Hi guys, hope everyone is doing well. I am a first generation law student in my 2nd year of LLB and I needed help, my areas of interest lay in media entertainment laws and intellectual property laws, I am located out of Mumbai, coming from a 3 year LLB and a tier 3-4 college I don't have much scope to get a placement through college or get into any tier1 firms, I have done all my corporate internships in tier1 or 2 firms so far and would appreciate any leads I can get on any media and entertainment or intellectual property firms that hire students from non-nlu/ tier 1-2 colleges and pay decent (non litigation firms who pay over 40k per month)
ps- please note that all my previous internships have been general corporate or Banking Finance related.
Hi OP. I'm an incoming TMT A0 at a T1 Mumbai office (Bo'24), and I'm a first gen law student Rigjt off the bat, I must ask you to choose between your interest in media law and your desire to get a higher-paying job. This is primarily because core media & entertainment teams generally tend to be an offshoot of IP law teams who also do a bit of Gen Corp — like Ameet Datta's team at Saikrishna, or the teams under Khimani or Suri or Chacko in their firms (to name some of the reputed ones). Other non-T1 firms which do media law work include established names such as Indus, DSK, LawNK, SRL and lesser-known/lower-paying names such as Ikigai, Bharucha, TMTLaw, ANM, Inttl Advocare, and a bunch of Blr-based small firms. Poovayya does some of the best media law-related litigation in the country, though it tends to be more around the IT Act and copyright law, as opposed to parents/trademarks (per the needs of their Twitter/Google-type clientele). If none of the above interest/offer you anything, you could still apply as an in-house legal team intern at most IT industry MNCs.
Now, while all of these may be open to giving internships, you need to understand and acknowledge that they pay lesser than a gen corp team at a comparatively reputed law firm — which is actually something you seem much better placed at applying for, because your CV has a collation of those internships.
So, if you want my advice, it's simply that you should create two different sets of CVs and cover letters, one for each area of interest (Media law & GC), and apply to basically every single firm you have ever heard of — put efforts into your cold-mails by finding exactly what the partners do/have done in the past, and make references/parallels to that in your cover letter, for example. Then, eventually, make your choice between whatever opportunities you get, but my recommendation would tilt towards a GC team that actually pays you well. Either way, all the best!
ps- please note that all my previous internships have been general corporate or Banking Finance related.
Now, while all of these may be open to giving internships, you need to understand and acknowledge that they pay lesser than a gen corp team at a comparatively reputed law firm — which is actually something you seem much better placed at applying for, because your CV has a collation of those internships.
So, if you want my advice, it's simply that you should create two different sets of CVs and cover letters, one for each area of interest (Media law & GC), and apply to basically every single firm you have ever heard of — put efforts into your cold-mails by finding exactly what the partners do/have done in the past, and make references/parallels to that in your cover letter, for example. Then, eventually, make your choice between whatever opportunities you get, but my recommendation would tilt towards a GC team that actually pays you well. Either way, all the best!