This is a rather sad state of affairs for NLSIU in general. By way of introduction, I'm a student of the B.A. LLB cohort, my RCC rank is top 10, and I've done my share of moots, ADR, and publications (the relevance of the seemingly self aggrandizing comments will be clear as you read the post). While LegallyIndia is not the best place to have this discussion, in the absence of any meaningful dialogue outside it, perhaps this is the best we have. Now, there are some things I wish to set out, in the capacity above:

1. Yes, the 3 year LLB program is pushed for by the admin, and no, there is nothing wrong with it. It's a new program, it's budding, how is it wrong for the admin to try and provide it a nudge? We can't be so competitive, they are legitimately our peers. While it can be a bit frustrating to see it this way, it's important to be mindful of this program, and see them as our peers rather than competitors who will take our jobs away. They bring a lot of diversity, and particularly, skills in the social science on the table, and we all stand to benefit from it, provided we collaborate and engage, rather than ranting about minor things that the admin may have done.

2. As far as extra-curriculars go, it is true, the 3 year LLB program has 'underperformed' till now. If you look at the intra-university moot and journal results, this becomes very evident, with barely 1-2 students from those programs making it to the top 30. 3-4 BA-LLB (Kartik Kalra, Manhar Bansal, Priyansh Dixit, Sukarm Sharma) students probably have more publications than the entire LLB (Hons.) combined. Similarly, all of the top moots are taken by BA.LLB students. However, this is not due to any superiority on the part of us B.A.LL.B students. It's simply because we are young, and more invested in this process. For a person who has already completed their degree, and lived a large chunk of their college life, these things seem infinitely less valuable - and perhaps reasonably so. In that light, it is difficult to draw comparisons, and such comparisons benefit no one.

3. There are some tensions, naturally, between the two cohorts. I do think both B.A.LLB (seeing the 3 year LLB program as outsiders) and LLB Hons. (seeing the 3 year LLB program as pubescent teenagers) are partially to blame. This can be resolved through some mutual respect, which frankly does not seem likely presently, for whatever reasons.

yep. the course will help you tremendously to get into the sector and learn the basics etc, and will add little value to your CV but not as much as you think. It will only provide a slight edge to an already above avg CV i.e it will only add a little value not create any value. Imo, not worth it given the fees.

As someone who suffered from this until a few years back here are my 2 cents.

1. Thinking retrospectively is easy. After 10yrs in the profession I found myself thinking everyday if I should have rather become a musician (which i wanted to in college). However rn, I don't blame myself as much because at that time I had other priorities as well which required significant financial commitments which was simply not possible going down the music route.

2. Risk vs stability, following dreams like vlogging, art etc. carry significant risk and have a huge luck component in them. There are people who have been doing YouTube for 15yrs and have still not hit a consistent income enough to quit their jobs, on the contrary there are some who go viral overnight. You can do everything right and still be miserable. It all comes down to one's personality type, I was not someone who was comfortable with gambling with my future like this (hence, also didn't go the litigation route), stuck with the monthly paycheck route.

3. Can't help it now; no matter what I feel or regret there is no going back now no matter what. It'll just ruin mental health regretting. After a few years I simply tried to enjoy where I am and made peace with all the decisions I made.

4. People are overly optimistic, No one knows how life would have been if they had gone a different route. There is a huge possibility that I would have been more miserable, broke and unhappy if I had gone the musician route which I always overlooked. People assume that they would have been better off and are rarely realistic.

Wow I am so glad to have found this thread. I am still a law student, until recently I found it so difficult to focus. Argh the guilty procrastination really really made my life terrible and caused all sorts of problems the biggest one being self doubt. My class mates am so much more efficient than me, and are able to sit for long lectures and can multitask as well. I still have not been diagnosed with ADHD by a professional but I have checked so my websites and am so sure I have it. Unfortunately I can not afford to see a Psychologist neither do my parents believe in ADHD. I saved up my stipend and went once, and was told I have anxiety induced depression. I was given meds and they made my life so much better for a month. Now I am back to procrastination and hate my self for it. Believe it or not legally india is my biggest mode of procrastination. I am in my office as I am typing this while my co interns are busy working, so focused that it makes me jealous sometimes sigh. This thread gave me some peace.

1. Yes things improved. The main issues with Sukhpal were discriminatory in time and some harassment complaints and allegations of corruption.

2. I personally upgraded from Rml to hnlu. No regrets.

3. Environment is better. A bit strict and more focus on academics now a days.

4.Placements for last 2 yrs have been good. Can't comment on future though.

5. Crowd is good. Most people are chilled out. Seniors are cooperative and friendly. Academics is good and improving. Attendance has become strict though compared to previous yrs.

6. Nope. Decent city. Campus is in naya raipur on the outskirts. Great weather , good scenery , peaceful. Daily buses to and fro to city available. Good dhabas nearby.

7. Can't comment on the future.

Joke of a ranking given by people here!!! A more correct ranking is:

1. Tier 1 IIM (it is possible for law grads to do PhDs there and an NLSIU alum has done so)

2. Tier 1 IIT business school or Policy school

3. NLSIU or JNU

4. TISS or ISB

5. NALSAR or NLUD or IIT KGP law school or IIFT Delhi or FMS Delhi

6. Tier 2 IIM or IIT business school or policy school or any DU other department or NUJS or GNLU or Jindal

7. Any respectable traditional/private university or NLUJ

8. Any random traditional university or NLIU

9. Any random private university

10. Some jugaad, borderline-fake college

All these earnings come at a very high cost (personal and professional). Work demands a lot of consistent hard work. Lot of people switch careers or set their own pace. Its high time those things are discussed as they can help in setting context and expectation of young professionals and students who are about to start their professional journey. I am about a decade in the profession and know several instances wherein some people have decided to take control of the pace of their life and not let it depend on the far fetched allure!

If you have ~1 year of work experience and none of that experience is in transactions, then your fund has hired you for compliance work. While there is nothing wrong with compliance work, but that skill set typically pays lesser than transactions experience and it isn't valued as much by funds. Even fund structuing and documentation experience is not of much value to an in-house lawyer of a fund.

So, you need to figure which role your fund has hired you for and, if it is for a compliance role, then maybe give it a little time and don't start-off negotiating after 2 months of joining since you will likely come across as greedy. I would work hard and gain some relevant work experience and then negotiate next year.

Ideally, try transitioning to a law firm after you've spent a year or so. You will learn a lot more in a law firm during the early part of your career, although the hours will be a lot worse.

Lawyers in litigation / Dispute Resolution in HC / SC / NLCT / NCLATs and other forums how do you manage frustration as after mentioning of a matter , the matter may take few years to reach stage of final hearing . It makes me feel like a fool that a simple appeal has to sit for 2-3 years and then the stage of final hearing will come . How bad is it ?

Look. Let me give you some perspective.

I am someone who has been through all of this (literally everything) at a senior level. It is a zero sum game, and you can never win, or never beat the system. You have to just swallow your pride and move on. It takes a special kind of nerve to be mean and caustic-and that's what partners are. Barring maybe 1 out of 10 partners, the rest of them are a bully in some form or the other-and the bully always wins-he/she never loses. It is the law of the jungle but with sophisticated weaponry in terms of intellect, clothing etc. If you are someone that the partner wants or likes then even if you commit a crime-it will be overlooked-that is the system. If you are a rainmaker partner then even sexual harassment is overlooked to make sure that you are protected.

Unless you belong to any power circle which can dislodge the partner, without inflicting self harm upon yourself, I would suggest that you just move on from where you are. I'm giving you a practical take on the system, and how it works. Whether you accept it or not is your look out.

Title.

Heard the university might not host the event. In case it doesn’t, will WBNUJS be the host (with NLSIU teams participating hopefully).

P.S. What could be the reasons for not hosting such a sought-after / anticipated event between the students of the trifecta? From what I’ve seen, it serves as a great mixer for the students (Let’s not digress into issues about including more universities or lower standards of athleticism in students of the 3 participating universities).

Is it really that people post 40s, 50s, 60s etc regret their decision of choosing a career in life which they don't like and would want to redo their lives doing something they are passionate about, even if that wouldn't have paid well? Or is it just saying and people eventually start coping with the choices they make and become content with whatever life throws up?

Experienced audience please post your thoughts. New entrants in law please just listen out.

The Mallu vs Non- Mallu divide is getting worse day by day. As a fellow non-Mallu NUALSite I feel extremely out of place over here and hate that the college functions more on the lines of a state university rather than an NLU. If not for the reduction in state domicile quota, NUALS admin should consider appointing non-Mallu Professors and staff. But then again, pretty sure the admin doesn't give a damn

if corp law faculty take RAs and mentor and write references will you work with them? It doesnt make any sense at all- you dont build an academic career like this. Constitutional law is very very broad. Research collaborations are not like school- its a job. You have to behave like a colleague, and you have to approach getting these jobs like a potential colleague. Literally all of the professors at NLS have worked with student RAs and mentored students and written letters- thats part of their job. It doesnt mean anything at all about whether theyd do any of those things for you or whether youd have a good experience working with them.

Our journal sends out solicitations and an A0 from a tier 1 firm has responded asking for writing an article as long as the journal sends in assistance. In the past, we have assisted with formatting, blue-booking and basic help with regards to the article. This time around the A0 has asked for massive research assistance where most of the research is being done by a team of 3 editors assigned to him. It seems rather absurd for us to do the research and then accept it, as it is (i) a solicitation and (ii) the editors won't be keen on marking their own research down. We agree that A0s are overburdened and there would be nothing wrong with helping them. He is the one writing the article but everything else is provided by us. Yet, this simply does not sit right with me. Is that something other journals have done in the past, kindly shed a light as declining the request now would look bad on the journal.

After days and days of hemming and hawing. I have finally decided to leave tax and start afresh with corporate.

I am CS LLB, spent 2 years in IDT to realize it wasn't for me and that I will be better off on gen corp or M&A.

How do I start afresh? Do I seek internships only or will a Tier-2 firm take me. How does one go about navigating a career change? How do I start?

No stipends are only reserved for non-contact/reference interns. They get about 16K atleast in the litigation team. I was a reference intern very recently and didn’t get a dime but my co-interns who got in thru merit did.

Tbvh it’s very hard to even get a certificate at Luthra. They just don’t want to give unless you harass them again and again.

DU if you are from middle or lower middle class family.

Jindal if you can afford the fee.

Delhi and Mumbai way better than Cuttack and Shimla.

Tier 2 or 3 NLUs waste of time and money.

I will prefer a DU college over NLU Patna and Ranchi or vizag or Sonipat.

Getting into NUALS as of now after giving CLAT 2024. Could you elaborate upon this? Also, is it worth applying in vacancies to NLU Odisha? I've heard a variety of different opinions and they all seem to be stating that both of them are relatively similar and that both of them aren't great or pathetic either.

Yes. Still toxic. Tbh, toxicity has reduced compared to earlier cement cartel days. but even with the now toned down version of toxicity, it's still way more than what you find in other firms. Hours are also still the same. The team has great clients and great work but no life. No life absolutely. Work there for 2 years, learn, earn, gain experience and then get the duck out before the aggressive reputation catches up to you. Cause if that happens you will be deemed to be unemployable by other competition teams. Many people from that team actually do want to leave but no one is hiring even when vacancies are all around. The recent 'counsel' left and interviewed everywhere but then came back cause he/she had no where to go.

1. Most scholarships have some variant of 'merit' attached to them often at the behest of the donor.

2. People from financially well-off backgrounds have had better opportunities coming to the point of making the scholarship today.

3. People from minority groups - whether religious, but also ethnic, linguistic, social - have had either 'real' (read personal) or 'perceived' (read as part of group) lived-realities/difficulties.

4. People from financially well-off, minority backgrounds having had (i) better opportunities previously are now able to (ii) utilize their real or perceived lived-realities to 'sell' (read demonstrate) a rounded candidate who has 'done well despite the difficulties.' Hence, they are able to secure funding.

PS: All of this is based on your word that those financially well-off minority students somehow vastly out do financially well-off 'majority' group candidates.