Hi,

It’s a major drawback that you did not intern during your college. But don’t lose hope. You come across as a smart chap. Please understand that it is a tight job market out there right now, so getting a job may be difficult but not impossible. Mail your cover letter and resume to the firms, keep following up. Since you are a law graduate, doesn’t make sense to be an intern, apply for the post of an associate.

There are chances that firms may not revert. Try calling up in that case. It works. If you are hell bent on working with a corporate law firm and they do not take you as an associate, apply for internship only as a last recourse. Alternatively, you may join an Advocate and learn under his guidance. The pay may not be great but you will learn, at least you will start rather than sitting at home. Joining LPOs or KPOs may be an option and you may get through but I would not want to suggest that if you would want to become a lawyer. Visit Legal500.com, rsg-india.com and lawctopus.com to gain knowledge about law firms and whom to apply.

Regards,

PR

Hello PR,

Thank you very much for your kind concern and valuable advice. Now onwards, I’ll start mailing my cover letter and CV to law firms applying for an Associate position. Well, I would be appearing in the forthcoming All India Bar Examination (AIBE) exam to be held by July’12 (date yet to notify). So, in your opinion, is it better to apply to law firms after qualifying the AIBE and obtaining ‘Certificate of Practice’ to be issued by BCI as it is a mandatory qualification for fresh law graduates like me? Further, on applying to law firms if I happen to get a job initially before appearing in AIBE, then most probably I might face a problem to seek a leave early on (being a fresher) to come to Guwahati (my home town) to appear in the AIBE. I hope you would be able to comprehend by problem for the time being.

I would be hoping for a better solution for your end.

Sincere regards,

juniorattorney.

Hi JA,

All students who graduate this year can get enrolled with the Bar Council as Advocates, once University provides them with provisional pass certificate. Now these students who get placed in law firms start working right from May or June, because they are law graduates and are eligible to work as retainers in firms (without appearing for AIBE).

You can be an advocate when you are registered with the Bar Council. People in Corporate law firms need not even appear for AIBE as they do not have to do court related work, but it is advisable that all law grads should appear for AIBE in case they want to join litigation in future.

Understand what an AIBE does. It allows you to appear and plead in Court of Law. If you have not cleared the exam and haven’t received the ‘Certificate of Practice’, you cannot appear as an advocate in Court. Also keep in mind that a new guy is not allowed to plead in Court, the senior guy does. Therefore, till AIBE you will be doing practically everything including research, drafting, working on cases, witnessing Court proceedings etc. If you are in a Corporate firm, you don’t even have to bother about AIBE, just get enrolled as an Advocate. But AIBE is cakewalk, why not appear for it.

To cut short, don’t worry about AIBE as of now. The firm/advocate would grant you leave, you can fly down to Guwahati to take the exam. You can start working as an associate before AIBE. If you join litigation, you will start arguing only after clearing AIBE.

Lastly, If you join any company as in house counsel, being a law graduate would suffice.

Regards,

PR

Dear PR,

I am surprised to get your quick response. Now, I am quite clear that AIBE would not be a barrier for me to bag a position to work at law firms dealing with Corporate (M&A) matters. Well, considering my previous internship inexperience could you kindly name a few reputed law firms based in Delhi to which I can apply to get in the legal world? I mean amongst the gamut of law firms, list a few which are not only reputed but are more open to freshers like me. I am waiting eagerly to join a law firm by the start of July. Please never mind for my continuous queries as I am totally new and vague to law firm practice.

If you won’t mind, can I know what you do presently and where?

Yours sincerely,

juniorattorney

Hi JA,

Frankly, the legal market is very dried up right now. Getting a job at a reputed firm would be difficult as I mentioned before. I say this because scores of NLU graduates are finding it tough to get placed. But the thing is, you never know. It’s about being at the right place at right time.

Leading firms in Delhi would be AZB, Amarchand, Luthra & Luthra, JSA, Trilegl, Dua etc. Refer to the website I mentioned previously to know more about firms. Along with these leading firms, you should also target second tier firms in Delhi like Indus, Tatva, Zeus, Singhania & Partners, etc. Please keep in mind that if and when you are called for an interview, you would be grilled on corporate laws (since that’s your area of interest), so prepare well in advance. In case you are interested in M&A, read up more about it on nishithdesai.com- Research section.

Do not worry about questions, keep shooting, we all have gone through this. And since you asked, I work with a law firm in Bombay.

Cheers,

PR

Hello PR,

Taking into consideration the intense recruitment market today, I am afraid if I would be able to grab a job at a law firm. It is because I am from a non-elite law school background with mediocre academic credentials added with internship inexperience. I am already very late to discover the present situation of law firm jobs. Well, I am planning to enroll in the Company Secretaryship (CS) course at the earliest so as to have a more focussed approach towards Corporate Law. But with regard to M&A, I am totally vague. Is there any good distance learning course on M&A? If so, kindly name the course and its affiliating authority.

Further, I have already applied for Enrollment Certificate under the Bar Council of Assam and expecting to receive it by the end of June. So, in your view, is it advisable to apply to law firm jobs before obtaining the enrollment Certificate?

I’ll be waiting for your valuable replies/

Regards,

juniorattorney

Dear JA,

You don’t have to wait for enrollment certificate to apply to firms. Apply ASAP. Secondly, you can gain knowledge about M&A from internet. I am unaware if any decent college provides for such a course, although ASCL Pune does have a diploma course in M&A but that would not help much.

You learn about M&A only when you get into a firm which has such practice. The real learning is when you work with such a team. Frankly, just be good at what you have learnt till date. If you are good enough, the firm would surely hire you and then you can gain knowledge on PE, M&A, Capital Markets, depending on the team you join.

Regards,

PR

Hi PR,

As per your advice, I won’t wait to apply to law firms. Well, is it true that the recruiting authorities of law firms based in Delhi/Mumbai doesn’t hire a fresher enrolled under other State Bar Councils? I mean is it mandatory to enroll oneself under the Bar Councils of Delhi/Maharashtra in order to work in law firms based in Delhi/Mumbai?

Secondly, after applying to some firms (by mailing CVs & cover letters),is it mandatory to follow up with phone calls so as to get a feedback? If so, after how many days should one follow up after applying? Doesn’t law firms revert back to the jobseekers without any follow up? Could you tell me the entire process of hiring freshers by law firms?

Thirdly, could you tell me what should I write in the SUBJECT column of my cover letter? I mean should I directly write, ‘Application for an ASSOCIATE position in CORPORATE practice area of your firm’ or ‘Application for a position in any practice area of your firm’ as I don’t have any prior experience of corporate legal work to prove my interest?

Hoping to get your valuable response as always.

Best regards,

juniorattorney.

Hey,

You can get enrolled at any of the Bar Councils and work in law firms based out of Delhi or Bombay. Firms do revert to your mails, IT IS NOT MANDATORY TO CALL UP FIRMS; it’s more of a strategy when you don’t get a reply from the other side. Call up if you so desire, in cases where firms do not revert in 15-20 days and please ensure that by calling you don’t get on their nerves.

Firms hire either by campus recruitment or by giving PPOs to interns or by responding to the job application if it suits their requirement and is followed up by an interview.

Keep the cover letter specific and concise. “Application for the post of an Associate- Corporate” should suffice as the Subject. Again, visit lawctopus.com for information on how to write a decent cover letter and CV. All the best.

Regards,

PR

Hello PR,

Thank you for your consistent support to clear my doubts. Now, my next doubt is- In your opinion, which distance course viz. Company Secretaries course under ICSI or Master of Business Law under NLSIU, Bangalore is more beneficial for a fresh law graduate in terms of corporate job weightage and of course to gain indepth knowledge of Corporate Law?

I’ll be waiting for your reply as always…

Regards,

JA.

Guys, Im majorly lost to, just done with my final semester exams and have been applying for law firms in delhi since 6 months now but inspite of having good academic credentials, i dont get responses cause of the lack of internship expreiences.. its extremely disappointing

@ deepikan76,

I can understand your position being a fresher too. Further, I too couldn’t gain any prior internship experience due to lack of personal notions about the priority of internship experience post graduation. I too am starting to apply to law firms based in Delhi. Knowing your position, I am scared…

regards,

juniorattorney.

Heyy thank you so much for replying, I have a job in hand but I’m not keen on pursuing it cause it’s an lpo, as you are looking forward to working with corporate firms in Delhi,I have been keen on doing the same and have been applying but I just feel so helped with no results in my hand, my number is 9738531783. .maybe we should stay on touch. .so that we could help one another. . Some how to get thru

Hi JA,

CS and MBL are one of the most sought after courses for law students. It solely depends on your interest as to what do you want to go for. CS would require you to be good at law as well as accountancy and tax. If you can manage this, surely go for CS because I personally believe a CS carries much more weightage than MBL. Being an MBL would only give you a warm, fuzzy feeling and a sort of NLS tag on your CV but surely not as much worth as CS.

@Deepika- Don’t lose heart. Making it to mainstream law after joining an LPO would be a difficult task. Join a senior counsel or an advocate if you are not able to make it to a firm. Once you learn the Court work/Litigation, it will surely boost your career as a lawyer.

Cheers folks,

PR

hey im a fresher too and i think lpo isnt a place to work coz h e work thr is monotonous ,i just gt a job in a litigatn firm but m not happy with the pay …looking for a different job now…

hi,

did you get job in law firm

how is your experience in law firm

how did you get the job in mumbai law firm

how was your interview for that law firm what did they ask

what was your preparation to get selected in that law firm

what was your nature of job their

what is your advise on how to get selected atleast as an intern in law firm do you know any law firm in bangalore

please advise on the basic skill set necessary to join as a intern as fresher in law firm

awaiting your kind advise

Regards,

Need some help.

I appeared for my final yr LL.B in 2009 through Mumbai University & enrolled with the Bar Council in 2010. I have been working in an Advocate’s office as a Junior since 2009 till present. I have applied in several well known law firms but there’s been no revertal! I’m quite desperate to work in a known firm as the salaries that they offer from what i’ve read in LegallyIndia & Bar&Bench is very tempting and i’m interested to try my hand in Corporate law & other fields of law.What should i do?

I keep reading that one needs contacts to get a law firm job, i guess that’s true looking at my experience.

And can someone mention the salaries that are offered to Associate’s in Mumbai firms in the past 2 yrs???? Also do law firms hire people who have worked as a Junior Advocate or they only chase the ones from the top National law schools??

Dear DBS,

Congrats on passing your Law and enrolling with the BCI. Yes, having contacts does help, but the inverse isn’t true viz., that by not having contacts you will not be able to find a job at a reputed law firm. If you scroll up, you will find that PR (in response to Juniorattorney’s queries) has given excellent insights on how to go about short-listing firms, amongst other advices.Do go through the websites mentioned for information on salaries:legallyindia, lawctopus, rsg-india.com. Do remember, it is most important to know which partner you would work under: an average law firm may have an excellent partner/senior and that would hold you in good stead as opposed to an extremely reputed law firm with a not so active partner or under whom your exposure is limited to a single branch of law. The focus must be on receiving a good exposure (say in Corporate Law, if that is your interest), the salary will follow sooner than later.

Lastly, law firms do have campus recruitment and they do the hiring from there as well, therefore as regards your question as to whether they will hire junior Advocates, the answer is yes they will, but obviously it will depend on a case to case basis.

Regards,

TR

Thanks TR for the encouraging words. The hunt is on! I do go thru the websites which you have mentioned & they are a big boon.

Hi DBS,

Well I know many people who are in the same situation as yours. Since you are a junior, I would want to believe that you do more than just appearing for adjournments on your senior’s behalf. It does not matter if you are not from a NLU, what matters is that you should be good at research and drafting. There are opportunities everywhere, you just need to be proactive.

Being a junior does not pay well so rightly many people opt for corporate or in house jobs. Since you are a litigation lawyer, it would be difficult for you to land up at a Corporate law firm but you can still get into a firm with litigation practice and they would pay you more than what you get now.

Contacts, yes they do help but not necessarily. Just have an active resume on job sites and I am sure there will be opportunities in companies. Don’t give up. I will tell you an amazing story about a friend. He started working for an LPO. After a year, he resigned out of frustration and wanted to move to a law firm. No firm offered him a job. He joined an advocate as his junior for a stipend of 5000 bucks a month, worked for 8 months and finally got a call to work with one the leading MNC in their legal department (of course, he was brilliant at the interview). He had the potential and knowledge, Point is, if you are good, sooner or later you will get what you deserve. Keep trying.

Regards,

PR

I have got job in a law firm they are providing me average pay scale. I am unable to decide whether should i join that or not as i am fresher and only have one internship experience of 2 months with Birla group. i have passed my law this year and am product of University of Allahabad.The law firm where i am getting opportunity to join has a staff of 20 advocates and it deals mainly with criminal cases but provide solution in several areas. I am very much confused that what should i do should i join that firm or should i try for another.

Hey Guys,

I just couldn’t help but read the entire thread. In spite the fact that i have quite a few number of internships (more than six) and couple of Diplomas and several moot courts, I still haven’t received a decent Job reply. I’m not from NLS’s is that the reason? I’m due to finish my degree in May, and I really want to get in some decent firm so that I don’t end up wasting my time. I’m hell bent to learn. Its frustatinggg!!

Hey,

I am a law graduate from Patna law college, in 2008. Due to sum reasons worked as an administrator, but now want to do something in corporate law area. Currently I am in bangalore and want to join a law firm. Is there any hope in it… What should I know for the interview… Pls help me out..

I finally did manage to get a law firm job with an ok salary, offcourse not in the Big 4 Firms!

Contacts do help!

Congratulations! How did you manage?

Most congratulations.

Work hard and produce best results.

Well, there was a vacancy.

Got to know from a Senior Counsel that there was a vacancy.

Set up a meeting with the Senior Partner thanks to the Senior Counsel.

Voila :)

Hi,

My Story is a different one. I had joined a reputed law school in the year 2009 in pune. But due to some unavoidable reasons I had a number of back papers. But i managed to pull out 10 internships in several reputed law firms. I was supposed to graduate in the year 2014, but sadly it took me two years to get my degree and thus i became a graduate in 2016. Can you suggest me whether those law firms in which i interned, will ever give me an opportunity to sit for the law firm interviews let alone hire me ? My Cgpa at the end of two years remains decent though. Need urgent help!