful if any seniors working in disputes could share their insights on how to fit in, add value, and excel in such a fast-paced environment. Any advice or tips, big or small, would be deeply appreciated!

TIA

NluO never releases the data in the form like in which firms their students are placed , they don't even release post about it on linkdin and all . They just provide the numbers of their placements, how can we trust that ? Also we get mnlu m till 600 rank in counselling, hnlu till 900s and NLUO till early 1200s isn't it is strange that in fastest growing nlu quality of crowd is not that good ?

After researching a lot keeping in mind corporate placement and the year of establishment ,aluminium base, judiciary culture. HONEST RANKING BY SEEING THE UPCOMING 5 YEARS POTENTIAL.

1.Nlsiu (not doing good but still oldest/ increase intake will.also affect in future).

2. Nalsar (only 100 percent placement provider nlu)

3.Nlud (locational advantage/judiciary/upsc)

4.NUJs (alumin/ constant growth grap its old that's why it's maintaining it's plaxe)

5.GNLU(highest growing nlu came late in 2007 than also defeating each nlu one by one with highest in numbers placement 117 out of 120 in 2024 (no other nlu has provided 100 + placement)

6. NLUJ ( A GOOD NLU stable and tier 1)

TIER 1.5

7.NLIU Bhopal ( detoriating condition being tier 1 earlier and second oldest nlu got displaced)

8.Nluo cuttack (following the trajectory of gnlu growth it's 2023 2024 2025 placements speaks for itself , soon to be tier 1 college tag)

TIER 2

9.Hnlu raipur (stagnant college in growth rate)

10.Mnlu Mumbai (glorified nlu/locational advantage)

11.Rmnlu lucknow (judiciary enthusiast/ decent placement)

12.Rgnul patiala (mix culture /decent placement)

Rest are tier 3 and tier 4 which are new

Here’s some real advice - you have to charm your way into these places if your college isn’t the best. During your internships, be the first preference intern for all associates to give work, subtly get involved in the informal team lunches etc. Ofcourse all of this without good work will not get you anywhere, but given the background you seem to have, I’m assuming that won’t be an issue.

Bonus Tip - Target practice areas and partners that have high attrition (you will sacrifice your sanity but you can switch later anyway

I have tried to stand apart with my publications and wins, which is why that is not my concern at this moment. However, despite the same, the issue was bagging better internships. I have given judicial clerkships a thought too, considering one of my internships under a judge was pretty satisfying intellectually. However, I am not sure if that is a good idea if I were to land a tier-1/2 firm per se.

As for the long-term internship, that does make sense. However, I do not wish to work as an associate at the places I have previously interned, primarily because they would not help me survive financially, considering the extremely low pay scale of the associates in most of them. I do hope to extend my T-1 internship and hopefully have that converted into an assessment internship/PPO.

I do hope that you are currently where you wished to be then (even if that is not the case and you have changed your path, I wish for the best for you, too).

Thank you so much!

Dear HR,

When a candidate applies for an internship in a specific practice area, could you at least let them know whether they will be allotted to that area or not? What’s the point of asking for a list of preferences (sometimes even 3–4 practice areas) if none of them are going to be considered?

If a student is genuinely interested in working in selected areas only, please inform them in advance if it won’t be possible to accommodate those preferences, rather than assigning them to a completely unrelated or niche practice area. It’s disheartening to spend thousands of rupees to travel to a city to gain experience in some specific fields, only to be told at the last moment that they’ll be working in an entirely different area.

Yes, every opportunity is a learning opportunity, but if this is how allocations are made, then please don’t ask for practice area preferences in the first place. More importantly, when you come for campus recruitment, please refrain from commenting on a candidate’s “lack of focus” or “inconsistency” due to diverse practice areas reflected in CV. Often, that variety isn’t by choice, it’s because of how you allocate interns.

Hi everyone,

I’m heading into my fourth year of law school and wanted to ask for genuine advice on what job expectations I should realistically have—and what I can do now to improve my chances of getting placed.

I don’t have a top rank, and I haven’t excelled in moots either. But I do have six internships under my belt—mostly litigation with a few corporate—and I’ve been consistently active in student-run organizations and committees throughout college.

I’m really aiming to get an internship at a Tier-1 or Tier-2 firm and ultimately secure a job there. I know the odds might not be in my favour on paper, but I believe I can make it work and I’m ready to put in the effort.

If anyone has been in a similar position or has suggestions—on how to write better applications, how to build a stronger corporate profile, what to focus on during internships, or even how to approach people for referrals—I’d really appreciate your insight.

I’ve heard enough “be realistic” advice from family—looking for helpful, constructive tips only.

Thanks in advance.

heard that the tmt team at CAM has vacancies they are looking to fill. I asked around and their reputation seems to have changed from a terror-filled team to a decent team with great work and good seniors. Can anyone confirm? How is arun prabhu, ▮▮?

pls help, would like to apply before vacancy is filled

I know many have asked this question earlier but I want to ask it again with some of my personal doubts. Everyone says NLUO is the fastest NLU and has location advantage but since when odhisa start giving location advantage and talking about placements stats why they don't release their placement data like in which law firm their students are joining, they just give numbers . And regarding hnlu how much being in raipur is a disadvantage for this college and does it really matters when compared to other T2s ?

▮▮▮ If you’re laterally moving, it’s v important to be in a welcoming team ▮▮▮ @Lateral move, make your choice - its either a team with now 2 partners and their posse who get lots of perks including but not limited to living in partner cabins, being staffed on all their matters, ▮▮▮ or rest of the office which is one collective team of remaining partners and associates, no posse or perks but just a group of good professionals, learning from varied seniors and unity and solidarity amongst all. IYKYK.

If this gets downvoted, good job posse.

@Legally India this has been carefully prepared with no names and respectful language. Please do not censor. ▮▮▮

Hemang Parekh, Gaurav Mistry and Jayesh Kothari- DSK Legal. When I was there, Hemang and Gaurav’s teams were the teams to be in- good work, great atmosphere and just overall decent folks. You may have differing experiences and this may get a few downvotes, but purely on my experience, if you get to work with these 2/3 guys, try it out…

If you had a situation where the firm was offering a definite assessment internship to some people from that uni only (with the selection pool being only NLIU students), with the very high chance of a PPO at the end, and this were to have been an official arrangement with the uni, that's something to talk about. Not this.

To be honest, it does not really matter. If you have an average CV (provided you have done internships at reputed lawfirms in your niche), good marks (this is more important than your CV at a T1 NLU) and the T1 NLU tag, then you are all good. People in GNLU who had a good batch rank (see: Top 10-15) got selected even though they barely had any lawfirm internships, let alone corporate/M&A experience at lawfirms. The work does not even require you to have some specific experience or knowledge. The vanilla companies act and other related regulations/acts that you studied in your law school suffice for a job in a corporate practice. And M&A/Gen Corp practice does not even require in depth experience for becoming eligible for an associate position. Literally anyone (even a first year law student) can do an A0/A1's work. All they do is mind numbing DD and proof-reading. The observation/compliance-check work that A0s may ocasionally get is also very simple and does not require in-depth knowledge of the practice. Just basic research skills would be enough to enter into this practice. So, if you are from a tier 1 NLU, pray to god that you have a good batch rank. You are all sorted.

At GNLU, for instance, students with good batch ranks (Top 10–15) secured jobs despite having limited law firm internships, and almost no direct corporate/M&A experience. The reality is that most corporate practice roles don’t demand prior specialised experience or knowledge. The basic understanding of the Companies Act and related statutes that you gain during law school is generally sufficient to begin working in Gen Corp.

In fact, the work assigned to A0/A1-level associates is often quite rudimentary, primarily due diligence and proofreading. Occasionally, they might be involved in compliance checks or making standard observations, but even that doesn’t require in-depth knowledge or years of experience. Literally anyone (even a first year law student) can do an A0/A1's work. So, if you are from a tier 1 NLU, pray to god that you have a good batch rank.

Bharucha's level of attrition isn't normal or comparable to the usual attrition at law firms. In the last 3.5 years, the Delhi office (and to a certain extent, Bombay office too) has seen a lot of turnover and change not just among associates but at Partner level. There are no experienced Disputes Partners in the Delhi office anymore. Even the transactions practice group at Delhi has just 1-2 people (including the Partner) who have stuck around with everyone else having left. There's no stable team at Delhi - freshers may want to reconsider joining if they're looking for a good learning environment. The Bombay office does have notable transactions work though.

The cake had Louis Vuitton bags and law books as decorations. See the pic! 😅

https://www.news18.com/amp/viral/law-books-and-louis-vuitton-a-look-at-mahua-moitra-pinaki-misras-wedding-cake-ws-dkl-9372231.html

Read this, might help: https://jurysoutblog.wordpress.com/2025/05/05/decoding-day-zero-a-step-by-step-unofficial-guide-to-somewhat-surviving-the-worst-day-of-law-school/

There is also an excellent interview with Prof. Tarunabh Khaitan (D.Phil. from Oxford, now a Chair Professor at LSE) where he talks about the writing process with two NALSAR students from the 2016-2021 batch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZohEwXdU74I&t=1735s

Don’t drop from NLUO. Let me tell you a story , a few years ago, a known of mine gave CLAT and he was getting Tier 2 NLUs , but he thought he can get Tier 1 NLUs and didn’t take admission that year. Next year his CLAT Rank got doubled. He again took a drop. 3rd time he got the worst rank of the 3 attempts. So , don’t drop out. I have seen many people taking partial drop and coming to Tier 1 NLUs. Competitive exams depends on that 1 day , and sometimes it might not go with you . So take admission in NLUO .

Yes. I was in the same batch. He has made the course plan publicly available on academia.edu. I am copying the link below for the benefit of students at other law schools:

https://www.academia.edu/126119436/Comparative_Public_Law_And_Governance_November_2024_January_2025_NLSIU_Bengaluru

Hey OP.

I empathize with you. The things you have mentioned are so freaking true. Like you and many others out there, I am a victim of false propaganda which was perpetrated in the name of premier law schools. I am a practicing lawyer with almost 2 years of experience now. My experience with work has been as bad as yours. Neither have I justified the huge investments that my parents made during law school, nor I can explain to people that my work has larger meaning or purpose, because in reality it isn't even close to it. Quite contrary to that, I frequently encountered instances where I had to compromise on my ethical and moral compass. I saw my seniors enjoying the luxuries of attending conferences and planning trips & visiting foreign countries, while I was stuck in the office doing their clerical work and receiving the 'to-do' list on regular basis. You encounter how the practitioners, the established ones, are finesse in handling the court clerks or staff in registry departments of courts/tribunal. They are bribed. To pass necessary information, to get some essential work done, to refer cases and so on. You witness how advocates play a double game with litigants, trying to enrich themselves from both ends of the parties involved. And then the corruption happens in silent mode.

While you may decide at one point of your career to go independent and bring in ethical and merit oriented work ethic yourselves, but in essence you may not be able to do so, even after leaving the law firm/chamber that you were working in. Because the scent of immorality and depravity is all-over. It is ubiquitous. And then it is guaranteed: You cannot survive the ordeal, let alone sail through the professional hurdles, without adopting to their mechanisms and 'code of success.'

Be it corporate workspace or litigation, if you are one with futuristic outlook with reasonable moral standards and believe in hard work & integrity, then you will certainly not survive this profession. You may survive for some days/months/years, but eventually you will be compelled by your inner being to dump all of this, and start over in a different space.