Hi everyone

I am looking for guidance. I want to pursue corporate law in future and as of now I have secured admission at NUALS and Nirma. NUALS is on basis of nri seat so the fees is thrice the usual.

Should I opt for nuals or nirma, considering i want to do corporate?

Hi guys! Wanted to know if anyone has any experience with arguing counsels based out of Mumbai, who are specialising in direct tax? I know Percy Pardiwalla and Porus kaka are the famous ones but was wondering who could be good as a senior to learn from? Looking for a brilliant mentor, pay is not relevant as of now.

I do not mean to be snide about this at all, but just a small observation. I was scrolling through Linkedin over the weekend, and saw NALSAR's recruitment brochure. Another law school which is supposed to be its biggest competitor had released its brochure only a few days earlier. I also remember having seen NLS' brochure last year. Among all of these, NALSAR's appeared quite off to me for some reason. Maybe I am just getting old and working at one of these boring law firms (which will also be hiring you lot) for the past 6 years has been aging me faster - but I think the brochure lacks much effort for a law school which is supposed to be competing with other equally talented pool of candidates at the two other very proficient NLUs in the Eastern and Southern parts of the country. It comes across as poorly to a recruiter, and may lead them to mistake the lack of efforts as a general character trait amongst the students.

Again, this is only an observation as a 30 y/o, so don't be very bothered by it. But I hope you all do work hard in the upcoming placement season. Good luck!

I am not uncertain as to what makes everyone so "sure" about picking NUALS. When it comes to tier 3, Nirma has a decent name, and is what comes to mind right after JGLS and SLSP in private law schools/non-NLUs.

That being said, NUALS has a much smaller batch size than Nirma which means lesser competition. You will find a few alma doing good as well, especially in BLR offices of law firms. Also, having the NLU tag might give you a slight edge over a private uni.

Do give this thread a read : https://www.legallyindia.com/convos/topic/182347-what-to-choose-between-sls-pune-and-nuals-kochi
The second comments appears helpful. Objectively, NUALS seems like the right choice. All the best! Work hard wherever you go.

Hi, I am an independent litigation counsel primarily engaged in civil and commercial work. I was thinking of getting a subscription to a legal AI software. I'm not the most technologically advanced and am worried that I might get left behind due to the legal AI surge. My ideal use-cases would be - (1) legal research (India-centric); (2) drafting List of Dates and Briefing Notes; (3) drafting pleadings (if possible). I am aware of the shortcomings of AI, and intend to use to softwares as a starting point / first-cut that I rework / build upon, as opposed to the final product.

For those who have used such softwares / platforms, which ones would you recommend? Claude Cowork, Lucio, Jurisphere or something else?

Please dont turn this into a hate thread against certain platforms or their team members. Just looking for some genuine advice - please help a fellow lawyer out

Interned there last year. The work is very varied - they practice in HC, SC, NCDRC, NGT (Suhasini), and sometimes some matters come up in NCLT and Saket district court. Rahul is kinda useless and annoying, but he's sharp and knows his stuff. Suhasini is sweet and very hardworking. Interaction with both of them is very limited, you'll mostly be getting work from the associates. 2 of 3 of the associates who were there when I interned have left and imo they were the best ones and genuinely guided me through stuff. Don't know about the new associates but the remaining 3rd one is a pain in the ass and is terrible to work with. Work usually ends by 8pm, but sometimes the associates stay on till 10-11. Friday ends earlier around 7pm, Saturdays are working but you can come in by 11. Pay starts from 30k, and you will get a 10% increase each year.

With Fable 5 returning today, quick reminder to all law firm partners and innovation people; if your legal AI provider starts providing access to Fable 5 again, you should drop them immediately.

Fable 5 was the first model from Anthropic that deviates from their data retention policy, allowing them to retain and review all prompts for a period of 30 days, making it completely unusable for most legal work.

Probably a good idea to see which vendors advertised support for Fable 5 when it came out last month (ex: August, Spellbook, Juris) and make sure you avoid them too.

Do you really wanna do BALLB or BCom? Firstly, you will have to think for yourself. Because spending 10LPA in Pune is a big deal. So first make that conscious choice. Also securing a placement or ppo completely depends upon you, i mean yes the college provides you with opportunities but many people have done it by themselves, you can secure internships ppos yourselves.

From my experience as an inhouse lawyer, a couple of issues stand out:

1. 1. Missing Due Diligence Flags in Definitive Documents: During one transaction, a material due diligence observation was not carried through into the definitive documents prepared by the external counsel (Khaitan and Co, Delhi). I identified the gap during my review, and the documentation had to be revised accordingly. This reinforced the importance of ensuring that every DD finding is appropriately reflected in transaction documents and not treated as a standalone exercise.
2. 2. Overlooking Basic Security Perfection Requirements: I have also noticed instances where fundamental security-related provisions were missed. For example, a common oversight is taking security over an asset but failing to expressly include the insurance proceeds arising from that asset as part of the secured collateral. If the secured asset is damaged or completely destroyed, the lender's realisable security effectively shifts to the insurance claim. Without appropriate provisions assigning or charging the insurance proceeds and ensuring the lender is named as the loss payee/ beneficiary, the lender's ability to recover from the insurance payout may be compromised. This is a fundamental aspect of security creation that should always be verified during documentation.
3.

Overall, the biggest learning is that juniors should not rely solely on templates. Every document should be cross-checked against the due diligence report, term sheet, sanction conditions, and transaction checklist to ensure that commercial understanding is accurately translated into the legal documentation.

I recently did an internship at TPM, its good for the start, it pays around 12LPA as a fresher, rest pays around 15-16LPA (Trilegal, LKS, ELP) though Trilegal does not hire specifically for trade law, they look for indirect taxes, same goes for LKS. Only numbers economics pays a role that too to a very limited extend firms has dedicated Cost Accounting teams for economics and science.

Are students a bit too entitled and lazy on attendance issues? Or are they justified?

https://www.scconline.com/blog/post/2026/06/30/less-than-75-percent-attendance-bombay-high-court-dismisses-review-petition/

As someone who has used all three i.e. harvey, legora and lucio - lucio is by far the ▮▮▮. One may call all three as wrappers but atleast the other two are better wrappers in terms of functionality and just how much 'legal sense' has been built into the product. Lucio just isnt close. Im happy that an Indian company tried to create it's AI but instead of investing into a solid product, unfortunately its just hype and marketing. The market will eventually understand what is worth their money so lucio should better buckle up.

I understand it is hard for people to train the mind and body but that is the whole point to build resilience (physical and mental). Thousands of research papers and doctors prescribe mild to intense exercise - some people take the advice and improve, but most continue as-is and stagnate. 1 hour of daily exercise is nowhere close to 5-8 hour that David Goggins puts in everyday.

Bo'25 here! If you join SLS Pune, then the highest possible achievement of your life is gonna be becoming a Head of a random SAB Cell (Presidentship and other Cabinet positions are already given to people who pay for it). You are NOT guaranteed a stable career here anymore and anyone who has joined this institution since the Covid times and ahead has only regretted it.

Neither are firms interested in handing out PPOs to our students nor are they recruiting more than 2 per firm in Day Z making the entire mechanism a luck-based shitshow.

Factoring in their insane fees structure, its wiser to attend a local law college of Mumbai (if you are very adamant on doing law) since ROI would be much better there. Well since you have an option to pursue a Tier 1 Bcom degree do CA/CS/the likes for the legal market is doomed anyways (until you are nepo).

Regardless of whatever you aim to do, just DONT join SLS Pune or its other sub-standard branch. Trust me, any person getting placed at a good place was either a nepo or someone very lucky enough to make it through. Good luck!

For VCship, being Dean or VC elsewhere counts much more. As for Jindal, so many juniors have been made professors there out of turn that no unbiased panel takes professorship there seriously in isolation. For VCship, being Dean or VC elsewhere counts much more. As for Jindal, so many juniors have been made professors there out of turn that no unbiased panel takes professorship there seriously in isolation.

Thank you for all the feedback.

To make it clear, I've researched on the salaries and perks and I'm pretty satisfied with it, atleast starting with it. And yes, eventually it gets slow, but if I'm able to make a transition to a law firm around that time, it might just be a good bet.

I would value: WLB and money to travel, that's about it.

A lot of you highlight that the future trajectory isn't that great, to that I 100% agree but if that's not how I want to do it then it is a con that I naturally avoid.

I would request if you guys can connect with me through an alias email or something for career guidance, I would be forever indebted to you. Thank you so much!

Hieveryone,

I am a fresh 2026 female graduate. I have done a 3-year LL.B degree. Since I am not from a top-tier college, I am struggling a lot to find a trainee or entry-level fresher role off-campus.

I am looking for a trainee position at any corporate law firm or company. My preferred locations are Noida, Gurugram, and Bangalore.

If there are any openings in your firm or if you can help me with a lead, I will be very grateful for the opportunity. Any tips or advice for the job hunt are also welcome.

Thank you!

Is SLS Pune worth it? In terms of placements and faculty?

I'm from a middle class family and a first generation lawyer. Most people are saying that a lot of faculty has left the college and that the placements are deteriorating.

Please give your honest opinion. I'm really confused, so PLEASE HELP 🙏 I need advice from the alumni.

I also have an option of doing bcom from a tier 1 college in Mumbai along with some professional course.

LOL at "ADHD". It's a ▮▮▮ diagnosis [...] and get a socially approved way to take speed.

Newsflash: All of us find it hard to concentrate on boring work and get distracted easily when doing it and easy to "hyperfocus" on things we find it interesting. It's called being human. You don't have a mental illness.

The reason you get paid lots of money to do what is basically tedious clerical work as a lawyer is precisely because it needs to be done accurately even though it is boring.

None of them will. Since none of them have the connections Bimal has...

VS Mani as Phd advisor, 2 masters, 2 phds, hague, leiden etc...

Look at his history of appointments..

member of National security advisor board,

National security council,

member of the Financial Sector Regulatory Appointments Search Committee (FSRASC),

Lead Academic Advisers to India during India's tenure as a member of the UN Security Council 2021-22.

member of the Editorial Board of the ICRC International Review of the Red Cross, Geneva.

Co-chair of the American Society of International Law Interest Group on Law of the Sea

Member of Antarctica Environment Protection and Governance Committee, Government of India.

India's 21st law commission,

UN international law commission

and now itlos.

No VC has this much clout.

The point that most people will not agree with is that Prof Bimal Patel has his own credentials and connections outside of India. The fact that he did his masters and phd from abroad despite having one from India is what makes the difference.

When it comes to all these international institutions, politics and diplomacy is more important. International organisations will prefer a foreign University degree than an Indian one. Especially when it comes to international law. If you do a masters or phd or postdoc abroad, then that will get you appointments more easily than an NLS, Jindal etc. look at professors of India teaching abroad, you can definitely see some connections they had either masters or phd from an international institution. This is a lesson to all young lawyers and students. If you want to work or make a name abroad, just go abroad. A llb to phd in India makes no difference. So if you're a jurist, lawyer, academician, scholars and you want to make a mark abroad, just go. A fine example is BS Chimni, he did his masters and phd in India, and even though he's an excellent scholar and highly regarded twail scholar from India. People outside still prefer Anthony anghie because of his Aussie and Singapore connections.

Oh I remember the good ol days of working with these men, it had reached a point where I would get a male colleague to communicate all my crucial inputs to these partner, that was THE ONLY WAY to get heard, of course very indirect. BUT I was just giving myself the comfort that at least this way the inputs found their way into the final draft. Just your usual old school boys club with a generous dose of patriarchy - ah cruel cruel thing.

We aren't sitting around waiting for KM sessions and TAE tests. KM nonsense is last priority and always will be when there's billable work to do.

People cheat. This system is extremely flawed and only rewards "attending" sessions and "scoring" right to get the useless TAPs. have you considered the possibility that people are sitting around in groups and doing these tests together? none of us are learning anything from KM, except the best way to evade this crap. if you're actually giving us marks and treating us like children, might as well do it such that people can't cheat. All the current system does is maintain appearances of knowledge management.

Also, if we are on leave, don't make us jump through 3000 hoops to get the TAPs.

Sincerely,

Associate

Just do not. Even the B family knows they are milking the brand. Jindal university tanker has a solid law school as the tug boat. Both work together. BITS as a university hates the surrogate law school in Kalyan that’s why no dialogue, no synergy , no collab. Only brand. Then the faculty are being poached royally from Jindal - major red flag. In 40 lakhs you can study in top UK law college and return without scholarship with LLM. [...]. My friends withdrew after spending some time. xoxoxo

I do not trust those sites. I also did a test a few weeks ago, it said severe autism. In the past, I used to meditate 45 mins in one sitting. Although currently my brain is a mess with stress, ocd and maladaptive daydreaming but I do not think so an autistic person would have been able to sit still for 45 mins. Try seeing an actual psycologist/therapist instead of relying on these websites. Very likely your results are bullcrap.

Iv not read a worse answer than this to any question in my life. The contradictions show that this person does not know what they are talking about - there are growing vacancies but people are not hiring because of AI, there is more supply than demand, but the job market is flourishing in corp law. Do not confuse overenthusiasm and optimism with fact and definitely do not rely on this answer to make a decision.

Litigate - court craft is difficult for AI to pickup or replicate (currently at least), or get into something folks are less attracted to like tax, white collar, employment law or real estate if you have to.

When you become a partner you will get clarity.

I know of a certain individual who would regularly order butter chicken and other expensive food and the restaurant bills would be paid by his equity partner or the client. Now that he has been made EP, he refuses to sponsor even evening snacks for his small team. Aaatte dal ka bhav pata chal gaya hai

Definitely not. The fact that they're desperate enough to hire an A0 as a new firm means they're not willing to spend enough to get an A3-A5, which is what you really need when you found something brand new - you want someone that can do the work, rather than someone you have to spend excessive hours training. You'll have to deal with a disproportionately high workload and piss poor pay. DO NOT EXPERIMENT.

I agree - that's why I brought it up. What's with the IYKYK, then? Trying to make something sound all exclusive, when it's actually more readily apparent? The one thing AI is good at is data analysis, and market practice is just market data analysis - folks that did it knew before, and others avoided spent hours poring over boring documents to get there so they just picked up the phone and asked. Now you just ask AI.

Clients are increasingly refusing to pay for your lavish dinners at their cost. I am aware of associates who would never order food from high end restaurants but the minute a client is paying they want to order from places even their partners have never tried. Especially after COVID, you are expected to either eat at home and work or get food from home. The good old days of extracting money from clients for these purposes are a thing of the past- clients are aware that even first year associates get paid much more than the other professionals. Clients are also increasingly avoiding travel unless absolutely essential. Also as a reputed firm it’s embarrassing that attorneys are asking money for their meals from their clients.

Agree that cab expenses should be sponsored by the firm but partners should assess whether associates are wasting whole day and then sitting late. I know of some attorneys, even at partner level who start their day late, socialise like it’s their last day at work and then sit till late, then again come late the next day.. it’s high time we come across as dignified respectable professionals.

Bonus retention does seem unfair.

Hi! Sure; here you go.

1. Not analyzing clauses in documents - from a broader perspective - for eg a change of control clause cannot be narrowly studied (ie control f control), but related words, such as management, shareholding, directors or the like. One has to strategically read contracts - shortcuts will not work.

2. Making proofreading errors, for eg adding the word ‘not’ when not needed - can change an entire sentence.

3. Missing new documents when uploaded, asking for the same multiple times.

4. Randomly closing requisitions when the client says ‘not available’ - the standard is you should first clarify on a call, insist that it is important to us, if it is still not available - make an issue and do not leave it.

5. Treating DD as an unimportant exercise - the attitude of who reads the DD report - irrespective, the DD is a facilitator to a good SPA - it forms the basis of good warranties, CPs, CSs and in some cases, even purchase price adjustments.

6. Clarify with seniors on the drafting style, template formats, and the rhythm of the DD - for eg when to update requisition lists regularly, when to circle back with updates etc!

I am a 2025 graduate who left a well paying in house job and have been working in a litigation chamber for the past 5-6 months. However, in just five months in the chamber, my chronic health condition has worsened to the extent that I am scared of not ever being able to properly work again. For context, even though this chamber pays well, I took a 60% paycut. I have an education loan to pay off as well.

I understand the value of litigation and have learnt a lot in just 5-6 months. However, the constant stress and the long working hours have really taken a toll on my health. If I continue here, I really fear for my medium and long term health. My senior, who is an expereinced AoR, likes my work and I will even get an increment soon.

To manage my health condition, I would need decent work-life balance, relatively less stress and plenty of rest. I am a decent enough worker and know that at the start of my career, I will have to hustle more. However, it has just become physically impossible. I am at a complete loss.

I wanted advice on how to move forward.

Should I try moving to a designated senior's office? I have heard that the work hours are slightly more relaxed there with good pay too.

Or should look for clerkships for a more structured work environment to fulfill 3 year's experience requirement for judiciary?

Or should I just look for an in house job?

I had really hated the in house job, where the work felt almost entirely tangential to legal work. I like litigation, but it really is very unstructured and stressful. I love doing research, however, I have never published anything.

I don't know how I will stick it out in hardcore litigation.

TLDR: WB govt provided 10% OBC A-category reservation and 7% OBC B-category reservation. A category was essentially Muslim reservation, while B category was essentially reservation for Hindus. The new BJP government has scrapped the OBC A-category reservation.

What does this mean for NUJS? Will the vacant seats now be transferred to the merit list, or will the OBC B category seats be expanded? Following the imposition of domicile quota and EWS quota, in addition to pre-existing caste quotas, the merit list at NUJS has really shrunk. Will it now be expanded somewhat?

https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/bengal-passes-bills-to-remove-some-muslims-from-obc-list-as-ordered-by-calcutta-hc-101782744361497-amp.html

NLUJ BO'28 here and its mind baffling how you guys say we are better than you. You have better faculty and placements than us. Thats the most important. Also you guys have better student body + slightly better alumni base.

Infra and Admin problems are all second considerations.

The new NUJS VC is also on par if not better than Harpreet

So I won an law essay competition that an NLU ran in collaboration with a fairly well known law firm. The prize was an internship at the firm. This was around three months ago.

Since then I have been trying to actually claim the internship, and it has turned into its own full time job. Putting the timeline here because at this point I just need to know if this is normal.

Here is everything I have done, roughly in order:

1. First I emailed the firm's internship/careers inbox. No reply.
2. Then I found and emailed their HR. Nothing concrete back.
3. I reached out to HR on LinkedIn as well, since email was going nowhere.
4. I emailed partners and associates directly, keeping it polite and short.
5. I called the firm and tried to get put through to the right person.
6. I also went back to the student coordinators at my university who organised the competition, since they were the link between us and the firm.

It has now been three months. I have emailed the internship inbox, HR, partners and associates, messaged HR on LinkedIn, called them and looped in the student coordinators. Still no confirmation, no dates, nothing solid.

I don't want to come across as entitled. I get that firms are busy. But this was an official prize for a competition they themselves collaborated on, and the silence is starting to feel like the internship just doesn't exist anymore. It is also messing with my planning because I am trying to line up other internships around it.

At the outset I should clarify that I do not intend to use the LLM to transition as a lawyer into that country (Think UK and SQE exams), my research shows that path has gone dead for a very long time. Thankfully I find myself far more interested in policy and legal research (not exactly academia).

My current interest is in Data privacy, AI and governance (and adjacent research areas) therefore I'm thinking of pursuing an LLM from Europe, as a fourth year law student the earliest run rate to executing my plan is 5 years and I will need this much time to get my language skills up to wherever I go (currently thinking Brussels), as is I am aware that competition between Non EU and EU grads is a whole minefield so wherever I can give myself an advantage I will take it.

I can completely fund this pursuit abroad without incurring any debt of any kind for the whole duration (tuition +living expense) therefore I'm not extensively deterred from this plan based on financial feasibility.

Nonetheless, I am aware of the bloodbath that the european market is right now, I suppose I still want to do this because I find life here abysmal by any meaningful metric (short of the fact that I have my parents here). If I have to come back I will paid more for my foreign qualification so there is some win there.

I suppose I am looking for others who may be pursuing something similar their thoughts ?, others who may know better than me regarding my plans ? or in a general sense any guidance you would give to someone who came up to you with this plan.

A little different from the constant corporate craze but I hope people engage.

Please opt for NUALS. Even if it is not the best of choice among NLUs, it is still miles better than most private universities including Nirma and will not fleece you in exchange for legal education. You will get a much better peer group too and alumni base. If you want litigation, then it may even offer you better training than several NLUs.