If you're really passionate about dispute resolution in Mumbai, don't join a Tier 1 firm. I know that the difference in pay at the A0 level is not comparable between Tier 1 and lower tier firms, but you will learn much more and have much more substantial work to do. Litigation in a Tier 1 at the associate level is often just postman work and keeping the client happy whilst counsel and seniors do the real work. The reason for this is that such a firm will not trust you to do anything in such high stakes matters. And if you don't do, you won't learn to do.

While a lot of what this top comment says is sad because it’s effectively saying don’t worry about your mental health and keep enduring the treatment meted out to you. It is also true. Since you have already accepted the job and have nowhere else to go now the best option is to stick around for a year and get your raise and bonus and leave. Unfortunately you will have to stick on till August / September because that’s when the firm gives raises and bonus. Unlike other firms. It is their way of not letting anyone take their bonus and leave during hiring season in April / May.

This is so true! I interned there last year and spent almost my entire internship in the NCLT and High Court. Not to attend hearings, but waiting for matters to reach and to keep the associates informed of the board position. This is a disputes team without court clerks to inform the team of the board position, so interns are made to go to courts and NCLT to do a court clerk’s job. Even tier 2 firms have court clerks who handle and take care of all this work. But here is a tier 1 firm that doesn’t want to spend on court clerks so they send interns to do the same job. Says a lot about the guidance and learning from the top of the team.

I don't want to scare you since you are joining the team and likely don't have much of a choice now, so I'll tell you the pros.

1. AZB has a really good brand name. While I hate this team from the very bottom of my heart, I'd be lying if I said I didn't benefit from the value of the AZB brand name. This team can be a launchpad for you. When you hit the one year mark, you can switch to a place that is saner. If you didn't join at all, you wouldn't have that option. You might not have much choice where you join right out of college. You do, however, have some more leeway to decide where you want to go from here.

2. Once you survive this team, you'll gain an incredible amount of grit. Once you've put up with this shit, everything else gets easier. Any and all criticism from the members of this team must be like water off a duck's back. ▮▮. I know this is easy for me to say, but please don't let them break your spirit. I promise you, law is a wonderful, meaningful profession. There is so much you can do with your law degree, and this team is just the starting point. Once you get a year's worth of experience from here, there's so much left to do.

3. Stress is a state of mind. There is no better team than this one to put that saying into practice. No matter how insane people in power are being, breathe in and out and expel stress. There was a person in the team that I used to really admire for being able to do this. Take small breaks, even if they're mental breaks and involve pretending to work. Do whatever it is that you need to, the world is not going to come to an end. 90% of the panic that happens in this team is generated uselessly. Meditate. Sleep. Say you're working from home and take naps. The panic masters in the team are not productive, no matter how they portray themselves. Trust me, you can be more productive if you're calm and rested.

4. They provide snacks on Mondays and Fridays. If you're non-vegetarian, the snacks are quite nice. If you're vegetarian, you have to make do with poha while the non-vegetarians enjoy chicken samosas. Console yourself with the thought that you're eating healthy. There are a bunch of street food places nearby.

This is not one of the pros as such but a word of advice, if you need leave, lie through your teeth. Do NOT try honesty here, it will not work. @ LI, I am genuinely trying to help OP, not spewing vitriol about this team like I want to. In the interest of free speech, please publish this comment. I have not named anyone (believe me, I want to!)

@LegallyIndia - these are really serious points and critical for anyone who is joining AZB Disputes, not just the fresher, to know. It could after all affect a person’s mental health and professional future if anyone has to join a team with so much negative feedback. Therefore, please do not moderate and block out the rest of the comments. Sometimes these comments can help a person make a decision that could make or break their career.

When I interned in this team, the ▮▮▮ said to all interns, "When you go back to college, be careful about what you say about this team. We have ears everywhere." She said other absurd things but I don't want to dox myself. It was truly the most baffling internship I've had

▮▮▮. Only speaking from my experience as an intern, but that one month was sufficient for me to understand that this is not the place that I wanted to end up in. ▮▮▮ the bullpen layout makes certain that everyone, and i mean EVERYONE, can look and hear what's being said to the person on the receiving end of the hammer, and these incidents just so happens to occur one too many times. The junior associates were helpful and kind barring a couple of bad (and incompetent) apples who have seem to taken their leave from the firm. ▮▮▮

Work is fine - as an intern, I normalised not receiving any context for the work I was assigned, repeated walks to the associates' desks only for them to give me information in bits and parts, and pointless hours spent at the Tribunals/Courts with no substantive value addition. Matters that I came to know of (in quality) were nothing special, and DR teams of Trilegal and Khaitan seemed to be taking the bigger portion of the pie (checked the representatives of parties in the cause lists)

Final note - Thank you once again, kind junior associates ▮▮▮

I see all the comments you have got in reply to your request. That should give you an idea of the team you are joining. On a serious note, it’s not the best team to work with. There may be good clients and work, but that is not worth the way the partners treat the team. Pl be prepared to forget about your personal life. ▮▮▮

Agree. Interned there before. Worst work culture from all Mumbai disputes teams. There is only one partner. Other so called partners are gloried SAs or PAs to said partner. A0s and A1s are glorified interns. Everyone in that office seems like they are working there out of fear or working in unhappiness without prolly being able to quit. V hostile environment.