I just graduated and was in a 3-year programme where I could only attend offline classes for 1 year (6 months in the first semester and 6 months in the final semester). AKA the Covid batch. So I messed up big time during the lockdown, didn't do any good internships and did not participate in moots or anything else for that matter. The few internships that I did were remote internships which also weren't high on the knowledge or learning part.
I want to enter into litigation, but being a first-gen as well, I have zero contacts in the industry and zero knowledge on how to get started. I have scoured the internet for Senior Advocate contact information and have emailed them my CV along with a cover letter, but have had negligible luck in getting a reply. I am ready to start slow and give more years of work than what a good first-gen would need to establish an okayish amount of practice in the court.
If anyone here could guide me on what could be my next steps, please help. I know I messed up, and will probably get comments that I am shit and shouldn't be in the industry if I can't even figure this out. I am ready to bear the brunt if I can get some genuine help in a few comments as well.
Find a small office in your home town and just start learning. Look for a young growing litigation office. The rest will fall in place. The practice of law is a marathon.
You didn't mess up. First things first, let's say even if you had 10+ internships.. getting into corporate would've been impossible w/o contacts or an exemplary CV (again almost impossible w/o contacts, be it corporate or litigation). This is simply because of the existing nepotism in this profession and the monopoly/preference of Tier-1 NLUs in the context of Tier-1 law firms (again not a criticism of that culture - it is what it is). And you're from DU, so factor that in; your college prepares you better for litigation. And truth be told, you'd be slightly better equipped in certain areas than students from slightly better law colleges (again read this with emphasis on certain areas).
With litigation, you still would not have been making big bucks right out of college. The gestation period is longer, without any guaranteed success anyway. So yes, you did lose some time, maybe a couple of months, or even if you want to exaggerate, let's say a year. One year would hardly make a difference 10 years later. Hell, you could even catch up or zoom past others. Start counting the days from when you get your license. No breaks starting from that point because all you will do is work, work, and work. Until then, read... and then read some more.. whether it's procedure, case laws, commentaries, drafting, practice itself..Try to learn about what you haven't learned in college...watch online how Advocates argue. Litigation is about the long game, not the short game. Ofc, you have to be grounded and understand that it will take time to blossom and still, it may or may not align with your ambitions.
Since you are clear you want to enter litigation and are first gen, I would recommend not starting with Senior Advocates; for the same reason Tier 1 firms would not have been interested - some of these positions are filled up via contacts or exemplary CVs (again contacts). Bud, nepotism is the rule of this game, whether it's that hotshot corporate firm or a Senior Advocate. With that in mind, start lower - the goal is to develop your skills in the first 6-8 years - that includes being able to handle a case right from the trial court stage to the appellate stage. Trial practice and appellate practice are similar but different games and you must get some trial court experience - even though oversaturated, it continues to be one of the most difficult areas to master, for evidence (in majority of cases) is appreciated at this stage. So start low, and climb your way to a senior advocate.
Hey, thanks for such a detailed write-up. This helps a lot.
- On the reading stuff, I am still awaiting my result, so till then, I am reading up on Civil Procedure Code, Criminal Law etc. - Should my approach right now be to grab anything I get and then figure it out later on?
Oh, I forgot to add one thing. The fact that you haven't participated in moots might actually work in your favour since you will have fewer things to unlearn. I cannot emphasise enough how different arguing in court is from mooting.
Moots might help in a corporate setting since you will rarely ever see the court room and it's a good CV addition to help you stand out. But boy oh boy, when you stand before a judge, there are absolutely different expectations and parameters. It's NOTHING like a moot court. In fact, the more mooting you may have done may be detrimental to learning appropriate court skills. (Again, caveat that this applies generally and exceptions exist.)
I just graduated and was in a 3-year programme where I could only attend offline classes for 1 year (6 months in the first semester and 6 months in the final semester). AKA the Covid batch. So I messed up big time during the lockdown, didn't do any good internships and did not participate in moots or anything else for that matter. The few internships that I did were remote internships which also weren't high on the knowledge or learning part.
I want to enter into litigation, but being a first-gen as well, I have zero contacts in the industry and zero knowledge on how to get started. I have scoured the internet for Senior Advocate contact information and have emailed them my CV along with a cover letter, but have had negligible luck in getting a reply. I am ready to start slow and give more years of work than what a good first-gen would need to establish an okayish amount of practice in the court.
If anyone here could guide me on what could be my next steps, please help.
I know I messed up, and will probably get comments that I am shit and shouldn't be in the industry if I can't even figure this out. I am ready to bear the brunt if I can get some genuine help in a few comments as well.
That's why you should get into Litigation.
If you did well you could have gone to corporate.
With litigation, you still would not have been making big bucks right out of college. The gestation period is longer, without any guaranteed success anyway. So yes, you did lose some time, maybe a couple of months, or even if you want to exaggerate, let's say a year. One year would hardly make a difference 10 years later. Hell, you could even catch up or zoom past others. Start counting the days from when you get your license. No breaks starting from that point because all you will do is work, work, and work. Until then, read... and then read some more.. whether it's procedure, case laws, commentaries, drafting, practice itself..Try to learn about what you haven't learned in college...watch online how Advocates argue. Litigation is about the long game, not the short game. Ofc, you have to be grounded and understand that it will take time to blossom and still, it may or may not align with your ambitions.
Since you are clear you want to enter litigation and are first gen, I would recommend not starting with Senior Advocates; for the same reason Tier 1 firms would not have been interested - some of these positions are filled up via contacts or exemplary CVs (again contacts). Bud, nepotism is the rule of this game, whether it's that hotshot corporate firm or a Senior Advocate. With that in mind, start lower - the goal is to develop your skills in the first 6-8 years - that includes being able to handle a case right from the trial court stage to the appellate stage. Trial practice and appellate practice are similar but different games and you must get some trial court experience - even though oversaturated, it continues to be one of the most difficult areas to master, for evidence (in majority of cases) is appreciated at this stage. So start low, and climb your way to a senior advocate.
- On the reading stuff, I am still awaiting my result, so till then, I am reading up on Civil Procedure Code, Criminal Law etc.
- Should my approach right now be to grab anything I get and then figure it out later on?
Thanks again.
Moots might help in a corporate setting since you will rarely ever see the court room and it's a good CV addition to help you stand out. But boy oh boy, when you stand before a judge, there are absolutely different expectations and parameters. It's NOTHING like a moot court. In fact, the more mooting you may have done may be detrimental to learning appropriate court skills. (Again, caveat that this applies generally and exceptions exist.)