You are completely wrong about this! The hunt for good mid levels / SAs is always on. Even more so with this AI generation. The associates that are getting added to the industry are absolute blank heads. Can't think even with a gun to their head. No firm wants these ChatGPT or Gemini hugging morons. Tbh in the coming years with Harvey, Legora, and what not, prospective associates will have to differentiate themselves and skills for recruitment, otherwise no need to hire.

Well, my lifes been a bit of a roller coaster, was an aspiring budding scientist got disillusioned with the way things work here, and have a masters in forensic science to boot, with varied experience in scientific coding, research, tech and crime in general, but dropped out of a well funded PhD here. Needed advice, if I did manage to switch to law via LLB will i still be able to have a career later on in corporate law by the time I graduate i.e at 34........want to at least know my chances even after putting all the work in. Please advise.

What matters right now are upcoming but behind the scenes opportunities that come with new building construction and other development activities in the name of student welfare, academic improvement and such hoary and hollow (but also hallowed) banners.

#Andthebandplayedon

AG is well known for ensuring that certain things get verbally mentioned but never recorded in the minutes. He was among the EC stalwarts during the reign of Lord Taluk who strongly opposed SJA access to EC et al minutes and agenda notes. Ofc he and his ilk were subsequently trounced and royally schooled in RTI by SJA. But SJA lost its spine and ball. So back to square one.

Since NKC did abuse his position and then lost it, his backers in the EC including AG switched positions too. The NKC appointees got blindsided; and having read the room they quietly complied with the verbal advice of the AG.

What matters now are the current faculty members in the EC and how they swing.

Been at t1 firms for 4-5 years now, I've seen people from NLS don't really go out of their way to help their juniors or new interns like how people from nalsar or nujs or nluj do, odd because nls has lesser people in these firms already (they leave for other passions and other reasons) - on top of that a lack of support is more damaging. An argument could be made that they are from nlsiu so a support per se is not needed and the name speaks for itself, but visibility is good for everyone in my opinion. Maybe I am not qualified enough to assess and this is an incorrect observation.

Very much. I don't have to take care of proof-reading documents. I give all my grunt work like preparing list of dates and events, culling out specific details from specific documents, drafting long emails to AI. so saves time there. Tried to use it for drafting but it wasn't that good and I had to spent more time than I could have saved.

Bands are still same as they were in 2024. IF any, the revision will happen in August/September and THAT TOO when some other T-1 firm increases it and they see people leaving. CAM is not that good among the tier-1s when it comes to associates' compensation. Right now as well, CAM at A0 level pays the least.

I've spent the last couple of years in-house handling government tenders and public procurement. By drafting and challenging tender conditions, filing writ petitions against discriminatory procurement policies, navigating GeM compliance, contract negotiations with PSUs and central government bodies. I've appeared and argued before the in court on some of these matters myself.

None of it is “landmark” at this stage, but the work is substantive and grounded in core constitutional principles, General Financial Rules violations, Indian standard certifications in the IT sphere and MSME policies. Given the rapid expansion of government digitalisation and defence spending, these procurement disputes carry clear potential to evolve into matters of wider legal significance.

The problem is that I'm paid like a junior paralegal, and I genuinely can't tell whether I'm building something valuable or slowly boxing myself into irrelevance. Law firm peers who do vanilla due diligence are earning 5-7x what I make.

So here's what I want to ask:

Does public procurement have real long-term value as a legal niche in India, or is it just glorified vendor management in the eyes of the market? Infra firms, defence contractors, and IT vendors all need this expertise but does the legal industry actually recognise it?

Can someone pivot from this background into a litigation or regulatory practice at a firm? I have courtroom exposure and draft extensively, but I don't carry a "firm pedigree." Is that an automatic disqualifier, or does relevant domain expertise still open doors?

Would you advise specialising deeper say arbitration, regulatory, or government contracts or is an LLM/course reset more practical?

Genuinely looking for practical opinions, and not reassurance. If this profile is a dead-end, I'd rather hear it now.

I have been in litigation since I graduated in 2023. Over the past three years, I’ve gained valuable experience working with an AOR and have been deeply involved in court practice.

I am now considering transitioning to a Disputes team at a law firm.

I’m unsure how to navigate this shift. I’ve heard that prior litigation experience is often “discounted” when moving to a firm, and while I’m prepared for that, I struggle to understand the logic behind it.

Why is chamber experience viewed differently from firm experience in disputes practice?

Also, practically speaking — how does one make this transition? It often feels like resumes from chambers don’t receive the same consideration from firms as they do within litigation circles.

Would really appreciate insights from those who’ve made this move.

Has the adoption of Legal AI tools like Harvey, Legora etc actually had an impact on the quality and intensity of work at big law firms? Estimates were that these tools would save approx. 2-3 hours of an average lawyers' time daily. Want to understand if we see these tools as actually and meaningfully improving work life balance at law firms in the coming times.

I don't think any law firm team (especially this one) cares about the concerns and the culture. Best is just leave and find some other place, no one will change because someone is raising a concern (rather you will only become the issue). Play your cards well, it is your career.

We have one Supreme Court and we get multiple interpretations on the same legal issue at the same time. Similarly, we have 26 High Court, and to find unanimity on a legal issue is a task. These are the Courts that have the jurisdiction to interpret the constitution. Imagine what will happen if every District Judge in every District all across the country is vested with the same interpreting jurisdiction. To my mind - Chaos and more Chaos.

1. Why the quotation marks around the word barrister? Are you that unfamiliar with how the English legal system works? Or is it supposed to be some kind of sarcastic dig at the English legal profession that just makes you look like what once Arnab Goswami wrongly described John Oliver as - "a motivated fool"?

2. Are you high or something? Do you even know how difficult it is to get pupillage in these places? Have you ever tried filling in a pupillage application form or attending a pupillage interview (or even getting someone with a secured career as a barrister to give you a mock pupillage interview)? Where is this "trend" nonsense coming from? Please respond with the precise name of what it is you are smoking. I need this dreamland of yours. This portrayal of NLU graduates en mass getting such places is utter nonsense - coming from envious TLC kid that wants to have a go at the ones he perceives to be the elite and get self-validation at the same time!

Hi everyone, I’m an Indian lawyer exploring opportunities to move abroad and would really appreciate honest, realistic advice. Considering job market demand, economic growth, immigration pathways, qualification hurdles, and long-term prospects, what are the best countries for Indian lawyers to relocate to?

LMAO it was the OG trend before Magic Circle firms. Thousands of wealthy people from big cities used to send their children to do that. Even now the Calcutta High Court has two judges who are barristers (Ravi Kapur and Arijit Banerjee).

This trend stopped after 5 year courses were established. But the trend is resurfacing because there are now too many 5 year law schools and the quality has seriously declined. Then you have NLSIU (under Sudhir), Jindal, Shiv Nadar and BITS poaching good professors. Also, Gen X NLU grads have made a lot of money, so they want aspirations for their children similar to the elites of olden days.

Maybe he or she actually cares about their career and wants real clarity about the path forward. Questions about work culture, promotions, growth, and whether you’re even serious about hiring are completely valid. And yes, even without an offer, someone can absolutely choose to walk away if those answers aren’t clear.

Not everyone is desperate to join your organization. Hard to believe, I know - but it’s true.

In any UK LLM, not that much. I have personally seen students from all kinds of unis. Do well at university, that's far more important. Just a few years ago, the first blind person from India to get the Rhodes Scholarship went to Oxford for BCL and MPhil. He attended the University of Nagpur and had a really killer profile.

At the same time, though from my own experience of having taken a UK UG degree and then having done an LLM and having seen other students experience this as well (and forgive me if this sounds obvious), some at least of the unis have implicit biases in preference for their own LLB students to do an LLM compared to others. For example, with the much-vaunted Oxford BCL, I once saw a student with an Oxford undergraduate BA in Jurisprudence (which is what Oxford calls its UG degrees), who got 2:1 in Oxford where the condition was to get a first, still getting into the BCL - the offer wasn't rescinded (though because of Oxford's system of making students take most of their degree module exams at the end of third year in a three-year degree, I'd say that anyone with a 2:1 Oxon BA Jurisprudence would be more likely than not in any other uni to get a first - they'd sure as hell have all the intellectual ingredients to get it). I don't think anyone, even from NLS, would get wiggleroom like that (though, from what I have heard of the lifting of academic standards to sky-high levels under that former DPhil supervisee of Paul Craig's who is now their VC, that is a bit of a shame, and they probably should get that similar kind of license to an Oxford student). Similarly, the London universities offer scholarships to students who have been to their own unis or other unis within the London university network which others are not eligible for (though these scholarships are more in name only, and literal peanuts in the larger scheme of things - a couple of thousand GBP max). For example, a guy I know that went to Queen Mary for LLB and got a first got a £3000 scholarship for UCL LLM, but would have gotten £6000, had he chosen to stay on at Queen Mary for LLM.

It is worth reading if you want to see how a proper democratic and international level indian firm works as compared to the usual one man show type of firms that are generally the case in India.

Democracy versus dictatorship.

Actual ownership versus sycophantic servitude.

Merit based decisions and rewards versus arbitrary whims and ass kissing.

From well-known journalist Swati Chaturvedi. Any idea who she means? Seems to be a guy?

So one mediocre attention seeking lawyer who spends more time on twitter than any court in Delhi, loses every case yet tries to get the twitter bench to try it & being a wannabe be wildly jealous of @KapilSibal

& @DrAMSinghvi

has finally got a Cong govt to bite & retain him. The govt should be careful he’s totally incompetent known for losing every case

https://x.com/bainjal/status/2024509043046273388

Oxford - In my opinion it's one of the most important factors. See their profile books for the BCL and look at the Indian Candidates. Literally all of them are rank holders from NLUs or JGLS. Maybe once in couple of years someone from SLSP or GLC gets in.

[Folks from lesser known colleges don't lose hope though just means that it's statistically less likely; not impossible. There is a first to everything. ]

Cambridge - Does not matter that much. They are more concerned with your application holistically and are a less selective that the Oxon BCL.

NUS - is not that big of a deal to get into. . It's called the Jindal for LLMs. If you have the money and a decent profile, you'll get in. (don't get me wrong - it's a great institution - just much less selective as compared to Oxbridge)

to answer the second limb of your question "if a student maintains a strong academic record (top rank), secures quality internships, builds research exposure, and obtains strong faculty recommendations, how much weight does the college “tag” actually carry in the admissions process?" - not very much, a candidate from a mediocre institute but with a killer profile (think - rank 1, excellent internships, publications, moot wins, RA ships and a authentic SoP and LORs that speak about their abilities uniquely) would beat a mediocre student from NLS 9/10 times who has a average rank and did not do anything much during law school.

Differing opinions are welcome

We've had joining magic circle law firms and training contracts in London as the "it" thing for a long time but now we see quite a few NLU graduates have started becoming "barristers" at chambers instead. Established practitioners are also joining the bar. What's it all about?

i want to get into competition law and i have an internship scheduled with touchstone's competition team in october. however, i wish to get my hands into the field as soon as possible and hence i was thinking of doing competition internships this june. i tried with elp, chandhiok and what not, but to no avail, especially elp. can somebody help me out a bit here?

is nliu bhopal worth it? gave clat this year, feels like its going to be my only option even though i tried for upgradation. i have heard terrible things about the ragging culture, especially the toxicity that has permeated in the 2026 batch. also heard that the placement stats have been going down every year? should i take a drop?

Has any one interned with India International Arbitration Centre. If one wants to apply please send CV to Mr. Sadooja at registrar@ind**iac.org. Also, please share your views on internship. Do they pay stipend.

In 2018, they supported AMS as a Congress candidate from Bengal. They didn't support him in 2024, because AMS would not leave the Congress and join the TMC. So AMS got elected from Telangana.

Any thoughts on whether one of their lawyers could make it this year? MG? A counsel from the Calcutta High Court? Fox-Mandal? Aquilaw?

https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2026/Feb/18/trinamool-set-to-win-four-out-of-five-rajya-sabha-seats-from-bengal-bjp-likely-to-bag-one

I'm not entirely sure what the scope of this question is or what discussion you intend to hold, but some fun facts:

- District Judges are constitutional functionaries. Article 233 of the Constitution talks about it, and Art. 236 gives an expansive definition of who all are considered as a "district judge".

Now, do you mean they should be constitutional courts in terms of their appointments being made similar to a collegium system (not sure if that's a very good idea).

- District Judges have the power to enforce fundamental rights. Civil Suits for enforcement of fundamental rights are maintainable, though most prefer invoking the writ jurisdiction.

So, anything to do with this? Maybe you want them to wield the power to strike down the laws too (again, not sure if that's a good idea).

I can't believe I've put in more effort just in trying to decipher what the OP intends to say, than the OP made in their post. I'm waiting for my matter to be called out & have nothing better to do at the moment.

Promotion is not the same as getting a PPO. For PPO, they have a one internship policy similar to KCO for fourth and final year students. There is no interview process, the presentation at the end of the month would serve as the interview. Try to work with seniors and partners (all partners are extremely approachable and happy to help). They give a fair bit of weight to the review forms of these folks. You’ll also have an exercise- where each intern is given either a term sheet or a DRHP to mark up and give comments on. This forms part of the assessment structure as well. And yeah I think that’s about it.

I am a final year law student and I am currently weighing my options as to which is the best field for career progression and skill development. I have done multiple Tier 1 internships and can confidently say that the learning curve for researching is over- I have a lot of experience with that. I am interested in criminal law and do not have much experience with drafting per se. I aspire to be a judge or alternatively an APP, but keeping in mind the 3 years practice rule, I am confused whether I should go for a law researcher position (the money, possible judge side exposure) and then practice at a chamber or straight away go for a good chamber practicing at the high court and district courts? I have been inclined towards the law researcher position but I want to take a decision based on what is best for my career growth. People glorify the LR position but I want to know- do you even really learn anything apart from briefing etc.?

PS: I luckily do not have an immediate requirement for money and can be supported by my family so that is not a crucial factor for me although it's good to have a heavy paycheck.

I have heard from insiders (associates) of T1 firms that hiring will stop for the upcoming batches because of AI. SAM and CAM has adopted their own AIs and top foreign firms are also doing massive layoffs because of AI. Can someone who already work in TA Indian firms enlighten me on this trend.

But the gentleman in question was given the long rope by Great Leader and Co to secure citizenship of this supremely non existent country in the first place. Having acquired the same he is sitting pretty in UAE whose Sheiks are dear friends if Great Leader. And less said about ED and CBI intentions...then again this has happened in the past and will repeat in future as well. That's why setting and following precedent is important.

Don't just stack internships. Perfect the craft. As Karl JUng said - No matter how isolated you feel you may be, if you do your work truly and conscientiously, unknown allies would come and seek you. Do more internships and decide that you're going to outperformer every intern the firm has ever seen. You'll make the partners want to hire you. Alos work on your oratory skills, personality, dressing sense, it also makes a huge difference in how people perceive you.

Definitely look into MNLU Nagpur’s Adjudication and Justicing program. The CLAT cutoff is usually around 5,000, and they’ve got a unique selection process with a psychometric test, GD, and interview. Nirma is another solid option to keep on your radar.

Take the entrance for JGLS and see if they offer you a scholarship. Honestly, if you aren't getting a significant fee waiver, it’s probably not worth the massive investment. Instead, I’d suggest giving the MHCET a serious shot. Getting into GLC Mumbai or ILS Pune is totally doable if you prep well. They’re super affordable and the brand value is huge. You won't get much hand-holding for placements, but that brand value opens doors everywhere, from Tier-1 firms to LLMs at IvyLeauge or Oxbridge.

Now, for a controversial take: I’d actually pick GGSIPU Delhi over a Tier-3 NLU. (even more if your home is in delhi) The ROI is great fees are only about 1 LPA. While the faculty and the vibe might not match a top NLU, being in Delhi is advantage. Thanks to the DHC judgment, you can’t really be debarred for attendance (they can at best deduct 5 out of 100 marks), which gives you the freedom to intern for a huge chunk of the semester. If you’re proactive and hungry enough, you can build a killer CV in Delhi that makes up for the lack of a top-tier brand. It might be a bit harder to get your foot in the door initially compared to NLU kids, but if you want it badly enough, GGSIPU gives you the location and the time to actually make it happen. Ultimately, the best attitude to have is that I am going to achieve what I want regardless of which law school I go to; because that’s just what I fucking do. People blame their Law School for their failure. But the highest level of self belief and awareness is to take ownership of your own actions. You can sit around complaining that your college isn't a Tier-1 NLU, or you can decide that your success is is consequence of your actions, not circumstances. If you’re proactive and hungry enough, you can build a killer CV (and truly and conscientiously work towards getting better at the craft ) that makes up for the lack the NLU privilege. Like NF said, "What's achievable depends on the risk." If you believe in yourself, take the risk. I took that risk by choosing this path, and I don't regret it for a second. Decide right now that you’re going to achieve exactly what you want regardless of the institution, because you are the only variable that matters. Good look buddy, may you achieve great heights in life :)