I am a first-year student from a 2nd-tier NLU. I have a lot of questions, a lot. I have separated them by subjects please answer any questions you can help me with. I and other people stumbling on this thread will appreciate it a lot.

Life in India after law
- Corporate
- How do I know if ill made for that or ill like doing it
- Are the work hours that bad?
- How long do you gotta work to have a life
- Is it worth it?
- Do people do it for a couple of years just to save money for something else like a masters? Is that a good
idea?
- Is there a good option for a good pay, condition, working hours in something like a boutique firm?
- Litigation
- Don’t really like it? Not really keen or interested in working in Indian courts tbvh
- As a first gen is it worth it? The life-work balance? Opportunities and pay?
- Something else? arbitration? Mediation
- Is arbitration something I should explore? Is there a space for it in India or abroad? If abroad how to seek it?
- Mediation? Same question as that of arbitration
- Academics
- How to check if you would like academics
- I know academics have a good work-life balance but are there prospects for it India for lets just say social
mobility, will it help someone to move up the economic scales or would it be a more, you stay where you are
kind of a job?
- Again what are the prospects in abroad for this? How to approach it?

Internships
- Connections
- I have seen how literally almost everything in law sector is based on connections and knowing the right
people. As a person with no connections how do you practically make connections with people in position to
give you favours and chances?
- How do you develop a person you know who can help you into a meaningful connection? I have known and
texted a couple of people in legal industries through competitions but it never goes beyond a couple of text
or max a call. How do you actually make sure make them into a “connection” not just for the profit of it but
connecting on a human level.
- How many?
- How many internships should one do?
- Should you do them at a law firm from sem 1 (I have seen people do it) does that help? Some even spend all
5 years in a law firm and learn everything as someone who doesn’t have that way what would be
recommended? Law firms? Boutique law firms?
- Should you do a running internship all along and balance your academics with it or are academics and
publications more important?

Masters and Abroad

- countries
- First of all how helpful is masters in landing a corp job or litigation or academics abroad?
- Second of all which countries are best for doing a masters in after 5 years?
- I have heard of people saying mostly US ans UK. Which ones are better. I understand that it depends on the
scholarship but I’m asking in general.
- What’s the avg scholarship one gets? What will be the expenses you will need to take?
- What’s the way one goes after the masters to essentially cash in on this invest cus at the end ill have to take
a loan for it.
- Scholarship
- What things do you need to get a shoclarship as in the academics
- What cgp?
- I heard your need to do social work? How should you do and how much?
- Do you need to have publications related to your masters field or can it be anything else? How many good
ones do you need?
- Masters
- Is it worth it to do a masters? Will be essential to get some kind of employment abroad? Or can you get one
with our one
- Bar and litigation
- I have heard some people planning to do masters in us and uk and giving bar there to practise litigation there
in a firm or associates.
- How would you go about this without connections as of right now
- How much would it totally cost to do something like this??
- Is any of this worth it?

Masters and Abroad

- countries
- First of all how helpful is masters in landing a corp job or litigation or academics abroad?

If you are a fresher it is almost impossible to get a corp job outside India immediately after llm from abroad, if you are after a law firm job abroad then do foreign masters at least after 3 years of experience and some good homework on the law firms that you are going to apply to and have a very good roadmap

for academics abroad you would need to complete phd as well preferably in the country that you are targetting

- Second of all which countries are best for doing a masters in after 5 years?

UK and US are perennial favourites

you can also check out australia and canada

- I have heard of people saying mostly US ans UK. Which ones are better. I understand that it depends on the
scholarship but I’m asking in general.

in the us try for ivy leagues and in the uk try for russell group

however if a uni is giving 75% scholarship or more and it is within top 250 unis and you have a clear idea as to what you are going to do after llm and how you are going to achieve it, then you can go to these unis as well

bottomline if you are spending your own money for llm then do it only from ivy or top 5 unis in the uk (oxbridge, LSE, UCL and KCL)

- What’s the avg scholarship one gets? What will be the expenses you will need to take?

most good us unis will have some financial assistance, they vary widely for 20% to full

in the uk, most unis will have few partial scholarships and one or two full scholarships, oxbridge have more

you will have to make up the tuition shortfall and cost of living

- What’s the way one goes after the masters to essentially cash in on this invest cus at the end ill have to take
a loan for it.

dont do llm unless you know clearly as to why you want to do llm and what you are going to do after it

a clear roadmap and plan is ESSENTIAL

do not do llm on a loan, its not worth it (unless you have a TC and you have been asked to defer for a year for some reason)

- Scholarship
- What things do you need to get a shoclarship as in the academics

top 10% in academics in the class, some extra-co curricular and a few publications

- What cgp?
- I heard your need to do social work? How should you do and how much?

check out https://www.rhodeshouse.ox.ac.uk/media/45958/unofficial-guide-rhodes-india-2022-23.pdf

- Do you need to have publications related to your masters field or can it be anything else? How many good
ones do you need?

helpful if it is allied, a couple should do

- Masters
- Is it worth it to do a masters? Will be essential to get some kind of employment abroad? Or can you get one
with our one

it is helpful to have a degree in the jurisdiction where you are applying, however you would need to do extensive homework on this when you are nearer to application

- Bar and litigation
- I have heard some people planning to do masters in us and uk and giving bar there to practise litigation there
in a firm or associates.

in the uk you would have to pass the SQE, if you want to become a solicitor, or the bar course if you want to become a barrister, although it is easy to do these courses or exam through a private provider (like university of law, think of it like an exam prep company), it might be difficult to get the pupliage/contract afterwards, you would either need to join a regional law firm or tier 2/3 barristers (there are many, but again you would need to do homework before you commit to any oath)

- How would you go about this without connections as of right now

check out the requirements on the https://www.barstandardsboard.org.uk/

one way I know (my info is at least 3 years old) is doing a GDL which is like a degree conversion and then do the bar course (by either at a private provider or preferably at any of the inns)

- How much would it totally cost to do something like this??

£20k

- Is any of this worth it?

yes, if you have a gameplan and can get pupilage after the course, you can break even in one year

Sigh. You’re a first year. Google things, talk to your seniors, talk to your batch mates, talk to your professors. It’s rather lazy to just put it on a forum like this when you’re able to get advice and your answers in a much better setting.

I understand when kids who don’t have access to/ exposure to stuff that NLU kids have ask these questions- but this is just lazy a bit.