More than 465 legal jobs eradicated due to AI being able to read legalese with more and more ease. Are knowledge based professions done for? People with up to 7 years of experience have been removed. And at the bottom of our hearts - let’s be honest - we all know AI can do our jobs. Terrified!!!!

https://abovethelaw.com/2025/07/microsoft-layoffs-hit-in-house-counsel-is-ai-disruption-to-blame/

It is SHIT. Their pay is 30k pm. As an intern, you will work only on compliance manuals. Interned there for 6 months, their associates are soooo weird. Diksha will compete with you at every level. Anshita and Deonn are the only nice people. So if you are ready for compliance manuals and basic brsr work, join

Here is the thing, you will keep making mistakes in the beginning because your brain is not used to doing one thing so relentlessly day in and day out. Eventually, you will get used to it and make fewer mistakes. The best way of eliminating them is that you start keeping a list of the mistakes you make and then the next time you are done with a task and check if you have made the same mistakes at the end before sending it out. Checking off against a list will help you avoid repeats and make you have learn from your past.

Taking solace from other's mistakes is not in my view correct, sure everyone makes mistakes, but you must only measure up to your own high standards. People in the legal profession have varying tolerances, but as long as you set lofty standards for yourself and work towards meeting them you will end up doing better. It will help with your esteem to.

As for feeling like it is the end of the world or that you are not cut out for practicing law, remember once you go up the chain your only job is to catch other's mistakes - like the ones you yourself are making. Everyone made them and has now grown past it. You will to, if you manage to just work through it. There's nothing you can do once a mistake is made and sent out apart from learn, I suggest you get good at that atleast.

As someone who has transitioned to a law firm after initially working for 2 years with an Indian In-house (doing the repetitive boring non-legal work) the only thing I'll tell you is to be open to anything and any type of firm/work (prefer corporate as more likely to get hired there as compared to Disputes) + do not be too stubborn with pay. Once you've got a step inside, can easily navigate your way to better firms with 1-2 years of PQE.

I had been engaged in a recruitment process with a Tier-1 law firm, for a position within one of the top-tier practices. After two rounds of interviews (with the SAs & the PAs), I was informed many a times that a final round with the partner would has been confirmed and will take place very soon, on the top of that, I was even told that the partner was keen to have me join the team. And over the past three months, I followed up with the HR team regularly and was consistently reassured. However, after my most recent follow-up, I was informed that the position is no longer available even without taking that round. This came as a surprise and disappointment, particularly given the level of reassurance I had been given throughout the process. I had genuinely relied on this opportunity when planning my next steps. I'm now left in a bit of a fix. I had even written to the partner (for the first time during the whole process, I regret not having reached out to them earlier itself) but haven’t received a response so far. Would it be inappropriate to try calling them directly? Or should I simply move on (which is hard because I really wanted this).

I understand that recruitment priorities can change, and I respect the firm's/team's decisions, but in this case I am a bit confused as to what happened and I would like to hear from those who may have been in a similar situation, or suggestions on how best to approach this going forward.

What is wrong with the Modi government???!!! These guys are batting for visas for yoga teachers and cooks, but not lawyers???!! Don;t they want talented Indian law grads to work in the UK??

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GwtYnYKXEAAxpP6.jpg

Full episode: https://x.com/An0th3rDud3/status/1948461143770771613

You can't do that in India. First of all, you can't even go close to the kind of bold stuff that South Park does. These guys mocked Obama, Bush, Jesus, Mohammed etc, in really foul language. Secondly, South Park parodies both the right and left. Kunal Kamra types will only go after one side.

Definitely true. Not only in T1's, but in almost all firms, looks, being fair skinned, and coming from a lot of wealth helps you rise the ladder quickly. Those from middle class backgrounds and those who are humble and down to earth struggle a lot. Better to leave the country and settle down in Europe / New Zealand rather than slog in a law firm.

What about promotions ? Let's say I do get in as Asst. Prof of Law based on my net and LLM. However, when the time comes for promotion they require a PhD , I have a PhD in Public policy, will it still count as a PhD ? Can't find anything on the net about the UGC rules. Is it only a PhD or a PhD in law specifically for promotions?

As stated in the above answers, the AI-proof subjects are those involving unpredictability and corruption. An AI engine can draft a commercial contract between Microsoft and Apple, or conduct a due diligence. But it cannot bribe a policeman to destroy evidence in a criminal trial, or bribe a labour inspector to drop your case. So the black-coated lawyers in Tis Hazari from DU, Meerut, Rohtak etc will be the ones who will be ahead. The elite NLU and Jindal grads are clueless about such grassroots practices.

Hi this is OP.

What other option do I have man? I will miss out on placements. I worked really hard for a tier 1 job, I have looking loan obligations and my parents are crushed because of this. It feels like someone died at home. They're looking at me with disdain right now. Please keep in mind these are the parents who abused me through childhood mentally and physically, and you cannot imagine the pressure and effort I had to take alone with my kfc and other side earned income to pay for stuff. You can't imagine the relief I found when I finally got to be away from home in college, and when I got the offer mail, u can just think what kept my feet off the ground. My parents haven't fed me now that I was home for the summer holidays I had to survive on milk. They hate me. Tell me what other option do I have. If I don't get help here, I have to resort linkedin and I know no other firm will consider me after that. Nobody is offering internships even alumni has gone silent, and I understand it's because of the market. Now as i wait in my hostel for the final days I cannot help but feel defeat, consider this a vent

Hi this is OP.

For those saying I didn't get the offer, I actually did get the PPO mail. The firm is the recent JSA Banking partner who left to a lala firm. Literally used to assign so much work and now AWOL bilkul, his SA has blocked me lmao, im so done what do i even do, hr is super confused and so annoying on calls. Can someone help me please?

From the BBC:

Ministers argue the move will boost engagement in democracy and give young people a say in their future.

But critics claim it could benefit Labour as young people are more likely to vote for left-wing parties.

The government has rejected the idea this is the motivation behind the change, with Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner saying it is about strengthening democracy rather than "trying to rig votes for a particular party".

…

YouGov's latest voting intention pollputs Labour in the lead amongst 18 to 24-year-olds at 28%, followed by the Greens on 26% and the Liberal Democrats on 20%.

In contrast, the Conservatives were on 9% and Reform UK on 8%.

Some pollsters say that while there's no reason to think 16 and 17-year-olds would break away from the pattern of young people leaning to the left, there isn't enough polling of this age group to say with confidence how they would vote.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cq5362v5762o.amp

Are we forgetting that the Sibal boys are from Delhi with wives from prominent Delhi families, homes and connections, while Gopal and Haripriya are from the south? Makes a massive difference when you belong to the city's elite and practise in the High Court. Cant even begin to compare that niche Delhi corporate practise to a national Supreme Court practise covering Consti, crim, civil, environment, sports and also commercial.

Hello everyone,

I am entering my 4th year, am studying in a top NLU but my CGPA is really bad. I worked hard for CLAT but dealt with very traumatic personal life problems during my initial college years due to which I was debarred from many exams and my academic credentials could never recover from there. My confidence was also badly hit and ever since I focused on the courtroom more than classrooms and focused on excelling in internships and practical experience.

I have decent extra curriculars including moots, competitions, publications and leadership/organisational roles but I'm unable to bag a decent T1 internship from my college because of being a bottom ranker. I got a T1 internship from a reference and worked really hard there, they even offered me a callback but at some point they would ask for my academic credentials and I don't know how to navigate that. I really want to build a career in dispute resolution and my CV/experience is also catered towards it - could someone please reference/recommend any decent paying law firms which are hiring for disputes and would focus more on assessment rather than CGPA?

Any other advice would also be really appreciated, please refrain from making sarcastic/toxic comments. I am really in need of some honest advice.

Because of relative isolation while studying, single-minded focus on marks and hyper-competitive attitude?

I’m sorry if I rustle any feathers, but I had to ask this question. The same thing is being said on many IIT and Kota forums on Reddit, so just wondering if it also applies to law?

Also, by poor social skills, I don’t necessarily mean being shy. It can include being toxic towards girls. We have unfortunately seen many examples of this, including a CLAT topper who was once publicly called out on social media by a girl some years ago. Plus tons of examples on Medium etc.

There are now tons of executive and hybrid courses offered by the top IIMs, with very low admission requirements. I see a lot of people doing these and adding it to their LinkedIn bios. From what I understand, graduates of these courses are included in the IIM alumni network. Does this help? Is the IIM A/B tag enough, regardless of the course? Or are only MBA graduates who entered through CAT preferred? Any insights?

BTW here is an article on Navya Nanda. It says:

Actor Amitabh Bachchan's granddaughter Navya Naveli Nanda recently announced her admission to the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad. Following her announcement, many online users were curious about her CAT percentile, which helped secure her spot at the prestigious institute.

One X user, tagging an associate professor at IIM Ahmedabad, asked, “Prof Promila Agarwal, Navya making it to IIMA news on SM is going big. Did she really get those crazy 99.99 percentile? (sic)”

The professor responded to the query and wrote, "She got a solid CV btw*. You don’t necessarily need CAT. Link**. Irrespective, hats off to everyone for being courageous enough to sign up for a rigorous program (sic)." She also joked about the 'hard life' at IIM Ahmedabad, adding, "PS: Just like other students, looking forward to her posts cribbing abt hard life at IIMA (laughing emoji)."

In a follow-up post, Professor Promila shared a link describing the ‘Eligibility Criteria’ for Navya’s course, the Blended Post Graduate Programme (BPGP). To gain admission, one must be a working professional or entrepreneur with at least 3 years of full-time work experience. Applicants should be at least 24 years old (there is no upper age limit) and hold a bachelor’s degree, CA, CS, ICWA, or a similar qualification (with at least 15 years of schooling).

IMO I don't think AI can take over entire practices of law. Even the most mundane, process-driven practices require human 'cleverness' from time-to-time, and I don't think AI models are there yet (and when they do get there, we should all join Elon on Mars 'cause, you know, Skynet).

What AI can replace right now is certain process like due diligence reviews.

I don't think that the demand supply mismatch can be disputed. There are now tons of NLUs, plus Jindal, Symbiosis, BITS, Bennett etc. Batch sizes keep increasing, quotas keep increasing. Yet, the number of jobs is not increasing. In fact, the number of jobs may even shrink with AI. So do certain predatory men take advantage of this and try casting couch-practices? Or are Indian law firms extremely ethical, transparent and honest when it comes to recruitment?

Been there when I started out as an associate. Made mistake after mistake even very stupid and silly mistakes. But after many years of working, what's helped me

- Accepting that mistakes will be made especially when you're starting out. Every time you look at your own draft or someone else's draft, there will be mistakes. Even partners make these mistakes. That just means that you're learning. Eventually you learn the difference between big mistakes and small mistakes and learn to make sure that there are no big mistakes and live with the smaller ones.

- For smaller mistakes, I built a habit of checking things thrice (drafts, e-mails, messages, comments to be incorporated etc.). It would take more time initially but this reduced and I just didn't make as many small mistakes anymore. It helped to also write down all the points on paper and keep crossing them out to make sure nothing is missed. For eg. all discussion points that needed to be incorporated in the draft or e-mail or even for proof reading, I would write down redundant words I needed to search and delete so that I wouldn't miss it.

- I realised that I was putting too much pressure on myself to perform as per some vague standards set by my seniors and was told many times how other people could work better than me, so I was constantly afraid which just led to more mistakes. I would blame myself for not being able to do even simple things which I now know was because of mental stress. Once I let go of these expectations from people and decided to work as per what I thought was the best approach and confirming that with seniors, things improved significantly and my work and work relationships improved a lot.

Hope this helps. All the best.

The 'now' is redundant for the reason that he's been doing big litigation matters for a while since Luthra. Not many disputes lawyers have a background in project finance and general corporate law - obviously this goes a long way. Lekin yeh sab theek hai.. pehle batao ki why are you curious now?

hellos to everyone reading this. i am a second year student at a mumbai based college which is not particularly famous in any sense of the word. i'm looking to make the most of the time i have in law school to break into a tier 1 (one has to be ambitious).

i'd love to hear your thoughts! just to add some context: i am currently a cs executive student, with a publication in a journal (more incoming). i am allured by competition law so for the sake of this discussion that's the practice i want to break into.

no trolls please and thank you.

What? Can you explain? Isn't it much better to retain the same lawyers you have spent years training instead of having them absorb useful skills at your firm and lose it to another? I understand the coming in of new lawyers as a way for a firm to thrive, but not losing lawyers. The only case where attrition makes sense is if lawyers quit/are fired as A0s for poor attitude, since much time hasn't been invested in training them anyway and they are highly fungible for new hires.

OP here - if you can somehow pivot to a corporate litigation practise of your own and build even a decent sized client base - nothing like that. However operationally seen it to be very tough for first gen lawyers. Some of us have real bills to pay - cannot afford to not earn anything for the initial even 5 years - even if you aren’t supporting your parents. I am sorry if I don’t have better answers - me and many people my age are in a similar flux. No one wants to be 32 and out of a high paying job but the reality is in front of our eyes.

C2 at Trilegal here - absolutely attest to what the guy’s saying - partnerships tracks? Forget about it? Any ounce of stability? Forget about it. Also if you are an A0 who has gotten placed a big firm - just know - they are already discussing about cutbacks. M&A as a practise is literally BLEEDING.

Let me be clear from the outset: this is a hard response, and I’m offering it only because the original post shows unnecessary disdain for students from tier 3 institutions. There’s a line between expressing personal frustration and dismissing an entire group of people who are trying just as hard—often harder—to break into the same profession. That line was crossed. The post didn’t just question the system; it demeaned fellow candidates purely because of where they studied, as if institutional branding is the only thing that defines worth. That kind of arrogance needs to be checked.

Here’s the truth: if you strip everything down, the only thing that separates you from many of the people you’re mocking is a better CLAT rank on a particular day and access to a stronger alumni network. That’s it. The playing field levels out pretty quickly once you’re in law school and thrown into internships, research, and real-world application. Some of these Tier 3 students go on to outperform peers from tier 1 law schools because they’re sharper in interviews, hungrier to prove themselves, and better prepared to contribute meaningfully from day one.

You mention having a below-average rank at a top 3 school and yet seem baffled that people from “lower-tier” colleges are landing jobs ahead of you. Why wouldn’t they be? Firms don’t owe you anything just because of your college. If someone with a less elite degree but stronger presence, better communication, or more maturity gets the job, it’s because they earned it. Internships don’t mean much if you didn’t stand out. You can’t hide behind logos and expect them to substitute for drive or performance.

This industry doesn’t reward entitlement. It rewards value. If firms are consistently choosing others over you, it’s time to stop blaming the system and start asking why. Maybe it’s not them. Maybe it’s you.

To reduce everything to “they’re from a Tier 3 school, how dare they get selected over me?” is both elitist and factually empty. You’re not entitled to someone else’s opportunity just because of where you studied. And frankly, many of these so-called Tier 3 students have every right to be where they are—

because unlike you, they didn’t stop at the brand name. They built their credibility brick by brick.

If you're truly frustrated, good. Use that. But direct it toward improving yourself and refining your approach and not belittling others who are grinding just as hard without the benefit of a high CLAT rank or a powerful alumni base. Because once you graduate and enter practice, nobody cares where you came from. They only care what you can deliver. That’s the reality. Everything else is ego.

Truly

A tier 3 kid who works at a tier 1.

JNU is not a jholachap mass producing factory like DU, BHU or a state-led corporate slave production house like NLUs.

JNU has always been a #1 ranked central university for research and academia in social science. Moreover, there are only two major centres specific for law. The Special Centre for law & governance and the Centre for international studies.

The Centre for L&G is only for PhD, not ug or pg, and they only accept JRF qualified candidates ! Moreover it's open not just for law, but from all social sciences, so you can see the competitive quality itself. Also it has globally renowned names teaching in the faculty, that are also given distinguished titles in tier 1 NLUs. Go visit the faculty page.

The CILS faculty has people from international relations as well. Moreover it boasts of the biggest names that studied and researched in India in the sphere of international law like Anand, Chimni, Desai etc.

So before you go barking out like a mad dog, go and learn a thing or two. Seriously, the NLU bubble that most people live in is ridiculous.

Having a degree in science only impacts your Patent knowledge that said you can very easily make a good name in Trademarks and Copyrights however IP is very niche. Even if you practice IP you’ll probably reach a saturation point in 3-4yrs in terms of learning and then switching PA’s will be tough. It’s better you go for corporate and anyways if you want to do IP it’s not a lot to read up on your own

speaking as an A1 (not so far removed from the same position myself), I keep finding minor errors in things I've worked on after sending them out. But a minor consolation lies in the fact that I keep finding such errors even in work that PAs and Partners send out. Fewer errors but errors nonetheless. With the kind of hands-on work we do and the tight deadlines within which we work - it's only natural that some small typos and stray words tend to stick around 3-4 rounds of edits.

At a lower rung, our job is to get the meat of the details right - that will be the figures, basic logical flow of arguments and structure and language of your drafts. You'll master the smaller bells and whistles and finesse on your work only with time and experience. And even then, perfection is just an aspiration and not really an achievable standard when many heads and hands come together to make a work product.

I'm not saying that you become complacent towards the errors you make. But beating yourself up for messing up things that you've barely spent any time learning to do is not a constructive approach either. Your team with nice people knows this, and they are rooting for you and pacing you to become a formidable resource in due time.

The sense of disappointment, lack of self worth or any feelings of anxiety you feel are your own demons to conquer apart from that. Law firms make for challenging environments even without any of this baggage you bring into your work. Give yourself a fighting chance and don't bow out without a fight!

Literally none, Trilegal runs on an equity partnership model. I don't know if everyone followed the news of an Associate in the Trilegal Bangalore office who committed suicide last year. How easily it was covered up, no news in Bar and Bench or Live Law. This should explain everything else on how certain Partners have high attrition rates. In the end, the value of a Partner is in the amount of Billings done, as long as the Partner generates revenue, untouchable.

Had interned there twice. Make sure you confirm which office you’ll be assigned and they generally ask you for your practice area and assign it to you. Transactions and tax teams are good and the associates were nice when I interned. Chances of getting PPOs are less and the workload isn’t that high. One day is work from home.

certain Counsels think they are Partners of the firm. And certain Partners think they are the Managing Partner of the firm. ▮▮▮ Long story short, resources cannot buy people and hence the attrition at Trilegal (across locations) needs some form of training/sensitivity thought leadership across mid and senior levels ▮▮▮

I work in a law firm in Delhi and my team did an international commercial arbitration in Singapore recently. We were represented by a Singapore SC but the overwhelming feedback we got from both English and Singapore lawyers working in that arbitration was that Gaurav Pachnanda is India’s foremost and the most formidable international arbitration lawyer, regarded most highly by international lawyers and international arbitrators alike.

I started my career as a Paralegal in a UK-based company, a job I took out of desperation to start earning. After working there for six months and failing to find a position at a law firm, I was again incredibly desperate to begin working within the Indian jurisdiction. I ended up taking a legal associate role at a Virtual Asset Service Provider, which, in hindsight, was a terrible decision.

Now, I find myself in a situation where I've forgotten how to read and analyze the law or case laws, as I'm constantly engaged in mechanical, repetitive tasks, thanks to a toxic boss. I always knew that an in-house setup wasn't for me, but law firms seem unwilling to consider me. With almost one year of PQE, I feel like I haven't developed any real legal skills through either of my two jobs.

I would be truly grateful for any advice that could help me revive my legal career, which currently feels like it's on life support.

Agree with the logic but property law can very easily be overtaken by AI given how procedural it is. It is almost pure paperwork, except disputes maybe and those I'd consider civil law and not property law. Criminal law, property law, constitutional law (including taxation - classification matters) arbitration might be AI proof.

The Chennai office of LEx Aeterna Practices has more or less closed it's operations. They have vacated their office space after their Senior Associate moved out with his team. The firm was already dealing with multiple exits in Mumbai, but their Chennai office has borne the brunt with close to nil matters now.

I knew I F-ed up hard when I graduated law school, especially when most of my tech buddies left India to go abroad. Cut to the present, most of them have PR or settled abroad and enjoying the culture, lifestyle and what not. Meanwhile I am stuck here running from chamber to court to cover some influential idiots backside. So, is it possible for us law folks, especially those not in law firms or corporate, to move abroad while sticking to law ? Not changing careers.

P.S. already have an LLM, & not interested in MBA before the "LLM/PhD/MBA kar le" guy comes in.

Idk which world are you in, but both sibal brothers as a principal did not make Supreme Court as their primary court of practice. Both of them are thriving in Commercial side of Delhi High Court. Especially junior brother who is a go to Senior Adv. for high stake IP litigation.

Frankly, SC practice is no measure for success.

I was in the exact same position several years ago. I worked really hard, secured a decent rank in CLAT, and got into a Tier 1 law school (though not the T1 of my choice). Still, I felt no real sense of achievement. I had to move to a city so far from my hometown, and nothing about it felt right. I faced several challenges in uni as well, especially because I had to think 5X before deciding to go home. I constantly questioned my decision to pursue law, as it was costing my parents a fortune.

My two cents: if you are from a well-to-do family and can travel without worrying about costs, maybe it’s worth it, despite the hustle. Even if you’re not, it will be challenging, but in the end, attending a good law school, away from your hometown, teaches you a lot, especially if you meet the right kind of people who you can fit in with. They make everything about law school more bearable.