Mumbai, go for financial services team and not for litigation one which is housed in a separate mumbai office. The former pays like a tier 1 and the latter like tier 3.
For instance, if you are getting in Funds team in Mumbai, they are the best in business. Have heard that their clientele and pay is way better than any tier 1. But other teams and offices are still evolving.
From being an unknown name 5 years back, the firm has come a long way in a quick time to its credit. However, seems to be driven by a couple of star leaders and practice areas, particularly Investment Funds. So if you are getting a potential opportunity to land a job in one of those practices/teams, then go for it.
ICUL doesnt make anybody mad or hallucinate. Better to be fair in commenting so that the querist can get help in taking the right decision. This unlike the usual stories is not the forum to unnecessarily pull somebody down.
A firm decent enough to consider. A good tier 2 on an average and with some potential. Some practices are tier 1 level but others tier 3 so in a mix making up to band 2. Work culture is overall good. A google search will show enough about venture capital, sebi and funds being the firm’s dominant areas so these teams would be the ones to go for.
Hi, I have internship application accepted by IndusLaw and IC Universal. Do not know teams as of yet. Can anyone provide inputs on how the two compare?
Indus eyes closed. It will break horribly tomorrow with every partner quitting. But as of now it has a brand value. Just like alliance law. May not remain tomorrow but has a brand value better than icul Today. Also...I wonder how partners feel feeding senior partners who don't do absolutely any work! Not your problem though. Go for indus
I am from Nalsar, and ICUL's Mumbai office has every year picked up students from here with the last year's package in excess of 12.50 lakh. This year I understand they are participating on Day 0 and offering package in excess of 15 lakh. This is much more than what Indus could offer and Indus is certainly not allowed to participate on Day 0 in at least Nalsar. ..so believe between Indus/ICUL it's all about picking the right team/office amongst the two as some other comments also suggest!!
All depends on the office and team you are getting an internship under. If its in Bengaluru then go for Indus. But if you are getting in Mumbai FS/Funds team of IC Universal Legal, then go for ICUL. pretty straightforward choice, frankly.
Can't comment on the work culture directly -- but if I were you, I'd avoid them. Not a very competent bunch, and there are plenty of better tier 2/3 firms worth interning in.
Like any other pan India firm, depends which office you are getting in. ICUL’s Mumbai and Chennai lead the show in PE/VC areas to the extent that the Mumbai asset management and funds team steals the show amongst all tier 1. Difficult to even gain an entry in that team. Whereas the other offices exist but not comparable so the firm has its strengths with some offices and practices at different quality level whilst others are catching up.
Would not recommend the general corporate team at Chennai office. Other teams are good. Work culture is quite toxic. The general corporate team at Chennai regularly keeps hiring in about 6 months for the same team, obviously because people keep leaving.
The corporate team at Chennai office is at par with May T1 when it comes to deals, they have a lot of deals and good clients, they charge good from clients so are able to pull off good pay, it is about 90,000 per month for the Chennai team. Moreover, you get a lot of exposure and deal with clients as a fresher your will learn a lot with your association with the team.
I agree, they represent clients against SAM, AZB, etc. check their deals, the associates at ICUL Chennai’s corporate team and Mumbai’s investment funds teams are always having offers from SAM, CAM, etc. as the practise for Chennai Corporate and Mumbai investment team is recognised as Tier 1 specifically if you get into the teams of Kavita Vijay or Sameena in Chennai or Tejas in Mumbai. The pay in these 3 teams is at par with other T1 and one can expect about 12lpa and above easily.
The Mumbai office is offering a package in excess of 18 lakh in the upcoming day0 of the 2024 batch - which is higher than most of the tier 1 firms. this is common knowledge at the likes of nls nalsar nluj
IC Universal Legal is one of the best and highly recommended firms for investments funds in India as on date. I am not sure about the other teams, but if it is with the Mumbai funds team, then go for it. I have heard that the pay offered by this firm to 2023 graduates is on par (if not higher) than most T1 firms.
You won't get a PPO there, they're done with hiring for batch of 2023. They are very particular about the qualities they seek in an associate. They are not like any mass hirers like CAM, KCo. and Trilegal. Disclosure : I worked with the Financial services team in 2018. Left to start my own practice. Yes, their financial services team has around 30% market-share in Financial services practice area in India. The investment funds practice and PE/VC practice is also generating really good revenues. The firm has seen around 88% growth in revenues (YoY) in the past year. Their pay is higher than most of the T1s across all the pay-bands. All the team members in the team always have 1-2 standing offers from T1 firms but the attrition is low due to better work-life balance.
Although the other teams are not as good and Changing teams after joining is not possible at all.
3 rounds of interview would be there for freshers for GC team. One with hr, next principal associates and final one with the Senior partners of the firm.
The technical rounds are quite tough. Prepare very well about all the sections of company law they ask you sections randomly like share dilution, share warrants, certificates and other such question and then after basic ones they will ask you difficult and situational ones and they would also ask from SEBI takeover code and securities law for A0.
Tricky questions and not easy to tackle. All the best.
Hey banking team at Mumbai and it was decent. Please apply to Sachin Kadam he is the one who takes care of all the internships and recruitments at ICUL Mumbai. All the best
Only few teams are good to work with who do have good clients and deals such as banking team and corporate team at Bangalore office. Avoid other offices at any cost.
They are growing so rapidly that always need more ppl. not burning out the people who work there and maintaining adequate strength which is a good thing.
I have been interviewed twice once my principal associate and other one by the senior partners of the firm for fresher A0 corporate Chennai. Been 20 days and there was a gap of 15 days in each interview. As they say they don’t hire in bulbs they believe in quality > quantity so hiring process at ICUL takes about 2 months time in totality. Have patience
Ideally what’s the time take to hire? Been about 20 days since my interview. Followed up on email with the hr but no response. Should I move on or wait ? Please suggest
ICUL has a common pool for interns. Can ask for work from any team you wish to intern with
I've previously interned at ICUL, Mumbai with their Investment Funds team and also have an assessment internship scheduled for July 2023. ICUL is an industry leader for Funds. There is no stict team distribution for interns at ICUL and it's a common pool. You can go there and ask for any team you would want to intern in. For Mumbai office (Andheri), I would suggest to go for Funds or PE/VC. Both of the teams have really good work and can get to learn a lot. Seniors are very welcoming and are ready to sit down and make you understand the transaction you are working on to give a better context. Go for ICUL Mumbai and then ask for a team later on when you join.
Mumbai fort office has disputes team along with real estate team and media team. Mostly fort office does dispute while the Andheri office does funds, pe/vc and bnf.
Disclosure : I worked with the Financial services team in 2018. Left to start my own practice.
Yes, their financial services team has around 30% market-share in Financial services practice area in India. The investment funds practice and PE/VC practice is also generating really good revenues. The firm has seen around 88% growth in revenues (YoY) in the past year.
Their pay is higher than most of the T1s across all the pay-bands. All the team members in the team always have 1-2 standing offers from T1 firms but the attrition is low due to better work-life balance.
Although the other teams are not as good and Changing teams after joining is not possible at all.
Tricky questions and not easy to tackle. All the best.
Some good partners to work with are:
Kavita Chennai and Tejas in Mumbai
What is wrong with the workplace anyone who can explain please?
I've previously interned at ICUL, Mumbai with their Investment Funds team and also have an assessment internship scheduled for July 2023. ICUL is an industry leader for Funds. There is no stict team distribution for interns at ICUL and it's a common pool. You can go there and ask for any team you would want to intern in. For Mumbai office (Andheri), I would suggest to go for Funds or PE/VC. Both of the teams have really good work and can get to learn a lot. Seniors are very welcoming and are ready to sit down and make you understand the transaction you are working on to give a better context. Go for ICUL Mumbai and then ask for a team later on when you join.