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Yes. It has been happening consistently now. At NLSIU the alumni role models are no longer Ashwath Rau or Akshay Jaitly, but rather Dipen Sabharwal, Aditya Sondhi, Gopal Shanks, Menaka Guruswamy, Tarunabh Khaitan, Lavanya Rajamani, Shamnad Basheer, Gitanjali Brandon (IFS), Arghya Sengupta etc.

The CAM/SAM type jobs go to other law schools as a result and that is absolutely fine. To each law school their own.
Is that why around half of the NLSIU batch sat for the last day zero?
..and yet many in that half did not get placed? Let's not masquerade lack of 100% placements as people voluntarily opting for other career options.
Because a lot of people want up back up jobs, in case their masters do not pan out. A more accurate question is how many people from Top NLUs do you see staying with a law firm for more than 2-3 years, the figure will be less than 15-25% for most top NLUs for the last 4-5 years.
Exactly. So the holier than thou attitude of NLS trolls here is unwarranted. Their students go after law firm jobs just like those from other NLUs.
Not really. Every year, a large number of students from all the NLUs with no exception still sit for law firm recruitment. With the steep NLU fees, the people coming from middle class or lower middle class economic background, who often take education loans to study there, need a job to pay off the loan and support their families. Eventually, the brighter ones often quit after getting some financial stability and do what they actually like, be it higher studies, UPSC, litigation, or entrepreneurship. The students who can afford to do any of that right after graduation do not really like to take up law firm jobs anymore, be it from whichever NLU, because those jobs have by now lost a lot of their supposed glamour. The work life is almost always unspeakable and the behaviour of the firms towards their associates, mostly deplorable. It is not really an NLU factor, but more about how soon you can quit those jobs and still sustain yourself.
Plenty of commentators will soon jump in and try telling everyone how students from their NLUs look down upon law firm jobs and have got high-end goals, but what I said is what will be supported by stats. Especially if one observes the career trajectory of NLU grads over the next 5 years after graduation. The law firms will never lack for entry level associates because the supply demand ratio is way too skewed, and the cost of decent legal education too steep for most of the people in this country not to think about getting their finances straight first. Add to it the fact that other careers will not pay even 30-40% as well to fresher grads undergoing basic industry training.
Were Law Firms more humane in their treatment of Associates and was the working environment less trsessful say 15-20 years ago ?
Not really. If you see the recruitment figures of last 4-5 years, I don't think this pattern exists. In terms of foreign law firm jobs, the recruitments today are spread across the top 7-8 NLUs. NLS, NALSAR and NUJS may have an edge in terms of numbers.

Btw I like how NLUD has been pushed to be in the same category as NLS and NALSAR. Well tried and well played :)
Aww, it's cute how there's always some NALSAR Alumnus on any thread mentioning NLUD saying that NLUD is not in "their league". Here's a reality check, boy. NLUD has performed better than NALSAR in nearly every parameter except corporate law firm placement numbers over the past 5 years. I guess when NIRF and every other ranking doesn't back you as the better college, you'll just entitle yourself to that distinction and claim you're much better. That's the level of argumentation at NALSAR nowadays.
The fact that a true comment like this has so many downvotes just goes to show that NALSAR and NUJS people frequent this site much more than NLUD folks. Not to mention that the former must have more insecure alumni.

It's quite amusing to see how NALSAR people buy their own hype to such an extent that they don't realise basic facts. They keep saying that they're as good as NLS (based on some historical rivalry, apparently) even though NALSAR has never (not even during the RS era, much less the FM era) been at a stage where they even posed a threat to overtake NLS on any parameter (probably why the NLS folks like having them around). But seeing how NLUD has come along and displaced them and NUJS from their little threesome and spoilt the party, and is now the only college that has any hope of becoming better than NLS in the medium term, they'll go around belittling its achievements and making it seem as if NLUD's rise is some big mistake that innocent people are being fooled by.

Go ahead and look at NALSAR's annual reports (it's available online) for the initial five batches and compare their achievements to NLUD and you'll see just how far behind NALSAR was compared to what NLUD achieved with 10 times more competition. Even NUJS had more remarkable achievements than NALSAR in its initial years. The only thing NALSAR has over NLUD is a second-mover advantage by which alone they claim to be second-best (as if that's a great thing) but that's already been displaced thanks to NIRF.
The level of hubris in this comment is too damn high!! Yeah I get you dude NLUD is even better than Harvard. RS and Modi ji are also with you.
All are just good, 4 -5 law university. Keep your logic for some good purposes .
I feel the problem is that alumni & students of NLS, NUJS and NALSAR also consider themselves to be different in their own little trio and above the rest & especially over the likes of our college, NLUD & Jodhpur. Law firms in a way condone this behaviour & therefore inadvertently encourage it. I have seen it happen enough in my workplace & my friends report the same thing. Law firms need to stop being obsessed with these 3 colleges.
The reason students at NLS, NUJS and NALSAR gel well is also partially due to the student cultures characterized by very open campus lives, student activism and strong student bodies (please don't compare them to current student bodies during the pandemic). NLUD and NLUJ on the other hand have had a stricter college life thanks to no student bodies and rather authoritative administrations. Same with NLIU too. 5 years of campus does shape your personality a bit.
This isn't entirely true. About NLUD not having student bodies, that is. Not sure about NLUJ, but NLUD does have elected student bodies. Most of the student affairs regarding mooting, debates, the mess, etc. are run by student bodies. Back in the RS era, afaik, the University was quite generous in funding most of the student-led initiatives. While there isn't a centralised SBC with a charter like at the older NLUs, that's not really because the University administration is autocratic and against it, but because the students haven't taken any real initiative regarding the same. To a large extent, most people thought it was unnecessary at the time. Initially, the campus rules were strict regarding going out at night, etc, but those had been liberalised to a large extent a long time ago.
"A centralised SBC with a charter like at the older NLUs" - that's exactly what a student body is at every institution. The ones you are talking are activity-specific clubs and societies.
It serves the same purpose. These are all bodies elected by the students that take decisions on their behalf for that specific activity. It's not a club that anyone who is interested can just join. There are general body meetings of these committees every now and then as well (not that many people bother turning up, but still). The administration doesn't take decisions or run any of these things by itself.
And it's not as if student activism is completely absent at NLUD either. The MeToo issue and Sanitation Workers issue were brought up by students and addressed to the University admin for redressal. They weren't authoritatively shut down or hushed up.
Can the student bodies stop NLUD swindling law aspirants every year via the superfluous additional AILET? Now that will be some example of proper student activism, and right at home too!
The fact that NLU D folks (read comment 4.1 and 4.1.1) become so defensive, like extremely defensive and impolite and rude, they inadvertently themselves end up making NALSAR's position stronger. To say that NALSAR people visit the site too often and hence the comments favoring NLU D over NALSAR gets downvoted is the most ridiculous argument ever. You are just illogically presuming that all other people from the tens of NLUs that are in existence today, DO NOT come and vote here. LegallyIndia is an open forum and the voting pattern is a general reflection of a collective voice. And the collective voice generally feels that NLUD is NOT above NALSAR. In fact it mostly a negative reinforcement. So till the point you guys say NLU D is tier 1, people remain quiet. When you say NLUD is as good as NLSIU and NALSAR, people still try to keep quiet. But it is only when you say that NLU D is above NALSAR that you guys start irking people. If you are number one you do not need to shout around that you are number one. Unfortunately NLU D people do that, and do that a lot! Ironically you lose your own credibility in that process.

I have seen NLU D people playing down or mocking opinions of recruiters, law firm associates, PAs and hell even NLSIU alums at the sheer mention of fakeness of NIRF. I mean that sham of a NIRF ranking is literally the only thing in NLU Ds favor and literally every other alum from every other law school and majority of comments on legally india have proven that NIRF ranking is the most bogus thing in existence ever. Yet NLUD would like to believe in the Government, much like a few people believed the government when they said bang thalis and all will be well.

4.1.1 talks about Nalsar-NLS rivalry being a sham. Well trust me bro it is much more authentic then your NIRF ranking. And before NIRF all the magazine based rankings clearly made out the case that Nalsar actually is NLS' competitor and hell even pipping NLS to make it to number one spot sometimes. But even then Nalsar people were aware of the ground realities. We knew that an India Today ranking us as no 1 law school in India two-three years in a row "doesn't mean" that we have overnight displaced NLSIU. We knew NLS-NALSAR-NUJS thing is here to stay. We never even said NUJS is below us or above us. But we did know that we have a trinity of top tier schools and soon this trinity will be joined by other law schools like NLUJ and GNLU. NLU Delhi is slowly making its mark as a Tier 1 school, but to say today that it is ABOVE Nalsar and tomorrow you will say it is above NLSIU is a travesty on collective conscience and logic of the entire legal community. And mind you with the way NIRF ranking is going next year NLU D might be number one and then Jamia Milia as number 2 and IIT K as number 3. That day I would respect the maturity of NLU D students if they can come up and own up and say yes this ranking is a sham.
Agreed and it is really unhealthy to be obsessed with the NIRF ranking order.
What is your rant really about exactly? I get that you're angry with some NLUD commentator for having been rude and disrespectful and talking about NIRF. But that guy was replying to a snide condescending remark by another NALSAR alumnus who was making leagues between NLUs. Now I'm not interested in getting into a debate on which NLU is the better between the two. I am also not a fan of NIRF nor do I expound its authenticity/veracity. But what I do know is that NLUD has achieved enough to hold its own against NALSAR and NUJS, and even NLS. So I think you might want to cool down and get your facts straight before saying with such authority that NLUD in no way matches up to NALSAR or the other older ones. This isn't based on some NIRF rank but on actually following its achievements as well as of other top NLUs in various areas. I have personally seen quite a few comments throughout this site, including the one by 4.1.2.A above and quite a few on the NIRF ranking thread and others, which misrepresent facts, knowingly or unknowingly, about NLUD and make it look as if the older trinity are somehow way beyond its reach. I don't see anything wrong in NLUD people correcting them.

For the record, there have been NALSAR and NLS alumni who have been involved as professors at NLUD and have played a large part in helping the college grow and become better. Don't think for a second that all that goes unrecognised by NLUD folks because of some trollish comments on this site. But I disagree with your claim that upvotes on this site are a reflection of the "collective voice". People have their own biases for reasons personal to them. I also don't think that a recruiter's ranking, or an NLS alum's opinion, is some golden metric of superiority of one NLU over another just as much as NIRF isn't one. You are kidding yourself if you think that folks at law firms are above petty NLU politics. I have personally witnessed how some associates personally favour interns from their own college in the office. I am by no means alleging that high level recruitment partners are biased but it is a fact that corporate recruitment numbers improve for colleges as more alumni get to senior levels, probably because that reaffirms the quality of the institution they are from. GNLU is a case in point in recent years.

I don't think it's the disagreement as such that irks you though as much as the way it's delivered. But that is a problem with these comment threads in general where every second comment is trollish in nature and which encourage anonymous mud-slinging. If you are taking it so personally, then you might want to point it out, report it and demand to change the way this website is actually run so that people can have constructive debates on legal education rather than constantly belittling and putting one another down for an ego boost. You're free to disagree with my views on any of this, but I would prefer if you did so respectfully so that there isn't needless bad blood.
This guy is so pissed off that I can almost hear him shouting. It looks like he barely knows what he's typing. Are you seriously saying we should all accept someone's opinion on something just because s/he is some NLS alum? Then maybe we should all accept the NLS ASG's opinion who argued that only NLS doesn't deserve domicile quota while every other NLU is some local university like KSLU. Do NALSAR students stand by that as well? You can't have it both ways, man. And I know which comment you are referring to since that was a thread some few weeks back about another meaningless ranking of NLUs. That NLS alum was giving his ranking based on 2013 data that's completely outdated now.
Just one comment above you have a GNLU alum talking about the baseless superiority of the older 3 NLUs and you are claiming that you guys are very open-minded about competition. Which one is it? Or do you expect newer NLU folks to keep taking lame unfunny remarks from NALSAR alums in good jest till you finally accept them in "your league"? Don't flatter yourself.
I mean, so far as the question only concerns law firm placements, NLUD is definitely the most 'disinterested' top tier NLU, whatever your opinion be about its exact ranking.

The number of students who even bother sitting for Day 0 placements proves as much.
What's the number? And of those, how many actually get placed? In the absence of regular annual placement stats released in support, your claim seems rather hollow.
Those numbers are available on this site itself if you search for the previous NLUD Day Zero and annual placement statistics.
Does every (average) student from the top 3 NLUs get T1/T2 law firm jobs?
No. It hasn't happened last year. If you are good enough, then you will get a job. If you don't spend the five years getting some proper education, then your university name alone will not help, no matter who says otherwise.
Not completely, but to a certain extent yes the sheen is wearing off.

I think the payscale has a part to play. In 2012, the salary ranges for tier 1 (big 6) lawfirms were between 12 and 15 lakh. Source - https://www.livemint.com/Companies/PUJDIdjVSWvOjkgJw7bLAK/Mobility-rises-among-lawyers-but-pay-packages-lack-clarity.html.

Fast forward 9 years and the salary range is around 16 lakh tday. The salaries have gone down significantly in terms of real value. If you account for inflation, 12 lakh in 2012 had the spending power of 21 lakh today while 15 lakh in 2012 had the spending power of 26 lakh today. Source - https://www.inflationtool.com/indian-rupee/2012-to-present-value?amount=15.

So in terms of value, entry level salaries have declined from 21-26 lakh to 16 lakh.

The earth-shattering pay-scale used to be the no.1 consideration for a law firm job and the reason why you willingly sacrifice your youth, weekends, and time. People still take up the jobs because these are the only people who are recruiting en masse and by going to a law firm, you are keeping all your options open. From the perch of a law firm, you can go for a llm, go in-house, stay in a law firm, go for litigation, or go to any niche practice. Can't think of any other place that offers this much flexibility. Also, from what I've seen in my college, most people want to take that law firm job so that they can enjoy their 5th year without uncertainty and later figure what they actually want to do in life and leave their job within a year of joining.
Are people losing interest in law firm jobs?

Yes. (i) This is a trend across the world, in fact. Look at the revised salaries of US law firms post the pandemic. People with less than 4 PQE are making $300,000 with bonus (that's 2.2 crores approximately - even adjusting for cost of living that's more than what freshly minted salaried partners make in Indian law firms). (ii) Look at the extremely high level of attritions in Indian law firms lately.

So, have people at top NLUs stopped going for law firm jobs?

No. In a country, where well-paying alternatives are less unlike the US, people will still take up well paying job if you offer it to them with minimum effort. Getting a job at the top NLUs is like going to a fair that is Day Zero - everyone returns with something. So it's difficult to resist the temptation. However, the fact remains that most people do quit within 2-4 years max. The timelines are getting even shorter post pandemic. We're soon going to talk about SAs and PAs like we talk about woolly mammoths and dinosaurs.
Unfortunate that LI censored my comment. I mentioned a string of NLSIU alumni in court litigation, think tanks, academia, UPSC etc and said that they are the role models for current NSLIU students, instead of two corp law firm hotshots. What's wrong in saying that? These two corp law firm hotshots are not gods and it is not blasphemy to say people do not want to emulate them.
I really do not get this UPSC obsession with some people. UPSC is a degree neutral competitive exam. Let's keep this forum to discuss professional achievements in the realm of law/corporate/judiciary etc. In fact UPSC interviewers always ask this question that if you wanted to be a doctor/engineer/lawyer wtf are you doing here?
Any actual basis for such claims? Did you conduct a survey among present batches of NLSIU?
At NUJS, no interest in present batches beyond CAM/SAM and earning $$$$$$. Don't expect Rhodes scholars, entrepreneurs, IAS officers or law professors from the present batches.
That is not at all accurate. Several students from present batches are already working in more than one social start ups and quite a few are diligently preparing for UPSC. Why do you spread these baseless rumours?
As a first year at NUJS, I can assure you that a T1 corp job is at the very bottom of my post-college ambitions
You are a first year, bacha. Let's see how it pans out. Wishing you the best, of course. Do well. :)
Can't speak for any other NLU, but a majority of every batch so far at NLUD hasn't opted for corporate law firm placements. This isn't a huge majority, though, so people still sit for Day-Zero and all and would like to have a corporate firm job in hand before they graduate, but most people don't bother with it if they aren't assuredly getting a tier-1 firm (based on their CGPA-batch rank). They'd prefer to go in for litigation, policy research or higher studies. Contrary to what most people assume, many people at NLUD don't go just for Civils because that's a much more competitive, uncertain and long-term path. Litigation is quite a prospect at NLUD since people do intern at the HC and SC over the vacations and tend to network with visiting professors, etc., to have contacts to work under some reputed senior lawyers once they graduate. The research centres at NLUD especially CIIPC, CCG and DPRP are also very good and pay quite well for folks who qualify so people are taking that up now.
I half-expected some dim-witted troll to make some snarky comment whenever anything gets mentioned about NLUD. Many people at NLUD are quite privileged, that's not anything new. I don't see what's the sour grapes here. Maybe you want to believe that NLUD wants to be just like the other NLUs gunning for corporate law firm placements but just because a majority of kids from other top NLU sit for corporate law firm placements, I don't see why that has to apply to NLUD. Besides, I did say that it's not a huge majority. Out of a batch of 80, around 33-35 sign up for the RCC on an average which is a little less than half. Maybe it's hard for you to see the fact that there are other opportunities available besides working in a law firm which do actually offer decent pay without completely robbing you of your personal time and you call it "bullshitting".

P.S.: Shouldn't have even published this rubbish comment, R. I am willing to engage if the conversation has some depth or meaning to it. But if it's another anti-NLUD troll from NALSAR/NUJS, I'll be more than glad to put you in your place.
I agree with NLUD Guest. I'm studying in NLUD now. I just don't get how the tiny minority of my class is fretting over a job interview. So passΓ©. I have already told Ravi Uncle that he must help me with an expedited visa once I get admitted to a London college. I hope Dad has told his assistant to start looking for flats in London. No shared accommodation please. Chhiii. It's going to be tough to stay in London all on my own but I'll manage. I'm already looking forward to the weekend trips I can make all over Europe.
Bold of you to assume your so called NLUD "trolls" belong to Nalsar and NUJS only 🀣
Please use some of the depth and meaning that you speak of to show in which line of legal career or scholarship are NLUD graduate demonstrably ahead of others at this point? If not, kindly do not take the refuge of the thin argument about how your students are averse to law firm jobs but excelling everywhere else better than others.
R, why have you not published my comment about privilege? It’s not trollish. Whatever I’ve said is true for most people.
Having looked at the trend for the past few years, and spoken to folks in India and abroad, there definitely is more awareness and demand for foreign law firm jobs and LLMs. New graduates also know a lot more about the process and potential opportunities than what counterparts knew 5 or so years back. That said, some comments mention the recent pay hikes for US associates and how that leads to a lot more comp. - that's not totally true, in terms of the fact that cost of living in a city like NYC is high and lawyers pay over 40% of monthly comp in taxes - they pay federal, state and NYC tax - cannot say the same for tax brackets and actual taxes paid in India. What's left, goes in high rent (yes, you can stay outside NYC to save rent but not recommended) and also paying off loans for LLM, etc. So, let's give the full picture here guys.
Either the top 3 NLU people should stop the d**** measuring contest that emanates from law firm placements at these colleges or they can claim that their colleges have outgrown the desi law firm jobs.

Which one is it? Just look at the comments on the NALSAR placements post. Y'all seriously need to find some hobbies. Full-ass grown men pushing their 30s are taking joy in stoking law school rivalries started in anonymous LI comments.
I think this thread should be pinned to homepage of legallyindia by R. What a debate. The only thing I am taking out of this is the amount of downvotes on 4.1 and 4.1.1 will tell you what exactly is wrong with the mindsets of NLU D folks here and there obsession with NIRF. Guys we need to stop this D*** measuring contest. We are better than this.