Law firm Litigation Associate with PQE 5 based in Mumbai. Have been trying to find ways to strike out into independent practice in the last couple of years. However for a first generation Advocate and from a service family (absolutely no business people among relatives and friends) getting direct clients has proven difficult.

I have wondered whether instead approaching other independent Advocates (with a client base) for referred drafting and appearance work is a better option to get started and getting seen in court ? There are many Advocates who have a lot of clients, but their team size is small (or they don't have any juniors at all) and they can't attend to all their commitments simultaneously.

Can I offer to do drafting (and low stakes appearances) for them for a nominal fee ? I have already gotten some work like this. But is this scaleable and should I resign from my job to pursue this full time ?

Please note that all the referred work that I got - I had to actively solicit work from these Advocates - in the sense of forcing an introduction and handing out a card. Is that something very negative about an independent practitioner's career ?

Is it possible to be eventually earn enough to match my current law firm salary (around 6 LPA) through such independent referred work ?

How do I hedge against disruptions like long covid lockdowns etc ?

Independent litigators on this site (preferably Mumbai based), just want to pick your brains on this ?

👉https://twitter.com/tchrd_/status/1691116402919518208

The global left is deeply hypocritical when it comes to China . They will rally against the US/Israel/Modi buy not say a word about China's genocide in Tibet and Xinjiang. Even the RW/non-left is afraid to call out China for fear of being targeted by the powerful China lobby, or losing business. Wall Street and Big Tech (even Elon Musk) shamelessly appease China. Richard Gere has been unofficially blacklisted in Hollywood because of his support for Tibet. We have also seen the recent NYT article which exposed the Chinese lobbying system via Neville Roy Singham, including in India. Also, Kavita Krishnan had to leave the CPIML after criticising China and Stalin.

https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/kavita-krishnan-leaves-cpi-ml-posts-over-questions-on-russia-china-3310609

https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/movies/richard-gere-says-hes-been-blacklisted-in-hollywood-because-of-free-tibet-views-20170420-gvo9ma.html

So we must take off our hats to NUJS students and the VC for for having the guts to take on China and doing this. The college may end up paying a price for this, but they have put principle over profits.

Well done, guys!! I salute your courage!! I don't think other NLUs will have the spine to do this. Let's give credit where due. 👏👏👏👏

P.S. Watch out for hacking attacks by Chinese hackers now.

Understand that the mere fact that you landed in a "National" Law University, managed to graduate and on top of all of that, got a job that countless people crave, which, if you are able to persist in, will put you in the top 0.1 of the entire COUNTRY composed of over 1.5 Billion people - you are more than what you give yourself the credit for. You are heaps better than so, so many people its unreal. Realize that your major concern is something that is inside of you, your head, that you can, with effort, change and make it better. You will soon have enough dough to afford therapy, get it. You did not get the job with a stroke of luck or any circumstances, you got it because you're you, and you deserved it. Someone DID NOT get the job because of you, and that was not because he was him, but because he was not YOU. Ponder, respect yourself and move with pride.

Here's further evidence of the not-so-amicable relations between the Karnataka Govt and the Central Govt. Karnataka will scrap NEP from next year. In such a situation there is no way that the state government will give the NOC for NLS.

https://www.deccanherald.com/india/karnataka/no-nep-from-2024-25-academic-year-karnataka-cm-siddaramaiah-2647057

There is no Indian firm that recruits from NLUD but does not from NLIU. Now you're trying to shift goalposts from recruitment to other activities, just like NLUD people do the moment anyone calls out their poor placement. One VS or TC doesn't offset your overall sub par performance in placement for the batch, be it this year or any other year.

I haven't read the report or don't have knowledge about which reforms were suggested and accepted.

Personally, I'm strictly against naming the legislations in Hindi and my best guess is that it was a result of Hindi-belt appeasement by the BJP. This is Hindi appeasement at its peak!! If thr NLUD report had suggested this then I'm against this.

He was kind of forced to introduce the domicile reservation else the state govt would have stopped sending any funds to the university. This can actually be held against the state govt to argue how the state govt is trying to convert NLS into a local university for petty politics!

I can think of atleast 3 other top Indian firms that don’t even recruit from NLIU, apart from foreign firms. And honestly, as far as tier-1 firms go, NLUD has had an equal number in most years except maybe this one. If NLIU has more, it’s because of a larger batch size and tier-2 firms in addition.

And, NLUD’s co-curricular and scholarship achievements are far superior to NLIU. NLIU has never had a Rhodes, has hardly won any notable international moots, hardly any UPSC toppers, I can go on. So to even claim that NLIU is on par, much less better, is ludicrous.

OP here. I am effectively working 3-4 hours more than my teammates rn since I start early and stay put till whenever partner prefers. All I’m asking is if there is a partner who understands the natural body clock and can atleast get the offfice work done by 4-5 PM so that there is some semblance of life.

SRL anyday! SRL's fresher lawyer program is ▮▮▮ (initial 6 months - no salary) . But the firm is doing really well and growing fast. In a few years SRL could reach the level Indus has reached. Go for SRL. On the other hand Luthra is just an old school firm struggling to keep up with times.

CHRIST has 85% mandatory attendance which is above the BCI's mandate of 70% so if they can maintain it , you can. Please have a look at jurisprudence too.in which High Courts have upheld the BCI power to impose minimum attendance requirements and that such requirement is essential in a professional degree like law. 70% including "genuine" reasons is more than enough

You are crazy to get depressed on something like this.You are being paid fairly at Saraf.Trilegal is not worth joining if they are so desperate to attract talent by such are huge hike.Its too good to be true.And the jury is still out on whether this hike and "guaranteed" bonus is even real.

The bills were not drafted by NLUD. NLUD had submitted a report to the govt suggesting changes to the criminal laws in the country. Many of those suggestions have been incorporated by the govt which is why they are celebrating.

Some people don't understand the difference between submitting a report on the criminal laws and drafting a legislation.

It's not disputes if it's not you going to court. No firm allows it completely.

Reason?

Clients prefer experienced counsels to appear for them not someone who got placed due to their rank and sits behind a laptop. These people can do the drafting and "strategy".

If your want the real litigation experience, just forget everything and sit in a district court for months and observe how CPC/ CRPC are only written on paper. Neither the counsel, nor the judges care.

Contrary to the understanding in the posts above, Sudhir is totally for domicile reservation. After the High Court held in favour of the alumni Petitioners and the State filed an SLP, NLS itself went ahead and gave the domicile reservation which the HC said the State could not do. It will be interesting to see what the SC does, especially with NLS alum arguing for (Gopal Sankaranarayanan and Nandakumar) and against (Shashi Kiran Shetty).

Dear Law Student,

I hope you are doing well. I, too, am a law student who has strategised internships in a specific niche practice area. In this short analysis, I will not be referring to that practice (CM) but firms in general.

The Big 7 criteria is a slightly inaccurate list of largest firms in India. This is because, firms are divided into practice areas, which are practiced by Partners (Rainmakers), or those who bring in maximal and ever growing revenue to the firm for it to subsist. A Rainmaker is the star in the specific practice area and will remain so even if they shift to another firm, because clients are driven by the legal advisor Partner rather that the name of the firm. For example, ML moving from L&L to Indus.

The "Big 7" or "indian Biglaw" takes into account- maximum practice areas that consist of rainmakers and well recognised by clients which results in- highest salaried pay (not PEP (Profits per Equity Partner) necessarily), larger teams by numbers. Therefore, just being in a tier 1 firm does not mean all its practice areas are.

Boutique firms on the other hand have 1 focused practice area among others which may far be recognised that even tier 1 firms. This does not translate to higher salaried pay, but equal or more PEP, because of the higher revenue generation but lesser salary due to the firm themselves being small.(Exception- ICUL, Andheri Office- Funds, S&R, TT&A {undoubtedly, the exceptions are the highest paying firms in India due to the smaller teams but competitive revenue generation if not more})

In this regard, maybe this is true to an extent (horizontally, in no particular order)-

___________________________________________

Tier 1 (Growing till recession)- AZB, SAM, CAM (no-one knows why), Khaitan, Trilegal, IndusLaw, JSA

Tier 1 Boutiques- S&R (CM), ICUL (Funds, Andheri Office, Mumbai), TT&A (Banking, DCM)

_____________________________________________

Tier 2 (Growing)- Bharucha, DSK Legal, ELP, Argus.

Tier 2 (Declining to Tier 3)- L&L, Saraf.

Tier 2 Boutiques- Anand & Anand (IP), LKS (Tax- Direct, Indirect, Customs), Offices of Senior Advocates (Disputes {Highest PEP in the world})

Regards,

::_

Chances of getting a positive and meaningful response are more in Cold Emailing than Cold DMing on LinkedIn, per my personal experience. It worked for me. I got interview calls from four Tier 1s and three Tier 2s and Job offers from two of the Tier 1s and all of the Tier 2s. I was an average student of one of the Tier 3 NLUs.

However, it depends on the practice area, your CV and most importantly your email (cover letter) so that they don't send your email into the trash without even looking at your CV. You must have a track record in the practice area you are applying to. Don't just beg for 'a job' but 'the job'. Law Firm Partners are very busy, so don't waste their time if your CV does not contain some of the prerequisites for 'the Job'.

Be smart and figure it out.

P.S. Don't email a Partner for an internship. Try connecting to PAs and SAs for that.

This is your lack of information. THE NLUD did not draft any law, so all these allegations are only your wild guesses. You should understand that there is a drafting division with the Ministry of Law & Legislative Affairs which is /was entrusted with this task. I am sure NLUD Report was markedly different from what the GOvt did.

He operates under Saurav Kumar ▮▮▮. Even the deal representations have one retainer client and nothing too fancy with a lean team full of experienced laterals. Sat across Rohit in a negotiation and found him great with very sound attention to detail. Its a 50-50 but give it a shot, if possible.

Where do the Partners at CAM/SAM/Trilegal/KCO/AZB buy their homes in Bombay? Till SA/PA, they all tend to rent around the Parel area. But I don't think they buy their flats there. Of course, I am referring to the professional classes (not the old city moneyed class Partners) from NLUs/colleges outside the city.

After the inaction of Misra, Gogoi etc a lot was expected of Chandrachud, as he has a doctorate from Harvard. Instead, we find that he is only giving lectures at NLUD and Jindal. He doesn’t seem to be visiting NLUs elsewhere. He has set up a review commission with top foreign jurists at NLSIU, but not extended the same benefit to other NLUs. He hasn’t said a word on the corruption and autocracy that plagues NLU admins. Nothing about Nationalising NLUs like IIT and IIM. Nothing about giving a greater role to alumni like IIT and IIM.

Is he then just an ineffective as Misra and Gogoi then? An armchair liberal who gives woke speeches but doesn’t walk the talk?

hey, you can check out the law firm rating using this link. You can even select the departments that they are in.

https://www.legal500.com/c/india/legal-market-overview/

I am also from delhi, studying in one of the universities mentioned above. In my opinion, staying outside your comfort zone (delhi) would give you an unparalleled sense of responsibility and accountability. Plus, you get to explore another part of the country if that's your thing. For the 5 year course, these three are much better names than DU as of now. Hence, look beyond just the placement aspect as your opinion is also not rigid and likely to change as you explore various areas of laws. However, if you're very sure of judiciary - staying in Delhi will give you better access to coaching.

Yes, I have a friend (2+ PQE) working in RE team at my firm. Almost all of the time he does clerical work like making tables and and cross-checking khasra khatauni (whatever it is called) numbers and feeding it into the table. There is no work relating to what a lawyer does. Sure sometimes issues relating to inheritance pops up for which have to research deep into the personal laws of the community that it relates to, but major chunk of that work is done by the Lit team as RE peeps are always afraid of getting into long hours of research after they have already spent long hours making huge tables and annexures.

I find his work boring and mind depleting tbh. It might be him personally, not speaking for other lawyers who may have different approach to work in this domain.

Yes, the state government matters. Jadavpur U was slated to be converted into an IIT, but the WB govt did "let go" of the University, hence the idea had to be shelved. If the state does not agree, it does not happen.

Here's the 2005 news report.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/iit-status-in-sight-for-two-bengal-varsities/articleshow/1088445.cms

Hi buddy. I did the same thing. I graduated in 2019 from Delhi University then sat for 2-3 mains of judicial service and after failing in all of them eventually joined in house. I worked in house in reliance for a year then switched to boutique law firm. You can also make a switch but let me tell you law firm lawyers have a prejudice towards in house since they are accustomed to work 9-5(in house). So if you don't get direct entry in tier-1, then join tier-2 and gradually scale up the ladder. Work is good but timings are demanding. You will learn in both positions. In law firm you will learn faster as you will put more hours. Jo jitna time dega vo utna seekhega. Good luck.