Recently graduated out of a T1 NLU with a decent CV in terms of internships, academics and Co curriculars. Looking to learn about law firm prospects if I take 2-3 years off right after college instead of getting a job right now. Basically, what are my law firm prospects with a 2-3 year gap after college, if seniority is not a concern?

Short answer: Nowhere as great as of right now, but not entirely diminished either. While firms would ordinarily look down upon such a candidate, being from a T1 NLU, your batchmates (in a few years) & alumni group will be able to get you several of those vacancies that are not advertised elsewhere — this you'll still get some options, even though you may not be a favourite candidate for them.

Alternatively, you could increase your chances by working for just one year, because most T1 & T2 firms hire freshers through internships & campus placements but hire A1 onwards through lateral vacancies that are often limited to exclusive alumni groups etc. I've seen too many SAs/PAs/Partners post about vacancies in my T1 NLU alumni group directly, so that's definitely a help.

Another thing you could do is work part-time with some litigator who'd be willing to offer a proper certificate saying that you've been his junior for that period — this is an unethical step and unlikely to materialise unless you have a great reputation with said litigator or have influential connections.

Lastly, you could even try reaching out to your firm and asking then if they'd be open to deferring your joining by a year because of some insane family emergencies etc — Tier 1s will be unlikely to do this, but smaller & well-paying Tier 2s will be open to such.

Hi! OP here, I took up a boutique firm job that’s wfh but the workload is quite high. Further, I am convinced that UPSC is what I want to do and really want to take an attempt next year (2025). When is a good time to quit my job so as to create a PQE safety net to come back to Corp law if things don’t work out? Is 6 months okay at a good Boutique firm?