Judicial clerkship
The Supreme Court of India and several High Courts offer paid law clerkships to graduates from Indian law schools.
The Supreme Court pays its clerks a stipend of Rs 25,000, as of 2010.<ref>Legally India report on judicial clerkships</ref>
Application process
How do you apply to be a judicial clerk? Is there a formal process?
"The Registry of the Supreme Court of India invites applications in January each year for 'law clerk-cum research assistant' positions. The selected applicants are then allocated to work under the sitting judges of the Supreme Court."<ref>Wikipedia entry on judicial clerks in India</ref>
Structure
"Usually, one 'law clerk' is assigned to each judge for a year, though some justices are known to engage two or more law clerks at a time. The 'law clerks' usually begin their one-year service period in July each year, soon after the completion of the LL.B. degree, though there have been instances of 'law clerks' serving after having accumulated some work experience."<ref>Wikipedia entry on judicial clerks in India</ref>
For the 2010-11 session each judicial clerk at the Supreme Court was paid Rs 25,000 a month, which may be increased further in the next year. In 2009-2010 each law clerk at the Supreme Court of India was being paid Rs. 20,000 per month.
Short term Judicial Clerkships
"In addition to this, students from law colleges all over the country are given the opportunity to act as 'legal trainees' under Supreme Court judges during their vacation periods. The duration of which may range from four to six weeks.<ref>Wikipedia entry on judicial clerks in India</ref>
Generally these short term Clerkships are non-remunerated.
The general process for applying for these Clerkships is the application by the students of the Universities under the name of the University to the Registrar of the [Supreme Court|Supreme Court of India]. The Registrar of the Court scrutinizes the applications and communicate the Head of the law Institution regarding the same.
"The institution of law clerks is still a recent development in the context of the Indian judiciary. Anecdotal references indicate that some justices are hesitant to rely on 'law clerks' on account of concerns with confidentiality, especially in politically sensitive disputes. However, their services are heavily relied on to go through the written submissions in order to prepare for the preliminary hearings that are held to decide whether a case should be admitted for a regular hearing on merits. In recent years, the contributions of law clerks to research for judicial opinions has become increasingly evident on account of increasing references to foreign precedents and academic writings."<ref>Wikipedia entry on judicial clerks in India</ref>