Can anyone help me with how to start my journey as an Articled Clerk in Mumbai ?
I am hoping to give the BILS Solicitor`s Exam and would love recommendation and advise on how to start, where to apply and look for, and any other advice in general is much appreciated
Thanks

When I go to the SC as an established SC/ASG/SG/AG or a judge, i will do so. I will discourage seniors from paying juniors and encourage them to get briefed in matters like the senior does. The stupid system of the senior paying the junior needs to stop. It kills growth. Those who don't understand it are nothing but blinded by money and don't even know anything about how the legal system works and how juniors command fees elsewhere like in bombay.

Do litigation. Dont make the mistake of joining corp law. For a few more pennies you will sell your soul for mothing. You will do no work but stare at a screen for 18 hours a day and have no future. People who do corporate law are nothing but underemployed and they need to get a reality check that what they are doing is clerical and has no meaning. They pretend to work. They do no work. Useless thing. Have some self respect and do litigation

I'm not in a "dellusion" friend. I am not so sure if LI mods will publish the names of the colleges, but I have seen people from Khalsa College of Law, some World Peace University, Banasthali getting to T-1s. So as much as I see it, these are not "Jindal, SlsP or such colleges". Now again no harm from such Unis, I'm not an Nlu snob, but talking realistically these people didn't have any sorts of internships as such too before getting into T-1s, so is it just these kids getting lobbied by the founders of this forum in exchange for money being paid for their courses or is it some other story?

Also a side note to mods: can you please publish the rest of the comments, this is the OP here, I'd like to see what kinda burn these people had to post such trollish comments.

NLU Delhi has 24×7 split AC in each room of the hostel. In cafeteria. In library. In academic block (where couples usually sit in the night). In moot court research room. In winters, same is the case with heaters. Everywhere including one in each hostel room. Independent heaters.

i have never agreed on a post where corp is getting licked, But this is actually true,

the sooner we all understand that we couldn't make it any law firm, ( we start overshadowing it with - yarr in law firm you will be just a glorified clerk, real learning happens in chamberssssss.)

been to both kinda liked the corp culture. |

once sombody enters T1,2,3,4 firms you wont look at chambers at all,

I am a lawyer working in the DR team of a law-firm. While work is great, the heart yearns to go to independent practice. However, thinking rationally, I am not very sure as to how will the Indian litigation scene map out in the future - will it go the American way and consolidate into law firms or will it go the British way and maintain a distinction between arguing counsels and solicitors (the statutory difference between barrister and solicitor helps maintain this distinction).

What do you guys think ? Does it make sense to leave my plush high paying law firm job and pursue independent practice. Is there a future in it or will chambers eventually die down into doing routine / govt. panel work. or do you think Indian chambers lawyers will continue to grow the way they have traditionally and law-firms will remain a solicitor oriented practice with some arguing counsels standing out.

P.s. I would love to hear insights and explanations that would help all of us. Please avoid making generalizations like "if you make it in XYZ court then sky is the limit"

outperformed them in what statistic, you say this as if you actually have any idea of whats happening in those colleges. You just run blindly behind "ohhhh they have xyz placements", bro NLS is crumbling, NUJS had their fair share of issues last year, GNLU oh bro they just dont have their dirty laundry out there everytime. theres a difference between constructive criticism and just dragging a college down. If you really wanted to fix NLIU's perception with other T1s, maybe start with yourself.

Hey everyone- was contemplating some of the things that happen in law firms and wanted to know if this is just my experience. How many of y'all have come across people who don't pull their weight around, have zero technical skills but are still on the rolls? Like people who don't even know the basics of their practice area and are still there. Have you looked at someone and wondered how did they land this job in the first place when they don't know their shit? Ironically, some of these people are also close to the top boss. While I am sure all this happens in other professions, ours seems uniquely positioned to enable such dums dums. They are all show and no substance. Many of these people progress to principal associate level, collect salaries for years, become partners and then quickly jump to more stable ish roles where they don't have to do engage in BD, because honestly they just don't have the skills to bring in business. Their run as a partner is limited to 2 years max after which they jump ship. I am really curious to hear people's take on whether law firms essentially reward two things in principle: 1) Connections and 2) Ability to Schmooze, politicking etc. I am quite early and junior in my career, but I can't help but notice that law firms don't necessarily reward people's ability to deliver results at least till the Principal Associate level. I personally believe that the quality and technical finesse of a lawyer only becomes apparent after elevation to PA onwards. That is when it becomes clear whether they are worth their salt. In most cases technically incompetent lawyers when elevated to partnership would not last more than 2 years. Correct me if I wrong but at least in the big firms (the big5), once you are in and not terribly bad at basic skills you won't be thrown out of the firm. Any thoughts? Or experiences where you come across such characters?

Bhai, litigation is about privilege. If you can't suck it up, then go to lala firms, earn a handsome salary and live peacefully. Too bad, your life sucks. What to do.

FYI I am first gen lit lawyer as well. Of course, the ride is harder. But, all (1st gen, 2nd gen, 10th gen, nlu, non nlu yada yada) have their struggles in litigation. Good day.

Make this make sense, because Kalyan Bandopadhyay claimed on camera just a week or so ago that Sanjay Basu was managing Abhishek’s cases?? Has the BJP arm-twisted Aquilaw to jump ship and support the rebels? Or just a cold pragmatic calculation that Pishi-Bhaipo are finished, so better to turn saffron?

https://youtube.com/watch?v=lrEUuR8sOG4

I graduated when I was 35 and got to work in a tier 1 law firm immediately. Not because I was 35 or did a 3 year LLB. It's because I literally killed my self doing internships and networking. That's the only thing you need to worry. Your skills, knowledge and internships. Network, network and network. So you have 5 years, keep wondering whether you'll get a job or actually build up your CV to secure one. All the best.

▮▮▮. For working professionals, Part-Time is PhD is the only option. Anyone would like taking their ▮▮▮ to classes to study. But it is simply not productive. It does not benefit anyone - not the person doing it, not the college, and not the country (the country needs working professionals, not ▮▮▮ men and women sitting in classes and jotting notes for a title). Part-time PhD does not mean that you do not have to not write a research work or thesis to earn your keep, it just means you do not have to waste your time sitting unemployed in a classroom. ▮▮▮.

It's a UGC rule. There is an in built exception there too though. However, it is highly likely to be litigated if that exception is used in reality. That's why MP Singh waited till Sudhir becomes Professor for ten years before announcing the NLSIU search committee call for VC application.

How common is information asymmetry within deal teams? Mid level associate here in a team without a clear chain of communication. Each person seems to have a separate, siloed channel with the partner and I'm constantly trying to bridge gaps to understand key issues. No internal briefings. Is this normal?

Much like the title, help me understand that is it better to join your own office as a fresher where you wont have multi-crore deals happening and you'd be without the majestic exposure of high stake litigation but instead you get fluidity, non-toxic environment, time to think & excute and poach your own clients and deal with them from the get go.

WHAT I KNOW/BEEN TOLD-

●it's important to have a job as it teaches you discipline.

●people respect you more when you've hustled

●A name tag of a big chamber or corp takes you long way and so on.

●Even smoking guns like Sibbal singhvi etc all of them send their young ones to someone else's Chambers.

The biggest honest counter i can think of is, I'd make more than an A0 at a t1 and it'd only multiply so is the social acceptance worth going through that 2-3 year phase?

Im all sucker for good humour but pls some honest suggestions and reasoning rn.

Hi everyone,

I am currently looking for opportunities to pursue a General Corporate / M&A assessment internship (preferably in Delhi).

I wanted to know which law firms directly offer assessment internships that may lead to a PPO or retained associate position. It would be extremely helpful if members could share firms that are known to have a structured assessment internship process, along with any insights regarding their recruitment timelines and application process.

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Who says OCI holders cannot register with State Bar Councils? Has the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs notification that allows OCIs parity with Indian citizens in the practice of law and to be advocates been revoked or something?

I know of more than one person in the same position as you (British citizen and OCI) who is practicing as an advocate (although both the examples I know enrolled first as Indian citizens and only became British citizens later - but that shouldn't matter in the context of the MOIA notification)

Can only offer generic advice.

1. Know how to read causelists.

2. Memorise, properly, where each court room is.

3. Make sure you read the matters properly - don't ever go to the court without file or without having read the file. This does not mean reading just the Synopsis or the LOD. Go through the complete file.

Since you're with an AOR, the procedural aspects of CrPC, Evidence Act, CPC etc. would not really apply, except when the interpretation/application of any particular section is already in issue in any such case (in which case, you'd just know from the file anyway). So you're expected to know the substantive law - whatever field your AOR mainly practices in..

but objectively, the cutoff for SC/ST seats is much lower than the NRI seats. So any SC/ST candidate should be able to avail that first. Now if there were to be SC/ST seats within NRI quota, the cutoff would be so much more lower, and lower than the ordinary SC/ST seats as well. NRI fees on average is 3-5x the usual fees. I don't think there would be anyone other than kids of mostly corrupt officers or politicians who would be interested in availing those seats. Makes no sense.

How has AI changed the Capital Markets practice? I remember having to do quite a lot of mind numbingly boring tasks earlier until I changed practice areas, but now, I think I would probably be able to do three of these transactions simultaneously with the same filing date and get home for dinner with the family. Is that true? How has the practice changed - especially the work hours, especially in the past year with AI becoming especially proficient in due diligence?

Recent graduate based in Mumbai (T1 NLU, if that matters), decent CV + international moots, average CGPA. Would anyone be able to suggest chambers or seniors who would be hiring or be able to offer advice on how to go about applying to chambers in Mumbai? Whatever circumstances have led me to this are not important, but would physically going to chambers and dropping my CV be in my best interest or a waste of time? Would appreciate any input, as I am certain on litigation, but a bit lost.

So basically are we seeing 4 people split the pie in the competition practice? If yes, that situation will be exploited by the corporate partners feeding work. They can throw scraps for 4 people to fight over. With Nisha, people could stave off that pressure at the expense of growth but keep billables high. All life is just a trade off.

Won’t happen because the firm is on an AI implementation journey aiming to bolster its use across all levels. With that, there is no incentive to revise the pay as the same attorneys that are using the AI are also in-effect training the same AI with their daily usage. Lot of money is being spent on AI adoption. There is already hiring freeze, and hiring for future is also set to go down.

Please do some research before regurgitating press releases people.

It was a very simple case that was primarily prepared for and conducted by the (very human, very expensive) barrister who actually argued the case.

A barrister like this is massive overkill for a case like this and it is almost unheard of as his fees would have been hugely disproportionate to the case (like hiring Harish Salve to argue for you at the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal). He was only hired because the AI firm paid his fees, because they wanted to make sure the case was won, so that they could publicise it (and their strategy worked, because they have got free publicity far outstripping what they paid the barrister).

Hey! Batch of 29 here. Was planning to go into Corp Law and ADR, particularly M&A and Commercial Arbi but everybody around me seems to be trying for the same. As a non-NLU student, the internships i've done till now are average, but i am trying to get better ones in my third year. Saw a lot of threads here saying M&A and corp firms in general are oversaturated, and that ppos or getting placed are getting worse by the years (esp seeing 26' ppos). Can someone guide me wrt which field can i pivot to and focus on for internships and publications so that I have a chance at landing in a good dep of a good firm without peanuts in pay. Was considering niche-er areas such as space law but i need more advice from someone IN the actual market

I just read ▮▮▮ stuff about Lucio AI right now. Can some insiders please confirm this?

Find the link here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Bangalorestartups/s/BFLvnkQhnP

If you're genuinely interested in LegalTech, joining a law firm is probably the worst way to pursue it. The LegalTech team at Trilegal is a bit of a misnomer, as it largely involves liasoning with and evaluating external vendors and solutions (partly because of the Lucio investment).

Even other firms like Kco and CAM have innovation teams that don't really build their own solutions. If you're genuinely interested in building something in the legaltech space, joining a startup is probably your best bet.

Knowing your way around AI tools like Claude Code is another thing tho – I think every lawyer, not even specifically TMT ones, should be dabbling in this and try to automate their work as much as possible; because if you don't, the guy next to you will and he'll be able to do significantly more work than you.

I interned here this year and, overall, it was a valuable experience. Both managing partners are exceptionally professional, approachable, and genuinely supportive. One primarily leads the corporate practice while the other focuses on disputes, giving the firm a broad and varied portfolio of work. For a city like Jaipur, the quality and diversity of the corporate work is particularly impressive. Ashish Sir, in particular, has extensive Tier-1 connections and brings significant exposure and opportunities to the firm's practice.

The team itself is relatively small, which allows interns to get meaningful exposure. There is one Senior Associate who is knowledgeable and helpful, and another Associate from GLC who is incredibly kind, approachable, and knows exactly how to engage with and mentor interns.

Unfortunately, ▮▮▮

They might be looking to hire, but not from reputed places since they'd have to match pay. The shortlisted candidates that I could see so far are all from smaller firms or not even proper law firms, and tier 2-3 law schools. Even for fresher hirings, they are in talks with tier 3 NLUs this year, unlike the top 3 colleges from earlier years. Major cost cutting it seems.

How exactly does the total number of reserved category candidates shrink? That remains the same. If anything, only super rich can afford NRI quota seats. So every NRI seat that gets taken by a reserved category rich student will mean that a poorer reserved category candidate couldn't get in. That's opposite to what the reservation norms want to achieve.

I think I do my best work when I'm largely working on one matter on a given day. Hate switching between 6 matters in one day - feels like I'm barely making progress on any of them. How do you juggle multiple matters without losing time answering people's questions and doing stupid work?

You do understand when you use the word academia you're referring to being a professor. A job in think-tanks would make you a legal researcher not an academician. Please be clear what you want to do.

If you want to be a legal academician, then LLM+NET+PhD.

If you want to be a legal researcher, you can do that even after a LLB. Intern and join think-tanks. Work experience is more important there. Later on if you want, you can do a LLM in a specialised area or PhD as well, but it's not mandatory.

So, decide. Academia or Research.

Also being an academician includes three main duties.. teaching, research and admin. While being a researcher doesn't include teaching or admin duties.

This is not a snide remark. Look at the team structures closely. The two male partners in question, GC and that ex Luthra appendage, the next in command in both their teams are men. There may have been women Lawyers at junior levels (from erstwhile NKU era) but none of those have made it to the counsel levels under these two partners. Speak to ppl who have worked in these two teams, it IS a boys club. Let’s just call a spade a spade.

Yes. I would suggest working hard at improving your writing skills in the first year of college. I would highly recommend 'Academic Legal Writing' by Eugene Volokh as that has a lot of good advice. You can easily get it for free from any shadow library online such as Anna's Archive. Also read a lot of different things regarding the law, both doctrinal and interdisciplinary, to improve your writing abilities. In other words, read a lot of cases, books, blog articles, and journal articles.

Doing an LLM from an NLU is not a terrible idea, but it is not a very good one either. Try to build a stellar CV by the end of your 4th year (top 5 in batch, great publications, research assistantships, one or two competitions etc) in order to increase your chances of getting a scholarship to do an LLM abroad. One particular scholarship that you could try to aim for is the Alex Chernov Scholarship of the University of Melbourne. A foreign LLM just increases the chances of you becoming a professor at a good law school in India.

Though the path be broken and uncertain, never give up hope!

Because colleges abroad do this: you can opt for single rooms, single rooms with private bath, or shared rooms, depending on your budget. This improves students experience and also adds revenue to colleges. Also incentivises affluent students to study at tier 2 NLUs instead of opting for Jindal or going abroad (in the latter case, saving the country foreign exchange),

Not elitist, but pragmatic: instead of forced socialism and povertarianism.

Payment should not be done by senior. It should be done by the solicitor or the client coming. Seperately to the senior and the junior. Watch the bombay bar association and calcutta bar library reflection videos on YT. The delhi system of paying juniors kills their growth. Useless and horrible system. Should be done away with law and should be punished. There is a reason why bombay calcutta madras counsels were and still are so much better than delhi ones and their drafting is so much better. They grow much faster. Delhi just because financial centre and politics they grow. Otherwise nothing.

This may be the biggest leap in reasoning ever. Can AI be punished for professional misconduct? Does AI have access to the lived experiences, accumulated over years and decades of practice, that actual lawyers in a law firm have?

Keeping the limitations of AI aside, I fail to see why this incident is newsworthy. Pedestrian generative AI such as ChatGPT has for a long time had the ability to do the things which Garfield AI has done in this case. The only reason that the news of the victory in this case is being spread far and wide is that Garfield AI is branded as a 'law firm'. Nomenclature cannot change substance. To be astounded by this piece of news is the same as announcing yourself as bereft of any capacity for critical thinking. I don't like being abrasive, but the sheer number of idiots who consider AI to be the greatest thing for law since language was invented (like you for instance) gets on my nerves.

An additional bonus of 2.5 months’ over and above March’s already paid performance bonus has been confirmed to be paid along-with July salary. Everyone in the firm knows that. This additional bonus which is a result of firm’s 10% equity profit pool reserved for employees has been yearly paid for ages and is a permanent feature resulting in high annual bonuses. Surprising to see how someone is trying to make a story out of it when none exists. Its a good thing being done and should be followed by all law firms.