Given that I have received offers from three law firms in Banking & Finance (B&F), I have undertaken thorough due diligence and unfortunately, I have determined that each of these firms exhibits significant levels of red flags.

All three firms present a similarly challenging environment across at least four of the following parameters: (1) excessively demanding working hours, including weekends; (2) inhumane treatment of employees; (3) unreasonable deadlines; (4) toxic seniors; (5) a complete lack of work-life balance, with expectations of availability 24/7, 365 days a year; and (6) constant stress, leading to a deterioration of mental well-being.

Given this context, I am contemplating whether to accept an offer from TL or SM, both of which are offering a more predictable compensation package in the range of INR 45-50 LPA (including bonuses), or from JS, which offers a fluctuating package that could range from INR 25-50 LPA. However, it is worth noting that JS's offer, despite the higher potential, lacks certainty, and in practice, employees typically earn around INR 30 LPA after factoring in bonuses and revenue share, despite the considerable effort invested.

All three firms are based in Mumbai and operate within the B&F sector. Which option would be more prudent to consider?

The good thing about facing such dilemmas is that people smarter than you have faced the same and tried to solve it.

Go online and search for legal mentorship networks. You will find a bunch of them actively helping people. Apply to them. Go through their posts, see if it gives you some insight.

Here's a SWOT analysis for you:

Re, government jobs, there is age and marks relaxation in the reserved category, but not so in the general category. If you fall in the latter category, it will really be tough so think about it carefully.

Re postgrad options like IIM or LLM at an NLU, the above advice applies mutatis mutandis. There are also a lot of other niche non-law degrees you could still consider, such as hospitality or HR. Why don't you think about them? They could lead to jobs and also a stepping stone towards academia.

Re internships, if they aren't taking you anywhere don't do them. You can instead prepare for postgrad exams

Re litigation, would strongly advise any non-nepo kid against it.

At least Gokhale is a professional troll. What about Ashish Goel? Are you seeing his tweets on this? Extremely insensitive. One expected better from an NUJS-UK alum who is held in high regard by students. Extremely unfortunate that his Modi hatred is making him, and many other elite liberals in Delhi, tweet like this. But thankfully the actual grassroots liberals in Kolkata don’t echo them. Today the communist trade union for taxi drivers organised a march in Kolkata. I saw it in front of my own eyes. Even taxi drivers have more empathy than armchair Delhi liberals and gave up their day’s income to go on protest.

I’m glad to see that the liberal media is finally calling him out for what he truly is—a Twitter troll. After spending a good amount of time in Calcutta over the past year, I can say it has all the makings of a top-tier Indian metropolis—great infrastructure, top-notch education, and rich culture. But it’s been dragged down by decades of mismanagement. When I hear voices like Mahua and Saket going off about how India is being shortchanged by its leadership, part of me wants to cut in and show the real damage their party has done, in part, to Calcutta and West Bengal. I know this take might be harsh, but the truth is in the numbers—the massive exodus of educated Bengalis over the last 20-30 years to places like Delhi and Mumbai speaks volumes, especially as they’re being replaced by illegal Bangladeshi immigrants that Didi indulges to secure her voter base in exchange for literal cash. Let’s not forget, Calcutta was once the financial capital of India.

Even companies like ITC, which have deep roots in Kolkata, are shifting key operations to Bengaluru—a clear sign of missed opportunities in West Bengal. HUL is also focusing its expansions in more business-friendly states, and Haldia is facing industrial stagnation. These trends highlight the serious impact of mismanagement on West Bengal’s economy, showing just how much potential has been lost.

Politics shouldn’t be a left vs. right showdown. The real issue is whether leaders are getting things done or not, whether they’re implementing sound policies that actually benefit people. Instead of getting caught up in ideological battles, we should be focusing on competence—on who’s actually delivering results. At the end of the day, what matters is real progress, not party lines.

https://www.freepressjournal.in/amp/india/shame-on-you-for-floating-suicide-theory-news-anchor-nabila-jamal-lambasts-tmc-mp-saket-gokhale-after-he-accuses-her-of-spreading-fake-news

For context, a large number of TMC-linked accounts on social media are continuing to float the suicide theory and engaging in cheap gossip disrespecting the memory of the victim. I am not going to share the links because it will only give these accounts more views and engagements, but if you trawl around the major TMC accounts you’ll get these posts auto-suggested to you by the algorithm.

No animal attack is ever unprovoked. In this case, even though the lady may not have immediately provoked the monkey, monkeys generally face a lot of violence: people throwing stones, stepping on their tails etc and most importantly we have taken away all their forest land and food sources, because our country is so overpopulated. So the monkeys suffer from long-standing trauma and exhibit such behaviour towards humans. We can’t really blame them. Not just monkeys but also other animals, even very peaceful animals like elephants.

Indeed, instead of culling monkeys we should be discussing population control measures among humans.

depends on what you want to do, you need to curate your cv towards that, it feels a bit generalist, as if you are ticking an imaginary checklist, what do you want to do at the end of the five years? this answer will lead you to shaping your cv. if you want to join a law firm, forget about everything and get into the top 5-10% of your batch, highlight that and do internships at places where your uni alumni have been placed.

Listen, w.r.t. internships, you need to understand that no T1 or T2 is going to take you seriously till you enter your penultimate year. That maybe a big reason why you haven't been able to secure those internships. What you can do is apply to T3s or even smaller firms (with a brand value though) , whom you know for sure will take a third year seriously. So don't be disheartened if you're only getting boutique firms right now. Without connections or referrals, rarely do third years end up with T1 and T2 internships. Do start applying for T1s and T2s now for the summer season of 25'.

It is true that a big number of officers come from Rahul's. But, at the same time, there are plenty of officers who clear the exam without regular coaching as well, by just relying on test series and material. It also depends on (i) your financial capacity vis-a-vis the fee that Rahuls IAS charges and (ii) your timeline. If you are working already, then the fact that such institutes take almost 2 years to complete syllabus will not work in your favour

if you can download the files and save on the desktop/file explorer in Citrix and upload them to your work email ID without any hassle (i am assuming the laptop uses outlook), then you can do this with your personal email ID / personal one drive account as well.

open it in a separate browser window and et voila

Hi guys,

I am a 2024 batch pass out with no offers in hand, I've given a couple of interviews here and there in some T2 boutiques (hopeful that at least one will convert). Nonetheless, I am curious to know whether these long term assessments at Luthra's do pan out, or do they slog you for 6 months straight with no chances of getting hired. My CV is primarily PE/VC based, with the majority of my Tier-1 experience being pertinent to this niche.

Please be considerate and let me know if you actually have an idea how these things go down. I highly appreciate it.

If that is scary to you, Sir, then you should've seen the events that transpired before. One single faculty, surrounded by at least 18-20 students, all of them breathing on his face, quite literally, shouting at the top of their voices, abusing like anything. Then, afterwards, charging that faculty down the university to thrash him, which scared him so much that he had to run away from the university in the middle of the damn night.

Now, if students do that, it is quite right, isn't it? But if a faculty gets angry over the fact that they were mistreated, then it's abuse of power?

Get your story right, then paint your narrative. Don't be childish like these 15-16 students, who're even fifth years, sadly.

No idea about AZB Bangalore - but AZB mumbai has slowly transitioned to a PPO model esp for Bo25 - I myself know around 12 people who have secured their PPO right from the end of 3rd year to the month before day zero. Further, AZB Mumbai does hire at least 35-40 freshers each year, so the chances are much higher.

It is a decent firm to start with. Work is mostly advisory, transactions, and due diligence with decent clientele. Salary is 7-8 LPA for A1/A2. They have offices in Delhi and Bangalore as well, which are better options to consider imo considering that it is economical to survive these cities with the salary they give. The Partners are helpful and considerate. However as an associate, one would mostly work with the Senior Associates which is a mixed batch. Workload on A2/A3 is crazy tho.

It’s not true. People in US law firms too work the same time. People aspire to be Partners at Tier 1s in India as well as in the states. GenZs you guys crib too much about work time. You want all the money, but are not ready to put in equally amount of effort. People in regular corporate jobs take years to earn as much as you all earn with only 10% tax. If you’re there cherish it.

The only good thing about the firm imo is the culture and a possibility of work life balance. One issue i have is that most of the new A0s-A3s are 60% jindal grads - but meh they are everywhere these days. Otherwise a typical gujju firm with decent pay (15lpa - incl 25% bonus) for their work life balance.

Hi.

Don't worry about not studying tax beforehand. It's a very vast subject, especially income tax act. When they give you a work, go through the relevant provision and understand it, that would suffice. It isn't possible to go through income tax act in a few days, but if you do want to understand the basics go through the heads of income, appeal procedure, assessment and reassessment proceedings.

Good luck.

You write pretty well. My advice is: Read. Everything you love.

On law (since you mentioned your thirst for the field is not quenched) - consider Nani Palkhivala - Courtroom Genius (dense but rewarding); any good legal autobiography; any law and philosophy books or articles (consider Hart, Raz and Dworkin to start with - this might take you into the wonderful world of philosophy too); the Devil’s Advocate (Iain Morley), etc.

Another way to get a taste of the law - Listen to US SC oral arguments. Watch Indian SC constitution bench and Indian HC videos. Watch lectures of people like RF Nariman and mylaw interviews of legends.

And read and watch a lot of non-law too, whatever interests you and that you consider quality content.

Bonus tip - consider learning music. This is the most time you’ll get ;)