Never thought life would be this hard, working in two jobs in litigation getting only 18k in the first and 25k in the next, and no scope for upward mobility despite being from a good college, masters, good internships, certificate courses, diplomas, moots, and whatnot. Turning 28 this year and wondering where did I go wrong. Whether law was even worth it. Regrets on not trying hard for corporate jobs/ judiciary/civil services/PSUs when the time was right and not being confident enough to leave toxic seniors sooner and falling for hollow promises. Age is not on my side and my parents make it a point to let me know how behind I am almost all the time. Others my age are earning well and settled.. yada yada. Life sucks, I know it could be worse but it feels like it already.

I'd heard somewhere (won't swear to it, as I don't follow this stuff regularly) that the UPSC CSE age limit has been increased, even for general candidates. Can't find the exact website where I saw this, but distinctly remember seeing it. Changed to 32, I believe. So why not try again? You've gotten some life experience also now, maybe give it a thought?

Same situation. Same age factor. I know it is difficult. Just would say, look at the bright side in whichever situation you are. Many are not even making 10k in the profession despite 1-2 years being already in. Try switching careers if you don't find yourselves fit for it. Reach out to people around. Some of the people might help with jobs. Don't box yourself in legal jobs only. Especially, if you have found something that could be more satisfactory monetarily as well as emotionally.

In litigation, do not measure your worth by the money you're making. The certificates, degrees, etc. also have no value here. There is only one consideration: do you add any value (to the client)? If yes, you will grow upward.

I wouldn't say there's no hope - contrary to what everyone else here seems to be suggesting. I know someone who was very unserious about life till early thirties (and, as a corollary, had slept through law school & didn't know anything). I don't know what happened, but one fine day they decided to turn their life around. Put in the hard work to build the skills. The main task is getting independent work. Tap into your network, try to get work. If you don't have a big enough network already, work on building that. I've said this multiple times on this platform previously - your network is your net worth.

You're 27. That's baby years by litigation standards. There's a long, long way to go ahead. Persevere.

PS: Just to add - don't fall for UPSC trap. It's no good. Especially when you're 27 already - your promotional avenues won't be much and by your late 50s you'd be cribbing about how you'd never be the DGP (or whatever) or end up in ego-driven seniority-determination-litigation. Anyway, it's a waste of time & effort. Litigation demands patience & hard work. Put that in, and hope for the best.

LMAO OP, you are only 28!! you sound like you are 58! 🤣🤣🤣

You have your whole life ahead of you. 28 is pretty young in the legal profession, especially litigation. You are also young enough to do a regular MBA, rather than an executive MBA.

No, you don’t have any lost years at all.

Thank you, I know but it's my parents and unfortunately they don't understand hoe litigation works vis a vis more conventional professions they just see my salary in peanuts v others my age earning in lakhs .... :( I couldn't do corporate due to health issues and never knew litigation would pay this low at that time, though it's my fault for not educating myself on this at the right time.

Or OP could venture into something more profitable and less taxing than law. OP, I know it's easier said that done but please consider an MBA- save every penny you make if you have to, but please please consider an MBA- lit is not for everyone and the sooner one accepts it the better.

Thank you for your reply. I agree with what you are saying, I love my work, the only issue is the payment and obvious taunts / societal perception that is getting on my nerves. I wish I had enough to shut everyone up. I know litigation will reap dividends eventually and tried explaining the career trajectory to my parents but I see why they are not satisfied. My office does have good clientile and I try to interact with who ever I can but could only end up with a few pro bono / low paying independent clients as I understand they dont want to pay a junior. My heart always was here, I never had any issue with the work, its just the low pay and gruelling hours which leaves me little to no time to try my hand at anything else. But thank you, will keep what you said in mind, I hope I grow like you soon.

If I may be permitted to offer some advice, it would be to learn to be happy with yourself first. Approval of others and comparison with others will never make you truly happy. Your parents care for you and want you to see you do well. Hence, their genuine concern. If you show them you are happy, working hard and the long term future is good, they will trust you. Forget societal taunts. It never stops. Look at Elon Musk. He still gets trolled despite being filthy rich.

However, if your financial needs are truly massive right now (without paying heed to societal taunts) none of the above matters. We live in a world where money is not unimportant. Look to switch to a better law firm by getting referrals through friends. Your current firm is clearly not being fair to you.

And age… its all in the mind. I quit law for 7 years only to rejoin it at the age of 32 with barely a couple of years PQE under my belt. I am now an equity partner at 40. Not to say your life may turn out the same. Just try to find your space and most importantly your happiness. Everything else truly becomes irrelevant as you will come to realize later in life.

This issue is not addressed often enough. Given the demand and supply mismatch in the legal profession, studying law in India now, given the high costs involved, is an economic suicide. And this is without accounting for the massive disruption in the knowledge economy being caused by the AI disruption. Litigation is also not a meaningful economic recourse for people from the first generation. It might work out in the long run, but we're all dead in the long run.

This is the reason I left chamber litigation. I was the school topper, and by the third year of my litigation practice with a well standing AoR, I was earning 35k. I was 27 by then. I was so sick earning literally the least amount of money out of all my school peers, including the kids who barely even passed school. At that point, I was earning less than a school acquaintance of mine, who bloody dropped out of school and joined a BPO - he earned 75k. And I was dumbfounded. Numb. That day, I decided that this 10 year (and potentially longer) gestation period in individual/ chamber practice was not going to cut it for me. At all. I am not debating that a litigation lawyer will earn more per annum, in the longer run. But I was not ready to waste away my youth and my parents' last few fruitful years, waiting for this gold at the end of my rainbow. I decided to say fuck it. I dropped chamber litigation like a hot potato and joined a tier 3 litigation law firm. Within that firm, I transitioned to corporate law. Then I shifted to a tier 1 law firm. All this took a lot of hard work, but at least I was getting paid decently while doing the same hard work I was putting in at the chamber. I am now sitting at almost a crore in salary per annum at a tier 1 law firm. Ditching individual litigation was the best decision of my life. And I have never looked back. This path opened up so many doors for me, which I had not even contemplated while fully spent and busy in my shitty chamber life. I have the option to move abroad, move at a senior position in-house and what not. I earn more than anyone at my age in my entire extended family and friend circle. I am no longer that kid who people mocked as 'tu court ke bahar table lagakar toh nahi baith jaega na ha ha ha', but that uncle to whom people bring their kids for counselling. I mean, mostly, fuckem for making my life difficult earlier, but the point in case being - chamber litigation is definitely not for middle class kids with no family member working in law or with some other heavy-duty connections.

Chambers are structured only to benefit the lawyer in question and none of his juniors, and no one else. It is a losing proposition from the get go and is inherently structured as an exploitative setup. When I started as a chamber junior, my boss had the gall to pay his driver more than he paid me as my first salary (my first salary was 12k). It felt so derogatory, it broke me. My girlfriend at the time refused to marry me till I increased my salary. Man, what a tough time in life that was. You are not alone brother, keep your head down and your chin up. If you have half a brain and the will to work super hard, screw your chamber, screw your boss, join a law firm. Any law firm. You will thank me later. Screw UPSC, screw MBA screw everything else. Law firms are exploding, in size and number, and there is limitless, and (mostly) meritocratic potential in being a law firm lawyer today. Our profession is getting increasingly corporatized, just like the economy. Have fun while you are at it. You are still young, it is not too late, and you are not the only one feeling these feelings. There are many of us in the same boat. I really do believe, that it is the darkest before dawn. Hang in there.

wow, what a journey you've had! Your hard work paid off. Congratulations...Getting into a decent law firm also is a task today... Any pointers? How did that work for you? I'm a first generation advocate too, with 2.5 years of PQE in civil and commercial litigation + commercial infrastructure arbitration. I am looking to switch now because current workplace both personally and professionally is toxic, absolute worst! Working for a dumb and lazy senior is disappointing! Would love to connect to discuss a few things...

Brother. I left law at 22, came back at 28, left again at 32, came back at 40 (academia). So you're still too young to worry. If you need to, leave and try something else. If you fail or get bored with the new work try something new. Law is always here to stay, if not litigation then Academia or research. Why stress ? Indians have a risk averse mentality, we are scared to move away from something that doesn't work just because of a sunken cost fallacy. Look abroad, people change careers every 5-6 years, like complete change. So don't sweat it. YOLO.

sad to +1 this i know this comment will get -ve but this is true in the same boat as now i reaching the marraigable age, nobody in my current pay-scale is accepting me (despite good bilt and looks).

luckly left the lit side joined papa ka galla ( bussiness)

best choice trust me

(i am from a decent T2- nlu good internships and even master from london but still i was not able to break 50k payscale.

Thank you. Im genuinely having panic attacks and anxiety, these days are tough. The only negative I see was I had almost 7 months gap after my masters which may have affected my prospects. I didn't put myself in this situation on purpose, I literally tried everywhere and ended up taking the 1st job I got :(