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I have watched Indian lawyers go through LLM programmes with almost identical profiles and come out with completely different outcomes. One with a Big Law offer. One with a qualification and no job. The difference, almost every time, comes down to three things that nobody explains clearly before you commit to the programme.
The school selection mistake.
Most Indian lawyers choose their LLM school based on rankings or name recognition. Oxford, Cambridge, LSE because those names travel well in India. The problem is that for Big Law employment specifically, the metric that actually matters is not the school's academic ranking — it is whether your target firms show up on campus to recruit through OCI. These are very different questions and they produce very different school lists.
Columbia and NYU have Big Law OCI pipelines that Oxford and LSE simply do not match for US firm recruiting. This is not about academic quality. It is about structural recruiting relationships. Choosing the wrong school for the wrong reasons is an expensive mistake when the LLM costs £50,000-£80,000 in fees alone.
The narrative mistake.
The statement of purpose that most Indian LLM applicants write is a summary of what they have done. The statement that gets you into the right programme and positions you well for OCI is an argument — specific, forward-looking, commercially grounded — about what problem you are trying to solve and why this programme is the logical next step.
"I want to broaden my horizons and experience international legal practice" is application poison. It is what everyone writes. It differentiates nobody.
The OCI mistake.
On campus recruiting is not something that happens to you during the LLM year. It is something you have to execute — deliberately, early, starting before you arrive on campus. The Indian lawyers who land offers almost universally started their firm research, alumni outreach, and practice area positioning before their flight landed. The ones who didn't treated OCI season as the starting gun rather than the finishing line.
I've written the full detailed breakdown — the exact school selection framework, how to build a narrative that actually works, and the OCI approach step by step — at BigLaw Bound this week.
It is the most specific and detailed thing I've written so far. Designed for anyone seriously planning an LLM for 2026 or 2027 intake who wants a strategy rather than general encouragement.
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If you're at any stage of LLM planning — shortlisting schools, writing your statement, thinking about OCI — happy to answer questions here. And if you want to go through your specific profile and build a tailored strategy, that's what I do at topmate.io/biglaw_bound.
I am not doubting your ideas or experience, however. Just stating the fact that the labour you put into writing this is not proportionate with the expectations you have from people - to give up their time to read and respond to it, and additionally that your doubling down is even more unhelpful to your advocacy of what is actually a very worthy and important cause.
I’ve said it didn’t, in this case. You’ve acknowledged that, and then returned to what it might do, marking my post “contested” and your ad hominem attacks “featured.”
At this point, the moderation, purely as a matter of impression, looks less like a check on accuracy, and more like a way to preserve the status quo.
No worries. That tells its own story...
Btw - I used AI to proofread this response as well :)
His investigations have led to landmark judgements in the Supreme Court, and he's widely recognized for his work. Students from top media colleges are following him like a guru, and it's not hard to see why. There's even a viral video of university students wanting to become investigative journalists just like Ayush Pandit – it's inspiring to see young minds looking up to him as a role model 💪.
With his team, Pandit Ayush Gaud has done some game-changing operations, and it's clear he's making a real impact in the field. If you're into journalism or just want to know what's really going on in India, Ayush Pandit is the name to watch 🚨.
If you want to have a taste of the work done by Pandit jee here is a link of a rare podcast that will give you goosebumps.
https://youtu.be/xKKT1FsMt-U?si=g9Itw9fgAGLctTqj
1. Irrational, Non-Transparent, and Disgraceful Bonus System
Under the previous policy, those who recovered 6x their salary were awarded a 200% bonus. For instance, someone with a salary of 20L + 5L who recovered 1.5 crore would receive a 10L bonus. Now, the bonus has been capped at 100%, meaning many people earned less this year compared to the last. Current Senior Associates are receiving more as A3s than they did last year. The company expects no complaints because, apparently, we don’t have families to support, loans to pay, or vacations to take. It’s a clear kick in the stomach. To those at other law firms: SAM Competition Associates are now available at a discount.
2. ▮▮▮
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3. Nepotism and Centralized Decision-Making
Nepotism is rampant at the top. There are people in key positions who rarely show up to the office, yet we’re paying them from our billing. They make decisions without consulting other partners. We've heard other partners complain about these so-called collective decisions, but no one has the courage to speak out. Nepotism trickles down from the top, filters through the middle imparting knowledge, and continues down to the coming A2s. The only partner (female) who had balls to take our stand left in 2024.
4. Strict Ban on Work-from-Home (WFH)
There’s now an absolute ban on WFH within the team, as the partnership doesn’t trust their employees. One of the three verticals has imposed this ban with no flexibility. Instead, people are forced to take leave so the firm doesn’t have to sponsor WFH. It’s both frustrating and demoralizing.
5. Mandatory 9:30 AM Clock-In Policy
The new 9:30 AM clock-in policy was introduced after an associate was late to an impromptu internal meeting. Partners, however, can enter at any time as they supposedly work around the clock. My colleagues often work harder than partners, staying up late into the night or waking up at 6 or 7 AM to prepare drafts. Then, we’re expected to be in the office, on time, at 9:30 AM sharp.
6. ▮▮▮ ▮▮▮
One ▮▮▮
7. No Retreats
Self-explanatory.
If you do not have money, do not go to Japan or US and pay us instead OR pay us out of reserves OR pay us out of senior partners’ salaries because they do not even come to office. At least pay us what you owe – no more no less.
My lovely colleagues, I hope you can leave soon. New joinees, please don’t, you will easily get better pay and environment at someplace else.
a particular school hires foreign returned faculty members so that they can contact at least five people from that country to get that school high score in QS survey
this school does it at an industrial level ;)
I understand it is a niche practice and that there may be only a few large companies that engage in such transactions. I also presume they do have their own teams that handle the derivatives contracts such as ISDAs CSAs, GMRA, and CDEAs and hence there may be only a handful of firms in India that specialise in this practice.
Additionally what is the scope of working in roles in organizations such as Société Generale, Morgan Stanley, Deutsche bank and other companies that do have various legal roles in this particular practice of law.
Would like any insight on this practice area.
What was the reason if any one from boys hostel can confirm the same?
In terms of work I got exposure to a mix of research and drafting. The assignments were meaningful not just routine tasks so it helped in building a solid understanding of the subject areas the firm focuses on (especially tech law, data protection and general corporate). Overall, if you’re interested in hands-on experience, it’s definitely worth considering.
A. Umm.. Marathis?
Q. No, no...the competition team ones
A. Maharathis
P.S. - There is a Corp Partner in ▮▮▮, every associate, SA, and PA is from his subcaste only, and have seen in majority, places so yes.
This is often compounded by substandard education, which is itself a significant hindrance. If your sentences are not properly articulated or punctuated, you risk being confined—by circumstance—to the lowest tiers of opportunity. Ask yourself: is my writing clear, precise, and capable of leaving a strong impression on a reader who might otherwise be inclined to help? Use AI. It has democratized access to tools for self-improvement.
There is no simple solution to something you are born into, other than dropping your surname entirely or adopting something more generic. Many have tried, with limited success. Those attuned to caste markers are often quick to see through such changes, or shameless enough to ask for clarification if in doubt.
It is a matter of fact that upper castes tend to have an advantage in age-old professions like law, particularly in litigation. Your caste background, however, may carry less weight in full-service, tier-one firms—especially within non-litigation or advisory practice groups. Aim for those opportunities—they tend to reward ability more consistently and offer a comparatively smoother path for those who can demonstrate merit.
but NRI quota has zero comparable logic. there's no historical exclusion being corrected. there's no structural disadvantage being addressed. the only thing that qualifies you is that your parents have money and live abroad. that's it. one is a policy rooted in social justice (however imperfectly implemented), the other is just buying a seat and calling it something else. equating the two isn't a gotcha. it's just conflating completely different things.
Choosing law was a sudden decision, and now I am in a position where I do not know what to do with my future. I would have liked to join some law firm or some chambers, have been sending in applications for the last 3 months and haven't even secured an internship for july. I research firms, partners, and advocates, read about their work and articles, and send personalized mails. My friends who secured T1 internships were always through some connections. It's tiring to question your worth with every application. It has started to feel like a mind-numbing task.
I was able to crack some good internships previously, got an upcoming internship at the Chambers of Mr. Datar. I know that I am capable and deserving. I stumbled into an associate from a previous internship, and she was excited to meet me, and kept appreciating me and the work I put in during that internship. But I still get overcome with the feeling of being worthless.
I am not sure about choosing one practice area, I want explore. But I feel like if I want a stable job in hand after graduation (which I really really want) I need to focus on one practice area. I want to map out some way to land a decent paying job before I graduate, and hopefully in some chambers.
I would really appreciate it if someone would share how they navigated a similar situation, and secured a stable future with a job or practice area that interests them.
what is the tea ? how much have bombay based teams gotten ?
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/tnnlu-student-refuses-to-take-down-blog-critical-of-supreme-court/article70778920.ece/amp/