NLS disappears from global QS law uni rankings, Jindal climbs into top 100 • Reasons TBC

Thursday, 4 March 2021 By Legally India Law schools

JGLS Sonepat has continued its steady climb up the QS World University Rankings law subject rankings and is now in the top 100 while NLSIU Bengaluru had disappeared, following both having managed to crack the QS’ metrics last year.

In last year’s QS subject rankings, JGLS had been ranked in the broad 101-150th category, while NLS had made it to the 151-200-rank bracket.

This year, JGLS’ parent university, OP Jindal Global University was ranked 76th with a score of 70.5, which is around 2 points higher than last year’s.

We have reached out to an NLSIU spokesperson and vice-chancellor (VC) Prof Sudhir Krishnaswamy for comment, though we understand that its 2020 inclusion had followed a semi-independent initiative to crack global rankings carried out by a faculty member under the previous VC, Prof Venkata Rao.

A QS spokesperson confirmed that for its subject rankings no specific applications were required by universities to be included, and that those rankings were purely based on objective metrics researched by the company (see below for more details).

We have requested further comment from QS about why NLSIU was not in the list this year.

The rankings may be useful for domestic rankings such as the government’s National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) (which JGLS incidentally has refused to take part in but where NLSIU has been ranked first since the start).

Besides domestic bragging rights, another likely driver to perform well in QS may be to encourage overseas students to join your law school (which has been stated to be important for both JGLS and NLSIU).

Recipe for climb: Research

According to a JGLS press release, its improved performance was primarily due to its improvement in the two research metrics:

JGLS’s current global rank of 76 compared to previous rank in the 101-150 bracket is driven by a 45% increase in research citation and a 25% increase in the H-index of research output of JGLS.

As we had reported last year after inquiry with QS in a more in-depth report about its methodology, those two metrics account for only a total of 20% of the total QS score, which are made up of:

Academic reputation 50%
Employer reputation 30%
H Index citations 15%
Citations per paper 5%

This year QS has not listed a breakdown of individual rankings on its website but only an overall score, though we have requested more details from QS and will update this article when we hear from them.

Last year, JGLS had got an overall score of around 68 according to that methodology, with the following individual scores:

academic reputation: 67.7
employer reputation: 83.3
H-index: 45.5
Citations per paper: 55.4

The QS rankings, as all rankings, are of course easily hackable, and JGLS has for at least three years now had an department dealing with improving its performance in league tables (dubbed the Office of Rankings, Benchmarking and Institutional Transformation (ORBIT)).

In the global rankings, JGLS is only 0.2 points behind George Washington University, and is ahead of the universities of Bristol and Geneva, tied at 70.5 points (we are not sure what the tie-breaker criteria are).

Amongst all Asia-region law schools included in the rankings, JGLS came 16th (see below).

While NUS Singapore is at the top with 86.3 and a global rank of 10, the lower Asian ranks are clustered much closer together, with a spread from 73.8 to 69.4 between 7th and 20th place.

Besides NUS, the top 10 of the global QS law rankings include four usual university suspects from the UK and five from the US (Harvard, Oxford and Cambridge are in the top three, followed by Yale, Stanford, LSE, Columbia, NYU and Berkeley).

Due disclosure: JGLS is currently an advertiser on Legally India.

Top 20 Asia law rankings by QS

Global Rank	Asian University Name	Overall QS Score
10	National University of Singapore (NUS)	Singapore, Singapore	86.3
21	The University of Tokyo	Tokyo,Japan	81.3
21	The University of Hong Kong	Hong Kong,Hong Kong SAR	81.3
27	Tsinghua University	Beijing,China (Mainland)	79.6
28	Peking University	Beijing,China (Mainland)	79.4
33	Seoul National University	Seoul,South Korea	77
48	The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)	Hong Kong,Hong Kong SAR	73.8
51	Renmin (People’s) University of China	Beijing,China (Mainland)	73.1
56	Kyoto University	Kyoto,Japan	72.5
58	Korea University	Seoul,South Korea	72.2
67	Zhejiang University	Hangzhou,China (Mainland)	71.3
70	City University of Hong Kong	Hong Kong,Hong Kong SAR	71.1
70	Shanghai Jiao Tong University	Shanghai,China (Mainland)	71.1
70	Waseda University	Tokyo,Japan	71.1
74	National Taiwan University (NTU)	Taipei City,Taiwan	70.9
76	O.P. Jindal Global University	Sonipat,India	70.5
84	Yonsei University	Seoul,South Korea	69.7
87	Wuhan University	Wuhan,China (Mainland)	69.5
88	Fudan University	Shanghai,China (Mainland)	69.4
88	Keio University	Tokyo,Japan	69.4

Comments

Law schooler 4 Mar 2021, 07:32

+35 -24

Kudos to JGLS. People will see this news and come and hate on JGLS. But deep inside most of us wish we were in JGLS. I mean atleast I repent going GNLU instead of JGLS.

We need chancellors like Raj in NLUs. JGLS is doing too good and is defying any and all conceptions about it.

Viraj Ananth 4 Mar 2021, 07:39

Troll

+13 -13

[i]JGLS OP[/i] in the chat ngl

Unsurprising 7 Mar 2021, 04:31

+13 -9

It shouldn't be a surprise that employers are rating JGLS so favourably.

Legal skills are really secondary in fresh grads; there are a few thousand kids who can, ceteris paribus, do the job well.

What gives you an edge is poise and polish. If your parents can pay a million INR a year, you'll already have the necessary social capital, and on pure percentages, are far more "presentable" than someone who slogged and clawed their way up into a Tier-1 NLU.

If I'm an employer and want posh rich kids who can interact with equally posh clients, JGLS is an obvious place to start.

Guest 7 Mar 2021, 05:40

+16 -6

Maybe you should read more carefully. Employers have not rated JGLS high, its own performance as an employer has been ranked high by its employees and prospective employees (obvious because of higher salary, perks, lack of red tapes being private and an IoE etc.). There's no employer in this country or beyond that prefers JGLS students over the top NLU students at present. Maybe in your hurry to get the 'polish', you have compromised with regards to the 'substance'.

Anoi 4 Mar 2021, 07:42

+2 -2

Kian i think you should also mention that JGLS got 33 ranking in employer reputation this year. Quoting a different news article:

[quote]Despite severe national and international competition, JGLS scored very high in the subject area of law. Last year, JGLS was ranked in the 100-150 category in the QS World University Rankings 2020 by Subject Area Law. With a Rank of 76 in 2021, JGLS has jumped a minimum of 25 spots and a maximum of 75 spots in the global rankings! This was driven by a 10% jump in the JGLS’ academic reputation, a 45% jump in citations and a 25% jump in the H-index. In ‘Employer Reputation’, JGLS is Ranked 33 in the world, and in ‘Academic Reputation’, JGLS is Ranked 58 in the world! These two reputation parameters are measured through a global survey of employers and scholars/academicians respectively.[/quote]

Guest 4 Mar 2021, 14:07

+7 -8

Yes, the practice of influencing foreign academics via their own young hires' personal connections has really borne fruit apparently. Good only! Everything is fair in love (of) and war (of) rankings.

Darkseid 4 Mar 2021, 07:45

+14 -3

The research and publication output of some of the non-law faculty at JGU is very good too. Doubtless it all helps in climbing the ranks.

Guest 4 Mar 2021, 09:00

+10 -3

Backhanded compliment from a jealous NLU grad.

Darkseid 4 Mar 2021, 10:45

+17 -3

Only demented minds could have considered that comment as a 'backhanded compliment'. I actually happen to work on interdisciplinary matters. Therefore, my horizon isn't limited to law firms and the legal community only, and I have worked with people from JGU having management and other backgrounds, which makes me well-aware of their records. I doubt you are even aware of such people. As for being a 'jealous NLU grad', you are considerably far from the truth. I did happen to get my first university degree from an NLU long ago, but I do not happen to consider those institutions as God's gift to humankind. There are plenty of things that NLUs can learn from JGU, and vice-versa.

Guest 4 Mar 2021, 15:15

+1 -4

Adding to what Darkseid said, remember that it is JGU that's got the rank, not only JGLS. JGLS sure deserves most of the credit probably, but not the whole of it. Other JGU wings have surely contributed to it too. That's one space where NLUs would never be able to match JGU barring huge investment and expansion. They are all uni-disciplinary universities barring a rare few and even the latter only run small, not very well known other departments mostly.

Guest 4 Mar 2021, 17:40

+13 -0

Er.. no JGLS got the rank for law, not JGU.

optimist 4 Mar 2021, 08:29

+44 -1

I'm sure this thread will be full of constructive discussion and no mudslinging.

Guest 4 Mar 2021, 08:30

+15 -3

I urge NLU grads not to attack JGLS and instead note the following:

- JGLS has hired dozens of NLU grads but NLU VCs avoid hiring them (excepting Sudhir Krishnaswamy now).

- Shamnad Basheer was ill-treated by the NUJS VC, who also hired his own PhD students from Mysore instead of NLU alumni. Sidharth Chauhan was sacked by the NLSIU VC. Sudhir Krishnaswamy's appointment was opposed by the then NLSIU VC and admin. SS Singh at NLIU, Sukhpal Singh Yadav at HNLU: all of them refused to hire NLU alumni. In comparison, NLU grads are welcomed at JGLS.

- Certain NLU VCs have opposed hiring NLU alumni as visiting lecturers. At JGLS many NLU alumni practising in Delhi give visiting lectures.

So who deserves criticism: NLU admin or JGLS admin?

Guest 4 Mar 2021, 10:46

+6 -10

You mostly. For trying to turn this thread into an NLU v JGLS thing all by yourself.

Guest 4 Mar 2021, 08:33

+20 -0

When NLSIU used the term "Harvard of the East", what about Singapore, Japan, China and Korea? Maybe it's better to say "Harvard of South Asia"?

Guest 4 Mar 2021, 10:47

+51 -2

High School of Nagarbhavi.

Guest 4 Mar 2021, 08:35

+11 -41

Sorry, but QS rankings don't count in India. Only NIRF counts. NLSIU, NLUD and NALSAR are the Big 3 and will remain the Big 3. At most Jindal can be ranked 1 among the tier 2 law schools, ahead of NUJS, NLUJ, NLIU and GNLU.

Jiggles 4 Mar 2021, 09:06

+17 -1

UGC, the topmost government body dealing with education in India, having no skin in the game, accepts QS Rankings as a measure of a university's credentials but you Sire beg to differ, do tell the rationale and it better not be I don't like JGLS.

Source - https://pib.gov.in/Pressreleaseshare.aspx?PRID=1541801

LOL 4 Mar 2021, 10:34

+7 -0

Only NIRF counts? Ok. When JGLS actually participates in these rankings and does better than one of the law schools that you’ve mentioned. We’ll consider that you’ve officially conceded the L.

But I am pretty sure then these people would be like “NIRF rankings don’t count, look at me I am publishing my personal rankings in the comments section of LI these are credible”

Gabru 4 Mar 2021, 10:58

+6 -15

You're an idiot if you actually believe that. The legacy of NUJS and NLIU - whether in terms of location, alumni network, placements (arguably the value of a degree to the market - "employer reputation"), student quality is unmatched and will remain unmatched. Sure, it comes after NLS/NALSAR/NLUD. Jindal, if anything - is comparable to GNLU and beyond. Stop trying so hard. Naveen Jindal is no match for Menon.

Really high? 4 Mar 2021, 12:40

+3 -1

What're you smoking mate?

bhole 8 Mar 2021, 11:06

+1 -0

The Lord hath spoken! Laying down the rules and letting everyone know what does and doesn't count in India- vide a random LI comment.

Guest 4 Mar 2021, 08:40

+15 -4

In other words, a simple person like Rao got NLSIU into the rankings but a high-flyer like Sudhir couldn't. Proves the PM's Harvard vs Hard Work remarks.

Guest 4 Mar 2021, 08:55

+11 -24

Irrelevant ranking, because middle-class students and parents in India look at fees and placements, not fancy infrastructure, faculty and foreign exchange programmes. Only a super-rich student who cannot live without luxury and comfort would prefer JGLS to a top NLU. However, JGLS and Symbiosis are ahead of certain NLUs. A truly accurate ranking relevant for 99% students would be this:

1. NLSIU
2. NALSAR
3. NLUD
4. NUJS
5. GNLU
6. NLUJ
7. NLIU
8. JGLS
9. MNLU-MUM
10.RGNUL
11. NUALS
12. NLUO
13. RMLNLU
14. Symbiosis Pune
15. GLC
16. Symbiosis Noida
17. GGSIP
18. HNLU
19.MNLU-NAG
20. TNNLS

No offence 4 Mar 2021, 09:43

+14 -4

No offence but I am pretty sure that you probably didn’t get into any of the 20 institutions mentioned, because I can’t believe that any sane law student who has been studying in any of these universities would actually be fanatic about their institutions and rankings. Bruhh kids used to compare universities when they were prepping for CLAT grow up and stop spewing hate everytime you see JGLS. Acknowledge the success and be humble. JGLS never claimed they are better than NLS NALSAR NUJS or any other law school for that matter. They are playing their own game their own way. And there’s no point of comparing a university which charges 40 lakhs with universities that charge 15-20 lakhs. There ought to be a difference. Instead of imposing law school superiority on legallyindia, I suggest you contribute to factors that would actually help your institution be worthy of being part of such rankings

Guest 4 Mar 2021, 08:58

+13 -7

Singapore is the REAL Harvard of the East. Bengaluru = Feku

Guest 4 Mar 2021, 09:22

+11 -1

JGLS will take those extra jobs from all tier 2 nlus with their massive batch sizes

DDay 4 Mar 2021, 10:07

+8 -0

It's already happening. I've seen more JGLS recruits these past 2-3 years than ever before, and the percentage keeps rising, while tier 3 NLUs seem to be dropping off the map.

Guest 4 Mar 2021, 14:04

+3 -1

The percentage keeps rising, so does JGLS' batch size though. At present, they are not even placing 10% of their batch. Less than 5% if I include the 3-year LLB students.

CLC 4 Mar 2021, 09:25

+5 -0

Till now JGLS refused to partake in the NIRF ranking, i have a feeling that now they will participate and overtake the NLUs which is kinda the only defence they have

JGLS 4 Mar 2021, 09:53

+18 -3

On a different note, I believe that these rankings have actually helped us. Amidst the pandemic, we got a lot of international vacation offers. International employers are getting to know of us. And we’re doing this without a set alumni base. I mean our alumni are in all the top firms (domestic and international) but a minimum PQE of 15 years is required to become a partner anywhere in the world and it hasn’t been 15 years to JGLS’ existence. In the coming years, as our alumni would start becoming partners and would have more bargaining powers in terms of recruitments, I believe JGLS is going to do even better in terms of placements. I am really happy about this news and I am optimistic about JGU’s future for other schools like JSIA, JSLH, JSGP and JGBS are also doing excellent. This well help us establish a reputation in not just legal field but all sectors of Indian and International economy and politics. GG let’s go.

Guest 4 Mar 2021, 13:10

+4 -1

Then please disclose your stats. How man TCs? How many Indian Big 7 firms?

Guest 4 Mar 2021, 14:03

+4 -0

"15 years to become partner anywhere in the world" - which source revealed that nugget of information to you? It is not accurate at all. I know of several Indian lawyers, who have made partners in foreign firms with even 10 years of experience. Some of them are even NLU-grads.

Guest 4 Mar 2021, 10:24

+7 -0

Prof Raj has told parents that JGLS will enter NIRF in future, when it is assured of a high rank on debut. I think 2025 or 2030 possibly.

Gabru 4 Mar 2021, 10:54

+3 -0

Top 5 NLUs - please drop your reopening plans

Well 4 Mar 2021, 11:36

+7 -5

I have a question about journalistic ethics. This article has been reported like a "Jiggles fan page", which by itself is fine - LI has a sensationalist streak in its headlines. But now when you load the LI page, the banner ad already has "JGU ranked 76th" etc.

This is a very serious issue about LI's code of conduct, and a layreader could very well suspect that this "news" itself was fed in by Jiggles' PR team (which by itself is not an issue) coupled with an advertising commitment. That is very problematic.

LegallyIndia 4 Mar 2021, 12:34

+5 -0

Hi, thanks for your feedback. The questions we would ask with this story, as with any other, is whether it is newsworthy and interesting in its own right, and whether it is covered in a balanced manner.

All things considered, particularly since NLS was in the rankings last year and there is a larger element of Indian legal education and whether it is possible for Indian law schools to crack global rankings (and how), this story would certainly qualify, besides the fact that this JGLS press release has been covered very widely elsewhere also in a much less analytical manner.

This story also contains a due disclosure at the bottom that JGLS is currently an advertiser (in case it wasn't obvious from the banner ads), so readers can make up their own mind and take that into account, if required, about whether the story is fair or not. If there are any particular issues with this story, please do let us know.

Guest 4 Mar 2021, 13:21

+3 -1

#17 is prob a troll. LI has also carried articles critical of JGLS.

Guest 4 Mar 2021, 13:12

+2 -1

I don't think the article favouring JGLS. But I do think that LI favours NLSIU a lot and puts down other NLUs.

pi 4 Mar 2021, 11:42

+0 -1

hows the student placement at jgls?

Guest 4 Mar 2021, 13:23

+4 -0

Both Bar & Bench and LI have stopped publishing recruitment stats. It seems even online media in India is compromised.

Guest 4 Mar 2021, 13:05

+7 -6

Please don't blame NLSIU for the Harvard of the East title. The title was given by the media, judges, politicians etc, not by NLSIU. For example, if Rishabh Pant is called Adam Gilchrist of the East by the media and people get angry, then how is it Pant's fault?

However, I must also disagree with the QS Asia ranking. Apart from NUS Singapore, I don't think the other colleges are that good. Have you ever heard of a top law professor from China or Japan or South Korea or Taiwan? How can China be ranked high when the country has no free speech and the worst human rights record in the world?

Guest 4 Mar 2021, 14:01

Troll

+7 -4

Which judge gave that title, and which medium used it on their own? And yes, people who actually read have heard of plenty of academics from the jurisdictions that you named. That you have not reveals your ignorance and lack of exposure, not their lack of quality. As for the HR records, even we have not been faring well in that in the recent times, so as per your logic, no Indian academic is good either. Are you this trollish from birth, or do you need to take special pills for it?

Guest 5 Mar 2021, 04:58

Troll

+3 -4

Hello 19.1 You are a troll. You were not able to answer the question logically and name any world-famous law professor from China, Japan etc. You just used abusive language. I reported your comment.

Guest 4 Mar 2021, 13:08

+2 -0

Kian, why have you stopped releasing recruitment figures? Please tell us. It is the only way to objectively compare law schools.

Guest 4 Mar 2021, 14:33

+19 -14

As a final year student I can tell you all these ranking doesn't mean a thing, the faculty is world class but the administration is minting money of its law students, in a batch of 600(including BBA And BA) they've been able to place less than 30 students, their placement cell is horrifically incompetent and over that I know it for a fact that JGU is not following bar council guidelines with respect to students intake i.e 300 for a batch. Freshers batch easily is more than 350. Leaving all this aside I don't think this rank means a thing. They've failed to reopen the college for the graduating batches and are promising placements in the month of june. What a joke.

Jiggles 4 Mar 2021, 15:12

Contested

+4 -8

You’re certainly a hater disguised as a JGLS student. I am a graduate students and most of us got placed. Please wait for Kian to publish placement stats.

Guest 4 Mar 2021, 16:22

+10 -1

Most of the 800-strong batch? They sell the good stuff at Sonepat for sure, but are you being able to get it flown in even during lockdown?

Guest 4 Mar 2021, 17:39

+1 -0

Kian, you have marked 2.1 as facts contested but are not publishing placement data. You either unmark it or reveal the data of all colleges.

Guest 4 Mar 2021, 15:03

+2 -3

Time to name and shame NLU VCs who are not hiring enough alumni. There is clear nepotism and corruption by the TLC mafia. Kian, please interview and ask them!!

DDay 8 Mar 2021, 07:27

+3 -1

If VCs start hiring people on the basis of their college instead of their actual merit, academic standards will go into free fall. I've seen some of the seniors of my own Tier 1 NLU and I wouldn't trust them to run a mohalla tuition, much less a class of law students. So no thanks, alumni hiring doesn't guarantee any quality.

Sagar Ratna University 4 Mar 2021, 16:58

+1 -4

Guys! In your enthusiasm to write you are missing- Sagar Ratna University, Sagar, MP. Its the best.

Guest 4 Mar 2021, 18:26

+0 -0

It would be good if LI can interview Naveen Jindal directly and ask him questions from LI readers. He is active on Twitter.

Rankings 4 Mar 2021, 20:50

+4 -9

Internationally JGLS > NLS > NLU D

Domestically NLS > NLU D > JGLS

But i must say, international reputation doesn’t matter a lot because Indian bar laws make domestic reputation much more relevant

Guest 5 Mar 2021, 04:41

Troll

+10 -6

JGLS is by the rich, of the rich and for the rich. It is very unethical that the Modi government did not give NLUs any funding or special status but gave JGLS Eminence status (along with universities by Mukesh Ambani and Shiv Nadar). It's also unethical that Jindal steel did not give any money to help middle-class and financially weak students studying at NLUs, but instead gave 1000 crores to JGLS and JGLS got another 900 crore from Goldman Sachs. Jindal steel has shown insensitivity towards the middle-class and poor by arranging nearly 2000 crore for JGLS but not even 1 rupee for NLUs.

Mota Bhai 5 Mar 2021, 04:47

+20 -10

Aap chronology samajh lijiye

2009
JGLS - we're here!
Everyone else - you'll never be as good as the NLUs
www.legallyindia.com/lawschools/jindal-global-law-school-launches-llm-dean-responds-to-critics-20100209-478

2010
JGLS ties up with Cambridge, Yale and Queens
Everyone else - you'll never be as good as the NLUs
www.legallyindia.com/lawschools/jindal-starts-police-academy-india-with-cambridge-20100317-587
www.legallyindia.com/lawschools/jindal-global-law-school-starts-student-exchanges-collaboration-with-canadians-20101114-1505
www.legallyindia.com/lawschools/jindal-global-law-school-strengthens-bonds-with-yale-as-second-year-admissions-positive-20101101-1466

2011
JGLS starts its first dual degree LLB - JD
Everyone else - you'll never be as good as the NLUs
www.legallyindia.com/lawschools/jindal-indiana-university-us-to-offer-combined-llb-with-jd-in-6-or-4-years-20120221-2588

2012
JGU tops MPL (albiet briefly)
Everyone else - you'll never be as good as the NLUs
www.legallyindia.com/mooting/jindal-tops-mpl-4-standings-after-5-moots-a-wins-for-nlu-d-nlsiu-nujs-a-rmlnlu-20120930-3151

2017
JGU applies for IoE
Everyone else - you shouldnt be allowed to apply coz NLUs cant. In any case, you'll never be as good as the NLUs
www.legallyindia.com/lawschools/jgu-has-applied-for-institution-of-eminence-status-nlus-possibly-can-t-20171212-8932

2018
SC cites 4 JGLS faculty in Koushal judgment
Everyone else - yes but it was published in the NUJS Law Review. You'll never be as good as the NLUs
www.legallyindia.com/lawschools/how-academia-came-of-age-with-377-sc-relied-on-these-indian-journals-blawgs-in-pro-gay-rights-judgment-20180906-9522

July 2019
JGU gets into world uni rankings
Everyone else - jugaad
www.legallyindia.com/lawschools/jindal-gu-sonepat-hacks-into-lower-reaches-of-qs-world-college-rankings-in-benchmarking-drive-though-methodology-a-bit-hazy-20190619-10646

September 2019
JGU is an IoE
Everyone else - Doesnt count coz NLUs arent nationalised
https://www.legallyindia.com/lawschools/jgls-iit-kharagpur-du-recommended-as-national-institutions-of-eminence-as-gov-t-says-nlus-won-t-get-central-support-20190803-10772

Three former NLU VCs join JGLS as faculty
Everyone else - HOW DARE THEY! They should teach at NLUs forever!
https://www.legallyindia.com/lawschools/jgls-scoops-3-former-vice-chancellors-as-profs-baxi-mp-singh-chimni-bb-pande-to-boost-research-teaching-phds-20190906-10831

June 2020
JGLS starts Online LLM
Everyone else - They shouldnt be allowed to do so, coz NLUs cant
https://www.legallyindia.com/lawschools/jgls-starts-online-llm-aims-for-100-takers-powered-by-ioe-ugc-exemption-nls-looks-to-scale-e-learning-to-100-000-students-20200603-11466

August 2020
Practicing lawyers teach pro bono at JGLS
Everyone else - they should be teaching at NLUs
https://www.legallyindia.com/lawschools/jgls-preps-for-lucky-1-sep-fresher-start-ropes-in-10-senior-counsel-to-teach-200-final-years-lit-life-courses-20200806-11601

October 2020
JGLR is indexed by SCOPUS
Everyone else - SCOPUS has made a mistake by not including the law reviews by NLUs
https://www.legallyindia.com/lawschools/jindal-jglr-journal-first-in-india-to-get-into-scopus-database-for-likely-rankings-publications-boost-20201031-11746

February 2021
JGU gets a further contribution from its Chancellor
Everyone else - why isnt he contributing to NLUs?
https://www.legallyindia.com/lawschools/jgu-jgls-vows-to-double-in-size-by-2030-with-rs-1-000-cr-gift-from-founder-chancellor-naveen-jindal-20210222-11971

March 2021
JGLS moves up the QS Law rankings, no NLU in sight
Everyone else - QS was relevant last year, but no NLUs means only NIRF counts

pi 5 Mar 2021, 11:11

+11 -8

2009-2021
JGLS - we are here
Everyone else - hows your student placement?
JGLS - faculty, infra, QS, IoE
Everyone else - hows your student placement?
JGLS - pov of uni is to give holistic education
Everyone else - hows your student placement?

Guest 5 Mar 2021, 04:50

Troll

+2 -2

I can name current NLU VCs who are anti-alumni and have avoided hiring alumni faculty. One of them is a really horrible and mean person, who treats students like a cruel orphanage owner treats poor orphan children. But LI will censor the names, so no point.

Guest 5 Mar 2021, 04:55

+6 -2

Kian, did Sudhir get back to you? If not, please call Rahul Singh and also Rao to ask what happened last time. Since Rao has retired he will be more candid.

Guest 5 Mar 2021, 06:08

+22 -2

Sudhir doesn't get back to you. He gets back at you!

Guest 5 Mar 2021, 05:02

Troll

+8 -0

"People take pride in the fact that Bangalore law school is the Harvard of the East - we will work continuously to make people say that Harvard is the Bangalore of the West." --- NLSIU VC in 2009.

https://www.legallyindia.com/lawschools/bangalore-law-school-takes-on-world-with-good-advice-20090522-022

Guest 5 Mar 2021, 05:44

Troll

+7 -0

People quoting your own articles are trollish? Wow, Kian!

Guest 6 Mar 2021, 01:03

+1 -1

Please like this comment if you want Kian to ask the following questions to the JGLS VC:

1. Full placement stats
2. LLM abroad scholarship stats
3. Details of how the Rs 1,900 crore corpus will be used (Naveen Jindal donation + hostel sale to Goldman Sachs). Will campuses in other cities be opened? Will more scholarships be offered?
4. Is JGLS participating in NIRF? When?

Guest 6 Mar 2021, 01:10

+7 -0

LOL. Any comment attacking NLSIU for claiming to be the Harvard of the East is being marked trollish, even if citing LI articles!!

Guest 6 Mar 2021, 04:45

+2 -0

Even those that are merely pointing out that another comment has simply been quoting an LI article! Just wow, after this if Kian ever claims that he doesn't show partiality in favour of NLSIU, those would be hollow claims indeed.

Guest 6 Mar 2021, 01:47

+0 -9

I would like to share a true story. When JGLS was a new university, it had organised an MUN. NLU students were behaving arrogantly, but after seeing many faculty who were alumni of their colleges they became more friendly. However, a student participant from NLUD (from where there was no alumni faculty at that time) was behaving very rudely and threatened to walk out -- "why is only veg food being served?", "why is the AC so cold?", "why is the WiFi so slow?", "I have been to international moots and things are a million times better than Jindal". Teachers had to request him not to leave. The guy then took the mike and said: "Jindal is full of foreign faculty and idiot students". No student from JGLS said anything, as they were afraid of NLU students and of antagonising them.

Fast forward to today....

Guest 6 Mar 2021, 04:47

Troll

+2 -3

Not much has changed. Jindal has been spending crores in terms of input, still does not have much to show in terms of student output, which is perhaps the only objective criterion to judge a university by, and of course, NLU students remain as arrogant and entitled as ever. More so despite their overall declining standards.

This is humility. 6 Mar 2021, 08:06

+5 -4

Majority of JGLS students and particularly those academically bright are really humble and graceful. You ask professors or law firm partners or judges with whom they have worked. This is a good example actually. Ideally this arrogant student would have been thrown out if it was my university.

Guest 6 Mar 2021, 08:37

+9 -0

Sorry, cannot agree with you there. Have seen plenty of JGLS students who are just as arrogant and entitled as or even more than NLU students. To be fair, have seen several students humble and eager to learn too. Overall, I would still put an average student from the top NLUs ahead of an average student from JGLS. The hunger is more in the former. It might have got something to do with the background, and then again, it might not. Shouldn't generalise on the basis of personal anecdotal experience.

Fact Checker 6 Mar 2021, 09:53

+2 -8

IMPORTANT: The whole Harvard of the East title given to NLSIU needs to be clarified.

1) The title was given to NLSIU much before QS rankings existed.

2) It is questionable if Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan can be called "East" in a socio-economic sense, because they are first world countries with westernised lifestyles. If you use "East" in a geographical sense, even Australia is included! When NLSIU was called Harvard of the East, it was used in the sense of developing countries in Asia and Africa, not in a strict geographical sense including Australia or Singapore. One way to compare is to look at NAM member countries. Around 120 countries out of 180 in the world are members of NAM. I believe NLSIU surpasses each one of them. In this sense, it can be called Harvard of the East.

3) NLSIU itself did not coin the term. It was coined by eminent jurists and the media. Here is some proof:

Dr Rajeev Dhawan in 1985: [i]The quintessence of this development is symbolized in the proposed National Law School, which is to be the 'Harvard of the East'.[/i]

https://www.jstor.org/stable/840238?seq=1

India today in 2000 and 2001:

[i]"Cliches such as the "Harvard of the East" abound for the 14-year-old National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bangalore." [/i]

[i]Called the Harvard of the East, the National Law School of India University (NLSIU) was established by an Act - Karnataka Act 22 of 1986 - under the sponsorship of the Bar Council of India.[/i]

https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/cover-story/story/20010521-nlsiu-has-emerged-as-the-leading-indian-institution-for-legal-education-776158-2001-05-21

https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/cover-story/story/20000619-best-law-colleges-in-india-nlsiu-bangalore-remains-no.-1-779775-2000-06-19

Guest 6 Mar 2021, 10:11

+10 -0

You speak of the title being 'given' to NLSIU as if it had been conferred formally. Apart from random informal references, there is absolutely no proof of that, or even of people taking it seriously ever. None of the news items that you have referred to confirms that either. Even Dhavan said that the university that was being proposed is supposed to become that, not that it is already considered as that, or ever has been so considered since. It's only thought about by people associated with that university who like to live in a dreamland of their own. Even among the NLSIU grads, those who have actually studied or been associated with reputed foreign universities, have no illusion about their alma mater being miles behind any of those (along with other Indian universities offering law as a course). And citing India Today as proof of 'eminent jurists' having said something? Really!

Guest 6 Mar 2021, 15:43

+6 -2

This is all such BS. The real reason why it was known as “Harvard of the East” when it was conceived was because it adopted the Socratic teaching methodology followed at Harvard Law School. Now with almost all NLUs and other Indian law schools adopting the same method, this title doesn’t stand for anything. Then again, the insecurity of the NLS trolls will keep them coming back and bragging to convince themselves of their closer standing to some white man’s institution. Typical colonial complex.

LOL 7 Mar 2021, 04:42

+23 -0

NLS grad here. The term "Harvard of the East" has always been considered an embarrassing joke at NLS, and it's used only in irony. No serious NLS student or alum has ever used it in any context other than in utter self-deprecation.

"What are they serving in the mess today?" "Usual gobi manchurian and bhindi masala. Harvard of the East fare".

Guest 7 Mar 2021, 06:17

+0 -0

I'm curious about what's the Harvard-equivalent of Gobi Manchurian. Can any alumnus provide any insight?

Guest 7 Mar 2021, 22:07

+0 -0

tater tots. But there's a full buffet really. with a live grilled meat counter, salad bar, a few different cuisines etc

Guest 7 Mar 2021, 09:41

+0 -0

You confuse South with East.

Guest 7 Mar 2021, 02:29

+1 -3

Nothing wrong in calling Law School Harvard of the East or even comparing it with China, Singapore, Hong Kong etc. Can any university from those countries match Law School's Rhodes, Jessup and Magic Circle recruitment record? If yes, then I take back my words.

Guest 7 Mar 2021, 05:26

+2 -1

They do and more. Go ahead, take it back.

Guest 7 Mar 2021, 09:40

+0 -0

NUS!

Guest 7 Mar 2021, 07:30

Troll

+5 -3

2.1 is correct. JGLS students are from top schools in big cities, speak English well, dress stylishly, have travelled around the world and have lots of confidence and smartness. This demographic used to dominate NLUs but have not shifted to JGLS. At NLUs you now mostly have students from very humble backgrounds in small towns. They may be good in studies but lack social skills and self-confidence. Law firms prefer JGLS students because social skills matter more in the real world. A JGLS student is at home equally in New York and Delhi.

Guest 7 Mar 2021, 07:58

+1 -0

Which law firms prefer that, pray tell, with supporting stats? I think both 2.1 and you, assuming you are different people (which I suspect), are suffering from 'Udta Punjab' syndrome (drug-induced hallucinations). In absolutely no metric do JGLS students surpass NLU students other than family inheritance. I dare you to find me a single recruiter/employer who would say otherwise.
There is an alternative explanation for your atrocious and false claims, but Kian would censor that if I mention it here.

Guest 7 Mar 2021, 11:11

+0 -4

Pretty sure that Law School has a better record that NU Singapore in Rhodes, LLM admission, moots and placements.

Guest 7 Mar 2021, 14:56

+5 -0

Pretty sure that you are wrong about that.

Guest 8 Mar 2021, 17:30

+0 -3

Everyone knows that only NIRF matters in India, so we'll have a discussion only when JGLS enters NIRF. Why are they not entering BTW??

Guest 8 Mar 2021, 18:17

+6 -0

I live in India. NIRF doesn't matter to me. So speak for yourself.

bhole 9 Mar 2021, 05:22

+4 -0

Law as it is doesn't attract creme de la creme of academic talents, atleast in India; and lawyers also aren't expected to bring about civilizational advance by developing disruptive technologies. These are basic people making a basic living, mostly by being decent in english. Most of the kids in the top ranked NLUs are from tier 1 cities and have had the privilege of attending private english medium schools (their only point of difference from their lower ranked NLUs peers, who mostly come from tier 2 cities). I feel in the next decade or so, many of this crowd (who are rather privileged themselves) would move to JGLS- owing to superior international perception, it's only natural. JGLS is like bitcoin, would be ridiculed by the proponents of the status quo, till accepted as self-evident.

Guest 9 Mar 2021, 07:24

+1 -0

If they are happy earning a higher salary and research grants at the cost of not getting to teach a group of students more interested in learning, then sure. Because as someone who has offered a course to two NLUs and JGLS, I have witnessed first hand that there is indeed a stark difference in student quality. JGLS model and batch size would always falter when it comes to ensuring that good students go to that institution on an average. It is only with state support that an institution can offer quality education to a managaebale batch size at an acceptable cost. Otherwise, it is almost impossible.

Curious-2 9 Mar 2021, 12:20

+0 -0

Curious as to what were some of the shortcomings of the JGLS grads? Were they less interested, less intelligent, less responsive? Is there a possibility that your preconceived perception of what JGLS students are like, were reinforced by your interactions and you perhaps were not really a neutral observer.
Could it have been that due to a larger batch your extrapolation may have been skewed? Seriously interested not here to pick up a fight or troll?
I say this because I have attended both JGLS and an NLU, and my peers were a mix of both places. A bunch of them were idiots, some were serious, and some were exceptional and if they were to be put all together in a room, there is no way you could guess who belonged to which institution.

Guest 9 Mar 2021, 13:21

+1 -0

It was about the desire to learn more than anything else. On an average, I found JGLS students to be less interested in what they were being taught (this was an industry-oriented course with related assignments). After signing up, they seemed reluctant to put in any effort, class participation was less, adherence to deadlines minimal, problem-solving aptitude less evident, and above all, a general apathy that could at times be grating. I am not saying that the NLU students were all exemplary, but all these issues were less pronounced overall in those places. Of course, even in JGLS, there had been exceptional students. I would say around 10% of the total sample. In the two NLUs, that percentage would be closer to 50-60% from my experience. If you want to call it bias, there is not much I can say that would convince you otherwise. I don't really care which university a student is from so long as they are willing to learn and show up consistently. I have taught KIIT students (a much smaller and hand-picked group though), who seemed to me to be as good as NLU students for instance.

Guest 9 Mar 2021, 18:50

+0 -0

Agree with you 100%.

TenpercEnT 12 Mar 2021, 10:42

+0 -0

Isn’t 10% of JGLS a greater number than 50-60% of an NLU, are you implying that owing to its large batch size, JGLS is exporting more “exceptional and interested students” than the NLUs?

Guest 12 Mar 2021, 12:46

+0 -0

No. That's just you twisting his words. He never claimed he's taught the whole of JGLS. The fact that you cannot appreciate that means probably that you are trolling.

Guest 9 Mar 2021, 13:18

+0 -1

Kian, I strongly object to LI carrying an ad from JGLS which says it is #1 in India. This is an outright lie, because NIRF is the official ranking and NLSIU is #1. If I assume that JGLS is referring to the QS ranking, that too is wrong because we do not know if NLSIU applied this year. Kindly stop carrying the ad.

Guest 9 Mar 2021, 14:01

+0 -0

1. For QS ranking, one does not need to apply, as this very article clearly mentions.
2. Even assuming one needs to apply, if a contestant drops out of a race, and another wins it, the latter is still considered the winner. Not to mention that NLSIU was behind JGLS last year in the QS ranking.
3. I agree that the ad looks bad and incomplete. Like most ads.

Guest 11 Mar 2021, 19:20

+0 -0

Kian, did Rahul Singh/Sudhir get back to you?

Guest 12 Mar 2021, 05:41

+2 -0

*get back at you?

Guest 15 Mar 2021, 17:55

+1 -0

*Get back in you?

Guest 2 12 Mar 2021, 10:44

+1 -0

*Get back on you

Guest 12 Mar 2021, 12:46

+2 -0

*get on your back

Guest 24 Apr 2021, 05:20

+0 -0

Update pls. Did NLSIU issue a statement?

Guest 24 Apr 2021, 07:12

+0 -0

No, but KIIT features in the new TIMES ranking now.

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