Why do people go for an expensive LLM abroad only to come back and work as an associate at an Indian law firm? It doesn't make sense, except for someone with fuck-you kind of money. Am I missing something?
what else can u expect from foreign law firms, hire some random dude with next to no experience? Thats is not how things work. And yes, law is the biggest money-sucking instrument out there, unless of course, u have a lot of money laying around.
I know people who were working as associates at T1 Indian law firms, who then took a loan to go study LLM in USA/UK and then returned to India to again work as associates in India. Can't make sense of this.
Harvard LLM is overrated. Anyone who can spend the money can get in and from what I have seen of the people who have completed the programme, it did not really do any value addition to their ability or scholarship.
Hey! You are missing the bigger picture of doing a foreign LLM. And it is not just you, but I see this at many places where people shit on the idea of doing a foreign LLM necessarily attaching it to the idea of getting a job abroad. So, let me give this a try.
First, answer this for yourself: Being a lawyer or a law student how are you different as a lawyer than a normal person who can google and read English? Before you entered law school, did you know about contract law or civil procedure code or, let's say, the basics of the constitution of India? I am sure not. What law school gave you was a platform that enabled you to learn about these legal texts and their jurisprudence to understand them, which made or will make you a lawyer.
Similarly, a foreign LLM helps you take your academic and professional experience further to make you a better lawyer. You'd learn concepts that you might not have even heard of in your undergraduate studies.
Let me draw a parallel from Lage Raho Munnabhai to explain this better (spoilers ahead). Our beloved Munnabhai could see Gandhi answering questions about what Munnabhai had already read about but could not answer the questions that he did not know. So we are able to think within the limits of our knowledge base. So, if we expand it, we will be able to think more efficiently and effectively.
Now, you could argue that you can also get that with experience. Absolutely true. But you don't get the experience of the entire legal system by just one case or, let's say, 10 cases. You learn as you go. What if you had a ladder that helped you get that experience in one go?
In addition to your academic experience, it also helps you develop other important aspects about you, as well. For instance, it teaches you how to network, improve your presentation skills, boost your confidence in a room full of strangers, etc. All of them combining in to make you a better and a confident lawyer.
TLDR: The answer is simple, if you are looking to become a better lawyer, the foreign LLM will help you do that but if you are just taking a myopic view of it converting into a foreign job, then more often than not it will be met with disappointment. A foreign LLM need not necessarily get you a comfortable life abroad, but it does help you individually in the long run. It all depends upon the motivation behind the foreign LLM and what you want to make of it.
First, answer this for yourself: Being a lawyer or a law student how are you different as a lawyer than a normal person who can google and read English? Before you entered law school, did you know about contract law or civil procedure code or, let's say, the basics of the constitution of India? I am sure not. What law school gave you was a platform that enabled you to learn about these legal texts and their jurisprudence to understand them, which made or will make you a lawyer.
Similarly, a foreign LLM helps you take your academic and professional experience further to make you a better lawyer. You'd learn concepts that you might not have even heard of in your undergraduate studies.
Let me draw a parallel from Lage Raho Munnabhai to explain this better (spoilers ahead). Our beloved Munnabhai could see Gandhi answering questions about what Munnabhai had already read about but could not answer the questions that he did not know. So we are able to think within the limits of our knowledge base. So, if we expand it, we will be able to think more efficiently and effectively.
Now, you could argue that you can also get that with experience. Absolutely true. But you don't get the experience of the entire legal system by just one case or, let's say, 10 cases. You learn as you go. What if you had a ladder that helped you get that experience in one go?
In addition to your academic experience, it also helps you develop other important aspects about you, as well. For instance, it teaches you how to network, improve your presentation skills, boost your confidence in a room full of strangers, etc. All of them combining in to make you a better and a confident lawyer.
TLDR: The answer is simple, if you are looking to become a better lawyer, the foreign LLM will help you do that but if you are just taking a myopic view of it converting into a foreign job, then more often than not it will be met with disappointment. A foreign LLM need not necessarily get you a comfortable life abroad, but it does help you individually in the long run. It all depends upon the motivation behind the foreign LLM and what you want to make of it.