Hey! I don't know if this is a legit post, but if it is I want to ask seriously: I am recent law grad from a T-1 university. I have been trying to break into M&A and gen corp for a pretty long time and call it my luck or what, I would come very close to converting opportunities and then not get it. For example: I gave an interview after a call back, received good feedback post the interview and then didn't make it. I am seriously considering pivoting to a different field so I want to ask- In light of your post about AI and tools like claude doing these things I want to ask if I should completely quit my dreams of doing transactions and focus and redirect my energies to learning more tech, doing more tech aligned work??? Please let me know if this is a legit post-you can change a youngling's life sir/ma'am!

An M&A lawyer with 10 years experience here. Have been recently doing a lot of work using Claude, Legora, etc . Aside from the sheer heavylifting / data processing capabilities of these LLMs which is useful for diligence, what surprised me was their ability to come up with structuring options/ instruments and real market practices. In this context, what are your thoughts on the future of the profession ? What can be done to stay relevant ? Is litigation safer compared to corp; thinking of a pivot maybe to corp lit/ etc

I think you aren't from the profession , otherwise you wouldn't be saying nobody cares. Buddy, there's something called "connections" and politics. How many NLU alumni are working in central universities ? Zero. None in IITs, IIMs, JNU, BHU, DU. Do you know why ? The Central University lobby will never allow it. You maybe from the worst unknown central university in India, yet you will be preferred over an NLU alumni. That's the politics. Look at JNU law and governance centre or Centre for international legal studies centre, none of them are from NLU, not even one.

On the other hand a central University alumni is easily accepted to any NLU, as long as they have teaching and research experience.

You don't believe me ? Go to any NLU faculty page and you will find plenty of central and even state university alumni. Go to a central university website and show me an nlu alumni. That's the whole politics of education.

No they don't. I know plenty of people who dropped out at the middle 3 year mark. People burnout and lose passion or they have a lousy advisor. Majority who drop out get a job someplace else, since almost everyone is giving some sort of competitive exams here and there. Especially in law where pcsj, apo etc is till 35-40.

You don't need a letter of recommendation or reference to be an AP. You can easily apply through the state exam that is a written+interview+merit, which has nothing to do even with a PhD. Similarly, many universities only ask you for a CV and interview. You can easily write your supervisors name in the CV and they won't ask your for the recommendation. Your friend doesn't understand how interview works. I have personally met people who became APs with just an LLM and NET. The only place where "recommendation" works is when your advisor actually recommends you backdoor to another university.

It's a hit or miss. I know people who are APs from the following route:

1. Only LL.M.

2. LL.M. + NET

3. LL.M. + M.Phil

4. LL.M. + NET + M.Phil

5. LL.M. + M.Phil + Ph.D

6. LL.M. + Ph.D

7. LL.M. + Ph.D + Postdoc

In short, no one has any idea what works. The minimum is an LL.M. After which a NET, m.phil, PhD or none is desirable. Some have zero publications, some have ten. Some have zero work experience, some have more. Some have connections, some don't. Some are alumni, some are not. Some are experts, some are not.

Unfortunately the entire process in this country is messed up when it comes to education.

Now when you look abroad. A PhD is mandatory to be an assistant professor. The most you can be without one is a lecturer/reader. Still they would expect you to be a PhD pursuing soon.

The only advice I can give is get your LLM. Apply immediate for a PhD. And apply everywhere. Your pursuing PhD is more important than your NET or your publications. Work experience depends totally in the university. Some value it, some feel since theory and practice is different it doesn't matter. The proper format would be LLM-Phd-Publications.

Now everything else is based on how you get in, your salary is determined by your position and you leverage through that process. A PhD scholar can demand the 7th pay commission equivalent salary. A LLM with NET may not. My two batchmates one with a LLM and another with an LLM and JRF got selected together in the same university. One got 25k per month to teach, the other got 40k per month. That's the difference.

The leverage is based on your connections, you profile and your luck.

Nobody is talking about this on LI, but a few questions:

Why did the event where CSS was supposed to address CAM folks get deferred indefinitely?

Was it supposed to be about succession planning?

Did that not feature the person [...]? Is that why he wants out?

Are the kids going to takeover? What will happen to the Firm?

This is the issue with liberal law students. Not everything needs to be an issue. It’s a freaking motto, did anyone apart from NLS fanatics even know this motto existed before this article? In what universe is a motto responsible for the actions of some abuser? Thousands have graduated from this university, do all of them commit atrocious acts because of this motto? It’s a no debate, but some random liberal enthusiasts are making it into one. Ffs get a life.

Don't know who Goutham is and didn't understand your comment. You mean to say that SC students at NLSIU opposed the change in motto? Doesn't make sense???

I know that Sumit is an SC himself but he has never engaged in identity politics and has written about not using any SC certificate and entering NLSIU on pure merit. He also used a caste-neutral surname named after the Buddha. So his is not an identitiarian critique but an objective juridical critique.

Is that the issue then? That only identitarian critiques count?? If you can explain who this Goutham is and what exactly he said, we will understand better.

Hi, I am just a random guy. i just wanted to point out 1 very simple thing
This is an old post, and I can see you replied 3 years ago and talked about 17 years of career.
1st thing.
https://www.sebi.gov.in/monthlypay-allowance.html
link to pay and allowance and this overall doesnt even have complete gross salary and is without housing
I went to the SEBI directory, available on their website. and searched LAD first name pop-ups.
D.V. SEKHAR, CGM, currently 21 years in SEBI—gross pay, which is not the full pay, is close to 5.9 lakhs a month
Since you talked about 17 years, found another one.
AYAN MUKHERJEE Joined in 2009, currently 17 years old - Gross pay is 3.62 lakhs a month.

And this gross pay are not even the exact actual pay

another person who joined 4 years ago

DEEPAK SAROJ joined in Aug 2022 with 1.48 gross per month. Again, this is without housing and other things, so it's nowhere close to whatever 10 lakh you are quoting and whatever 17 years of career you are saying.

At least do proper research.
Peace.

Law firm opinions are tailored to 'Client's requirements', which is usually 'optimised' to prevent heads from showing up on the chopping block should the shareholders/lenders make a fuss, so the language and the law is drafted and interpreted 'accordingly'.

It's a circle jerk of accountability.

Keep seeing Legal Opinions and advise given by T1s being thrown away during discussion with senior advocates in chambers.

Maybe desperate to hit targets and the need to convert advisory into full mandates but if you are advise is harmful for the client in the long run, before courts and commerically, you're a shitty lawyer. Its a gloomy time for big firms. But everyone is seething at how such opinions are being issued. India needs a regulator for advocates practicing effectively as soliciters.

Sometime the advise given is completely wrong in law. Sometimes the opinion is practically impossible to pursue. Some are openly self serving. Sometimes all three rolled into one. The clients are increasingly shocked to find they are victims of grifting. Many partners are issuing rather self serving opinions and advisory work. But its also getting noticed.

This was a situation where O&M is being pushed by a shady investor. Exit is offered. Valuation stalls. New foreign investors to replace him are spooked on account of existing litigation. The advice T1s are issuing is go for further deeper and protracted litigation. The company meanwhile suffers lowered valuations and T1s wants to milk it dry with extended litigatons.

PS: The due diligence that created the mess came with a T1 badge too albeit with so many assumptions and carve outs, the client said it was a waste of money too.

I'm planning to join X (ex Twitter) and I want to follow some sharp minds who tweet about law. Not the random tweets or low profile handles or law students. Not looking for big accounts either, idea is to read and learn about law, courts etc. Thanks in advance for the suggestions.

The hate towards JGLS is genuine and well rooted because
- of the ground level arbitrary policies, being implemented by dictator admin.
- fancy LLM faculties with no experience working there just to pay off their LLM education loan and teaching via shit PPTs, and doing arbitrary evaluation and intentionally shitting on grades of students just to maintain their profile and "standards" of being a strict professor.
- overcrowded batches i.e. JGLS has as of more than just 1200+ law graduates coming with bare minimum jobs at hands, not every internship via contact gets converted into PPO. even Jindal people do 20-30 k jobs in tier 1 cities.
- genuine middle class but "general" category helpless but meritorious (who fail to clear CLAT despite drop year, and looted by clat coaching) being exploited by manipulating them with #1 ranking which has nothing to do with employment students get just research and publications, which is beneficial for faculty and not student. Not everyone comes from rich background stop idiotically and blindly following this stereotype, if you can then go and check the ground reality over there, more than 50% are from working class middle class family.
- untouched (touched only in policies) over drug, smoking, alcohol, hook ups culture which force already stressed people into life threatening addiction. But admin is only concerned with counting cash and making infrastructure to fool parents of next batch.

I got my first job almost a year after graduating. During placements, I barely got shortlisted because I had no law firm experience. After graduation, I kept applying everywhere, but most places never replied, and many preferred candidates with prior experience. Since I did not have law firm experience, it felt even harder to break in.

It was a very disheartening phase. I stayed at home, felt lost, and even considered litigation as a last resort, though I knew it was not what I truly wanted. Still, I kept trying. I spent my time researching, writing papers, getting them published if I got lucky, and turning them into writing samples while continuing to apply for opportunities.

Eventually, I shifted my focus to internships, hoping they would lead to something full-time. After two internships, I still did not immediately get a job, but the connections I built during that time helped. Someone I had worked with referred me for an opportunity because they trusted my work, and that is how I landed my first job.

So my advise is don’t lose hope. Three months is still early. Keep applying, keep learning, and keep putting yourself out there. Things can take time, but opportunities do come. All the best!

Most top law firms make enough money to be able to offer basic facilities to their lawyers which could make working these punishing hours a little more bearable? Things like a rec room with a few day beds, exercise equipment- because lord knows going to the gym with this job is a constant struggle, pantry with healthy/clean food options (make it chargeable, if needed), crèche facility to make life of new mothers easier!!!! Shouldn’t this be made the standard across all top firms at least? Is it really too much to ask for?

Hearing chatter on the current CCI chair. One member has already resigned. One is retiring. Back to no quorum soon. Deliberations are completely in her control. No dissenting opinions are being written. All reports go to her, though all members are supposed to have responsibilities. She is being compared to SEBI chair Buch, whose [...]. Both women with iron fists are resented internally by senior colleagues, damaging the institution and lowering morale overall.

This is fine from an FOE angle, but to to me the whole CJP thing seems fake and suss.

First of all, I cannot see a coherent intellectual or policy-based critique and vision being offered. Just memes and trolling. Surya Kant is a soft target as he is not suave and Harvard-educated like DYC. Why did DYC get off the hook?

Second, it’s very problematic to try and emulate the Gen Z protests in Bangladesh and Nepal. It’s blatantly obvious now that Mohammed Yunus was a US plant. Opaque contracts and tenders were awarded to US companies under his rule, while a lot of atrocities were carried out against Hindus. In Nepal, this Balendra Shah guy seems similarly shady.

Third, the CJP is dominated by the Hindi-speaking ecosystem and we know that the founder is a former AAP activist. Where are the activists from the South, Bengal, North East etc? Also, their press conference at the Constitution club is booked by an RJD MP. And they thanked Mahua Moitra for supporting them. Is the alternative to the BJP, the RJD and the TMC? Are these guys aware of what’s happening in Bengal right now? Why not forming independent party, instead of piggybacking on the AAP, RJD and TMC?

https://www.livelaw.in/amp/top-stories/india-high-commission-in-london-condemns-indecorous-audience-behaviour-during-event-attended-by-cji-surya-kant-536983

https://x.com/thepagetody/status/2062849236832854168

I am astounded by the negativity here. Anonymity does seem to strip away empathy and human decency.

I'm an ex-NDA'ite and a beneficiary of Nishithbhai's mentorship. You do realise that he has every prerogative to keep his practice a sole proprietary concern. Those of us who wished to have our own equity have chosen other paths. That is just individual autonomy.

The one thing you cannot take away from NMD is the fact that he has made entrepreneurs out of so many of us. He may not share equity, but he shared the core skills and allowed us to hone them. That is not "exploitation". That is true guru-shishya parampara aka mentorship.

XOXO

From The Telegraph:

Multiple high-level sources within Trinamool said at least nine Lok Sabha and three Rajya Sabha members had already expressed their “extreme eagerness” for negotiations. This newspaper has learned that in addition to “disgruntled” MPs who appeared to be bound for the BJP, at least two Trinamool Lok Sabha members are said to be trying to gain entry to the Congress, having initiated back-channel conversations with Rahul Gandhi’s “emissaries”.

😂😂😂

https://www.telegraphindia.com/west-bengal/trinamool-mp-foretells-collapse-in-parliament-undeniable-unstoppable-too-perhaps-prnt/cid/2164021

NEWS FLASH: Only 8 out of 80 MLAs and 6 out of 41 MPs attended a meeting called by Mamata Banerjee at her house today. MG was NOT among them. Neither were Mahua Moitra and Sagarika Ghose. Fuels speculation that they may be meeting Rahul Gandhi and headed to the Congress (rather than the breakaway faction). In MG’s case, she has the least incentive to stay with the TMC. She is a complete stranger to Bengal and doesn’t speak the language. Her only link is representing the state of WB and some TMC politicians. All the state briefs are now gone and only the TMC briefs remain. Will a handful of TMC briefs be enough?

https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/will-trinamool-congress-mlas-fall-in-line-meeting-at-mamata-banerjees-house-today-11596062

Went to a law school in England, both for undergrad and postgrad. Didn't encounter such things. Visibly disabled, brown coloured male. This doesn't mean, though, that such things aren't there, drink spiking was a significant issue of concern during my undergrad times. I think what helped to really ensure lack of ragging to a good extent in the campus housing facilities was that other than the disabled, practically nobody beyond first year undergraduates were allowed to stay in campus halls.

No they don't. What is this nonsense? Based on class, social skills and political opinions, yes of course they exist.

Don't expect to have many friends if you are at an American law school and say you support Trump. Or if you can only talk about cricket, hang around only with other Indians and can't speak anything but broken English. But if you have social skills and good English and know how to fit in, (think posh South Delhi or South Bombay kid), then there is no racial hierarchy at all. Most people at a US/UK law school of all places would die of embarrassment if anyone thought they were racist. You just need to know how to fit in socially and culturally but that has nothing to do with the colour of your skin.

To answer the OP - some student clubs/fraternities and places like that will have rituals similar to ragging. But in the general student body as a whole - no. You don't really have it in Western countries.

Go for it.

Gives you a chance to make a good impression and establish connections that could help you greatly in the future.

Additionally, what is true today may not necessarily be true tomorrow.

Teams, hiring, turnover, etc. in the legal industry are quite fluid, and you never know when a potential opportunity may show itself.

Remember, hearsay evidence is usually inadmissible!

go for it if you dont have any better option. do not sit idle.

my friend was told by one of the partners that they do not have a vacancy in the team, he was still called for a ppo interview and got the offer, on the other hand my partner told me explicitly that they do have a vacanacy but still has not taken anyone.

I think you are getting very good facilities at 18,000. You are completing your llb at such a low costs. What do you want more ? You have very abled faculty, library where you can get any magazine, newspapers, books etc. there are various conferences, seminars, every month. You have SK PURI memorial moot court competition which is i think one of the most prestigious moot competitions in the country. You get a chance to meet with legal luminaries of the country during seminars. Clean washroom although not a fancy one but still at 18000. It’s great. Now you have AIR CONDITIONERS in every classrooms. You can have food anywhere in the campus. Water coolers. Big classrooms and sprawling campus, gardens. Yes the college gets busy during elections. But that is only for two months. I think if you have to look for a 3 year llb course then it’s the best in the country. And also I forgot to add one thing that FOL DU is the only law school in India where they give you case materials I think nowhere will you get any case materials from the colleges.

▮▮▮ It focuses on student insecurities like lawsikho to sell your courses that pretty much don't teach you anything you cant learn from a book or on the job, no law firm or chamber expects you to know how to draft expertly or have learnt company procedures by heart, even your best lawyers utilise the bare acts.

They get students by calling law firm partners they know (both the founders are ex T1s) and try to sell the learn from T1 partners tag, honestly they should stop with the ex-T1 marketing, ▮▮▮

If you belong to a non-NLU, local regional college do not think that a course will help you increase your job prospects focus on hard skills rather. Its also quite sad to see the marketing focusing on inflating pricing and offering discounts through law school ambassadors and campus representatives who just forward preset mail templates to student groups.

MOD PLEASE POST THIS, STUDENTS END UP SPENDING EXORBITANT SUMS DUE TO SUCH PLATFORMS DUE TO THEIR INSECURITIES.

Check with the HR.

Don't worry, sometimes it takes them a little while to confirm since PPOs also have to be approved far up the ladder.

I also believe in certain cases, the college placement committee is directly informed regarding the PPO offer first and they in turn, inform the student/candidate.

As someone who made the exact same move at the exact same PQE just a few months back, hard relate on everything you've said. Only worry is external crises hitting the country but i doubt a law firm job would've kept us insulated from it much more than working in house. If you're in bombay, hmu, would love to meet.