Hi, nobody mentions it but trust me it is Burnout / ADHD. It literally runs in this profession be it Chamber or Law firm, yet nobody talks about it. It is the elephant in the room.

I am sorry to say, but this wont go away. anytime soon and definitely not without a proper strategy.

A common response to our own mental health issues is that we assume that 'if we just give it just enough time, it will magically cure itself'. No , not happening.

Just like any physical ailment , it definitely won't cure itself ESPECIALLY with the 24/7 work culture and hectic law firm environment.

As easy as it may be to write it off as faults of the students, the systems in place make it genuinely difficult to seek any form of redressal. Any complaints against faculty do not result in anything as we've seen time and time again. The Executive Council is too politically motivated to take any action against the VC, and it is nigh impossible to get in touch with Chandrachud as mere students; even our admin has had a hard time getting hold of him for convocations.

Hi Guys,

I want to learn how to prepare the corporate chapter for a due diligence report ? What would be the best way to go around this. I don't have the luxury of learning this on the job, so I would be thankful if someone could point me to resources, including but not limited to, online courses.

Hi

Law firm job in Tier 1/2 is definitely not a normal job where you work 9-5 and you leave office by 6:30pm - 7pm. So what is the norm?

WEEKDAYS:

Average working hours are 10-12 hours a day where you leave at 9pm - 11pm. Please note this is the “average”. You may end up working till 3am/ over night also on certain days/ certain weeks.

Depending on team and workflow you may also get some respite where you only have 4-5 hours of work when work is slow for the team - but usually in down cycle/ or it rarely happens.

Weekends - average every other weekend is working - it may range from 4 hours of work to completely working as if it is a 12 hour workday (depends on workload)

PEOPLE

If you look at the above numbers, you’ll realise that unless you are extremely driven to achieve partner status/ some financial goal in mind, this is not sustainable over a long time. People who work such hours usually have their personal life in shambles. If they don’t care about themselves, less chance they will care about you.

Due to insane hours, lot of SAs/ PAs move in-house, but when you join the law firm, you won’t meet them as you only meet the ones you have stayed on despite their personal life being affected. So the probability of having balanced caring seniors becomes lesser as you move up the ladder.

CULTURE

This is where the culture of the city/ firm/ team becomes important.

Lawyers are not monolithic bunch and there do exist helpful seniors and decent teams, but usually the teams have very low attrition. Also, within teams, certain seniors may be helpful, while certain seniors may not considerate.

Best idea - reach out to your alumni network to get an honest feedback about teams

Looking at the insane volume of work that SAM has in a practice vertical like Disputes Resolution makes me want to know about the extent of involvement that say a Pallavi or Shardul Shroff would have in a case. Are they aware of every case and supervise the work that's done by every Partner assigned to the case? Do they allocate responsibilities? Do they talk to / coordinate with the clients for the firm? If so where and when do they step in? Do they step in every time? How do they measure performance? Is it by wins or losses or is there a more sophisticated system in place? What performance metrics does a firm like SAM adopt - for retaining/ promoting/ incentivising its talent in disputes? Whats the role of a partner in a disputes practice like SAM? What's the role of a counsel in these teams? Does SAM bill by the hour? Does SAM have a culture that intensives associates to pull in work from their own contacts? How does a SAM bill its disputes/ litigation clients? What's the going standard in terms of billing - by a firm of the stature of a SAM?

I'm just a litigation lawyer with a few failed interview attempts at this firm, with a grass is greener on the other side complex. Curious: Gimme deets! Thanks

Hi, Can someone advise on how to get placed under Senior Advocates in Supreme Court/ Delhi High Court? I want to know how should one get to know about the vacancies?

Also, is it good to start under a Senior who might be working in SC/DHC simultaneously, when compared with a non-senior lawyer? What are some of the good commercial chambers in Delhi?

Hi, if anyone has interned under Mr. Divan, can you please explain how is the environment in his chamber? How much are juniors involved in matters, and what is the pay like?

I was considering to apply for Associate Position, I know it's difficult to get under such reputed seniors, but can someone please throw some light on the working of his chamber?

Even Shahzad Poonawala, Rubika Liyaqat, Shazia Ilmi, Najma Heptullah, Irfan Pathan, Shahnawaz Hussain are Muslims. Ask them if they're targetted or not. All of them will deny.

On the other hand ask Danish Kaneria, he'll say in detail how Hindus in Pakistan are discriminated and attacked on almost daily basis and on institutional basis.

Started out as a decent law firm associate in capital markets and this is 2 years down the line when we are expected to pitch in more, and I don't know why I am coming apart at the seams. Silly mistakes, not being able to run a deal team properly and constantly getting adverse feedback from clients and seniors. Don't know if I am burnt out, bored or just incompetent. There is so much work at the moment in team that I am possibly working the shifts of people who have left are almost leaving, and I did not think I would not have it in me to do so. But suddenly, my motivation gives away for work, I cannot get back to anything on time and whatever form of attention deficiency or plain stupidity my brain is caught into, just does not seem to end. Idk lol I am sort of flummoxed at how far I have fallen.

Hey there!

If you are looking for kolkata law firms- https://www.legallyindia.com/convos/topic/297755-fox-and-mandal-kolkata-kolkata-firms-ranking, I discussed about a couple of law firms in Kolkata.

Citadel Law is generally a bummer. The Partner is said to be an amazing mentor but they are a really small team and they do not hire frequently at all. But that is most of Kolkata tbh. Apparently there is one associate in the team as well who is super toxic. Have never dealt with them personally so no idea :)

Rubbish! When did you ever file a formal complaint to the VC about any faculty? And if you did and he still did not take any step, then what's to stop you from sending the complaint including one against VC's inaction to the EC or the Chancellor? All of you are suckers for inflated grades, extensions and fake attendance, quality is the last thing you are bothered about.

I'm the other partner, but for sure I can, unlike you, unless you want to jeopardise your legal career forever with these kinds of comments. Y'all come to us begging for internships and the moment you don't get it, the mask comes off. No wonder why most of our firms have a policy of taking in interns only through RCC or references.

Enjoy a miserable life of staying unemployed, troll.

Some of the "career coaches" or mentors have a very brief stint in law firms and then shift over to the mentorship side. Honestly speaking, over 90% of things that they may say are general pointers which you usually get acquainted to through law school. A conversation with any senior in college may prove more useful than their tips and tricks. Unless you're so out of touch of the general process of applications/CV drafting and generally speaking, they're not worth it.

Everything in this world is relative. Judicial service is independent in relation to services like the IAS and IPS where there is huge interference by the political masters on an everyday basis. If you disobey them, you are given insignificant postings. There's no political interference in the work done by judicial officers.

Last we checked, you are still fourth in the list of law schools in terms of total Rhodes scholars. Behind NLSIU, NALSAR and NUJS. The first one has got double digits of such scholars. The second once has got probably 5-7. The third has got 5. You have got 3 yet, so does GNLU. In case you bring up the point of being a younger law school, ever since your first batch has graduated, NLS has got 4, NALSAR 2, NUJS 4, GNLU 3, NUALS 1 and you 3 of such scholars.

Agree with the 'cancerous Calcutta University' bit because I have myself graduated from this college and boy is it a pain.

That said, I did not know of CLAT and had missed the opportunity to sit for the same. Did manage to get my BALLB done from a govt college under Calcutta University and managed to break into a corporate law firm job with a fairly decent pay. Quite a few of my batch-mates have made it to CAM, LKS, Aqui and the like despite being from an university that produces graduates like rats.

Why should I, or any of my peers who were actually focused about our acads and CV suffer just because we cannot afford law ed at private/NLUs for various reasons. Also, taking this argument into consideration, how many NLU grads actually move into litigation? We both know it is very hard to justify the low payment of chambers, especially if you have had to resort to education loans.

Radical view? Yes. Maybe important too. I would definitely want my university to revise the standards and the syllabi, which will probably not happen for another 10 years. But just acads is something you do not mark your associates on, do you? A lot of this flamboyance you are hinting comes from being able to communicate fluently in English, and an overall exposure to the better side of life that sadly only few have had the good fortune to experience. Elitist much?

Once I found a bunch of them throw water at one another, that too inside classroom. In DMs, some of them tried justifying the act by claiming that's how they "have fun." Jeez, these people never grew up from middle school. They truly deserve the (mostly) incompetent set of professors that they have.

Why is English essential for practising law? There are many trial courts and lower courts that operate on the basis of the vernacular language. Your opinions don't reflect the grassroot level reality in the country. Very ivory-towerish and elitist, not to mention full of privilege.

Can any A0s and A1s/A2s put down average working hours and whether they are working full weekends on Saturdays and Sundays and how often this is in current market conditions?

Suggested details to include :

Firm name:

Practice area:

Partner name if possible :

Location:

Hours per day/actual start and end times on average:

Weekend hours: whether it is entire weekends or partial weekend and how often

Culture: Even if the hours are terrible is the work good and are the more senior associates and partners

1 - trying to help you grow as a lawyer or don’t really care

2 - indifferent either way

3 - somewhat nasty

Overall your happiness on 100

Let’s help each other

What is wrong with people on LI? A woman is sharing her experience (which is a reality for many many people in our field) and seeking genuine advice and this thread is filled with shit comments from retarded kids asking for internships and toxic men finding imaginary red flags. |

If you cannot provide any meaningful inputs to OP, at least refrain from shit-posting on a thread like this.

The quality of education at top law schools, my alma mater in particular, has taken a sharp nosedive in the last few years. Last month, so many interns ranted to me about the sheer incompetency of their new coterie of professors. Too many structural issues left unaddressed for too long.

I get the whole "let's be exclusive" vibe, but limiting legal education to a select few institutions ignores the fact that not everyone gets the memo about entrance tests. It's like expecting everyone to know the secret handshake.

Many talented folks, due to various reasons, miss out on the CLAT memo. Narrowing down options just amplifies the existing inequalities. Let's not turn law education into an invite-only party; brilliance exists everywhere, not just in the elite club.

Instead of gatekeeping, let's tackle the real issues. Spread the word, offer support, and ditch the VIP entrance mentality. A diverse legal community beats an exclusive one any day. Plus, let's not forget that not everyone can jet off to study – hometown brilliance deserves the spotlight too.