We provide a compendium of the best that LI readers have had to share in the past weeks, trying to come to terms with legal market realities as well as human tragedy.
Comment of the week: Lessons in the life cycle of excellent ‘designer dark suits’, resplendent with planetary wisdom, and allegedly channelling a managing partner of India’s largest firm.
Discuss: The plight of excellent young lawyers, why they leave, and the art of rainmaking
Been Around on 13 August at 4:32 PM
Every notable Firm has had its own share of exits etc in the past decade or so.., but in the same breath, every notable Firm has also had some sweet stories of rewarding 'stayers' and not quitters.
The key is "patience".. that very simple sounding, extremely demanding thing... And ruthlessness .. at once, that very disturbing yet satisfying personality trait.
Starting a Firm and making your first Million is the easiest canter - getting it into phase 2 and 3 etc is the big leap, which makes most start-up lawyers realize that what they perceived (ah, the days of youth!) in their large law-firm to be injustice, was actually just a tempering process - an extremely important one at that.
Which process is necessary to identify and reward not the shooting stars (whose DNA is to burn and die), but consistently shining suns (who like to burn longer)...
After all, it is around suns (and not stars) that planetary systems rotate..
The fact remains that for start-ups it is Not an easy vocation anywhere in the world.. and certainly not in the Indian legal world, with its unique cultural and socio-political canvass.
So what makes this (exits, new Firms..) happen with such regularity?
For individual exits, may be individual egos (or inability to see their own flaws) and the "painted into a corner" syndrome, where this appears to be the most reasonable exit option Or "my so-and-so is a Union Minister (or something like that) so it matters not what I do/know/deliver".
For group exits, it is likely to be the "we are better than this founder who eats all the cake" and/or "we have at least twenty clients ready to go with us, so what the hell!" belief...
Everyone (except perhaps the ones who have actually taken roles in academia and genuinely opted out) would like to buy their own yatch or Bentley .. everyone is waiting for "That" killer deal.
Gangs of Wasseypur - in designer dark suits, spewing legalese, shooting with their 'pens'!!
#2: Soft ragging scum respect commanders
Ragging: Cured at law school or a more insidious modern-day menace?
By DDs have fried your brain 13 August at 11:31
Why should Kian take a chill pill? This is arguably one of the best forum to discuss this issue. While AICTE rules may not apply, they sit well into this article as it demonstrates how other colleges/ disciplines are trying to deal with this social evil.
@ law aspirants: most law schools have very little “hard ragging”. But “soft ragging” remains. One thing you must understand when you land in lawschool is that one must learn to be humble (and I say this at the risk of appearing to be in support of ragging, which I am NOT). If a senior asks you to fetch water or do a pole dance, do it with a smile. It will only continue for 2-3 weeks and then those seniors would possibly be your best friends. However, there are some crude seniors who may overstep the line. If you feel pushed too hard or if you feel the seniors wishes are in bad taste, complain to the college authorities (possibly first discuss with the friendly seniors who you’ll hopefully be able to spot). But pushed “too hard” has to be judged sensibly, or some of the other seniors may take you to be a crazy fellow.
@ lawschoolites: the ones who rag juniors are the scum. Realise that you have to “command” respect. You can’t “demand” it.
#3: Sometimes we are reminded that the law school race should not be an end in itself. But if more people debate this honestly, maybe there would also be fewer reminders in future
NUJS student jumps from roof, dies; NUJS claims it’s appointed counsellor
GNLU Student on 14 August at 10:15 PM
I am not greatly aware of the detention rule in all other national law schools, but GNLU has recently come up with a new Detention Rule which states that a student will not be promoted to the next year if he/she has not passed all papers by the end of third year (VI Sem).
Around 20 students were not promoted to fourth year this July.
The University has come out with this rule to make the process stringent. In the first two years of GNLU's existence, there was no definite examination rules for students who could not pass their papers at the end of the five year course.
Later, the Examination Committee had started randomly experimenting with different rules every year.
On the other hand, reality in law school is different. Students who had finished their schooling in Hindi medium could just not cope with the law school environment because of their poor English skills. Most of the students who got through reservations are not proficient in English and this greatly affects their academic life in law school.
There is no one to guide/encourage such students at all. Peer pressure, family pressure and the complete lack of positive guidance will ruin any student's life.
I am not sure how far a psychologist will be helpful to remedy the situation in Indian law schools.
I believe that the students of the University should have a say in the drafting of the Examination Rules of the University. There should be a vote on key issues like detention.
One of the students who got detained under the recent Detention scheme at GNLU had not been able to pass just one paper. He is now forced to repeat his third year again just because he was not able to pass that one paper. Imagine the social stigma, peer pressure and family trauma.
The only way to remedy the situation is to protest and create awareness in the Indian legal academia against such inhumane, conservative and cruel Examination Rules.
May Wasim Iqbal rest in peace.
Honourable mention: The BCI gets a virtual earful from one of its constituents. Quite illegal.
BCIWOW on 30 July at 7:46 PM
I had no place else to put this, so here you go.
Just checked BCI's website, and they put up a notice to law schools which have not applied for re-accreditation. First of all, the list of the schools is supposedly "enclosed," but no where to be found on the website.
Second, who writes these press releases/notices? This is supposed to be the national accrediting body of legal education in India? And, they can't proofread their grammar? A couple of interesting jewels in the notice.
1. "It is made clear that without getting approval under new Rules of Legal Education – 2008, it is QUITE ILLEGAL to impart legal education leading to degree in law." --- Lol. It's not just illegal. It is QUITE illegal :)
2. "In view of the above, it is made clear that the students PASSED OUT from such colleges/universities having no approval under Rules of Legal Education" - What the hell is passed out? Passing out is a synonym for fainting or some similar spell. Couldn't they have just said, students who graduated?
There are many others -like using "therefore" in a sentence without giving a reason why the therefore is appropriate in a previous sentence - no context, nothing. Just mere conclusions.
And, these guys want to dictate the future of legal education in India? God save all of us.
Forum post of the week: Things I love about this bad boy (a.k.a. GLC Mumbai)!
GLC mumbai - bad reputation? No lectures, attendance, exams, etc?
By Pooja Natarajan
Hello. I am a first year student of the 5 year Law Course at GLC.
Okay,frankly speaking, for once I did feel that there were no lectures. The reason: having come from a boarding school where everything is perfect and well-timed. But after about a month all has fallen into the right place.
I do not know about the senior years but atleast for the First Year we have really good teachers for the various subjects. The fact actually is, that it depends upon the student if he/she attends those lectures!
Many of my classmates are into various committees, sports and the like and hence the attendance of the class is always average. Ah! I myself did not attend a single lecture today as I along with my friend were doing some work as given by the Magazine Committee of which we are members. Working in these committees do make us miss our classes but then we get to explore, learn and understand various other things of RELEVANCE.
We have an active student participation through various committees, and events, curricular, co-curricular and extra-curricular are well organised and managed by the students. (The Freshers' Moot Court competition and the Freshers' Party are great examples!!)
We get to learn so much of the practical aspect that its pretty natural to try and explore the theoretical aspect ourselves. We have our teachers to guide us all the time. WE need to approach them too.
My final answer to the question raised in the topic:
Lectures- YES!
Attendance-Depends on the student..!!
Exams-Not yet had them!
etc-..etc..(please specify)
:)
P.S. Dude! GLC is awesome!!! :D