I admire your idealism — it has a certain vintage charm — but the reality is rather more prosaic. India has produced a surplus of lawyers vastly disproportionate to the number of litigants who can afford litigation. When the profession outnumbers its market, the consequences are inevitable and rarely edifying.

Those without pedigree or patronage discover quickly that Supreme Court litigation is not a career path but a stress test. Brilliance is helpful but scarce; luck even more so. The genuinely intelligent do the sensible thing and leave for corporate practice.

As for the younger Senior Advocates: yes, their filing practices are unbecoming of the designation. But clients reserve premium fees for seniors alone. If one is not designated by the late thirties — and is not already a Shardul, Pravin, or Karanjawala — the market marks one as permanently “non-premium.” Early designations and discreet filing practices are the predictable result.

This is not decline; it is adaptation. The solicitor–counsel divide is collapsing everywhere, including Bombay, and the incoming generation of AoRs is considerably more competent than your nostalgia allows.

Which brings us to your proposal: abolishing the Senior Advocate designation. Admirable in sentiment, catastrophic in consequence. Remove the only substantial financial incentive in litigation, and the Bar will empty faster than a Delhi courtroom at 4:58 PM on a Friday!

I understand your confidence in Indus, but there are a few things to consider. First, comparing pay across different practices is tricky, as compensation often depends on practice area and seniority. While Indus may seem competitive, it hasn't revised pay in a while, unlike other firms like AZB and JSA. JSA’s bill-sharing system allows associates to earn more, even if their base salary seems lower. Regarding work-life balance, while it may appear Indus offers a better environment, I’ve heard complaints about specific seniors making juniors’ lives miserable, leading to attrition. The Vietnam retreat feels like a distraction when basic perks like pay revisions and snacks are cut due to cost-saving measures. As for attrition, it’s not just partners moving laterally, many associates are leaving due to poor conditions. It’s not about being “delusional,” but about seeking a fair balance of compensation, respect, and a healthier work environment.

This GenZ exceptionalism narrative is blood-boiling nonsense. "Feeling so old"? You're 23. And worrying about Gen Alpha replacing you is literally what every aging generation does. "Will the kids after us be as good as us?" It's the oldest story in the book.

Back in 2021, sociologists sent a letter to Pew Research Center saying to stop using these generational labels. Imagine the gravity when a field like sociology comes out and says this is crap. GenZ, Millennials, this is all just a marketing gimmick, nothing else. These labels were primarily made for white American middle class. Even in that case it was flawed, but using it in India is plain stupid. Imagine saying people born between 1997 and 2012 share similar qualities. It's such a stupid statement. We completely ignore their culture, parents' income, and environment, and give them this blanket label.

"Most transformational generation"? "Broke regressive standards"? "Culture of inclusion"? Let's talk about reality. Go to any NLU and introduce yourself with just your first name without your surname. Watch how quickly people get aggressive asking for your surname. Casteism is still very much alive, just implicit now. We haven't broken anything. The same hierarchies exist, just with better PR.

Indian legal education is still the same except a few universities. Being a student at one of the good NLUs, I can tell you the quality of education is still crap. You're still dependent on the professor. Try telling them what they're teaching is wrong, and they'll tell you to go and complain to the VC and get them removed. Where's the transformation in that?

Every generation thinks they invented critical thinking and social justice. The batch before you thought the same thing. You didn't invent questioning the curriculum. Law students have always debated and challenged their professors. Calling it "epistemological and ontological assumptions" doesn't make it special, it makes it pretentious.

We are not special. Calling ourselves "digital natives" because we use Instagram and X doesn't mean anything.

Had you applied critical thinking, you wouldn't have written this post in the first place.

I'm 19 years old, to GenZ.

One of my senior while assigning me some research work. Please make this note like how a first year associate would make by 8 in the morning. This while assigning me work at 6 last evening which including going through endless amounts of pages and deep-reading them. Both the timeline and the fact this task was assigned me during my internship, where I did not even know what does " draft like a associate means". It was extremely absurd.

study proves that silent quitters are psychopaths

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001691825011734

picked up by dailymail, i know the link does not work in India but still here it is for tldr https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-15342107/quiet-quitter-PSYCHOPATH-scientists-study.html

trust me, I got an internship in a pretty well known firm in Pune, and I faced some real unreasonable and morally degenerated behaviour from a lady associate and confronted her for the same- She apologised as it was not work related frustration but her personal. Also the partner has some next level liking for the female interns, he also somewhat showed a pretty rude attitude towards me. And after working for 10 days I left the firm. No reasoning, No regrets- never accept such behaviour and always confront- Change comes with you

Except GPT4 showed everyone that fine-tuning is dead, and I can guarantee that none of these services are providing a custom model.

All modern AI applications are built on APIs that call the same general use models, and provide some supplementary information in the context of these models. Jurisphere/Lucio do not have their own "specifically trained in Indian legal data" models, they just provide this information to the same Gemini/GPT/Claude models you can use through the API. There is no moat whatsoever.

Need practical advice as to how one - who worked in law firms - can get out of the hustle and start their own chamber.

I don’t even have a clue on how to get freelancing drafting work or work for the new chamber I establish - inside my house.

How do you market - how do you get your own clients!

Help!

Please name your law school as well.

- Eric Hobsbawm

- EP Thompson

- RC Majumdar

- Jadunath Sarkar

- Romila Thapar

- Irfan Habib

- Satish Chandra

- Bipan Chandra

- Partha Chatterjee

- Ranajit Guha

- DN Jha

- Others (please specify)

I am a tier 2 NLU grad. Currently working in as a state govt employee in maharashtra on a Class 2 post. Posted in a tier 2 town in maharashtra. My dept. is moderately corrupt but with v.high risk and as i dont engage in such stuff face a few problems ( minor not huge ) , but have GOOD power here. Got a couple of friends working in Sebi. One of them suggested I give Sebi generalist ( i had given previously also couldn't clear then joined state service ), his main argument is MORE POWER AND CONTACTS HERE. Another friend says no and says now corruption has infested Sebi and toxic seniors worse than my current dept.

Would really appreciate your advice guys . Thanx.

There’s a development unfolding within the practice of advocacy that is not merely concerning — it is profoundly unsettling. We are witnessing the rise of an entire category of lawyers whose principal role is not advocacy, not legal strategy, not even substantive engagement with the case, but simply to act as glorified couriers for filings and briefings headed to Supreme Court Senior Counsel. To imagine this as a harmless administrative evolution would be a grave mistake. It is, in fact, a system that has been carefully constructed — and carefully maintained.

What should trouble any serious observer of the profession is this: these firms function because senior counsel — yes, the seniors themselves — are feeding them the work. For anyone outside this comfortable little ecosystem, let’s be absolutely clear. This is a complete inversion of how the system was designed. The client never belonged to the senior. The senior was meant to be briefed, not to orchestrate the flow of briefs.

Then there is the matter of fees — astronomical in many cases — and the perpetual “unavailability.” These obstacles exist primarily for those who stand outside the charmed circle. But route your matter through one of the favoured firms and suddenly the senior is available, the conversation changes, and the fee structure becomes remarkably flexible. It is, frankly, astonishing how openly and effortlessly this cartel operates.

Which leads to a question we have been far too hesitant to confront: has the time come to reconsider — perhaps even dismantle — the entire edifice of Senior Advocates and AoRs? The oft-cited claim that AoRs provide some form of meaningful filtration is, to put it politely, implausible. Everyone within the profession knows it. What remains today is a structure that is conceptually outdated and practically repurposed to restrict access to Supreme Court work.

And here we must also address the hypocrisy. A number of younger designated seniors — including the NLS and NLU pedigrees who present themselves as the torchbearers of professional ethics — are, in reality, running what are effectively law firms. They draft. They file. They brief other seniors. They do precisely what the rules say they should not — all while maintaining a veneer of sanctimony about the honour of the designation. Even some of the “stars” so frequently lauded on this very platform are immersed in this charade.

Perhaps the time has come to speak about this openly — and honestly.

Let’s discuss this.

How is it trollish to query why the SJA has not shown interest in uncovering how much the univ spent on litigation during NKC regime, including certain specific matters?

Also why is it trollish to debate whether NKC actually paid AMS, MD etc from his pocket or was it covered by univ or the state govt?

Hi folks - I work in litigation team of a tier 1 firm. PQE 3-4. I am looking for good suggestions to join a Senior Advocate chamber in Delhi HC with a decent amount of appearance in SC and tribunals. The pay should be good with liberty to take independent matters as well.

Please give genuine suggestions.

No age is too old for the heart :-) https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/harish-salve-former-solicitor-general-of-india-weds-for-third-time-video-101693799053231.html

If you get an oppurtunity to - please join. Notably the best place to work. People are warm and kind, they usually take up only one intern a month, so the process is super competitive.

With respect to work - Its only antitrust, so make sure you have your foundation clear. They work with a range of clients - and all really interesting, cutting edge work. And honestly you get to do more than just research it is pretty hands on.

The office is beautiful, extremely familial. And the associates are really sweet too, honestly one of the best places to network as they all come from Tier 1s with a wealth of experience. Unfortunately, they do not hire freshers (although there is one exception), the bar for work is extremely high, but so is the learning curve.

Got invited to a couple of these parties. Awesome Disney-themed, Avengers-themed themed stuff. Luxurious venues with fancy catering, DJ party, games etc. Prizes like Lego sets for winning games, plus everyone who attended got a doll or action figure or pencil case. The cake itself can cost a couple of lakhs. And good food and drink for adults too

Is that the norm now and expected from everyone to keep up appearances? Not trying to be a hater. It would have been my dream come true if I had a party like that when I was a child. 😅But still seems like a lot to spend on.

The idea of 90% reservation in government jobs but 0% in universities completely misunderstands how opportunity works, you can’t expect marginalized communities to qualify for public jobs if you block their entry into higher education to begin with. And framing college admissions as “pure merit” ignores that merit itself isn’t born in a vacuum, it’s shaped by decades of unequal schooling, caste privilege, financial stability, and access to coaching. Without educational reservation, you simply launder structural inequality through the language of merit and then pretend the system is fair. A just society doesn’t create opportunities at the finish line while slamming the door at the starting point.

Need Some Honest, Battle-Tested Advice!
I’m exploring an opportunity to work in the PE/M&A team at Trilegal.( Blore)
Background: 3 years of experience, Tier-1 college, decent survival instincts. I’ll be working with a female partner (mentioning purely for context — no gender angle here).

For anyone who’s been in the trenches:
What should I really expect from this team and this practice?
The deal flow, the culture, the late-night existential crises, the “this-SPA-is-now-my-best-friend” moments… all of it.

Looking for the good, the bad, the hilarious, and the “wish-someone-told-me-this-earlier” insights.
Basically, help me prepare mentally, emotionally, and caffeine-wise.

Thanks in advance!

This is untrue. Cambridge has often taken students with zero RQE in its MCL programme. However, MCL seats are limited (typically a batch of 20-30 students per year), though less competitive than the LLM which is considerably cheaper in terms of cost. Cambridge's LLM also allows you to specialise in Corporate Law/Commercial Laws if you take at least 3 out of 4 papers from the Corporate Law area (e.g., Corporate Governance, Corporate Finance, Insolvency Law, Competition Law etc.). Cambridge's LLM along with Oxford's BCL would give you an unparalleled Corporate LLM experience. They are also cheaper than USA based LLM's, out of which only Columbia, NYU, Cornell and UC Berkeley offer equally good Corporate LLMs.

Sim & San, Lexster Law, Tuli (only in lower courts), Khaitan (for smaller matters, up to HC level, but very partner specific), Ritu Bhalla from Luthra allows for small matters if she's convinced that you will deliver, Panag and Babu is the same. These come to mind, but as someone has rightly pointed out, IP firms are a better bet if you wish to argue - A&A could be a good place to start.

Hi. I have 20 years of accademic expedience of teaching law. I have phd in Cooyright law and i am not science graduate so prctice as Patent agent is out of question. But now i want to do work from home which doesnot involve travelling or may be once or twice of that. Please suggest

I’m no fan of Mahua Moitra, but Jai’s tweet calling her husband geriatric was unnecessary and in distinctly poor taste. It’s a good reminder that class isn’t about adopting an aristocratic tone; it’s grounded in character — which was notably absent here. Isn’t Jai in violation of a certain court order by tweeting like that?

Still, I’m genuinely happy for Henry — this custody saga must have rattled his “feelings”….

It was easy bro.. per unofficial answer keys, I'm getting 82-85 (few questions are having different answers as per different institutes), and I never touched any bare act or studied for the exam.. most of the answer were barely requiring any mental acumen. I also found it easy as I had good professors for most of the topics; hardly needed bare acts, apart from that one question from CPC, iykyk

Matt kar lala. Firms are even worse only glorified clerical work nothing much rather go for litigation if there is no financial problem otherwise in house in much better than these lala sweatshops. You would regret this decision trust me the grass always looks greener on the other side.

Mr Shah is a tough boss with exacting standards. That is not up for debate.

However, if you can cut it for 2-3 years you have your pick of tax firms to choose from thereafter. If you can cut it for longer you can set up you own practice with strong appearance visibility like Sabari did, given the extremely strong and high profile client base that Mr Shah has.

Important to remember that Mr Shah in his pre-ELP, ELP, and now counsel avatar has helped shape the careers of more than a hundred+ tax professionals including at least a dozen+ who lead leading tax & trade practices at ELP, Big4, and home grown firms like Dhruva etc.

Also the pay in the Chamber is very competitive, marginally below top tax law firms which is rare for a Chamber in Mumbai. Probably to reflect the intensity of work.

So while it an intense work environment it really is a very attractive option for anyone serious about a career in tax in India.

It was Tough as hell man. Only 25% direct questions were there rest all was upto your prior knowledge and to contribute to the fact the centre, litterally worst, small chair and tables. Literally they savewd a lot of money and allocated everybody this shitty infrastructure. Also a few questions were wrong , I mean they didnt even existed.

For one of the posts, the Zomato founder noted the candidate should forget work life balance. Goyal is hiring for the position of Chief of Staff to CEO and he requires the candidate to work 24*7 and forget about work life balance.

"As the Chief of Staff to one of our CEOs (Zomato, Blinklt, Hyperpure), you will be nothing less than a force multiplier and a mini-CEO for the organization. You will drive large priorities across the organization to influence outcomes and maintain momentum,” Goyal noted in the post. “This is a 24—7 job, and the traditional employee mindset of "work life balance" won't work," the Zomato founder noted in the post.

https://www.indiatoday.in/technology/news/story/zomato-is-hiring-founder-is-looking-for-people-who-can-work-24-hours-with-no-work-life-balance-2326726-2023-01-26

Curious about these awards that are being given out in the legal field from time to time. Just saw people win emerging academic, lawyers in a recently concluded event.

I am from a tier 3 city, practising here and seeing this makes me confused about the how these things work out?