Ok, so i just completed my third year at a private law school that doesn't provide placement. But, I do believe that I know the laws and I am not totally incompetent. My interest lies in the field of Mergers and Acquisitions, Private Equity, and Venture capital investments.
Till date, I have done only one internship in a local law firm that was research-based purely. Currently, i'm doing an internship at a tier 3-tier 4 law firm which involves a bit of corporate law research and litigation research.
I have still not gotten a proper corporate law internship let alone have relevant work experience in M&A teams.
How should i plan the next 2 years of my life? How should i go about it? After graduation, i want to work in a tier 1/tier 2 law firm in their M&A/PE teams; if not then at least in a boutique M&A or even PE/VC firm like Rajaram. What should i do? The future ahead looks bleak. How can i change it in order to pursue my dreams? Will law firms hire me in their M&A/PE teams even if i have 0 to say 1 internship in an M&A firm by the 5th year?
I can't settle for law firms with 30-40k salary because i am not from a well off family and i have to support my family.
Your best bet is applying for internships at mid-tier firms. Once you get in, make friends with the associates/ senior-associates. They will move to other places by the time you graduate. So you will have some connects at various law firms by the time you graduate.
The formula for getting into any law firm is that you outdo other interns. Remember that. One of the ways you could do that is by staying in office till late. This may sound cliched, but unfortunately 'looking the part' still plays a big role in law firms.
Some scattered thoughts - Getting into law firms is just about being at the right place at the right time. So, focus on working with 2 teams parallelly, and making friends with Senior Associates from both the teams.
This is a people profession, law firms folks would want to work with you when: (i) you are hard working; and (ii) are fun to work with (don't appear grumpy, laugh off any jokes or comments). People from NLUs come across as arrogant sometimes, I think you have an advantage there if you stay humble.
Don't doubt yourself. No one in any law firm is brilliant, it's just about opportunities. You will learn all the law on the job, if you are willing to work hard. Having said that, try to read up online to have a basic sense of SPAs/ SSAs. No one expects you to know much, especially when you come from a non-target school. The expectations are low, which means the pay-off could be huge if you play your cards well.
Well, I already know about term sheets, definitive agreements like SHAs, SSAs, SPAs and AIF regs, SAST regulation, etc but all on a theoretical level. I just need a breakthrough into a top corporate law firm where i can learn these things on a practical level. The issue is I don't have contacts and my CV isn't attractive.
You need to do three things, first, network. Use LinkedIn to connect with SAs and Partners of boutique firms/Tier-5 Firms, and/or interact with your faculty and try to make a solid impression on them, if they've been teaching for more than 5 years, chances are very high that they might know any previous seniors of your college or their own batchmates currently practicing, so they might put in a word for you. On LinkedIn try engaging on corporate law-related posts for increasing your visibility and showcasing your interest. Second, research and publish, there are multiple blogs run by practicing associates like irrcl or indiacorplaw, publish multiple articles with them, and try to build a relationship with the editorial board, if your luck is solid, it might help in networking, and if not, it, either way, adds to your CV. Third, try and be the batch topper of your college. I know, grades do not matter in the long run and the method of assessments is absolutely outdated, however, it is still used by Firms as a sorting criteria. Trust me, I have multiple Tier-1 internships however I was not shortlisted for multiple firms in my Day Zero because of my GPA being less. Please try to be consistent so that even if there is a one percent chance that your college can help you, you would be the first person approached.
Another tip, keep reading up on INC42 and Yourstory for funding alerts for PE/VC transactions. If you are so interested, spend 100 rupees and download the company documents of the company receiving the funds from the MCA website and look for Form MGT-14s, they in most cases have the terms of funding available. Also if an updated AoA has been uploaded by the Company after the investment round, chances are that it may have terms and conditions of the new SHA. Acquaint yourself very well with the MCA website, the types of forms and other corporate filings, will give you a very strong edge over others.
I know this seems very idealistic, but if you really do want to make it without contacts, you will have to work hard, there can't be any shortcuts to stuff like publications and grades without prior contacts.
Till date, I have done only one internship in a local law firm that was research-based purely. Currently, i'm doing an internship at a tier 3-tier 4 law firm which involves a bit of corporate law research and litigation research.
I have still not gotten a proper corporate law internship let alone have relevant work experience in M&A teams.
How should i plan the next 2 years of my life? How should i go about it? After graduation, i want to work in a tier 1/tier 2 law firm in their M&A/PE teams; if not then at least in a boutique M&A or even PE/VC firm like Rajaram.
What should i do? The future ahead looks bleak. How can i change it in order to pursue my dreams?
Will law firms hire me in their M&A/PE teams even if i have 0 to say 1 internship in an M&A firm by the 5th year?
I can't settle for law firms with 30-40k salary because i am not from a well off family and i have to support my family.
You will face lot of rejections. Many won't reply. But that shouldn't stop you from trying.
Meanwhile, read, write and repeat.
There's still time. You will be fine.
Some scattered thoughts - Getting into law firms is just about being at the right place at the right time. So, focus on working with 2 teams parallelly, and making friends with Senior Associates from both the teams.
This is a people profession, law firms folks would want to work with you when: (i) you are hard working; and (ii) are fun to work with (don't appear grumpy, laugh off any jokes or comments). People from NLUs come across as arrogant sometimes, I think you have an advantage there if you stay humble.
Don't doubt yourself. No one in any law firm is brilliant, it's just about opportunities. You will learn all the law on the job, if you are willing to work hard. Having said that, try to read up online to have a basic sense of SPAs/ SSAs. No one expects you to know much, especially when you come from a non-target school. The expectations are low, which means the pay-off could be huge if you play your cards well.
Another tip, keep reading up on INC42 and Yourstory for funding alerts for PE/VC transactions. If you are so interested, spend 100 rupees and download the company documents of the company receiving the funds from the MCA website and look for Form MGT-14s, they in most cases have the terms of funding available. Also if an updated AoA has been uploaded by the Company after the investment round, chances are that it may have terms and conditions of the new SHA. Acquaint yourself very well with the MCA website, the types of forms and other corporate filings, will give you a very strong edge over others.
I know this seems very idealistic, but if you really do want to make it without contacts, you will have to work hard, there can't be any shortcuts to stuff like publications and grades without prior contacts.