Hi, prepared several years for upsc, could not make it. Too exhausted now. College is also not great, we are from small district college in rajasthan. None of my batch mates are aware of even names of law firms. I got to know about them now. Needless to say, I have no internships. Now want to join Law firms and climb the ladder. Any help? Any scope?
Or Someone working with Senior Advocates in Delhi? Can someone you guide us with a paying counsel? I have talked to lot of people and they say senior advocates only consider people with foreign LLM. Also, contacts need to be there.
I would not be asking these questions if there was "minimum wage" hourly concept in India like western countries. That concept alone establishes a good level of social justice.
Big college Tag matters a lot in law firms. We got to know it very late. Where we are from, we did not even know NLU names. We knew just deputy collector, IAS due to news channels. We had no awareness.Hence me and my friends started prepared for psc and upsc but we all are so tired.
I have also tried comnecting with people on linkedin (now deleted). But hardly ever someone responds. Out of frustration I deleted everything and tore up my resume.
It is Marriage Season in India, recently met an engineer working at FCI. Freshly appointed. He said "India is the only country where struggle is glorified". His point was -"It is heartbreaking that we need to struggle for basic necessites like education, job and everything". Yeah, population. And politics. And corruption.
Coming back, only 2 guys got selected out of whole batch of around 80. Women of our batch got married to IT guys or businessmen and have become housewives. You know the drill. Some men are going to courts and getting nothing.
Dude, I empathize with you. The practical reality is that prominent law firms doing transactional work like (corporate law and M&A, IP) are not located in smaller districts. In fact, it will be difficult to find them in bigger cities of Rajasthan too. However, I'm sure there will be prominent law firms and senior lawyers doing litigation work irrespective of which district or city you are in. Your best bet is to try litigation. The gestation period is long. The formative years of your practice life may not be very rewarding. However, as you get a grip over handling court matters, your ability to handle things independently without our senior's help will improve. That's when you need to think in terms of going independent and building your own client base and being your own boss. On the transactional side, real estate law is also quite rewarding. Ultimately, the extent you succeed is directly proportionate to the level of responsibility you are willing to shoulder. Five years of practice under a good litigation lawyer should stand you in good stead and build a sold foundation to having a successful legal career. All the very best.
As you suggest you are from a semi-rural place, a relevant question to ask is if you are entitled to quota benefits. If yes, then then then I think you still have a chance of cracking other govt exams with a pattern similar to UPSC, such as state civil services or BSF. You can also try for judicial service. Yet another option is academia, since there are reserved teaching posts.
If you are from the general category, it's very hard to get a public sector job, though you could still try academia via LLM CLAT and then PhD. Maybe you can join a lawyer's chamber and do an LLM on the side, to begin with? That way you don't lose out on work ex. JGLS offers online/weekend programmes for professionals and I think NLSIU is planning them too.
I agree, friend. Even in UPSC, i think college tag is starting to matter. Most of the law graduates cracking it are from NLUs (NLSUI, NLU Delhi etc). Hardly any traditional law college graduates. Even those that do are from DU type.
This is very depressing to see, do our futures have no value? When I apply for internships at big firms, I don't get picked. The trial court internship in my city paid nothing
Bhai/Behen, start using logic if you wish to do well in your life. College tag cannot matter in a competitive exam. The calibre of the student and the exposure that they get while prepping do. You yourself admitted that DU students are making it. So, that goes to show students from good quality TLCs as well as good quality NLUs are making it, because they are good quality students.
You will find law firms intolerable. Better find a place in chambers of a senior lawyer. Start socializing. You need a clientele.
Preping for UPSC includes dreaming day and night. Dreaming about all the good work you'll do for the society, all the recognition you will have and also power that comes along. Now that your dream is gone, last thing you want is to sit before a computer at a law firm.
Sirji people need to earn money to pay for their month to month bills. You can't just prep for UPSC for free. People are willing to do any kind of work for the pay check believe me.
Im from a tier 1 NLU and am finding it hard to find internships even being in the above average of the class and having good experience. But Ive seen so many students from Christ, DU make it much earlier and in large numbers. Lately the level playing field has become more equal. Many (most) firms don't really hold onto the "NLU prestige factor" anymore. It's really just contacts and references and who knows who. So as was 5 yrs earlier, the "big- college name tag" doesn't really matter as much.
Difficult to say without assessing your credentials, but there is no reason why you should not get a break. Again, have a reality check. The prominent law firms that you so often read in these columns have a preference for NLUs and / or those who have interned with them in the past. However, these are just a handful in number. For every such firm there are dozens of smaller firms which are lesser known simply because they do not thump their chests and publicize every deal they close. Also, these smaller firms also do not pay their way through to win awards and hence are now written about so much. The work that they do however can be just as complex as what the bigger names do. Try these smaller law firms for a start. It will take some effort in identifying them. Perhaps you can do some research to see who has broken away from the bigger law firms and started their own boutique law firm. Get in touch with legal head hunters as well. They have better industry awareness of such smaller firms. Several of these smaller law firms actually do not hire from top NLUs because they know that they cannot compete with the bigger law firms, and they are more receptive to hiring from smaller colleges. Take the time and effort to visit them in person. Ensure that your Resume is well drafted and contains no factual or grammatical errors. Be honest of your credentials. The cons here are that you cannot expect the same starting salary which the bigger firms offer. However, most of them will pay a salary enough for a single person's sustenance plus some savings. Start small and climb your way up. Avoid comparison with others because no matter where you are placed in life, there will always be someone who seems better placed. Let that not deter you. You need to win over yourself rather than winning over others.
Connecting on linkedin? That never works ever, nobody responds to random texts for jobs/ internships.
As I mentioned in my comment above, the NLU factor doesn't matter anymore, firms are equally extending internships/ placements to people from all colleges (personal experience). Just mention your skills u would've learnt over time with each internship/ work experience. Firms are willing to consider that as well.
Minimum wage? Do you even know what is the minimum wage in the US or India? Have you heard of MNREGA? Minimum wage is way way way low as it should be. Do some research, This would've helped in ur IAS prep too.
And yes, you have to struggle for basic necessities. No government is gonna feed you food in your mouth or pay your rent, thats not why people pay tax dollars, you have to hustle, that is only fair to everyone.
No senior counsel or anybody gives any s*** about a "foreign LLM". An LLM is specialised study and research, it has no real significance in the practical reality of our courts.
I would suggest you to go to a District Court/ High Court and try networking and asking seniors fr guidance. Tell them you are willing to learn and hustle for 10 hours a day. Tell them you want to work for/ with them. May not be a senior advocate directly. Get some good experience in an area of practice that interests you and put actual efforts into research and drafting. All this can be learnt in 3-4-5 years under advocates. Then network and go to/ get referred to a senior counsel and get the experience there. By then you will find that you are able to do client work on your own and handle cases (6 years dtl). Then you can judge if you want to open your own office or work under a senior's guidance for more years.
If you are interested in corporate work, ask your senior to refer you based on your work to some smaller firms. With your experience you should be able to do that conveniently (or is more profitable to open your own office in litigation). Keep networking and you will land where you want.
I would not be asking these questions if there was "minimum wage" hourly concept in India like western countries. That concept alone establishes a good level of social justice.
Big college Tag matters a lot in law firms. We got to know it very late. Where we are from, we did not even know NLU names. We knew just deputy collector, IAS due to news channels. We had no awareness.Hence me and my friends started prepared for psc and upsc but we all are so tired.
I have also tried comnecting with people on linkedin (now deleted). But hardly ever someone responds. Out of frustration I deleted everything and tore up my resume.
It is Marriage Season in India, recently met an engineer working at FCI. Freshly appointed. He said "India is the only country where struggle is glorified". His point was -"It is heartbreaking that we need to struggle for basic necessites like education, job and everything". Yeah, population. And politics. And corruption.
Coming back, only 2 guys got selected out of whole batch of around 80. Women of our batch got married to IT guys or businessmen and have become housewives. You know the drill. Some men are going to courts and getting nothing.
So, it can be really helpful. Take Care.
If you are from the general category, it's very hard to get a public sector job, though you could still try academia via LLM CLAT and then PhD. Maybe you can join a lawyer's chamber and do an LLM on the side, to begin with? That way you don't lose out on work ex. JGLS offers online/weekend programmes for professionals and I think NLSIU is planning them too.
This is very depressing to see, do our futures have no value? When I apply for internships at big firms, I don't get picked. The trial court internship in my city paid nothing
Preping for UPSC includes dreaming day and night. Dreaming about all the good work you'll do for the society, all the recognition you will have and also power that comes along. Now that your dream is gone, last thing you want is to sit before a computer at a law firm.
Im from a tier 1 NLU and am finding it hard to find internships even being in the above average of the class and having good experience. But Ive seen so many students from Christ, DU make it much earlier and in large numbers. Lately the level playing field has become more equal. Many (most) firms don't really hold onto the "NLU prestige factor" anymore. It's really just contacts and references and who knows who. So as was 5 yrs earlier, the "big- college name tag" doesn't really matter as much.
विद्यां ददाति विनयं विनयाद् याति पात्रताम् ।
पात्रत्वात् धनमाप्नोति धनात् धर्मं ततः सुखम् ॥
Thanks for new insight.
So, How Do I make up my network and jump to law firms? I promise I will study all books and material you mention.
Any help is appreciated
As I mentioned in my comment above, the NLU factor doesn't matter anymore, firms are equally extending internships/ placements to people from all colleges (personal experience). Just mention your skills u would've learnt over time with each internship/ work experience. Firms are willing to consider that as well.
Minimum wage? Do you even know what is the minimum wage in the US or India? Have you heard of MNREGA? Minimum wage is way way way low as it should be. Do some research, This would've helped in ur IAS prep too.
And yes, you have to struggle for basic necessities. No government is gonna feed you food in your mouth or pay your rent, thats not why people pay tax dollars, you have to hustle, that is only fair to everyone.
No senior counsel or anybody gives any s*** about a "foreign LLM". An LLM is specialised study and research, it has no real significance in the practical reality of our courts.
I would suggest you to go to a District Court/ High Court and try networking and asking seniors fr guidance. Tell them you are willing to learn and hustle for 10 hours a day. Tell them you want to work for/ with them. May not be a senior advocate directly. Get some good experience in an area of practice that interests you and put actual efforts into research and drafting. All this can be learnt in 3-4-5 years under advocates. Then network and go to/ get referred to a senior counsel and get the experience there. By then you will find that you are able to do client work on your own and handle cases (6 years dtl). Then you can judge if you want to open your own office or work under a senior's guidance for more years.
If you are interested in corporate work, ask your senior to refer you based on your work to some smaller firms. With your experience you should be able to do that conveniently (or is more profitable to open your own office in litigation). Keep networking and you will land where you want.
Your comment comes across as someone who is very inconsiderate and impolite. I will not reply on your comments further.