The root cause of problems at JSA is the 8% bill share. The EPs and Partners do not like to hire too many members in their team cause of the bill share. They make interns work for months without any intention of hiring them or giving them the clarity that there is no open position. Ultimately, salaries elsewhere are more and JSA is till stuck in between tier 1 and tier 2. It is not part of the elite conversation.
According to some JSA folks, pay scale has not been revised since 2016. Only law firm in India with that sad achievement. How to pay associates when they have to buy awards for partners around the year to stay relevant
Chennai is a very underrated commercial market. It houses most of India's physical foriegn investment in the form of Automotive manufacturing plants and other top industrial parks. It more of a industry Oriented economy. Chennai is also second to Bangalore for its IT industry. Tamil Nadu as such is the most industrialized state, and second to Gujarat in terms of economic growth. With many other tier 2 cities in the form of Coimbatore, Madurai and Trichy and industrial towns like Salem, Erode, Tuticorin, Hosur etc the legal market in Chennai isn't restricted to Chennai alone. It encompasses a wider legal practice encompassing these places too, whether in the form of M&A, disputes etc.
Chennai legal practice Coming to corporate work, the Chennai Bar has traditionally been a top disputes oriented practice for centuries. This is understandable considering that Madras HC is among the 3 oldest Chartered High Courts in India. High stake corporate work for TN/Chennai has been mostly done by Bombay Solicitors for close to a century since Bombay was always the commercial capital of India and that is where the practice of a transactional attorney took shape in india historically. That translates to why the Chennai bar did not have a fledgling corporate practice for a larger part of the 20th century, while it was doing wonders in the disputes practice
However, the scene has been changing in the last 15 years with many corporate lawyers being ex lawyers at several big indian corporate law firms returning to Chennai to either start their boutique practice or starting a local branch for Mumbai/Delhi firms. At present, SAM, CAM, Indus Law, Dua, AZB, Khaitan, ICUL, JSA, Tatva Legal, Kochhar, Fox Mandal have a thriving corporate practice largely due to the positive economic atmosphere in the state that has been regularly attracting a big chunk of foriegn and domestic investment in the state.
Pay
Yes, pay will not match Mumbai because Chennai is obviously a cheaper city to survive. You don't have to pay 40-50k for a 1rk near your office like you have to do in Mumbai. You will be getting a great 1bhk/2bhk for 18-24k near your Chennai law firm offices. Starting salaries in the national law firms will be around 40-50k and other top local law firms like HSB is 35-45k and that grows with pqe. So you will be able to have a decent life with savings as well if you budget properly.
Diversity
Chennai is a metropolitan city with a cosmopolitan culture unlike the general false perception that the City is anti North Indian. There is large population of marwadis, gujjus, Jain's and bora muslims that have settled in Chennai for centuries. The locals aren't hostile unless you criticise/mock the culture and language or CSK (lol). Yes, it is true that the diversity is lesser than Delhi/Mumbai/Bangalore which is largely due to geography and weather and not due to a dearth of employment opportunities. A UP person would prefer Mumbai rather than Chennai similar to his a malayali/tamizhan preferring Chennai over Mumbai.
Exits are bound to happen - there’s no appreciation for good work, they haven’t revised the pay scale in year. Billing sharing isn’t attractive anymore as even including the bill share, your total pay will hardly match with other tier 1 pay scale.
A rare JSA catch for AZB. Significant because Aarti ran the whole Chennai office, practically eliminating their presence there now.
JSA seems to be in internal chaos if they can't even hold on to their old faithful EPs, cut costs everywhere. Are JSA coffers running dry? How bad is management at JSA if Aarti is willing to work with ZM instead of JSA Excoms??
2 days ago
CAM has an office there no? Is the pay same?
+0 -0
...
reply
by Guest
5 days ago
Only North India best for law practice.
+1 -1
...
reply
by Ex Chennai lawyer
3 days ago
Chennai economy
Chennai is a very underrated commercial market. It houses most of India's physical foriegn investment in the form of Automotive manufacturing plants and other top industrial parks. It more of a industry Oriented economy. Chennai is also second to Bangalore for its IT industry. Tamil Nadu as such is the most industrialized state, and second to Gujarat in terms of economic growth. With many other tier 2 cities in the form of Coimbatore, Madurai and Trichy and industrial towns like Salem, Erode, Tuticorin, Hosur etc the legal market in Chennai isn't restricted to Chennai alone. It encompasses a wider legal practice encompassing these places too, whether in the form of M&A, disputes etc.
Chennai legal practice Coming to corporate work, the Chennai Bar has traditionally been a top disputes oriented practice for centuries. This is understandable considering that Madras HC is among the 3 oldest Chartered High Courts in India. High stake corporate work for TN/Chennai has been mostly done by Bombay Solicitors for close to a century since Bombay was always the commercial capital of India and that is where the practice of a transactional attorney took shape in india historically. That translates to why the Chennai bar did not have a fledgling corporate practice for a larger part of the 20th century, while it was doing wonders in the disputes practice
However, the scene has been changing in the last 15 years with many corporate lawyers being ex lawyers at several big indian corporate law firms returning to Chennai to either start their boutique practice or starting a local branch for Mumbai/Delhi firms. At present, SAM, CAM, Indus Law, Dua, AZB, Khaitan, ICUL, JSA, Tatva Legal, Kochhar, Fox Mandal have a thriving corporate practice largely due to the positive economic atmosphere in the state that has been regularly attracting a big chunk of foriegn and domestic investment in the state.
Pay
Yes, pay will not match Mumbai because Chennai is obviously a cheaper city to survive. You don't have to pay 40-50k for a 1rk near your office like you have to do in Mumbai. You will be getting a great 1bhk/2bhk for 18-24k near your Chennai law firm offices. Starting salaries in the national law firms will be around 40-50k and other top local law firms like HSB is 35-45k and that grows with pqe. So you will be able to have a decent life with savings as well if you budget properly.
Diversity
Chennai is a metropolitan city with a cosmopolitan culture unlike the general false perception that the City is anti North Indian. There is large population of marwadis, gujjus, Jain's and bora muslims that have settled in Chennai for centuries. The locals aren't hostile unless you criticise/mock the culture and language or CSK (lol). Yes, it is true that the diversity is lesser than Delhi/Mumbai/Bangalore which is largely due to geography and weather and not due to a dearth of employment opportunities. A UP person would prefer Mumbai rather than Chennai similar to his a malayali/tamizhan preferring Chennai over Mumbai.
+2 -0
...
reply
JSA seems to be in internal chaos if they can't even hold on to their old faithful EPs, cut costs everywhere. Are JSA coffers running dry? How bad is management at JSA if Aarti is willing to work with ZM instead of JSA Excoms??