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What everyone must know before studying law: Rhishikesh Dave, founding dean of Marwadi University’s Faculty of Law explains

Campus facilities are established to match Global Standards of Education and currently offer two 5-year integrated honours programs in law
Campus facilities are established to match Global Standards of Education and currently offer two 5-year integrated honours programs in law

Established in 2016 by the Marwadi Education Foundation through the Gujarat Private Universities Act 9, 2016, Marwadi University is a private university located in Rajkot, Gujarat, offering several different courses with a world class infrastructure, having a rich pedigree of faculty and focusing on the holistic development of students also providing them great placement opportunities.

Their vision and mission is to address the challenges, through education that builds capacity of students and empowers them through their innovative thinking, practice and character building, and providing them a conducive environment that will enable students to experience a higher level of learning acquired through constant immersion leading to the development of character, virtues, values & technical skills.

Legally India asked the Founding Dean of Marwadi University - Faculty of Law, Dr Rhishikesh Dave, a few questions about studying law and what makes studying in MU- FoL special for the aspiring law students.

What are the top pieces of advice you wish you could give to every Law student?

Once a student has decided to make law as his/her profession after their 12th standard and decided to join the 5 years law program, it becomes very important for the student to pursue their studies very seriously and be determined to pursue law as their profession. When studying law, one must ensure that they understand the basics of each subject because the interpretations and the application may change but the basic concepts remain the same. If the basics are strong it will be very easy for the students to understand and interpret any law.

Last thing I would like to advise is to focus on internships. Theoretical knowledge will be provided in the classrooms but practical knowledge will be gained only through internships. At the same time you will develop contacts of professionals which will be useful in your placements.

What are the pros and cons of studying Law?

The most important thing one gains by studying law is the awareness of their rights and knowledge of law which is very necessary to have in today’s time. Law affects us before our birth till not just our death but even after death and therefore legal knowledge will always remain important for an individual throughout his life.

The world is shrinking in because of more and more interactions among the people all around the world which would also mean more disputes eventually and therefore need of professionals who are specialised in resolving such matters, i.e. lawyers will increase.

In short, the advantage of opting for the legal profession is that it would not just make you successful in life but also develop you into an individual who is aware of his rights.

Dr Rhishikesh Dave explains the first steps in law
Dr Rhishikesh Dave explains the first steps in law

Do you have any advice on how to choose where to study law?

A law degree is not enough in the current market for someone to enter into a successful career in the legal profession. Students must stand out from the other graduates which would require proper planning and hardworking legal skills.

Those who are aspiring to enter law school must consider a crucial question: “Which law school should I attend to obtain the right training and knowledge to be a successful legal professional?”

It is a difficult and crucial choice that must be diligently researched by the potential student. An incorrect choice of a law school that does not match the particular student’s needs and desires could result in waste of five foundational years of a student’s educational life and not prepare the student competently for the particular legal career he or she may desire.

While a school’s reputation and ranking certainly should represent important aspects of the decision making process, especially when looking at the current job market, ranking and reputation can be deceiving and should not be the only factors to consider.

The first import factor to consider is the law school program structure -

  • What will the law school teach during the five year educational journey?

  • The Bar Council of India has prescribed certain compulsory subjects that must be taught, but what are the other subjects that are prescribed, and will those subjects make the student a better professional?

  • Are they relevant? Will they enhance the student’s practical skills?

  • Will they teach professional skills and subjects that are new and emerging areas of law?

  • What is the number of credits attached to each subject?

  • Does the law school provide internships?

  • What is the importance given to internships?

The design of the program structure is very vital when it comes to preparing students for the legal profession. The program structure should be such that it prepares the student for the legal profession on graduation day. The mere fact that a law school provides a large curriculum of subjects or subjects that are a novelty does not necessarily make for an ideal program structure. The program structure must be diligently researched and vetted to determine if that program is a good fit for that student.

The second most important factor to take into consideration is the faculty strength. It is very important for the potential student to thoroughly research the profile of faculty members, read about the faculty and their collective and individual experience, and review each faculty member’s qualifications.

It is also necessary to know about the person in charge of the law school, whether it’s a Dean, Principal, Director or whatever nomenclature that is used. What experience he/she has to lead the law school, what vision he/she has to develop academics and over all prestige of law school. After all, a good educational institution is made by the people who work there and not by the infrastructure.

The third factor to consider is the importance given to research at the law school. For a legal professional, research plays a very important role and students must be trained to do research by means of projects and also publication of articles. Research abilities play a very important role in the making of a good legal professional. Co-curricular and extra-curricular activities also play a very important role in developing an over-all personality of the student. It is necessary as a law student to participate in and organize activities. Such things as Moot Court, Debates, MUN’s, play a very important role in developing the law student into a better legal professional, and organizing such events develops leadership skills in an individual. Therefore, it is necessary to inquire if such activities are conducted and due importance is given to participation in such activities in a law school.

The fourth factor to consider is the Library within the law school. The library is the laboratory for a law school and the quality of the law school library can speak volumes about the overall quality of a law school. It is very important to check the resources available at a law school such as: online database, journals, and reference books. Students should spend lot of time in the library reading books not just that are pertaining to their syllabus but also other books like biographies of great personalities and lawyers, current affairs, research articles, journals, and the like, as those resources provide a different perspective when it comes to being successful in the legal profession.

Before deciding on any law school, it is advisable to visit the campus, to speak to the students, their parents, faculty members and the Dean of the law school to get a an overall holistic view of the law school as websites may be misleading and may not provide complete and accurate information to the student.

Tell us a little more about Marwadi University - Faculty of Law. What makes it a great place for students to join?

We at Marwadi University emphasise on outcome-based legal education so as to ensure each student gets individual attention and flourishes in the field where he/she has potential of growth.

Practical training will be provided in live clinics based on current clinical legal education models employing moot courts, mock trials, client-consulting exercises, negotiation simulations and alternate dispute resolution workshops. These are tailor-made to inculcate professionally relevant skill-set in students from day one.

The emphasis will be to enhance practical learning and application through weekly expert lectures, enrichment courses like critical thinking, legal writing, professional training and extensive use of legal aid clinic in association with State Legal Service Authority. Compulsory credit based eight Internship Programs are spread across five years designed to bridge the classroom-courtroom divide. In order to provide a distinctive edge to our students, we equip them with knowledge of emerging areas of legal practice like Air and Space Law, Maritime Law, Sports Law, Cyber Law, Health Law, Energy Law, Water Law, Food Law, Law of War, Infrastructure Law etc.

We have already entered into academic collaboration with IIT Chicago – Kent College of Law and in process of entering into more such MOU’s with foreign universities so that student gets knowledge of various legal systems around the world.

What are the programmes/ courses offered by Marwadi University - Faculty of Law?

We are presently offering two streams of 5-years integrated honours programs i.e., B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) and B.Com., LL.B. (Hons.).

What career opportunities does a law degree at MU offer to students? (i.e., career counselling, placement cells and services, assistance with internships, etc?)

We envisage to train our students for being industry ready at the time of his passing out so that multifarious career options available for a young law graduate including a career in a law firm, corporate, litigation or in government open up before him. Our curriculum includes compulsory credit based 8 Internship Programs spread across five years.

We assist the students with placement internship in the fifth year where the student will intern at the place where he/she is likely to get the placement. Moreover MU has established a separate division of Learning and Development which works on various aspects of overall development of a student such as personality development, language and communication skills, interview techniques, soft skills and grooming etc. so as to ensure student gets good placement.

This dedicated parallel soft-skill development programme is designed to supplement the regular curriculum and acts as a finishing school, which markedly improves the employability of pass-outs.

We also train our students to be self-employers. The Entrepreneurship Cell at MEFGI, popularly known as E-Cell, MEFGI, is an initiative of our highly motivated students and faculties who takes a deep interest in an entrepreneurial activity. The vision of the cell is to induce the entrepreneurship spirit among students and make them excited to start their own venture/enterprise including new arenas of law and legal practice.

Admission for Marwadi University’s 2018-19 LLB programmes are currently open. Click here to find out more or email the dean Dr Rhishikesh Dave at

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