I am a partner in a law firm. I can tell you that most firms look for work ethics, attitude and law school level of knowledge of law for folks who have just graduated. Less than 2 PQE or some such. So don’t think twice if you want to switch.

I just hired someone who was a judge for 2 years and no Corp experience. Best decision ever and one of the best associates I have worked with.

there are a lot of folks that switch from corp to policy. The opposite is unheard of. And you haven't done a single corp internship, so you don't even know how things work there.

If you work at a decent think tank like Vidhi, maybe ask people around and see if they've got contacts that help you. Start writing a lot on corp law. And cold mailing every firm and partner you can. You may not hear from big firms but might have a chance at t-2/3 firms, which also means a good paycut so think it out. Not the best plan honestly.

For all the unfortunate reasons, my families misfortunes have befallen upon me and the forced responsibility to break away from the generational trauma seems to be killing me!

The privileged nepo folks can channelise their energies and prioritise life in a planned manner whereas people like me have to spend a sizeable amount of time grinding under some toxic Lala managing partner/partner/senior with fragile egos and lick their ass to be able to make bread.

I am just fatigued with the unfortunate circumstances that life has presented me with. I just have to accept it sooner or later that I can never rise up in life. Feel stuck and miserable!!

True and I agree with you. I only mentioned NLSIU’s BA (Hons) programme because I assumed that OP may prefer an environment where, without directly studying law, they would still be exposed to its pedagogy and prospects while being in a position to either pursue another career after they graduate or go the route of the LLB (Hons) if they so desire. I think the same experience, if not lesser, is possible, and definitely cheaper, in doing one’s under-graduation in certain colleges of DU. The only challenge is to outlast the competition. There is also BA in Social Sciences offered by TISS Hyderabad, about which I know little.

Ultimately, what matters is good company which is capable of stimulating one’s interests and providing the opportunity to engage in meaningful action. And while we do hope that our “best” institutions are more likely to provide the same, the world is simply too large to not stumble into happy accidents in other places. I hope this will not be interpeted as an excuse for “giving-up” but only a reminder for any young person here that their life will not be finished if they did not achieve every dream of theirs. For there are still more dreams to dream, more places to go, and more good people to meet and enjoy.

Even with 5 lakhs per annum, NLS does not cover the cost per student. It is heavily subsidised - mainly from the grants the research centres get. I am not sure, but I have heard the research centres also pay rent to NLS. The funds from the online courses are also used to subsidise students.

Paying professors is expensive. Just look at how much private universities like Jindal, Shiv Nadar and BITS Law are paying to their faculty. If NLS has to recruit and retain good professors, it must pay them well.

Now it is true that 5 lakhs is prohibitive. Many will lose out on the opportunity to study at NLS simply for the lack of funds and that is unfortunate. But, it is difficult when state funding is so low. NLS is trying to attract CSR funds but NLS is no IIT that it can rake in millions.

And on the question of scholarships - all scholarships in NLS are need-based. So no, they are not going just to the rich kids.

This is prolly the first time, so called Harvard of the East is being criticised for real. Are they not to enhance quality legal education in India by introducing 5 year course but they are also the one to mix it with law and public policy and now 3 years BA with preferences given to their students! I think it's the time, educational institutions must be fairly criticized. Btw where is BCI when IIULER was made part of CLAT! Isn't this illegal, coz they are not NLU?

Hi, if you want to practice litigation/dispute resolution in Mumbai please crush your idea unless if you have any family background working in this sector. Having experience of 5 years I was hardcore litigation lover but had to ultimately succumb to the "FIRM" culture where your role of work ends after drafting unlike it should be otherwise, you should be able to do end to end job as a litigator from drafting filing and arguing. But in Mumbai its all counsel practice all firms have tie up with counsel even for the smallest thing counsels are engaged leaving no room for the Junior to face the judge or appear in Court. Ultimately as you will grow in your profession you will start noticing these work pay discrepancies which will make you question your decision to work as litigator. Even the good litigation firm tries to hold the money and give you smaller pay even if the firm will be earning in Millions. Secondly if you are a driven person and have great passion for law and argument you will feel regret everyday by tailing counsel for littlest thing and will wish that i could have done that with much lesser "Counsel Fee". HARSH TRUTH.

Hi, if you want to practice litigation/dispute resolution in Mumbai please crush your idea unless if you have any family background working in this sector. Having experience of 5 years I was hardcore litigation lover but had to ultimately succumb to the "FIRM" culture where your role of work ends after drafting unlike it should be otherwise, you should be able to do end to end job as a litigator from drafting filing and arguing. But in Mumbai its all counsel practice all firms have tie up with counsel even for the smallest thing counsels are engaged leaving no room for the Junior to face the judge or appear in Court. Ultimately as you will grow in your profession you will start noticing these work pay discrepancies which will make you question your decision to work as litigator. Even the good litigation firm tries to hold the money and give you smaller pay even if the firm will be earning in Millions. Secondly if you are a driven person and have great passion for law and argument you will feel regret everyday by tailing counsel for littlest thing and will wish that i could have done that with much lesser "Counsel Fee". HARSH TRUTH.

Hey, don't worry, coming from personal experience, I got somewhat similar marks to yours in 10th and 12th, cleared CLAT with an AIR of 500 something and doing very well in my law school, so put your head down and work hard and equally smart. I am sure you will do well, best of luck!

dont worry about board marks. In my time, both the 10th grade and 12th grade boards got cancelled- our school openly admitted that they gave the curriculum board 'randomized numbers' for each student. I was given 80% for both 10th and 12th grade. Meanwhile I landed T1. It's a scam.

I'm a first year at a T1 NLU. I got below 80% in my 12th grade. Most of my batchmates have scores in 90s in 12th. And yet, despite that, I happen to be among the top 5 rankers in the batch. I'm doing well in moots and adr. I've got paper presentations coming up. I even got a scholarship.

It's okay, life goes on. Don't be stuck where you are, keep moving. You're not the only one with these circumstances - and in any given settings there would always be people who are better than you. That does not mean you would stop working, does it? I understand that you needed to vent about this, but let this be the last time, and from now focus on what's in front of you and what you can control instead of what you can't.

Hi. While I do agree with you, I would add that for a university that was founded in 1986, NLSIU should have been ahead of the curve here. 4 seats in law is disproportionate with the strength of their teaching faculty. I have already mentioned in my other comment here that a career in academia is something a majority of students of law appear to be interested in. That fact does allow NLSIU to be off the hook, but only partially. For it cannot be denied that not only NLSIU took an awfully long time to focus on legal research and towards developing a sell-funded doctoral programme, it also never really considered legal research as part of its institutional mission. Arguably, other NLUs, especially the older ones, are also guilty of this intellectual myopia. Research matters because ideas/concepts matter, and because every judicial prononucement and our own quotidian sensibilities of what is common-sensical relies on a certain understadning of those concepts. The kind of jurisprudence and political discourse that prevails in India cannot be reformed until it receives a well-argued critique. The failure to privilege research as a core part of institutional identity is one aspect in which, for once unfortunately, NLUs are all too similar with other so-called elite institutions in India, like IITs and IIMs.

This excuse of "lack of interest" in academia is absolutely false and misleading. DU recently received 650 applications for PhD. All of them either NET/JRF. So, people saying there's lack of interest is absolutely false. Also, everyone is well aware that preference will be given to alumni. Moreover, NLS is not even elite in India, let alone the World. You guys glaze too much. Let's be honest, in foreign universities atleast the selection is open where you definitely have to speak to advisors beforehand and get their permission to apply. Here you apply, pay, work hard and then find out you aren't selected cause you didn't 'speak' to the 'right' faculty.

Absolutely incorrect.

First, stop glazing NLS.

Second, just because you "claim" to have filed the RTI, there's no way to prove it was actually you.

Third, recently DU had their PhD interviews, do you know how many people applied ? 650 ! And even these were JRF/NET qualified. So, If people are not applying to NLS. NLS seems to be the problem.

Fourth, JNU has two departments, the law & governance one, and the international legal studies one. Both, received around 100-150 applicants this year, JRF only for the law & governance, and in return, they filled out their complete vacancy. NLS not even filling the remaining 3 seats is laughable. And don't tell me it's because of "quality". I find it hard to believe that NLS couldn't even manage to find 3 quality aspirants who appeared in the interview ? There are people with significant work experience in legal research, people who have done clerkships with SC judges, people who have even done their masters from oxbridge and not selected just cause they didn't have any inside pull.

So, the clear fact remains. NLS is gatekeeping PhD in their institute, on the basis of false "quality" control. Btw, if you remember there have already been reports of the higher ups sitting on already completed PhD thesis.

83 candidates and can only manage to select 1.. that's too hard a pill to swallow.. even for Harvard Law.

The only numbers which are surprising are 83 and 70. That can partially be put down to lack of interest in legal academia as a career in India (similar phenomenon present in Britain and the U.S. - speaking from personal experience, so no need to get too worried that we are facing a unique issue). Other than that, it's as it should be. NLS is an elite place, and its selection standards should be super high.

Oh, you got me wrong. I agree with you about the accessibility requirement being primary over any concern for manipulation of the judgement text that can be cross-checked quite easily. I just wanted to point out a technical fact when someone wrote that the PDFs from Westlaw etc. cannot be edited, that's all. Given the huge amount of discrimination that the visually challenged people already face in legal education and profession in this country, I would support whatever it takes to help them be treated equitably.

ABSOLUTELY hate SCC. The format is so difficult that I, as a physically able individual, have so many issues reading through it. I so often get confused about where does the case even start. Pity my differently abled classmates. And professors are just as inconsiderate- they are aware of these issues yet send SCC cases only

It's a horrible product that is milking its monopoly status. Their interface is clunky and old. Their search is so bad that it's not worth writing about in the age of ChatGPT. They are very good about charging for their products. After paying 35K, they will ask you more to access headnotes of HC judgments. Brace yourself for it.

So can we expect a flood of buyers from law firms?

https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/how-much-will-elon-musks-tesla-car-cost-in-india-after-reduced-import-duty-report-says-7767450#pfrom=home-ndtv_topstories

Interviews were going on until this week. I am aware of that. Normally the results are out within a month after all the interviews have been conducted and the appointment is confirmed in the next EC meeting. However, there were many applicants in this round, so it is possible that all the interviews may not be over yet. If you are an applicant, then best of luck and hope you make it through!

The consensus is that nobody cares. MPP is the most shat-on programme in NLSIU. Alumni network is non existent, and so is placements. Academic rigour is there, if you include fighing with the admin for acco as rigour. As with all courses at NLS, the fee is unreasonably high. And MPP Programme seems to be completely cut off from the rest of the student body. Verdict: Hell naw

Thank you for providing perspective. Just a minor query regarding PGDPPM at IIM Bangalore. I think it goes by a new name now, Post-Graduate Programme in Public Policy and Management (PGPPM). According to its latest brochure for 2024 admission, available at << https://www.iimb.ac.in/programmes/pgppm >>, only members of All India Services, Central Services, State Civil Services, and Non-State Civil Services are eligible to apply.

See these earlier threads:

https://www.legallyindia.com/convos/topic/161641-achievements-of-nlsiu-mpp-alumni

https://www.legallyindia.com/convos/topic/357391-opinion-on-nlsiu-mpp-considering-it-as-an-exit-from-upsc-prep-i-graduated-from-a-non-nlu-in-2022

Is there any sir/ma’am culture in the college? Have heard from few that while some seniors don’t care about this, there’s also a few who impose this heavily upon juniors. If yes, how does one tackle this without getting excluded from everything in college? Is it even worth it to do worry about it? Anything else I should know about the student life? Thanks in advance.

Hey, I had applied to internship at KCO. After that I received a mail from the HR asking me about my area of interest and preferred location and month of Internship. I just want to know, what all I should prepare for the interview round. Can someone explain the whole interview experience?

Without a position in Bombay's social circles, particularly from South Bombay, the scene is grim for original side's top counsel chambers. You can try and get into some upcoming senior counsel's chambers and grow with them. Money in Mumbai is about being useful to whoever needs your services. Hustle is a way of life, though it is not of low level as in Delhi litigation circles. Money is on same lines. Counsel practice is an independent practice. You need to develop your own brand. If you want a salaried job, please join a law firm.

Good luck.

What is the corporate M&A practice like at this firm's Delhi office? I'm curious whether a corporate practice actually exists, as I've noticed there are no listed partners on their firm page specializing in Corporate M&A in Delhi. Also, what is the pay like to Associates in Delhi.