Many students from NLUs secure internships and jobs in the legal departments of Big 4 firms. However, what about MBB firms (McKinsey, BCG, and Bain)? Do they recruit law students from NLUs as well? How does the internship or recruitment process at MBB differ from that of law firms? Is it more merit-based or do networking and connections play a larger role?

Kindly help

Had pretty much the same system as Bombay, called the dual system, where in the OS, the AORs were the solicitors, traditionally the members of the Incorporate Law Society (Of Bom or Cal) and the pleaders were usually barristers and members of the BBA (for Bombay) and CLBC (for Calcutta). There was an OS Exam for AORs, called the OS Exam. It was much more difficult than the AOR Exam of SC Today. That was done away with in 1970s. Now, the BILS conducts one exam which is similar. The CILS perhaps chose not to have one, which i think is a shame. Also, the SC continuing with the AOR System while the AOR Exam being abolished in the OS of Cal and Bom HCs, imo, is very stupid and hypocritical.

Dr Monika Negi is the only faculty at NLU Delhi teaching IL. She is the expert on both public and private international law.

Dr. Daniel, Dr. Nidhi, Dr. Garima, Dr Lamaarr, Dr. Tasneem, Dr. Syed Iqbal are her juniors but are good too. I interacted with them for internship. For transnational law there is Dr. Risham Garg. But I dont think so any any renowned professor of Public International Law is on deputation. Dr. Vinod (HR) or Yogesh Pai (IPR) yes are on deputation, But not IL. So yes, it seems Dr. Monika is the only one. What branch of IL are you looking for? You can always check the university website for the full list of IL experts and current students can tell more.

Adding on to this, can someone please explain how lateral hiring works? As in if it's PQE 6 months/ 1 yr or so are we allowed to mention past internships or assessment internships, moot wins, papers etc? What all is ideally removed? I have a really good cv in terms of the above (including international moot achievements, ADRs and great publications) but barely have practice area specific matters since the deals at the firm are pretty bad. I am currently placed at a toxic boutique firm and wanted to know how I should distinguish my CV to potentially switch. Someone please help and thanks a lot in advance!

Hey i am planning on pursuing 5 year integrated LLB programme from JGLS. I want to write LNAT this year but i am unsure about the type of scholarship I will be able to receive. I have sent an email to there admission office and and general queries office but haven't heard back from them yet. I also called the admission councellor but he didn't pick up and wrote to text him on WhatsApp so he can call me later, I wrote to him as well but haven't heard from him either. Can you please help me reach out to them? I want to be sure about the scholarship before spending on the LNAT fees.

FYI Karim Khan obtained an arrest warrant against Netanyahu. According to Wikipedia, he is a British citizen of Pakistani origin and his brother (a British MP) was ▮▮▮

▮▮▮

Guardian report:

The woman who has accused the prosecutor of the international criminal court of sexual abuse has been targeted by private intelligence firms as part of a covert operation said to have taken place on behalf of Qatar.

The Guardian can reveal details of the intrusive operation, which has obtained sensitive information about the woman, who works at the ICC, and her family members.

According to leaked files seen by the Guardian and people familiar with the operation, one of the firms sought her passport details and other sensitive information, including about her child.

A core aim of the intelligence firms was to find evidence that could be used to undermine her credibility and the abuse claims she has made against the ICC prosecutor, Karim Khan.

https://www.theguardian.com/law/2025/nov/06/qatar-linked-intelligence-operation-targeted-icc-prosecutor-karim-khan-alleged-victim

Is there a bar in the strictest sense, on Associates in Law, more particularly, litigation firms, and chambers (designated or not) on the Associates having their own matters?

Those in such 'no-independent-matter' workplaces, what have you done with matters you already had, if you joined such places after?

What consequences one may face, if they continue their own matters on the side, whilst being a part of such firms/ chambers?

I usually refrain from saying things that might hurt someone, but this GenZ narrative is just blood-boiling at this point. What kind of pleasure do people derive from these generational labels? I used to wonder who reads and believes in the crappy "GenZ did this, Millennials did that" articles, but apparently people do believe in that nonsense.

For your information, back in 2021, sociologists sent a letter to Pew Research Center saying to stop using these labels imagine the gravity of the situation when a field like sociology comes out and says this is crap. GenZ, Millennials this is all just a marketing gimmick, nothing else. Imagine saying people born between 1997 and 2009 share similar qualities. It's such a stupid statement. We completely ignore their culture, parents' income, and environment, and give them this blanket label.

As for companies bringing change, tell me how many have actually brought meaningful changes? And let's talk about this whole DEI training and pronouns business this is about as Western as it gets. We're importing American corporate buzzwords while actual problems in Indian law firms remain unaddressed. Talk about caste discrimination, brutal 80-hour work weeks, toxic hierarchies, gender bias, and harassment these are the real issues. But no, firms would rather run workshops on microaggressions and pronouns to look progressive while the exploitative practices continue unchanged. It's performative nonsense that lets them claim they're "woke" without fixing anything substantial.

It's like the "go woke, go broke" narrative where people point to Budweiser and conveniently forget Nike, Apple, and other giants.

Lastly, we are not special. We haven't brought meaningful change to this world, so the chest-thumping doesn't make any sense. And calling ourselves "digital natives" do you even know how the internet works? Using Instagram, X, and Facebook doesn't make you a digital native.

For the love of God, stop consuming crap on the internet. Before you say "go away Millennial," I'm a "GenZ".

They may be rigged, but also remember - IAS and IPS officers cracked one of the toughest exams in the world. Their kids have lots of social capital, but some of them also have a lot of fire and drive.

See Vineet Buch. He decided one day "I am going to top IIT JEE". He did.

But his parents had to get certain textbooks from Russia for him. They were IAS officers, and they asked the Russian embassy to send English copies of those books for their son. The guy used his privileges, but topping JEE is not a joke either.

Gen zs are A0s and A1s. They don't have any clout or authority to change/ influence anything. Also Gen z is not a homogeneous entity, every individual is different having their own circumstances. For those from humble backgrounds who may have dependent family members, or unpaid loans, retaining a high paying job might be the priority over work life balance. Not everyone is coming from generational privilege to virtue signal from an ivory tower.

At few firms, Cap Marks has become highly rewarding at least monetarily. Attrition remains high for the fact that pressure and volume of work is usually high. Earlier the work used to come in cycles, but now given the number of IPOs in India, there are no cycles and work comes in 24x7. WLB is quite non-existent in majority of the T1 cap marks teams including at CAM, SAM, Tri, KCO, JSA.

Not all of us were born affluent. Not all of us have the luxury of choice. Every interaction in this profession is an opportunity. The day I find a better one where I can truly add value, I will switch. Until then, I will keep working relentlessly to make ends meet. After all, someone has to pay the bills and there is no shame in accepting that.

An A1 at a Tier-1 firm working in a mid-team. Whenever there's a dip in work, I feel inherently terrified that they are not giving me work only to eventually fire me. I did make a few mistakes some time back which could have been avoided but this terror of getting fired gets to me and I am losing my sanity instead of enjoying the down time.

Hi,

Every month, 2-3 interns are assigned to my team. That makes it roughly 30 for the year.

Almost 90% of the interns are pretty good - well read, hard working, etc

It’s not practical to offer jobs to all these interns.

We are then required to filter the best amongst equals. At one instance, we were required to chose between two highly motivated interns - the decision boiled down to which intern adopted the firm policy style in their work product.

The competition is really quite tough and the benchmark - very high.

The situation will worsen with the increase in decent number of law colleges.

Best of luck!

▮▮▮ has once again shown how good it is at protecting its own instead of doing what’s right. A student who has been here shamelessly for almost ▮▮▮ years allegedly took advantage of a minor — he convinced her to get into his car, made her drink, and then assaulted her in the guise of dropping her off in her city. When the girl’s family wanted to file a case, a female faculty member, who is the presiding officer of Internal Complaints Committee, stepped in and talked them out of it, saying it would “hurt the family's reputation” (we all know its the university's reputation they're worried about).

Now that same person still walks around campus like nothing happened. As students, we’re angry, disgusted, and helpless — because this university never responds, never protects its students, and never takes accountability.

Perhaps he recognises that he cannot simply refuse to speak to people he disagrees with. Ideological quarantine might be morally flattering, but it is also absurd when it would require him to write off nearly half the country — the same half that elected the BJP to power three times in succession. He knows that if he wants influence, he cannot pretend they don’t exist.

You, of course, are perfectly entitled to avoid whomever you like. But don’t insist that every other liberal adopt that same monastic boycott. Not everyone is obligated to varnish their principles with social absolutism merely to remain acceptable at the next cocktail party.

My team works insane hours - it's the whole day everyday - weekends are also working except a few. It is never like there is no work and you are sitting ideal. I am already putting in so much hours and our lunch-dinner timings are also like 10 mins on a daily basis. If i am already putting these many hours might as well shift for a better pay? My TMT Teams is one of the best TMT teams and the number of mandates picked up is insane with shorter deadlines to have that revenue I understand. Please help with advice.

I am a student at what would be considered quite a good college by most people. I am a first generation lawyer and have wanted to get into litigation since before law school. I do now find myself at a bit of a crossroads regarding the kind of litigation that I will eventually get into. Broadly, the choice is between appellate and trial litigation. I find both kinds equally fascinating but I am a bit unsure as to whether trial litigation will be financially rewarding.

For context, if I get into trial litigation, then I will practice in my home town (fairly big metro, but not in the same league as Mumbai, Delhi etc). One of the reasons why I have been thinking about this choice a lot is that there is no High Court in my home town. Hence, choosing appellate practice would necessitate me to incur quite a bit of expenditure without much to show in return for a few years at the very least. My family is not uber rich but relatively well off financially. Despite this, it wouldn't feel right being that much of a drain on my parents' money.

I would really appreciate any advice which can help me reach a decision. Thanks in advance.

My advice to you would be to remain in Kerala. Your command of Malayalam, and your instinctive cultural alignment there, will serve you far better in Kerala than here. Delhi is a very different civilisation altogether — our language, our social codes, our temperaments — they don’t naturally overlap with yours. You would feel perpetually out of joint here. Besides, why would you want to live in a saffron state? Wouldn't you rather live in a state governed by a "left" "secular" "liberal" political party? Think about it 🤔

Yes, the Supreme Court is in Delhi, and several important appellate forums as well. And by all means — do come, argue your matters, appear physically when required. That is always welcome.

But as a matter of comfort and long-term fit — Kerala is home for you. Delhi is a place you visit, not a place where you must force yourself to belong. If the people don't, the smog will surely shoo you. Enjoy God‘s own country. I know I would - if I were a Keralite!

I once wrote a comment which went something like this:

Many years ago I left a Tier-1 disputes practice in Delhi and moved to a High Court practice in a Tier-2 city. I wasn’t sure it was the right decision. The idea was simply to try it and see. I don't regret the decision.

A few lessons from this side:

(a) In the beginning, remuneration will be around 10–15% of what you make in a Tier-1 firm. Maybe even less. It will be a bigger issue than you think.

(b) But the pay will rise steadily, and your cost of living will go down dramatically as you will be living in your hometown.

(c) The work initially may appear routine, but it will probably be better than what you did in the firm. I read more judgments in the first two months here than what I probably did in firm practice. And no case notes, argument notes, list of dates, or “notes” of any kind.

(d) You get to appear and argue much more. If you argue well, judges start addressing you by name. One gets to learn the art of adjourning cases which takes some skill (something even partners in Tier-1 firms sometimes brief Seniors for). Then one gets to argue!

(e) Work–life balance improves. You have more control over your time. Family is closer.

(f) No more Delhi–Gurgaon–Noida traffic.

(g) Disputes practice in a tier 1 firm is very different from actual litigation. A 100 million arbitration claim filed after many billable months cannot match the thrill of arguing admittedly not-so-complex cases every day.

But I suggest staying at the firm for at least two years. The firm teaches you many things. It will broaden your horizons and teach you how to think and act like a professional (and I am not talking about ChatGPT etc.). And you will have some savings.

You must be clear about why you want to move. If the motivation to shift is the belief that it is “easier” to become a designated Senior/ succeed simple because you are from a Tier 1 NLU with Tier 1 firm experience in a Tier 2 city, you would be wrong.

Hi all, I wish to switch from an in-house banking role to the M&A and PE/VC practice of a T1/T2 law firm in Mumbai. Please note that I have a PQE of 3-4 months, so its a little tough to switch. In-house hours are reasonable and the work environment is healthy, but the problem is the work's just not intellectually challenging. I am of the opinion that one needs to experience the rigor of a law firm at least in the initial stages of their careers, and maybe move in-house after a couple years down the road. I have been trying to land an interview opportunity for the past 3 months, but I have hit a dead-end. Please let me know how can I switch.

Arre bhai, these “rankings” are made by western agencies who can’t handle the rise of Bharat! They give marks for how many foreigners are sitting in your classroom, not how much actual knowledge you produce. Do they count the CEOs running Google, Microsoft, and Adobe? All from Indian universities. Do they count ISRO, which landed on the Moon’s south pole before anyone else? No, because that doesn’t fit their “narrative”.

And what’s this obsession with “Harvard of the East”? We don’t need to be anyone’s East or West. Harvard should be dreaming of becoming the IIT of the West! Our IIT grads are building the future of the world, while others are just busy making fancy campuses for rankings.

Let them keep their “scores”. We’ll keep our brains, our jugaad, and our Made-in-India moon landers. Bharat doesn’t need validation from some foreign list!

Believe it or not, I knew an undergraduate law student in England a couple of years ago who managed to run a cafe in Salisbury at weekends while studying law at university in London during the week. (Her parents were in the UK armed forces.) She seemed to quite enjoy her life but found it boring after a point (especially around the end of her second and throughout her third year of LLB) and went off for a law firm career once she'd finished uni. Last I heard, she'd completed her TC and obtained a couple of years PQE but was stating sadly that she had never fully appreciated all the good things of her cafe-running life while she was living it.

Must have been tough, though, considering the workload. But she was super disciplined (suppose the army culture from parents came in there). Used to wake up super early in the mornings from what I was told - around 3am. But law firm life is so horrible that even people like that can't stand it.

Getting promoted is not everything bro, getting some time just to feel sane is important. In law firms you just cannot expect to get even bare minimum time for your self, what will you do with connection and promotion when you can't even breath. The hounding of in house jobs over law firm feels immature in the long run. Yes you get money, but you don't get the time to spend it.

Hey bro thank you so much for your invaluable sights. Altough dropping out at this point is a bit risky, I am confident that I can bag a tier 1 nlu provided that I have adequate time. Its just that I have gotten a lot of negative reviews from my seniors about the college and its scary when the college is not helping the students in internships or placements. I know that if I take a break year I'll definitely get a better college. But thanks a lot for your reply:) will carefully think about it before making any hasty decisions.

Hi guys,

I have 2.5+ years of experience in real estate and I am currently working with a Tier 3 law firm. Desperately looking to switch to another firm. Is anyone aware of any vacancies currently? Also what is peak hiring season for firms? Any leads at all would be appreciated. Thank you.

IITs are much better regarded than these universities! Name even 5 graduates of these Chinese/HK/Sing universities who are heading Silicon Valley companies, like Sundar Pichai etc?

Same for law - how many Big Law partners from these places???

These rankings are useless!

For example, are law firms now giving more attention to work-life balance and mental health? Have they stopped exploitative practices? Are firms appointing DEI practices and training, so that people are sensitised towards problems like microaggressions, misgendering through wrong pronouns, patriarchy, caste etc?

While I rarely vent out, this time I feel annoyed, frustrated and depressed - so much so that I can't help but come here for some solace and guidance. I interned with a law firm (not SCAM) very recently and put in more than 10 hours of work almost every day. All the people I worked with gave very good feedback but alas, I still didn't get a callback. Why is this process so cruel that even after you're working till late nights and receive good feedback, you still can and will receive a rejection email. I understand I'm from t2 nlu and do not have a very good gpa but does this really matter? If not, then what do they need behind basic communication skills, attention to detail and the quality of work? What else? Because I, at least from the feedback received, did fine in most things.

I still can't stop crying thinking about the amount of time I wasted for their peanut stipend. It's a learning experience, you will earn once you learn, etc is what everyone says. This is all bulls**t. I don't even know what I am writing anymore but I just can't get over it. I still can't believe I did not get a callback. I thought my work was good.

BUMP! I worked for about an year in dispute resolution space after graduating, before I quit to prepare for the exams. Even I have the doubt regarding hurdles in re-joining the workforce, should the need arise. Any comments from people with hiring or similar experience would be helpful!