Experts & Views
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Love, Lust, Lucre. Where's the Law?
The legal education system in our country, to be frank, is not 'legal' enough. (If I'm anyone to comment on it; but since I'm a part of it, I believe it's my duty and my right to chip in my honest comments.) Now, what do I really mean by remarking that the system ain't 'legal' enough?
All along the road till now, studying law, I've come to understand at least one thing as to what law is all about - law is peace. Law is not a weapon, but a rope which pulls up a drowning man, and a whip which punishes the transgressor, but always, motherly. May be this is why capital punishment is considered anachronistic to 'modern' civilizations.
Law always stands to what's true. What's sound. What's just. What's reasonable. Law, in its core, is more about substance than style. It's more about the taste than the garnish. I wonder, whether Law, if it were a human, would ever subject itself to the myriad manifestations which the lawyers subject it to. Law is always supposed to be justice and Godliness personified. Law would never withstand any fooling around in its name.
When this is what Law says it is, when this is what Jurisprudence teaches us, all the while, we as students have been callous and adamant enough to turn a deaf ear to it. I've sincerely come to realize (subject to any & all counter-realizations of the readers) that, the legal clout that we are in India (may be in other countries too, but let me restrict myself to India, for want of any first-hand experiences abroad) have been pursuing only two things - lucre, and it's by-product, lust.
Why do we aspire to join the 'best of the best law schools'? - Because, we can have a 'lucrative' career after graduation. (No negating the fact that there are certainly those who truly are scholars, and who truly learn for knowledge only, my respects to them!) What I'm putting forward here is the general scenario. As every rule as exceptions, so does this scenario.
As to the second question, what is a 'lucrative' career? - One which gives us money, and more money.
Why do we need money, and more money? To 'enjoy' life.
What does it mean to 'enjoy' life? - Booze, party, hit on 'chicks' and 'dudes', and you may go on.
Now, if you are getting offended by what I have written above, I am afraid, it MAY (not shall) be because I'm hitting it right at the goal post. And if you're thinking that my submissions are not well-grounded, or they lack research, you may be right.
You might as well be thinking (or not thinking) anything at all. Whatever way that may be which this post is (or is not) affecting you, I must put in a disclaimer here that all the submissions are purely based on my observations of the legal arena, and this observation may (just a may) as well be myopic. So any mistake of fact, shall (not may) be condoned.
Why do I say what I'm saying?
The answer is simple. Let me put the answer in two pointers so that they get ingested in easily.
- Firstly, every law student I meet, (okay, let me say 99% of them) wants to join the 'corporate' sector, because it is the 'in thing'.
- Everyone in this nation, right from the central ministries, to the recruiters, speak as if the National Law Universities are the ONLY law universities in India, and this they do when chalking out plans of inclusive and holistic legal education system reforms. Why, even internships at some of the government functionaries are open only to the students from elite schools.
Now, I am no despiser of the NLUs. The text is not to be interpreted by adding the readers' own imaginative oblique intentions behind what is written. Since this is being clearly stated, the rules of interpretation are required to be religiously followed.
What is being intended here is, we as a community are giving more attention to superfluous things, rather than the substance, or the core. We have started guaging 'success' in the legal field by the amount of salary we draw after graduation, or the law firm with which we are associated. It deserves no argument that quality commands its own respect, and rightly so. But, here, we are trying to demand respect, which is uncalled for.
Coming back to the point. What motivated me to write this post at this point in time, when I've my end-sem exams tomorrow (OKAY!) is that, the entire object of having a legal education is being lost in our nation. Every law college, in a rush to entice the students to enrol into the courses it offers, goes on to providing a whole big list of 'career opportunities' after graduation. This is happening not only in the legal field, but in every other sector, be it engineering or management.
We are completely missing out on the entire Philosophy of Education. Completely.
We present papers, not to learn objective research, but to 'have better CVs'. We yearn internships with 'prestigious law firms' not in expectation of excellent hands-on practical experience, but in order to entice the associates (enticing, legally or illegally) to get us a job.
Those of you who do not do this, I am no one to falsely imprecate you. Those of you who do this, only you know it, so I am not spilling the cat out of the bag. And those of you who feel that this is absolute nonsense, you have all the rights to feel so. You may as well be right.
I would like to end this post, a bit perturbed, but not a bit less grounded, by appealing to oneself and all of us - in the race to reach the top, let us not fall down abysmally low, and when I say this, I bet, you know exactly what I mean. Let us not be desperate enough to force ourselves to work just to earn 'money'. There's more to life than lust and lucre.
Let us be lawyers, as our ancestors were, lawyers who were philosophers, who were moralists, and above all, who were all wonderful wonderful human beings.
Amen!
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The author has gone by the assumption that anyone with a desire to earn money right after college is evil. Let me get one thing straight, Ms. Kulkarni - your assumption that new grads desire money just for booze, cigarettes and hitting on the opposite sex is not just baseless; but plain ridiculous. I am a student in one of India's top NLUs, and it pains me no end to see everyone dictating morality on us for choosing to be corporate professionals. Just as you find litigation an avenue most suited to your needs; people like me find the corporate work-culture best for us.
I have no qualms in telling people that I fully intend working with a major corporate house or law firm after graduating (and mind you; I've interned in a District Court, two High Courts and the Supreme Court; just in case you've put me off as a corporate sell-out); and that I am not looking forward to the money for spending on having a good time; but to see pride & happiness on the faces of my parents.
Any person who works in a law firm right after graduation deserves respect; and rightly so. Yes; we love the 'lucre' and the accompanying comforts; and it is only our right because of the hard work we put in for five long years. No one pushes a Moot down our throats; or a research paper for that matter. We do these things at our own free will.
We passed CLAT to get into these 'elite' institutes. And we work everyday. Some of us are very keen to get into litigation or the Civil Services; so please do not demonize anyone who wants a plush job. Because all said and done, Law may be a lot of things with a lot of facets; but it definitely is not a 'yardstick of morality'. So kindly stop judging people on the choices they make once they graduate. They have every right to work in the corporate sector; and just because they have AC-ed offices and swanky cafeterias doesn't in any manner mean that they deserve any 'less' respect than those who fight for 'justice' (Huh!) in Courts.
If anything, it is high time every debate and discussion stopped boiling down to NLU vs non NLU, or entry of foreign law firms vs preserving the Bar. Surely, a forum of lawyers has more things to talk about?
Whats wrong with becoming a part of a revolution where even lawyers have started making money by not visiting the temple of legal justice (HCs or Supreme Court), but by sticking their finger to their keyboard everyday from 9 to 11 in a beautiful swanky office where every brain is working for money and excellence. If we are losing the ultimate objective of divine education and a sense of sacred satisfaction in our search for a lot of money, good house, a comfortable car, high life, a happening social life, a good looking wife, skydiving in spain for 1000$, then be it. I want the bloddy good life. If I wanted to be a saint I would have joined a church.
At cost of being on the opposite end of spectrum of your thoughts here, if somebody joins law only to earn money then whats wrong with it. This is how every profession in the world started isn't it. The first lawyer in the world, I bet was not a priest from a Roman Temple. The first roman legal specialists or lawyers or Jurisconsults were wealthy amateurs who dabbled in law as an intellectual hobby. We as lawyers are professionals who advise people on either side of a dispute for money. Its a hard truth, but we should accept it. If you are joining the profession only for money but you are good at what you do and you know your law right, then have fun and make merry.
Anyways!!! A very well written blog!!! Keep up the good work!!!
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