Would appreciate if anyone can elaborate the type of work you do and how switching from a mainly corporate focussed team to a disputes team would entail ? As in, the learning curve.
Can you please explain more ? Looking for a change in career direction. Corporate is paying but it's summarising contracts EOD. Want to move beyond it and hoping disputes team would offer atleast some excitement
If your looking for Court experience, generally Tier1s don't encourage or argue and rarely argue matters on their own without any counsel,the associates are there just for the paperwork and briefings. For that experience you will need to work with a lit adv/counsel
TL;DR: Have you watched Suits? You'd be a less cool version of Rachel Zane.
1. Please clients and dance to their tune
2. Make list of dates
3. Proofread pleadings
4. Fill timesheets
5. Shadow seniors
6. Flag pleadings
7. Make notes, draft reporting emails
8. Keep copies of judgments and other docs to be handed over by senior counsel being briefed
9. Be on a million emails about something that can be fixed over 1 conference / meeting
10. Research
If you are fine with never getting to argue, law firms are okay. Another problem is that you will be stuck in one forum and would be doing only 1 kind of matters. There are hardly 2-3 dispute teams from Big 6/7 all over India which do all kinds of matters in all types of forums. Chamber Litigation practice pays peanuts, but you will get a semblance of work life balance (vacations), learn court craft, mostly get to work on a diverse range of matters, know how to manage all types of situations. You will always be on your legs, and you will always be thinking. Cops wouldn't harass you unnecessarily. You will not be scared of any situation, except for maybe a gunfight. If you are into criminal practice, you'd know enough people to get you out of such situations as well. That is a major flex.
Depends on the team, really. Some teams argue their own matters and other teams are heavily reliant on counsel. As far as I know law firms draft pleadings, appeals, written submissions etc. In Arbitration, the exposure a little bit more to the "meat"
So do you never get to go to court in a lit team in tier 1?? Ive heard that Khaitan and co encourages its lit team associates to argue in courts and not depend on the external counsel.
Purpose is to lift files, turn pages, shadow senior.
Tier 1 firms have few but big mandates. I don't know about any tier 1 where even partners get to argue. Even principal associates can be seen loitering in the registry.
Also, full disclosure : I have no idea about regulatory forum practices
Disputes Teams regularly go to Tribunals and Courts right?
1. Please clients and dance to their tune
2. Make list of dates
3. Proofread pleadings
4. Fill timesheets
5. Shadow seniors
6. Flag pleadings
7. Make notes, draft reporting emails
8. Keep copies of judgments and other docs to be handed over by senior counsel being briefed
9. Be on a million emails about something that can be fixed over 1 conference / meeting
10. Research
If you are fine with never getting to argue, law firms are okay. Another problem is that you will be stuck in one forum and would be doing only 1 kind of matters. There are hardly 2-3 dispute teams from Big 6/7 all over India which do all kinds of matters in all types of forums. Chamber Litigation practice pays peanuts, but you will
get a semblance of work life balance (vacations),
learn court craft,
mostly get to work on a diverse range of matters,
know how to manage all types of situations. You will always be on your legs, and you will always be thinking. Cops wouldn't harass you unnecessarily. You will not be scared of any situation, except for maybe a gunfight. If you are into criminal practice, you'd know enough people to get you out of such situations as well. That is a major flex.
Purpose is to lift files, turn pages, shadow senior.
Tier 1 firms have few but big mandates. I don't know about any tier 1 where even partners get to argue. Even principal associates can be seen loitering in the registry.
Also, full disclosure : I have no idea about regulatory forum practices