Can experienced professionals in academia (and others similarly situated) pour in here their thoughts regarding LLM from India to get into academia. Whether a specialised LLM or a General LLM would be appropriate?
option 2: do LLM in India and then clear NET, and then pursue PhD and be a teaching assistant (all total 7 year) and then perhaps get a job at a state uni or NLU
I have looked at recruitment pattern at NLUs and state law unis (govt), the total number of recruitments are less then 100 in one year, and each specialisation would have 4-5 vacancies, so if you target one particular state, then your chances of getting a job in a particular specialisation is very low. Therefore, a general LLm would be better
A general LLM won't help them get shortlisted the moment a specialisation is being sought for any vacant post. That's the sad truth. Some NLUs shortlist now based on LLM specialisation only, without a care for your publication or teaching experience (for Assistant Prof positions). Weird, but true.
Based on comments here and some previous suggestions, I was giving more weightage to General LLM. I might have an option to get in NALSAR and was thinking to select bouquet of subjects that I like. However, if I were to go for specialised LLM, then I might have to reconsider my University preference and may choose NLIU. What would you suggest.
If you are looking for a specialised LLM in India, then you may also consider one of the specialisations offered by NUJS, such as IP or Law & Tech. They also have the traditional Commercial Law, International Law and Criminal Law specialisations.
Many Indian law schools now are advertising for faculty positions for specific subjects. For those, a specialised LLM may help. Other than that, not much. Focus on publications and conference paper presentations. Try to act as a TA or RA to your faculty during that one year (see if you can take a few classes for the undergrad programme) and clear UGC NET asap (you can appear right after getting entry into any LLM programme). Work on your dissertation and later convert it into a monograph if possible or at least two quality articles out of it.
If you want to be in academia, you do not go in without a Ph.D. and a good post-doc. With an LLM you'll get only a lecturer position and your promotions will be stalled or very slow - and eventually the university will ask you to do a Ph.D. anyway. "Faculty with Ph.D." is a criterion for university rankings (like NIRF), hence universities do not want to lose out on that. You'll become a "liability" for the university by pulling down their scores.
Please don't make such comments without being up to date about ongoing events. The lecturer position no longer exists in public universities apart from as guest lecturer. The entry level position is Assistant Professor and for that, the eligibility is LLM + UGC NET. There are hundreds of such people currently working in public universities including NLUs. Of course, a career academic eventually needs to do their PhD, but it's not an entry level requirement yet. If you have got a few decent publications and the above qualifications, then you stand a good chance of making it into the universities.
Specialised. Most of the vacancies are now asking for specialisation. Also remember, pick a specialisation that you genuinely are passionate about. Moreover see to it that the specialisation is useful for the next decade or so. Example a maritime specialisation will have less people opting it however less vacancies, whereas a constitutional one would have more vacancies but more competitive as many would opt for it. Think wisely.
If one goes for General LLM with subjects like Contracts, Banking, IPR, etc. as selected subjects, how does it boost the candidate's profile both from the perspective of academia as well as placements right after LLM.
Hi. this is a slightly difficult question to give a straightforward answer. the best that I can do is offer some points to keep in mind :
1. recruitments to faculty positions dont follow any national pattern yet. Some of the top NLUs have started specifically advertising for specialisations. it is not clear from the regulations or the advertisements that they consider a specialised LL.M to be a must have qualification to meet the requirements of specialisation. I mean, its perfectly possible that a persons work experience and publications can meet that requirement.
2. a general LL.M is most often better, because you can pick electives in the combinations that you wish to pursue. often this is better from a long term perspective as you can come up with combinations that meets your interests, especially the future research interests.
3. that being said, the institution from which you got your degree tends to have some weightage. For example, an LL.M in Human Rights from NLS looks better than am LL.M in corporate law from MNLU (or an institution like that).
4.It is always better to chose an institution with better faculty and learning exposure than the specialisation that you are looking for. TO illustrate, NUJS might offer a specialisation in IPR which you are interested in. But NUJS does not have any good faculty or learning environment and hence NALSAR which may not offer an IPR specialisation is a better bet.
The illustration is not appropriate. NUJS does have considerably good faculty of IPR at present. The Copyright and Patent law faculty member is one of the best senior professors when it comes to teaching. There are other faculty including NUJS alum with PhD and foreign Masters who teach related subjects.
Can experienced professionals in academia (and others similarly situated) pour in here their thoughts regarding LLM from India to get into academia. Whether a specialised LLM or a General LLM would be appropriate?
option 2: do LLM in India and then clear NET, and then pursue PhD and be a teaching assistant (all total 7 year) and then perhaps get a job at a state uni or NLU
I have looked at recruitment pattern at NLUs and state law unis (govt), the total number of recruitments are less then 100 in one year, and each specialisation would have 4-5 vacancies, so if you target one particular state, then your chances of getting a job in a particular specialisation is very low. Therefore, a general LLm would be better
Based on comments here and some previous suggestions, I was giving more weightage to General LLM. I might have an option to get in NALSAR and was thinking to select bouquet of subjects that I like. However, if I were to go for specialised LLM, then I might have to reconsider my University preference and may choose NLIU. What would you suggest.
Thanks!
All NLUs are state universities.
If one goes for General LLM with subjects like Contracts, Banking, IPR, etc. as selected subjects, how does it boost the candidate's profile both from the perspective of academia as well as placements right after LLM.
Whether LLM can increase prospects of getting hired as in-house counsel?
1. recruitments to faculty positions dont follow any national pattern yet. Some of the top NLUs have started specifically advertising for specialisations. it is not clear from the regulations or the advertisements that they consider a specialised LL.M to be a must have qualification to meet the requirements of specialisation. I mean, its perfectly possible that a persons work experience and publications can meet that requirement.
2. a general LL.M is most often better, because you can pick electives in the combinations that you wish to pursue. often this is better from a long term perspective as you can come up with combinations that meets your interests, especially the future research interests.
3. that being said, the institution from which you got your degree tends to have some weightage. For example, an LL.M in Human Rights from NLS looks better than am LL.M in corporate law from MNLU (or an institution like that).
4.It is always better to chose an institution with better faculty and learning exposure than the specialisation that you are looking for. TO illustrate, NUJS might offer a specialisation in IPR which you are interested in. But NUJS does not have any good faculty or learning environment and hence NALSAR which may not offer an IPR specialisation is a better bet.