Hi so ive been working in trade law for the last two years or so and ive been finding myself wondering whether this field has any real scope going forward. As far as im aware there are only a few firms in the area, none of which pay tier 1 level salaries and other than that there are some think tanks which pay even lower. What should someone who is looking to earn more and have wider opportunities do in such case? Is it wise to switch specializations after having done this for two years? Can I consider in-house without the relevant expertise in corp law/contracts? What other areas of law can I possibly pivot to? Any real advice is much appreciated.

I worked with TPM for around 3 years. Bonuses were no doubt good. Great work life balance. You'll get to directly deal with clients within 3 months of joining. You won't find this elsewhere. The only issue was work. After 1 year, I was so well versed with things that it used to take me not more than 2 hours to draft a petition, not more than 4 hours to draft a written submission and not more than 6 hours to draft a rejoinder. After a point, you won't call yourself a lawyer. You can't grow in this field, leave aside starting up on your own. TPM has monopoly in trade remedial practices, handles 95% cases from domestic side and a good number of international cases. Other trade firms won't hire TPM lawyers. They will only if you leave the firm, join someother place and then try. I tried almost everywhere when I was with TPM and got no positive response. I left it, worked somewhere else for few months (took 1/3 pay cut), later was contacted by 3 other firms and got offers. Though till then I was done with trade law. I will not enter into any practice area from where I can't switch to other firms or to other practice areas. I do sometimes miss the easy work and easy money but that's what life is. Hustle has made me feel alive, remained me in touch with the legal fraternity (which is impossible if you work with TPM).

Feel free to ask if you still have doubts.

Sarvada Legal is a great place to expand your horizons. It gives you the opportunity to move beyond DGTR work and involves you in trade policy, customs, FTA, international disputes related work. Last i heard, it gave a fresher an opportunity to appear before the WTO to represent the GOI.

Pay is decent, bonus is pretty good. Great work life balance, but I understand that the hiring process is pretty competitive.