Hi! I wanted to ask if anyone here has cleared the Gujarat Judicial Services Exam and is currently posted as a Civil Judge, or if you have a close relative/friend who has cleared it and is now serving as a judge.

I’m particularly looking to understand the actual lifestyle of a civil judge in Gujarat -things like:

- What are the usual working hours and how long does a judge typically work each day?
- Is the workload manageable or does it usually extend beyond court hours?
- What is the work-life balance like?
- What are the major perks and benefits of the judicial service?
- How is the overall lifestyle, accommodation, leaves, transfers, etc.?
- And generally, how does life look after clearing the exam and getting posted?

I’d really appreciate insights from someone who has first-hand experience or knows someone currently serving, rather than just general information available online. Thank you!

You don’t want to study to get through a top tier firm. Then apply for some random law firm and expect gender sensitivity by people who are doing everything possible in a competitive world to make a good living. They will call a spade a spade and show no sensitivity on such issues.

Thanks a lot ! The guy staying away from me is my biggest victory. Their existence doesn't matter much to me. I have decided to work on my own terms , let them do whatever they want to. The only thing in my hand is to look for ways to end this for once and for all, which is currently under wey.

Graduated this year from an NLU with a B.A.LL.B. Interned across a mix of top-tier firms and boutique firms during college, plus cleared AIBE. Have numerous publications from law school as well and i plan to write more.

Just joined the in-house legal team of a large conglomerate as a trainee associate, Here's my actual dilemma, and I think a lot of final years/freshers might relate: through college, the goal was singular, get a good job. Now that's done, and I realize I don't actually have a framework for what comes after. No clear sense of where I want to be in 3, 5, or 10 years.

Some things I do know: I want to keep growing and working on genuinely interesting/hard problems, not just clock years. Money matters to me, want to build toward a strong earning trajectory, not just "comfortable." I'd like to eventually do an LLM abroad, but not sure when makes sense, right after a couple of years, or later once I have more seniority.

And I don't know if I should stay in-house long-term, aim to move to a different type of company altogether, or go back to firm life at some point.

Questions for people further along:

1. How did you actually figure out your 3-5-10 year plan after your first job, was it deliberate, or did it just emerge from doing the work?

2. For those in-house at large companies, did you stay long-term, or use it as a stepping stone? What made you decide either way?

3. On LLM timing, is there a real advantage to going 3-5 years in versus right after 1-2 years, beyond just admissions/scholarship optics?

4. If "good money" is a real priority (not the only one, but a real one), which paths actually get you there fastest from an in-house starting point, staying in-house and climbing, moving to a different sector, going back to a firm, or something else?

Would appreciate hearing from people who've actually navigated the "job secured, now what" phase rather than generic career advice.

Thanks 🙏

Hello nice people . I was looking for a job inhouse (10 years + pqe). I wanted to ask is Vahura still an important service provider in this area ? Am getting conflicting news - some say they are the GO TO for in-house roles especially for this PQE. Others say their business has been hit quite a lot and they dont have those many mandates

While it is undoubtedly unfortunate that this person reacted the way that they did after seeing your CV, the tone of your post is about as elitist and snobby as it gets. Why are the educational qualifications or the work experience of this person relevant in the first place? Your post seems to imply that people who do not go to good law schools or do not work in top law firms are in some way predisposed to being socially regressive. This is obviously not true though it may be correct to say that people who have said qualifications are generally more progressive.

Also, why refer to litigators as the "black-coat crowd"? Why refer to them using a term dripping with contempt? Let me remind you that it is the trial court lawyer, who more often than not has gone to a local law school, who plays the biggest role in ensuring that the State does not encroach on constitutional rights. Lawyers practising before the constitutional courts are the ones who argue against the constitutionality of deplorably regressive legislation. The citizens of this country have the black-coat crowd to thank for R.C. Cooper, K.S. Puttaswamy, Maneka Gandhi, Kesavananda Bharati, Navtej Singh Johar, and god knows how many other decisions which safeguard their life and happiness. The life of the Law owes much to the black-coat crowd and I think you should be ashamed of yourself for considering them beneath you.

Hello people, I have been following number of threads on LI since my saw school days. I just have one concern here, if I couldn't join anything just after my law school because of an injury and 2 years have passed after that. Approaching a lot of tier 1-2-3 and boutique law firms but not getting any response from there. I am not eligible to apply for internships not for jobs. How am I supposed to work? I cannot join litigation considering I won't be able to do that much running just now. What should I be doing. I have graduated from a good private law school, have a few tier 1 internships as well. I am loosing hope day by day and family sees me as I am not capable of having a job only now. What should I do? I cannot take a lesser pay job or stay jobless. I will have no other option than getting married as per their choice if I stay dependent on them.

good thing that the POSH act's ICC is for WORKPLACES and NOT universities as students are not EMPLOYEES or WORKERS; they have their own statutory basis, though the universities' own ICC rules may have a S. 16 parallel ; OP can reach out to the uni's RCC and see if they are required to inform the workplace that, if not, may make a throw-away mail and send a mail to the HR to collect information from the university regarding the complaint, if the HR happens to reach out (not sure if that'll happen) I do not think the university will deny sending this complaint, if possible, just contact the partner or the team, someone with some principles would be willing to do something.

Hi, I work at a tier 1 law firm in a GC team. I am extremely unhappy with the abysmal work life balance and want to exit this place. It is not about the kind of work but mostly about the hours and lack of control over my life. I am considering an MBA abroad but I need to come back to India due to family needs. Is it worth it? What opportunities can I get in India after the MBA? My goal is good pay (equal to or slightly less than my current pay is okay so long as there is work life balance).

I am an NLS grad from 2026 batch with a decent GPA and profile. I am still looking for places to join for full time roles but can't find any. Can't afford to do litigation. I keep hearing oh you're from NLS, you would gets things easily. That's not the reality of big 2026. Even folks from so called T1 colleges like me are struggling to get a decent break. Would appreciate any guidance from folks. Don't recommend reaching out to alums- I don't think that works for firms, might work for chambers.

Sigh, what a waste of words and digital storage. If you can’t be helpful, at least don’t be unhelpful. I also recommend that you get your evident issue of pent up rage/need for moral superiority checked out.

In answer to the OP’s question, your range of 10 to 30 crores is wide but accurate (pre-tax) for rainmakers who are not founders/founder family. It is good to hear of someone being grateful for their profession, best of luck.

To the commentariat generally - a little more civility, positivity and helpfulness will make your life, and the lives of those around you, better. And this forum a more welcoming place.

I'm a fellow 3rd year at a T1 NLU. I too applied for the same practice area for the same time period. It took a lot of applications and reaching out to a lot of people, but I did land internships - even at T1. You're just not trying hard enough. LI won't help if you don't help yourself.

I work in a Tier 1 law firm and dealt with plenty CFOs/CEOs and bankers of top organizations in india and 90-95% of all CFOs are CAs. Even most CEOs of Indian banks and investment banks were MBAs/CA/btech.

Has anybody felt that our scope of law is too narrow compared to other degrees like MBA/CA/btech

MBAs are doing marketing , sales , Investment banking private equity , venture capital and everything under the sun , plus Btech + MBA and CA+CFA/MBA are most preferable combinations for working in finance and they dominate that field.

Same goes for CAs , all CFOs are CAs , majority big 4 partners/CEOs are CAs , CAs form the 2nd highest number of IB MDs PE partners and MBB partners after MBAs so their scope of work is too broad from tax accounting audit to IB/PE/VC/MBB and equity research/fund managing.

I must not get started at Btech, TECH is the highest paying and most satisfying domain to work for. I can't put forward my jealousy to my engineer friend who did btech from MIT (manipal) and now working in Zomato making 40 lpa with 5YOE @ 40hrs/week.

What do we do ? It's just hopping between law firms or try to get inhouse roles which are already too scarce and not every organization needs CLO while every organization needs CEO CFO and COO.

Hardly 300-400 grads in law get 15L + as fresher in T1 firms while we compare ourselves to broad spectrum of MBAs and CAs/Btech.

If you see top 500 of MBA/CA/BTECH vs Those 500 NLU grads getting 15L + , the former will mog the latter in career trajectory .

Now compare CA being IB MD or PE partner vs T1 law partner ?

In law we can only become T1 firm partners or Chief legal officer that's it

CAs are majority of Big 4 partners , MBB partners, IB MDs , PE partners and 90% of all CFOs in india are CAs (don't have to remind that CEO > CFO > CLO)

Do you invest in mutual funds ? Check if your mutual fund manager is also a CA , 40% of top 100 mutual fund managers in india are CAs.

Check who the CEOs of major indian Banks are ! All CEOs of big 4s are CAs.

It's like CA have so many avenues , from audit tax accounting to IB/PE/VC/MBB equity research, Fp&a , litigation , fund managers and what not !!

This reporter's "rise" has to be a direct result of lawyers' cringe need for attention and fame. Delhi lawyers feel seen and important because they feature in his photos, and he exploits it for his own clout one assumes. Persons who haven't been to Delhi high court for even a passover, stand next to him to announce they are the best lawyers in India, only because he says they are!

Shameful low for law community.

Hi, my internship presentation is due at Trilegal. I am interning with General Corporate and M&A Team. I really need tips for the topic selection. I am very confused as to what to pick and whether it should be something like an issue and then giving recommendations/solutions at the end or just a presentation on a topic for example certain major amendments or so. If anyone can suggest topics please.

So your entire argument for saying that the situation is not dire for an Indian IPR LLM fresher is (a) TMT is a very broad bucket, and (b) if you make it to a T1 firm, your pay is often at par, with bonus being a function of billing.

Both of these, even if true, do not even question the premise that there is a dire scarcity of opportunities in the sector as a whole. It is an accepted fact that for every IPR/TMT team that pays more than 1L to a fresher, there are 50 M&A teams that do the same. And perhaps more importantly, when have you ever seen an Indian IPR LLM person being hired as a fresher at any T1/T2 law firm's TMT team!? In my 5 years, I have never. In fact, I've been told by the partners to typically reject those CVs even when we're shortlisting candidates, unless something extraordinary jumps out.

Secondly, no, the pay is not at par in most of the cases. The average M&A lawyer earns far more than an average IPR lawyer - it's a function of the assignments that create the billing. The typical bill size for an acquisition (with the most basic due diligence, SPA drafting & negotiation) is significantly more than the deal size of the best media and entertainment agreements or IP management endorsement assignments - which is why leading IP heavy firms like Anand or Khimani pay significantly lesser. Even in T1s, I can speak with confidence that KCO pays IP team much lesser, and JSA has a different firm for IP altogether with much lesser pay scales. Even in Trilegal, the team that does IP & Media work within TMT gives much lesser bonus than the Tri BLR team that does core TMT work.

Let's not misguide youngsters. The situation is what it is. You can choose to jump in on it anyway - but beware of the reality.

Salaried - 1-1.5cr

Equity - 3-6cr

Rainmakers - 8-20cr

What I have seen is at every place be it B4 MBB or Law firms partner component is more or less comparable though the national head kind of partners in B4/MBB make more than Law partners.

The Real money minters are PE partners and it’s just crazy, my junior got into General Atlantic investment role from IIM Bangalore and his fresher pay is 70L base + 100% bonus (1.4cr TC) that too at age of 26, wish I had gone for SRCC and then IIM ABC.

There needs to be a humane aspect to being a controller of exams, specially in an environment where this position holds all the power. It is critical to allow more exemptions to students facing verified medical issues and to not curse a student's year or placement status due to reasonable issues.

I went to Nalsar and am currently doing fairly well at a T1 law firm - and it is possible that I may not even have graduated if not for medical exemptions that were granted by my university. However, I do know of two people who were not given similar exemptions under the erstwhile Controller of Exams at JGLS. This made their professional lives much more complicated and they had to put up with a host of issues for years. I have to wonder if their lives would've been far more different had they been treated in a more humane fashion.

I'm not attributing this to Mr. Latyan, though a number of people would blame the deciding authority as opposed to the process. But on a systemic level, I hope the university takes this departure and the subsequent transition as an opportunity to revisit some of these absurd policies that currently exist in the name of this 'academic rigour' which he is proud of.

Have seen the market now as MBA and a lawyer and bruh you are so delusional, I am seeing CAs everywhere from IB PE VC to mutual fund managing and Equity research. The spectrum is too broad for them and pay is way hire than NLU grads (left CAM for IIM L).

I don't know about CA + LLB but can assure you of CA + MBA that this is the most deadly combo on campus , all the IB and VC shortlist are dominated by CAs followed by IITIANs and These firms pay analyst 2-3x of what Law firms would pay A1.

Also there are hardly 500-600 tier 1 associate positions paying 15L + while total CA graduating are 20000 and still grabbing 8-10lpa easily while 1st attempt guys are getting 14-20lpa

If you compare top 500 of NLU grads vs Top 500 of CA guys, CA career will mog the hell out of us lawyers.

This is simple statistics and what is this CFO glitch lol, all the CFOs I met were CAs . Like 100% of CFOs in this country are CAs.

Hi man, I am also in a similar situation. What I have understood about these personalities is that they are always in a state of jitter, tend to keep pushing boundaries, and are for sure not leaders and often remain clueless.

While I understand that the job is important, I would suggest that you eventually create a boundary around your work. These people usually keep pushing until they are told firmly to stop. By firmly, I don’t mean being confrontational; rather, put your situation across in a professional manner so that they understand that if they keep putting you in the same situation repeatedly, you may eventually push back. I have noticed that people like this tend to back down when they realise that someone is willing to push back.

A valid thought that may have crossed your mind is to have a conversation with him. It might work, and I would suggest trying it once. If he says that work will come and that you are here to work, just state that you are trying, but it is impossible to look at this many pages within the given timeframe. Do take the example of others and point out that a similar amount of work is given to others, but their deadlines are different. This is what I have done, and it has worked for me. Now, if in the past you have completed the work within your partner’s unreasonable timeframes, please don’t give your partner the impression that they have someone who will do it even if the deadline is extremely short. The more you do it, the more work he will give you.

Also, please be aware of your team members. While they may seem nice, the issue arises when they start taking every small hiccup of yours to your partner. They may not do it regularly, but they tend to do it when they see that the person is already upset with you on a particular day. For instance, there may be days when your partner has shouted at you or has unnecessarily formed a negative opinion about you or your work. Those are the days when such people may go and add fuel to the situation.

Lastly, try to mentally disassociate yourself from the firm and the team. Stop giving them so much space in your head. I know it is easier said than done, but I have already reached a point where I have consciously decided that I don’t care about any organisation or team that I am currently working with or may work with in the future. That mindset is something you need to develop for your own peace of mind.

At the same time, start applying elsewhere. Put your CV out to recruiters and follow recruiters on LinkedIn.

Be strong. I know it is frustrating, and the worst part, as you said, is that some of these people don’t even know the basic law but behave as if they are rainmakers, while giving you the silent treatment or behaving like children.

I know you want to work and learn, so try to do that. Whenever they ask you to do something urgently, ask them when the matter or transaction is actually happening. Tell them what is already on your plate and say that it is not possible for you to take it up within that timeframe. Please add people to the work he needs urgently and divide the work. Complete your part and send it just before the deadline so that the other colleague who is doing the other half doesn’t ask the partner to give that part to you because you are done with your work early.

Lastly, try to create a perception within the team, especially among one or two people whose opinion carries some weight, that you are diligent and already busy with your work. Even if you don’t have much on your plate at a particular moment, create a perception that you are working or that your current task is tedious. Now, whenever these sudden “urgent” tasks come up, having this perception can give you some room to say no or push back. So, it works like this: if the partner asks about you or talks about you with other team members, at least someone can say that, yes, he already has work on his plate.

All the best, brother. Stop giving them this much attention, be who you are, and make your own time. Yes, you and I are replaceable, but so are others in other organisations. We are also here to replace someone else, not only to be replaced.

The partner I report to is a vindictive personality. Im sorry to be using such strong language but it is what it is. I've had enough of that person.

For document heavy disputes (12-13 volumes comprising a total of 5k plus pages) deadlines from me are to cull out drafts overnight, when his pet associates take days for the same work nothing is being said (I guess urgency is only pertains to my work). He seemingly has a problem with me but is not man enough to confront face to face.

The person gives me silent treatment and is reluctant to work on any matter with me. For context I am not a fresher also.

On top of that the person has zero knowledge on basics of law and does not even make the deliverables clear. Has no sense of talking, mannerism and etiquettes whatsoever.

All of this is impacting my personal relationships. I feel anxious. My confidence has dipped to such levels that i need AI to validate my work ! Someone please guide me out of this ! Thanks and much love to all those facing similar issues.

This person is not from a top firm or with an elite educational pedigree , but such toxicity is still absolutely unacceptable. We can't have inclusivity and gender-sensitivity only among the 1% elites. It needs to percolate down to the lower tier firms and ultimately to the black-coat crowd in courts.

I am diagnosed ADHD. I don't have plans on taking any medications because I feel being neurodivergent has helped with a lot of things (for instance getting too deep into the subject matter or getting obsessed under certain conditions).

So, I don't want to "fix" it, but I suffer a lot with clerical and routine work, and this gets aggravated by the fact that I have a weak memory.

I have started maintaining calendars/reminders (I plan to do this aggressively) and also trying to put a structure in place (so that I dont have rely on my memory to recall what I did mostly).

Is there anything else can be done to make things better?

Just bec they hired tax specialists does not mean that they are mindlessly taking weird people. Some at NLS are taking "about a few hires" bec they themselves were not picked over those who were picked. Dude it's all abt tax experience. Why would NDA pick you for only having corp in ur CV when they are hiring for tax?

As a team, tax is slightly different from others in corp. So hiring would inevitably be based on diff factors and metrics than others. Idt low cgpa would mean that those picks would not be able to work out well in practice. Low cgpa means rather than rambling around in 10 diff subjects, these people focused their energy on tax practice and work experince.

I recently interviewed for an internship at a firm, but I do not think it went very well. The interview lasted only about five minutes, and I became nervous while answering even some basic questions. I want to understand how to respond when I do not know the answer at that moment.

During my internship at the NCLAT, I researched several provisions and rules, which I mentioned on my CV. The interviewer asked what a particular section provided and what the Supreme Court had recently held on it. I was unable to answer because I am currently in my third year and have not yet formally studied the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. I also did not remember the exact wording of the provision and did not want to give an incorrect answer.

How do i avoid these mistakes in my interview?

With respect to mba, age won't be an issue given that most people who do an MBA have substantial workex or even gaps sometimes. With NLS LLB getting in is also not easy because there are very few seats for the general male category candidate. Even if you make it I would still recommend you opt for an MBA.

"I’m asking because I always wanted to pursue Law through the NLUs, but I couldn’t clear those entrance exams and ended up pursuing CA instead—which, honestly, I’m quite grateful for today."

Yeah, so grateful that even after a decade of doing not-law, you're at an anonymous legal discussion forum, asking how much your law equivalent-peers make, even after spending a decade in a not-law industry. Life may have given you 'uninflated' and 'higher' numbers, but it still never gave you contentment and that is why you're here. You're not even asking a question here, you're just talking to yourself, trying to understand why, despite the higher numbers, you aren't happy.

So to answer a question you didn't actually ask: Lawyers make enough to make your skin crawl and your hands scroll LI even after all this time.