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Hello!

Iโ€™m a final year law student in Delhi,India with good grades & a great attitude towards learning. My internships have been focused on Commercial Litigation, Insolvency & Arbitration.

Being a neuro divergent queer individual in this field is extremely taxing & anxiety inducing. I had been planning to pursue an LLM abroad to never have to work in spaces like this but life ( incl. financial constraints ) had other plans. I am now planning to build up my career in Delhi itself.

So far my experience with redacted Tier 2 Law Firms ( Internships) has been borderline homophobic. I honestly cannot tell if the work environment is bad towards freshers / interns in general or just specifically towards queer folks.

If anyone in the field of arbitration / other queer lawyers can help me around how to approach these work spaces or enlist queer friendly work spaces, that would be great.
Hi, so sorry you went through it however as a general review no firm or itโ€™s people will go out of the way to make the space inclusive. In all probability itโ€™s a person issue and not the organisation issue. I donโ€™t want to sound dismissive but atleast I have not seen anyone care even an iota about the other persons life and interest (Iโ€™m at a T1,A0). Mostly because people donโ€™t converse so I think their issue is donโ€™t know donโ€™t care.

Ofc there are exceptions which youโ€™ll find everywhere and who will make you feel welcomed by going the extra mile. Youโ€™ll just have to find the bare minimum decent and respectful people. I am sorry I just feel thatโ€™s the drill.
As awful as it sounds, becoming competent is still something i can work towards. Thankyou for your honest feedback.
Hello,

I would like to address the part about neuro-divergence as an arbitration practitioner.

I understand neuo-divergence is an umbrella term that encompasses a variety of mental conditions such as ADHD. From what I have read, it appears that lawyers may create safe spaces for neurodivergent individuals by eliminating barriers to learning and participation, such as by "exhibiting patience and allowing ample time to think and process."

From what I have seen, the nature of an arbitration proceeding in itself is fast-paced. The teams are always overworked. In my experience, I have never seen an atmosphere where there is scope for people to exhibit patience and allow ample time for a junior to think and process. This is more to do with the nature of the work and the manner in which law firms function.

I would encourage you to go beyond this "fad" of arbitration and focus on learning substantive laws. You may want to do this through working as a general disputes practitioner. Arbitration is just a means of resolving disputes, nothing more.

I encourage you to prioritize your mental well-being alongside your career, and pick a lane that allows you to do this. Don't tie yourself up with ideas about what is "sexy" at the moment.

Lastly, I hope you find everything you are looking for, right from kind, queer-friendly lawyers to hospitable, learning oriented workspaces.
As a person in a similar position, I just don't think you are going to find the 'safe spaces' you require. the only way you can survive in these places is to be good. If you're good they don't care about your traits. You need to work on toughening your exterior. Law firms are for the sharks.
Hey. If you are open to working at a smaller law firm, The Law Chambers in CP, Delhi can be good for you. They are openly inclusive and they deal in a lot of commercial litigations/arbitrations.

Best of luck
If you are obsessed with a โ€œsafe spaceโ€ you are doomed. Focus on being the best in the profession. Then you can be however you want and no one will care. As a rank junior if you pontificate about your pronouns and sexuality, you are in for a world of hurt.