Hi guys. I'm currently a third year student at one of the cliché Tier 1 N places. I've got a couple Tier 1 internships and a few Tier 2 internships until now. But most of them are with transactional teams (M&A/PE/VC and Gen Corp). I also have a callback internship with one of these teams in the coming days.
However, I've developed a newfound interest in International Arbitration and I'm interested in working in the practice area post law school.
Do my previous internships constrict me to transactional practice areas? How can I go about building a profile that would be deemed good for a student wanting to pursue a career in International Arbitration? Any suggestions are highly appreciated. If anyone could also suggest good teams/firms in the International Arbitration space, it'll be really helpful. Thank you for all your comments in advance!
See, you're not entirely wrong when you say work ex in a particular field of law ends up restricting you to that field in future job opportunities. But I would say that applies a lot more strictly to your full time employment experience. If you can break out, it is now, before your first full time job opportunity.
In terms of good teams in ICA, look at Tejas Karia/Rishab Gupta at SAM, Shaneen Parikh/Shalaka Patil at CAM, Sudip Mullick/Raj Panchmatia at Khaitan.
There are smaller, well known ICA practises, like Arista Chambers' Promod Nair in Bangalore. Nishith Desai has a good ICA practise under Kshama Loya. That's a good team in Bombay, hard-working people. Look at Link Legal's Atul Sharma and ELP's Naresh Thacker also.
I personally went from a disputes team to a boutique non-Indian ICA practise in the UAE. The work/exposure is excellent. There's no contact with Indian law whatsoever, so that is something you'll have to check before you pick a team. A majority of your work would involve drafting RFAs, SOCs, Witness Statements, SODCCs etc. There will be no court contact, at least in my experience, which I prefer so it works out for me. Good luck.
Thanks a lot for your response. It is really insightful. I have a follow up question if you don't mind answering. Would I be better equipped for the practice area if I have a Masters focussing on this area of law? Most of the Indian-origin lawyers who are doing ICA work outside India seem to have an LLM and some even had special degrees like MIDS instead of the traditional LLM. I reckon you would be able to understand the importance of such post-grad experience in the field, having made the switch yourself. I appreciate you taking out the time to respond here!
I personally don't have a master's yet, but I do intend to pursue one in the future. Both my partner's who are ex SCAM have master's. This serves a purpose beyond just the degree: you'll be dealing with clients who aren't necessarily indian, who would prefer dealing with you if you have creds which they might recognize. You are fairly spot on with MIDS actually, more than you realize right now. But see, a postgrad degree isn't that useful in the traditional Indian market. Tier 2 partners I've spoken to at length about this have told me point blank that they discard LLM experience as a blank year. So LLMs themselves aren't mandatory, especially if you choose to switch to domestic arb or domestic disputes work later on.
I've got a couple Tier 1 internships and a few Tier 2 internships until now. But most of them are with transactional teams (M&A/PE/VC and Gen Corp). I also have a callback internship with one of these teams in the coming days.
However, I've developed a newfound interest in International Arbitration and I'm interested in working in the practice area post law school.
Do my previous internships constrict me to transactional practice areas? How can I go about building a profile that would be deemed good for a student wanting to pursue a career in International Arbitration?
Any suggestions are highly appreciated. If anyone could also suggest good teams/firms in the International Arbitration space, it'll be really helpful.
Thank you for all your comments in advance!
In terms of good teams in ICA, look at Tejas Karia/Rishab Gupta at SAM, Shaneen Parikh/Shalaka Patil at CAM, Sudip Mullick/Raj Panchmatia at Khaitan.
There are smaller, well known ICA practises, like Arista Chambers' Promod Nair in Bangalore. Nishith Desai has a good ICA practise under Kshama Loya. That's a good team in Bombay, hard-working people.
Look at Link Legal's Atul Sharma and ELP's Naresh Thacker also.
I personally went from a disputes team to a boutique non-Indian ICA practise in the UAE. The work/exposure is excellent. There's no contact with Indian law whatsoever, so that is something you'll have to check before you pick a team. A majority of your work would involve drafting RFAs, SOCs, Witness Statements, SODCCs etc. There will be no court contact, at least in my experience, which I prefer so it works out for me. Good luck.
Most of the Indian-origin lawyers who are doing ICA work outside India seem to have an LLM and some even had special degrees like MIDS instead of the traditional LLM. I reckon you would be able to understand the importance of such post-grad experience in the field, having made the switch yourself.
I appreciate you taking out the time to respond here!