Other threads about decline of NALSAR and NUJS are in abundance. What exempts the NLS from this is nothing but probably the profs there and the fact that seniors at other places start your friendly interactions with a promise of a job and ask you to chill out. The idea of writing, something core to law has gone for a toss, rather an assembly line of corporate suckers is being crafted. What the law loses is itself. A sole remedy is enthusiast and highly qualified profs. That is so important for me that I would suggest one to not even opt for CLAT and study in institutions like SNU school of law, just have a look at the faculty there man.

With this, I just want to start a conversation on the decline, not of NLUs but law.

Don't be concerned. NLUs are by character VC-centric institutions. If the VC changes for the worse, then they see exoduses or lack of better new recruitments. As such, these institutions boom and bust cycles.

NALSAR and NUJS are suffering through one now. For NALSAR it is more recent with FM only just out of the door, for NUJS it has been a while since they had a good VC.

Do not for a moment think that NLS is exempt for such cycles. The decade of Venkata Rao is well documented on LI itself. In fact, Sidharth Chatham, whose imminent departure is causing a lot of these reflections on faculty at NALSAR, had left NLS on concerns of academic future of the place under that leadership.

Also, do note that having a decade of poor leadership has not caused the recruitment outputs of NUJS to suffer. Similarly, NLS' recruitments did not suffer under Venkata Rao. Nor will NALSAR's with KDR.

All of these institutions (plus NLUJ, NLUD, and to a lesser extent NLIU and GNLU) have built enough of a brand for themselves with the legal industry. This brand was built on the backs of student recruits being able to churn out two/three years of back-breaking and soul-sucking work. It wasn't built on the outstanding academic literature being produced by the faculty members.

Therefore, my advice to all - current students in these places, and prospectives students who will pick one of them - would be to keep following the time tested rank order profile of NLS, NALSAR, NUJS, NLUD, NLUJ, GNLU, NLIU. You do this and you shall be fine.

Joke ranking and horrible advice, honestly, How can anyone seriously advice a young law aspirant to choose a 300-kid NLS batch, a faculty-exodus-ridden NALSAR or a terminally-ill NUJS over NLUD is baffling. NLUD is literally the only NLU with a national character and no domicile and with a decent batch size now. Sure, this can change in future too, but it will still any day be over NUJS by virtue of its location alone and GNLU isn't even in the same league as NLUD. Between NLS, NALSAR and NLUD, fine, there is a question of choice. But today, NLUD should ideally be preferred over these older two as well. And before the trolls who couldn't crack AILET start their verbal gagging, be honest to yourselves. If you had the choice of NLUD today, you'd any day choose it. I know even people who chose places like NUJS over NLUD 10 years back who regret doing so till today. Don't mislead when it comes to a question of merit.