NLSIU Bangalore students have landed a record 44 jobs after Day Zero and Day One of recruitment for careers beginning in 2020, across most of the large law firms and companies.

A total of 58 students are taking part in recruitment activities this year, out of a total batch of 80, according to the Recruitment Coordination Committee (RCC).

The largest recruiter was L&L Partners, which hired 9 via pre-placement offers and another 3 from campus on Day Zero.

Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas and Trilegal both hired 7 each (with the majority via PPOs), while Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas picked up 6 students (of whom 5 came directly via campus Day Zero).

Khaitan & Co hired 3 students, followed by AZB & Partners with 2, and 1 each by S&R Associates and Talwar Thakore & Associates.

After Day Zero, another 5 offers have come in via campus interviews with Argus Law, ICICI Bank and French bank Societe Generale.

The recruitment committee said that the bank jobs could expect packages between Rs 12 - 16 lakh (while those at the top firms would get packages from Rs 15 to 18 lakh).

NLS’ result is numerically an improvement on last year’s Day Zero tally of 36 top domestic law firm jobs (excluding Day One recruiters such as ICICI, which brought the total to roughly the same as this year’s, at 46).

But unusually, compared to other top NLUs, the NLS RCC has not reported any high-paying foreign law firm vacation schemes so far this year.

No foreign jobs (yet?)

An RCC member explained that since foreign jobs were procured independently of the RCC, it could not make a comment or offer an accurate explanation on why there were no vacation schemes or training contracts in the batch so far. However, one student said that fewer NLS students may have applied for foreign jobs this year than in previous years, though they could not confirm exact numbers since most students applied for vacation schemes by themselves.

On the other hand, it’s possible NLS students were just unlucky this year in their overseas applications, though last year at the same time only one NLS student had secured a vacation scheme out of 46 jobs but was considering dropping this for a domestic job offer (the year before that, NLS had 3 vacation schemes by Day Zero).

If it is indeed becoming a trend that NLS graduates are becoming more interested in remaining in India rather than the traditional exodus of toppers abroad, it may only be possible to corroborate it by later in the recruitment season. If so, it would be an interesting - if surprising - sign that foreign jobs may be losing their lustre compared to a booming Indian market, despite near-starting at annual salaries of Rs 42 lakh.

The other Day Zero figures we have reported so far this year, have seen schools such as Nalsar Hyderabad pick up a record 8 foreign placements.

However, while at most RCCs those figures are generally reported as part of Day Zero, we understand that at most NLUs, foreign jobs are generally secured independently by students without much assistance from the RCCs (perhaps in part because foreign firms have their own streamlined online processes for applications).

And, at least anecdotally, compared to 10 years ago, it seems that toppers from the top NLUs have increasingly also considered careers at the bar, which may offer more interesting opportunities coupled with network effects from alumni who are doing rather well there.

RCC hopes placements will continue to diversify

The NLSIU recruitment committee consists of, as pictured above: Ashim Gupta, Samriddhi Shukla, Akash Jain (top row, l to r), and Neha Lodha, Niharika Sharma, Aishwarya Dixit, Dhanush Dinesh (front row).

“We are forever grateful to the Recruitment Class of 2020 for their continued faith in us, and hope that placements at the NLSIU continue to grow and diversify,” commented the committee in a statement. They added:

Credit must be given where it is due, and it goes without saying that these achievements would not be possible without the continued support of the Vice Chancellor of the University, our Internship and Placement Co-ordinator Dr. V. S. Elizabeth, and the other administrative staff, who made organising the respective recruitment days incredibly smooth. We continue to be grateful to our ever-growing alumni network, whose guidance and support has made NLSIU the institution that it is today. Additionally, we thank all the firms that participated in the recruitment process for their continued interest and co-operation.

The 22 students in the NLSIU batch of 80 who are not participating in the of RCC activities 22 are likely to go for a mix of LLMs, the bar, judiciary and civil services exams, said a campus source, though it was too early in the year to provide a full breakdown.

Other NLU days zero so far

• GNLU places 44 Day Zero students, 3 foreigns (out of 170)
• NLU Jodhpur Day Zero kills it with 42 jobs, including 3 foreigns (batch of 101)
• NUJS 2020 batch sees up to 65 students already placed after Day Zero (batch of 120)
• Nalsar Day Zero 2020: Record 47 jobs (incl 8 foreigns) (batch of 113)

NLS Day Zero & One figures