Honestly the problem is corruption and red tape administration in India and the bad quality of lawyers. I know Tier 1 Partners who copy paste legal opinions onto high liability documents. which causes Companies to just approach foreign law firms for the same (illegally) and pay high stake bribes to regulators. Also the hiring processes really keep the firms mediocre because they arent willing to invest in good HR for the same. Even small startups in India have very high defined HR practices for a 25-30 member teams. These firms are such literal shops that they hire on the whims of the Partner who doesnt seem to have time at all and just shortlists on the basis of ranks, which has questionable origins itself.

Good post and high time we address the elephant(s) in the room:

1. Liberalisation of the legal profession hijacked by corrupt dynasts and crony capitalists/slave owners.

2. Even if liberalisation happens, we have no rule of law in India and our judicial system is among the worst on the world. Lawyers will prosper only when the judicial system is reformed.

3. Because of #2, Indian society glorifies STEM and looks down on lawyers

4. Flowing from #3, Indian corporates have a jugaad mentality where they are reluctant to pay legal fees and also hire rubbish in-house legal talent, which sets off a race to the bottom.

5. Linked to #4, oversupply of lawyers because corrupt BCI gave licenses to cowsheds and every state has an NLU, the vast majority being garbage and producing garbage.

6. Finally, socialist policies and mentality. Give everyone a law degree coz “equality”. Teach bullshit, irrelevant courses in law school coz “social justice”. Underfund law schools, charge low fees, pay faculty poorly and spend on populist subsidies instead coz “gareebi”.

I've been thinking about this quite some time now; the pay scales in our industry are pretty low. People in tech and MBA, ( folks in tech especially) make mad money. Even in this recessionary environment graduates from half decent tech colleges are faring well. Contrast this with our industry where it's only the toppers/ folks for tier 1 schools who are getting decent to good placements. For context, I'm at a tier 1 college and I have cousins in tech who are doing amazingly well. Some of them started with as low as 3.5-4 LPA but within 2-3 years are within 28-30 lakh range. Now, I know some people will come here and say ohh that CTC or ohh they get taxed more. All that is immaterial because I know people who have had base salaries of 20-30 lakhs. Hell I know someone in my extended family who started at 50 Lakhs CTC. Sometimes I regret not going the engineering way. There are so many opportunities in tech, while law is gatekept and is the preserve of the elite few. Not to forget atleast in FAANG like companies the WLB is great. The only way I feel pay scales would increase in this industry is when it is liberalized. That seems like a pipe dream with lobbies trying to prevent foreign law firms from entering the Indian market.

Thoughts?