Law as Education & Career

What is Law?
Legal profession is one of the growing and lucrative professions all over the world. It is one of the most adventurous as well as exciting career. Lawyers are held in high esteem in our society, and there remains the faith that when all else fails, one can still take recourse to the legal system. In our daily life in one way or other we may come across situations where legal advice is required. In such situation we need the advice of legal professionals who analyse and interpret law properly.

Lawyers counsel clients about their legal rights and suggest course of action in a particular matter. They also advise clients and draw up legal documents, such as wills and contracts and conduct negotiations on legal matters, and may represent clients in court and tribunal proceedings.

Academic excellence is not the main thing behind the success in this profession. Professional competence acquired through experience and practice with efficient lawyers is the main yardstick of success.

There are various areas of specialisation in this field which one can choose from like corporation law, civil law, criminal law, international law, labour law, patent law, tax law and so on.

There are number of institutions and universities conducting courses in law. The most premier among law universities in India is National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bangalore. Admission to NLSIU is through an All India Admission Test held usually on first Sunday in May. University College Bangalore, Government College Mumbai, ILS Law College and Symbiosis College, Pune and Faculty of Law of Delhi University, Aligarh Muslim University etc are some of the other leading legal Institutions in India.


What personality traits suit Law?
Success in Law, like a lot of other professional courses is not based on marks one obtains in the exam, but it is very much related to personal attributes along with subject matter knowledge and critical thinking abilities. Along with good oral and written communication skills and logical reasoning, one must also posses other traits like power of concentration, patience, good memory to relate and quote past cases to prove your point, ability to argue and discuss matters with a variety of people, self confidence, courage to deal with threats especially in criminal cases etc. Also being current is an important requirement in law and one can never stop learning and need to have up-to-date information on any changes in law. A good personal library, which one builds over the course of one’s academic life and career and a fair amount of reading are also important.


Skills absolutely vital for a successful lawyer

-    Cultivating the art of ‘intelligent’ listening
-    Sifting the grain from the chaff,
-    Counseling,
-    Negotiating and writing/drafting are
-    Reputation is what clients go by in the legal profession and that has to be earned.


What is the Job Like?
So far the usual image we have of lawyers in India is that of an individual advocate practicing his profession from small home offices and crowded cubicles and rooms called “chambers” attached to various courts. On the advocate’s desk are piles of files tied up with strings; in the courts themselves there is much pushing, shoving and crowding. The one-man legal practitioner combines court appearances in the day with client meetings and legal drafting in the evenings.

Well, the big emerging trend in law is the move away from solo legal practice to well-organized law firms comprising several or even several dozen legal eagles working together as one entity, offering a full range of legal expertise. While the number of law firms is still relatively small – and the solo legal practitioner is not about to disappear anytime soon – the trend towards law firms is unmistakable. And for those seeking careers in corporate law, it might be a good idea to look at law firms because corporate clients are more likely to deal with legal firms rather than individual lawyers. Corporations simply feel more comfortable dealing with other companies.

In case you choose to set up your own practice, you’ll first need to learn the ropes under a senior advocate (which was the old practice) or in a law firm.

Generally students first choose from 2 basic options:
1. To practice in courts (Advocacy)
2. To work in a firm (Legal work)

Once they have made this decision, they need to select which stream of law interests them the most.The actual content and work hours depend on the type of legal jobs that one gets into. Private practice lawyers usually work for long and irregular hours. Their tasks include

-    Meeting clients
-    Drafting contracts and agreements or preparing briefs (particularly when their cases are being tried in court)
-    Reading and  researching about new developments

He/She can do this work in a law firm, or even in the legal department of a multinational organization. Depending on the firm or company, salaries can be very high. On the other hand, those in the Judicial Service or those in corporate sector tend to have saner and more structured work schedules.