Eleven out of 171 candidates - or 6 per cent - passed April's examination of the Bombay Incorporate Law Society to become Bombay solicitors, as none of the 30-odd first-time test takers managed to clear the exam. Read on to download and try your hand at the most recent test paper.
Out of a total of 171 candidates only 11 have passed, which is approximately the same ratio as in October 2009 when 11 out of 186 candidates passed. In the same exam exactly one year ago 11 per cent or 14 out of 129 test-takers passed.
A total of at least 30 first-time solicitors exam candidates appeared between 19 and 30 April 2010, of whom none passed. Results were announced last week.
The top mark was 373 marks out of 600 maximum points, with the other 10 passing grades scattered between the pass-mark of 360 and 369.
Bombay Incorporated Law Society secretary and examiner-in charge Dawood Mandviwala said that the performance this year was not very good. "Mostly people are going for corporate work but they are not very good in practice and procedure and litigation."
"And hardly 5 to 10 per cent of people want to do taxation work - they lack in taxation," he added, explaining that the maximum number of people had failed the taxation section of the exam for which a basic knowledge of taxation was required.
All papers contain a mix of theoretical and practical questions, such as how to deal with clients.
Sitting the solicitors exam requires taking an articled clerkship of three years under a law firm solicitor who has been qualified for at least five years.
Could you pass the Bombay solicitors test?
Sample question corporate: "Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act 1956. What remedy is available to an investor in respect of an order passed by a recognised stock exchange for delisting of securities in a recognised stock exchange?"Conveyancing: "Distinguish between the following (any three):
(a) Sale and Assignment
(b) Lease and License
(c) Probate and Letters of Administration
(d) Part performance and Specific performance"
Click here to download complete paper 1 (practice and procedure), paper 2 (corporate laws) and paper 3 (conveyancing).
Sample question tax: "What does the expression "charitable purpose" mean under the [Income Tax] Act [1961]? Discuss briefly the provisions regarding income of a charitable trust with special reference to accumulation of income."
Tax: "Discuss the provisions relating to taxation of Limited Liability Partnership."
Commercial laws: "Describe 'Sound Mind' and 'Free Consent' for the purpose of
contracting? Discuss in detail all five elements affecting free consent."
Click here to download complete paper 4 (taxation), paper 5 (commercial laws) and paper 6 (general acts).
Each paper carries 100 marks with a time limit of three hours.
If there is interest we will aim to publish model answers also in due course.
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Times have changed, Pops. Here's what's been happening since you graduated: NLSIU, NALSAR, NUJS, NLU Bhopal no longer have separate entrance examinations. They organise a joint entrance exam called the CLAT. The term NLU is used to denote the 6-7 law schools which conduct the CLAT. You're right, it is an Ivy league of sorts. Ironically, the NLUs are actually starting to lose their "national" character. Politicians have forced NLSIU, NALSAR, and NLU Bhopal to implement reservation for locals and I guess NUJS will follow suit. As it is, the SC/OBC people in the NLUs are usually locals.
Anyway....the point is that the Bombay Solicitors are stuck in a time warp. Today, students aspire to get into NLUs and join AMSS, AZB etc. I can't see many people giving the Solicitors exam continuing ten years from now, especially if they fail everybody like this. Moreover these senior lawyers in Bombay treat juniors like crap.
Oh any by the way, before you start questionning my motives, I am an NLU Jodhpur grad of 2007. Hats off to the people who clear this exam, you need a lot of substance to pass it.
#5, its NLIU Bhopal, and not NLU Bhopal. And to the best of my knowledge, NLS doesn't have a reservation for Karnataka people. Just to set the facts straight. And please do not generalise about "senior lawyers" in the fashion that you are doing. One sour incident here or there means nothing. And one more thing, why don't you check with the big law firms re solicitors - to my knowledge, whenever the results are out, most Bombay firms (including the big ones) approach the people who clear the exams with job offers. So I doubt if this exam is anywhere even near the kind of tag you're trying to put on it.
Sameer
Ur comment has given me loads of hope and confidence. I have been exposed to 'basic' corporate laws for past 4 years. Planning to take up this exam soon. Don care about the job offers which mite come.. but alteast to test my level of understanding and to assess my standing I will certainly take up this exam! I hope I could locate all the past papers of the referred exam.. Down south, very few know any thing abt it.
Thanks Legally India :)
All the best!
Komal
Your post clearly shows that neither you, nor your keyboard, has any idea about what you are typing.
The reason why most of us from National Law Schools do not appear for the Sols is because it has an articleship time requirement, and if you see the paper, then you realise that you need leave to give the exam, which people might not be prepared to take from their hectic work schedules.
An of course, the prestige associated with the exam. There is utility and novelty associated with clearing the exam. And that's the reason why the exam survives.
Comprende?
@11:
you're wrong about the UK thing. advocates and solicitors are treated alike. and the reason ppl from NLUs don't appear is not just bcoz of the articleship requirement but also bcoz the salaries are not worth it. there is very little "utility" gained from giving the exam. as for "novelty", if a person gives an exam for novelty then he/she is an [...]
Especially if you are from a law school where graduation by itself has less value, then the solicitors qualification is a nice feather to your cap. And anyone who can pass the exam, which is a hell of a lot harder and wider than any national law school exams, should be proud and should deserve a good job.
It may be an old colonial hangover, as you say, and you could get more money going straight into corporate law but as a discipline to learn the law and be mentored by a senior for three years it is still second to none.
The only reason it has become less relevant is because top corporate law firms already offer mega bucks to a minority of graduates, solicitor or no.
And many non solicitors firms pay less money even to graduates than solicitors firms pay to clerks.
Is a shame.
This exam cannot compare to a dedicated 5 year programme. However, credit is still due to people who manage to read up so much and clear the exam. All new law schools follow a completely different model of teaching and evaluation which is, in my opinion, more valauble than the kind of paper set up by BILS. 5 year law school curriculum is closer to teaching system in US/UK. BILS is more like the old school system.
Still no one can say who will or will not become a good corporate lawyer in the end. It all depends on the ability of the person to use the skills (whether developed through law schools) or otherwise picked up during articleship.
I went through the entire discussion and the views put forth by my fellow lawyers or lawyers to be. I understand that the discussion revolves around a. The low percentage of result of Sols exams, b. Where does this exem take an individual in terms of money and job prospects(I am sure no body questions the knowledge the exam has to offer), and c. This exam seems to be compared with the National Law Schools.
I think the kind of curriculum and training a National Law School student gets is commendable. So is the quality of Solicitors who have passed from BILS. (Note: For those who are not aware, Bombay Bar is ruled by these Solicitors. No offence to Counsels. And many of your SC big-wigs are Solicitors). Further, being a Solicitor is not just preparing for 8-9 months for the exam, but your training starts from the time you start your Articled Clerkship, which is for 3 years. It may not be advertised as a National Law School is, but a Solicitor having a standing of 5-10 years is a University in himself. (I hope my friends will not cite exeptions as a reply to this. I am sure they accept that all the students passing out of National Law School are not that great.)"Solicitor" is not a degree or a tag, but a life style. The clerkship period and the exam has lot to offer, but no one can help if you do not have the intent to take it (this is specially for @ 1).
Further, only Mumbai today has the Big Firm practice existing for years, credit goes to the Solicitors. No other city or state has managed that. I appreciate that now there are firms which are coming up or have set thier foot in in other cities. And my NLS friends who aspire to work for big money for the big firms in MUMBAI, my friends 95% of these firms were set-up and are managed by SOLICITORS. All the NLS pass outs currently working with MUMBAI LAW FIRMS are feeding off the knowledge and the training that the thier seniors (SOLICITORS) have to offer. DO not lose site of this.
My National Law School friends should and will appreciate that BILS is not a factory where corporate lawyers are manufactured. Secondly it is not the sole aim of an aspiring Solicitor to ensure that he/she is paid hefty amounts. A solicitor looks for much more than just the money. I am sorry but all i hear from NLS students is that they intend to join corporates. No body wants to take on the gestation period which a litigating lawyer faces. I agree that a Sols exam is not a short cut to huge money. My friends we are lawyers at the end of the day, whether from a NLS or a Solicitor.
As far as the Ivy league - discussions, Mr. National Law School, i appreciate your efforts to create this - NLS invincible image - but nobody cares a damn for it. We have seen NLS pass outs work, they have nothing phenominal. The ones who r good, do not comment or hold the views which you hold (@ 1).
I am not saying that a NLS is useless or a BILS Sols is the only way to train your self. Choose your options and do not make un-warranted statments just because you have free time and a key board to thrust. BILS has contirbuted to the BOMBAY BAR to a great extend and consequently to the SC BAr. Let us not lose site of this.
@1 i would appreciate if you will maintian the decency even when you sound your opinions in public anonymously. It seems u cum from a NSL, doesnt reflect well on the image of NAtional Law Schools. Inculcate that in you. I c it will take some effort. I generally dont like to make personal comments, but u really need one.
Cheers
A lot of my peers who studies a lot harder than me did not pass, so I'm not sure what to say about deserving candidates passing - I supposed that is the examiners' prerogative. But I do feel that these results are controlled to not allow many candidates to pass.
Also, to sign my articles, I had to work with one of the colonial hangover firms that #10 referred to. And yes, I worked at a payscale much lesser than what i should have been paid because I was a "student", never mind that I was also a qualified lawyer. But, I suppose that is the price one has to pay for the training, which was undoubtedly excellent. But at the end of the day, I now work with one of top corporate law firms in Bombay and I do wonder if it was all worth it..
I really dont understand this farce about NLS Grads..I guess they are just a bunch of oversmart legal executives who think they have the authority to give their unwarranted remaks/comments on solicitors exams rather then apprecaite the fact that there have been people who have worked hard for it and have been sucsessful in clearing them..
It may be a colonial hangover and corporate side may definitely offer more money but I think one must make an attempt to appear for this exams since it gives you a thorough knowledge/insight about the law which is required in order to be a fine lawyer..so lets not loose site of that...
I think this NLS Gang are unfortunately interested only in making cheap/fast money and have no consideration to the fact that they are surviving in Bombay only because of the big law firms culture/practice which were set up by these solicitors themselves..just by being a small negligible part of a corporate firm my NLS Friends think that they have made it big and have the audicity to pass such unwanted comments..
Clearly, you envy us. It's okay, you know. We're used to this. But to call us "a bunch of oversmart legal executives" only goes on to show that you aren't smart enough to know what it takes to be, and remain, a smart person who has an inclination to being successful in life. But that's a given, wasn't it? I mean, if you were actually that smart, you would have made it to NLS after all. Now, please don't give me the "I don't care where I pass out" crap. Be brave enough to admit the fact that we regularly outshine the rest of the competition(this does not imply that students from other universities are bad; its just that we are better).
And about making quick money, well, quite a few among us don't have a choice, for god's sake! A couple of my seniors come from Below Poverty Line and had it not been for the scholarships/merit funding offered at NLS, they wouldn't have even continued with their studies. I hope you're at least aware of the fact that a corporate job ensures quicker and better pay, at least in the short run, so that it helps them repay their loans/offer a better lifestyle to their families. And if you still think it's necessary that the poor chap should aim for reaching the pinnacles of litigation, seriously, go work in an NGO.
It's okay. Happens to everyone. After all, you're human too, and are prone to mistakes as much as anyone elsee. I am sure you will learn from your mistakes and stop posting your silly and stupid thoughts on a forum like this.
1. No. Tuition or guidance.
2. Difficult to get article ship.
3. Exploitation from the solicitors regarding salary.
4. Even no suggestion to refer the good books.
5. No. Lectures
And many more which can be said in e mail. Please be in favour of students. Help students who are in article ship. They may be the future of your society
HOW MUCH EXPERIANCE AFTER LLB
Consequently, I am amazed at the consistent arrogance (with a few honourable exceptions) displayed by students or recent graduates of the National Law Schools. Yes you scored well in the CLAT or whatever. Yes you are being provided (I hope) with the best legal education in the country heavily subsidised by people like me - i.e. the taxpayer. However, that does not give you the right to strut around and as though you are some superior beings descended from the heavens so lesser mortals can bask in whatever glow you generate. Perhaps your Law Schools should also conduct some classes in manners, because that is something that is evidently lacking in your make up.
All this "we are the best and the rest are s**t" ranting is a sign of some deep seated insecurity. If you guys are really the best as you claim, your work will demonstrate that. There is no need for you to go tom tomming your excellence on every thread.
Now if only the new Bar Exam were half as difficult as the Solicitors exam then we would really see how good the education provided by the "top" law schools really is.
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