Super Lawyer

Category: Interviews

  • Sneha Ashtikar a GLC Grad on LL.M from Sciences Po, Paris and internship at Gide Loyrette Nouel, Paris

    Sneha Ashtikar a GLC Grad on LL.M from Sciences Po, Paris and internship at Gide Loyrette Nouel, Paris

    sneha

    Sneha talks about the unparalleled flexibility available at GLC with regard to pursuing internships. She explains how her knowledge of the French language coupled with the ease of obtaining a French scholarship and lower living costs makes higher studies in France an attractive option. She clarifies on the application procedure and common misconceptions about the contents of an LLM degree in France.

     

    Tell us something about yourself.

    My name is Sneha and I am pursuing my Master’s degree in Law from Paris Institute of Political Studies (Sciences-Po) in Paris. Previously, I studied law in Government Law College in Mumbai. Currently, I am on a gap year to gain practical work experience as an Intern in Gide Loyrette Nouel, Paris.

     

    Though it’s one of the most cliché question, but yet, why law?

    Let me give you a candid answer to that question. Since school, my interest in languages motivated me to participate in essay competitions, elocutions and most importantly – debates. Math and sciences were never my strong subjects. Hence, narrowing down my career choices was easier. My love of languages and debates naturally drew my interest towards law and here I am.

     

    What about your LLB years? What did you guys do for fun? 

    I started studying in GLC in 2007, I must say I had lot of fun; I met some of my best friends there. For fun, we participated in lot of different college committees, moot courts, Model United Nations conferences, etc.  We represented GLC in Harvard Model United Nations in Boston and that trip was the most memorable!

     

    GLC is located in sort of hub of all the law firms giving students ample opportunity to do running internship, yet a lot of people complain about irregular classes and infrastructure. What do you think are pros and cons of GLC?

    GLC has consistently produced excellent legal talent in the country. No other institution can claim to have such an impressive number of outstanding lawyers. Recently, in light of the development of legal education in past few years, students require an all-round CV to get past a challenging interview process at the law firms or to be able to cope with the competition at the bar.

    GLC curriculum is unique in this respect and provides for an all round development of a lawyer. Students typically intern for 4-5 years almost on a full times bases prior to graduation. This is a huge advantage for GLC students as opposed to students from other law schools in the country wherein students do limited internships during the 5-year programme. Additionally, the moots, other extra-curricular activities and the freedom that GLC provides to its students is incomparable to other institutions.

    That said, one major complaint that students have at GLC is its lack of infrastructure and resources. Relatively speaking, Shortage of good faculty is another concern at GLC. At the same time, it is also remarkable to see that we have students from other colleges coming to attend Professor Pithawalla’s lectures. I think GLC’s rich library is also one of the impressive assets to mention, our library has the original copy of the Indian Penal Code drafted by Lord Macaulay in the year 1886 and also many rare books, which cannot be found in any other library in India. GLC’s physical location is on one hand a huge advantage to its students while on the other hand there is no space to expand in the most sought after area of Churchgate, Mumbai.

     

    What made you go for higher studies so early in your career?

    Initially, my plan was to stay and gain experience for a few years, however, one of the deal breakers was to get admitted to a good law school and I managed to do it along with a scholarship. So, here I am, studying in Paris.

     

    Paris is a dream to-go-to place for many people and you happen to be studying there. How does it feel like?

    It feels amazing! I always dreamed of visiting Paris but I must say I never thought that I would end up studying here and walking by the Eiffel and the Louvre every day. Paris is undoubtedly one of the best international cities and it has so much to offer you on many different levels. On each and every corner of Paris, there is a special monument with a remarkable history attached to it. I feel privileged to be able to live in Paris and at the same time I have the advantage of visiting neighboring European countries any time I want as everything is within two hours by flight!

     

    Why did you choose to study in Paris?

    I chose Paris for my love of the language French. I started learning French at Alliance Française de Bombay when I was in the first year of GLC. French is such an elegant language and you start feeling glamorous even while learning it.  I had several opportunities to meet eminent French personalities, participate in activities related to France or their language, I remember we had a treasure hunt competition in South Bombay in which all clues given to us were in French!

    So basically, I fell in love with the language first and then I decided to even take my main career along with me to France.

     

    How did Sciences Po Paris happen? What other colleges did you apply for?

    I was contemplating between doing a JD in the US or something as different as Sciences-Po Paris. In my final year, I studied to give the LSAT, by the end of the application process; I was comparing my career options between doing a JD against a Master’s degree from Sciences-Po. Sciences-Po definitely sounded like an out of the box kind of an idea and at the same time, it also carries a strong reputation of famous schools alike such as Harvard or Oxford University. It has traditionally educated France’s political and diplomatic elites including the current President Mr. Hollande. I was completely amused by the idea of studying at an institution that carries a strong worldwide reputation for specializing in social sciences.

     

    Did you get any scholarship to study there?

    Yes, I was given the French Government’s scholarship. The French government is very welcoming of its foreign students and there are many institutional scholarships as well as one other government scholarship that gives priority to law students.

     

    How long is the LLM course over there? How is it different from LLM in popular countries such as US and UK?

    It is a crisscross two year program between LLB and LLM, it is called ‘Master in Economic Law’ with a specialization of your choice in second year. It enables you to study more subjects than in LLM offered in other countries and you can still pursue a specialization, which is normally offered by an LLM course. So I think it is a fantastic course and also fits the expectations of law graduates coming from India. You also have an opportunity of participating in famous moot court competitions such as Willem C. Vis and Jessup. Sciences-Po has an excellent faculty of full time professors as well as a prominent visiting faculty including professors from foreign law schools, several partners, and lawyers from international law firms and so on. At this point, I would also like to mention that all classes are offered English and based on Common law in comparison with the basics of French/Civil law. A common perception is that I am studying only civil law of France which is not too useful for common-law lawyers but I hope this clears the cloud. I personally find it extremely useful to get to know the basics of this civil law system, especially when Indian law firms are starting to have many European clients.  You can also take an year off from the school and pursue two internships over the period of ten months or apply for exchange programs to law schools including NYU, Harvard University to study one semester there and then pursue one internship of five months. Even if you decide not to take the year off, during your second year, there is Columbia law school exchange program in which, you spend a semester at Columbia and return to Paris to finish the last semester. This course also makes you eligible to pass the French bar exam which is in French (if you work hard on your French, you can take it!)

     

    Would you tell our readers about the application procedure and other requirements?

    I would suggest sending in the application on day 1 of starting date. Sciences Po doesn’t have a particular early decision system like American law schools but since it is rolling application process, earlier the better. No prior knowledge of French language is expected from the applicant student, which is very comforting to those who do not speak French at all. You can start learning the language with your law classes. I had many students in my class who did not speak French at all so it is common.

    Of course, knowing French language can prove useful because you live in a francophone country so for day to day life it is easier if you speak French but I also know of many people who get by without speaking any French. It really is up to the person if he/she wants to embrace a new language. I remember how thankful I was to be able to speak French when I called a French plumber and explained him the leakage problem in my apartment! If you love challenges, this course and this place are for you!

    Most importantly this course isn’t as expensive as the LLM in US or UK. In fact, the tuition fee of an LLM in the US or the UK is equivalent to 2 years of fees and cost of living of the course that I am pursuing. Also, being one amongst the rare 3000 (approx.) Indian students in France gives you a good chance to score a scholarship.

     

    How would you describe your typical day?

    Since I am working now, I wake up early in the morning, have a shot of espresso like a true French national to start my day and by the end of the day have dinner, sometimes with a glass of one of those special French wines and some good jazz music to overcome the exhaustion! I share my apartment with a French lady so we discuss random things happening around (oh yes, in French). I really think you have to integrate yourself in the local culture so you don’t feel home sick; instead you end up making a new home for yourself.

     

    You are interning with Gide Loyrette Nouel which is one of the leading international law firm. How is your experience there so far? How is it different from an Indian law firm? Is there any specific requirement for working in law firms over there?

    My experience so far has been extremely positive, I feel absolutely incredible to have an opportunity to work with them. I speak French with most of the associates and partners and they absolutely appreciate it! The team that I work with is so diverse and you have an immense scope of learning literally every day. The clients are so international that at times, I have found myself looking up the Company laws of African countries. I also got to learn the practicality behind French corporate laws. It is an extraordinary experience for a common law lawyer. I noticed the firms here are very well organized and very particular about their filings, billing hours etc. In addition, big firms like Gide Loyrette Nouel have intense training and a welcome program for interns to help them integrate well into their working style.
    There is no specific requirement as such to apply, they even give opportunities to freshers but being a student of Sciences-Po definitely helps you to compete with other law students applying from other universities such as Sorbonne.

    The firm is also sending me to Beijing to work for the summer so I have a chance to gain professional experience in Asia. I am very excited to discover China!

     

    What are your future plans?

    I would love to work in an international law firm like Gide after graduation but it is not so easy since it is a very competitive market for lawyers in Paris. Hence, after the completion of my postgraduate studies, I will aim at finding an associate’s position. Hopefully my current work experience will help me achieve it.

     

    What would be your advice to law students who plan to go for higher studies or want to get into academics?
    Since we all are still facing the post-recession consequences, it is extremely important to be innovative in your career options. If you pursue a Phd in law, you could also become a professor afterwards and it will be good to have some fresh, young faces into academics.

     

    Last but not the least, what would be your message for law students?

    I would say that use your time to your advantage. Manage your academic scores well and at the same time, make your portfolio colorful and convincing with a wide range of internships and work experience. Use every experience to learn about yourself and make a decision about the future based on the lessons you learn. In the end, own up to your decision. Never keep any regrets. The most important thing is to make sure you have fun no matter what you do. Last but not the least, learn a new foreign language!

  • Arman Sood on starting up E-Shack from Jindal Global Law School and being an entrepreneur

    Arman Sood on starting up E-Shack from Jindal Global Law School and being an entrepreneur

    Arman shares his inspirations for creating a startup that sells bar and party accessories. He tells us about funding for the startup and the supportive college environment which made this endeavour possible. Being an entrepreneur he also tells us how he managed highs and lows.

     

    Most of our readers are law students and young lawyers. How will you introduce yourself to them?

    My partner and I are both 4th Year Law Students at Jindal Global Law School. We are from Kolkata and Jalandhar respectively and met at Jindal itself. From then on we have been best friends, roommates and now even business partners. We love the work we’re doing, we love law school and are keen sports enthusiasts and like all of you out there we love watching Suits and Game of Thrones and are heavily into TV Shows and Movies.

     

    Why did you decide to study law?

    Both of us had very different reasons to study the law, Ashwajeet felt it would be great to know the law from a business perspective and always had the entrepreneurial passion in him, I on the other hand love public speaking and if I were to do law it would surely be litigation.

     

    Tell us about your college life? What do you guys do for fun?

    Haha, that’s a controversial question, lots of things, most of them not allowed on our residential campus. On campus we spend time with friends, play a lot of sports and right next to Jindal there are two theka’s called “Chowki” and “Beeswameel” which we frequent even if it is in the middle of the day to grab a beer and brainstorm.

     

    How do you think Jindal Global Law School is different than other law schools? Do you think that being there sort of helped in conceiving E- Shack?

    I think Jindal Global Law School is awesome much to the contrary opinion many of my peers from the National Law Schools might have. We are bunch of young hardworking kids who really want to make it big and the institution guarantees that exposure. I don’t know if the institution necessarily helped us in coming up with the idea but it has been both an advantage and disadvantage. The attendance requirement has been a problem for us because we keep travelling out to Delhi and Jalandhar for work and of course the odd days when we just don’t wake up for class. Our friends and professors have been great so that has been an advantage.

     

    arman-soodComing to E- Shack, how did that happen?

    I don’t remember exactly because we were hammered and in Bangkok, just kidding we used Beer Bongs and played Beer Pong at my father’s 50th Birthday and realized that there was a void in India as far this segment was concerned. We came back skipped our internships and launched eShack after 4 months of hard work.

     

    Why the name “E- Shack”?

    It was a rather difficult decision. We asked people for help and suggestions and wanted to make it interactive. Finally we chose eShack even though it was Bar and Party Accessories it because it was broad enough to expand to other verticals which we have done now. We have launched a line of T-Shirts and want to expand to other verticals, which we can under this name.

     

    A roller coaster ride or a pleasant journey in woods, what describes your journey so far in a better way?

    A fine line between the two, there are days where we on a roller coaster and there are days we just sit back and relax enjoying the fruit of our labour.

     

    Managing classes, projects etc. etc. and running a business. How do you guys manage that without having a clone?

    As I said earlier our friends and professors have been extremely kind and supportive. We make plans, schedules and execute them well in advance. As partners we have an understanding of who does what, when and how and that makes it easy to balance everything. Since we say on campus most of the time we have two trusted employees who run the warehouse and extremely supportive courier agency that makes sure things are in flow while we aren’t around.

     

    How is a typical day like for you guys?

    A typical workday would be extremely hectic. We have to attend our classes and maintain a 75% attendance as well as do projects, take surprise tests and examinations and manage our law school studies, which are getting tougher by the year. In between classes we make calls, dispatch products, handle the warehouse. Post classes we handle invoices, marketing, PR and taxes and late in the evening we satisfy customer queries and plan the strategies for the next day and week. Since we divide our work well and meet timelines we are able to stay afloat. We usually brain storm late into the night so the only thing we really lose out on is sleep.

     

    Initial investment is a big issue for any start- up, how did you guys manage that? Are you guys bootstrapping?

    We weren’t born with a silver spoon in our mouths but we had it a little easier than most entrepreneurs. Our start up funding came from our parents. It’s not like we asked them and they said here you go, it was a fun process. We pitched our ideas to them, heard their criticisms, revised our plans and went back with projections and made them believe in the idea and us more than we even did before taking the funding. After that we have been bootstrapping and haven’t taken a penny more.

     

    Every business has a target market, how would you define the ambit of E- Shack’s market? Do you think students form a major market segment for E- Shack?

    With our product range we have been able to cater to varied preferences and tastes. Even though we showcase only 14 products we have manage to have a little something for beer lovers as well as tequila and vodka aficionados.  Also some of our products such as beer bongs and beer helmets cater to the younger generation and crowd whereas whiskey stones and alcohol dispensers have found a slightly older clientele thus covering a wide audience.

     

    How has been the profit/loss ratio of E- Shack so far?

    I won’t answer that because I don’t think a figure can define either the work we’ve put in or the results till now or what we can achieve. We’re happy where we are and have a long way to go.

     

    Not intending to make it sound like a 5 year government plan, but yet, where do you guys see yourself five years down the line?

    Retired!

     

    Last but not the least, what would be your advice to your fellow students and dreamers?

    There is no right time to start up. It’s a gut feeling an instinct that tells you to take the plunge and when you feel that its best to jump right in. Even if things don’t go your way remember that as an entrepreneur one needs to adapt and innovate and things do always fall into place. Do things the right way, always and it will get you farthest. There are no short cuts in life.

  • Esha Shekhar on being a legal correspondent for Bloomberg TV & moving back to the world of corporate law

    Esha Shekhar on being a legal correspondent for Bloomberg TV & moving back to the world of corporate law

     

    Esha graduated from WBNUJS, Kolkata in 2012, instead of applying for mainstream corporate jobs, or pursuing a career in litigation, she applied for jobs in the legal journalism. She worked at Bloomberg as an anchor for quite a span of time, and is currently an associate at Dua Associates. Let’s talk with her about her experience in the legal journalism sector.

     

    Most of our readers are law students and lawyers. How will you introduce yourself to them?

    An apt introduction would be law student turned journalist turned advocate.

     

    Please tell us something about your college life. Why did you want to study law?

    I was preparing for medical entrances, but a lack of interest in science made me give that up. I saw the law school entrance question papers and an aptitude based test seemed like an interesting option 🙂 Law is very logical, and that was the first thing which drew me towards it.

    I graduated from National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata. The five years spent in NUJS and Kolkata was truly an experience. Apart from academics, which of course is the staple of any college life, a good circle of friends, and gaining the independence to do what I wanted to do is what I give the college credit for.

     

    When you were in college, what were your thoughts on career? What kind of internships did you do?

    When I first came to college, becoming a corporate lawyer was the thing everyone aspired for, and naturally, I believed in the same. Gradually, I started questioning whethercorporate law was what I wanted to do. The bad thing was I had very little idea about the other options I had. The good thing was lot of seniors from NUJS, even current students had started exploring new career options, which took off some pressure from me.

    My internships were varied. It was a conscious decision to work with as many diverse organizations as I could manage, to gain perspective on my career options. I interned with Down to Earth magazine (the flagship bi monthly magazine by Centre of Science and Environment) where I wrote for them for two months, litigating lawyers, a multinational company, Jharkhand State Electricity Board (to gain some experience with a government body), a boutique IP firm and of course the customary top corporate law firms.

     

    You worked with Bloomberg TV India after graduation. Don’t you think this is an unusual career choice for a law graduate?

    I would say it is not the usual career choice for a graduate from a five year law school. Legal journalism is an option many students from 3 year law colleges, especially CLC opt for. A major chunk of journalists who report from Supreme Court and High Courts are law graduates since they are supposed to be equipped to understand the legal jargons and give a clear understanding of what the Court said in a particular matter. Also, a court accredited journalist needs to have a law degree. So it is not an unusual choice per se. I was interested in journalism from the beginning because of my interest in writing. I worked with and ran the in house NUJS magazine, Writer’s Block for some time. Working with Down to Earth magazine gave me an understanding of print media. But yes, working with a TV channel was entirely a different ball game altogether.

     

    esha-shekharWhat motivated or encouraged you to join Bloomberg? Was this a campus placement? Did you consider other media companies at that time?

    Bloomberg was a classic case of being at the right place at the right time. When I didn’t get through the top law firms’ interviews, I was very dejected initially, but a bit of thinking made me realize that it was more because of peer pressure rather than the actual loss of a coveted job. I stopped applying for such jobs, started applying to print media houses and I was getting favourable replies from some of them. However, I didn’t know that TV channels were an option.

    Bloomberg was not a campus placement. I happened to be in Delhi at the time when a college professor sent a batch mail saying his friend was working with a business news channel, who were looking for law graduates to work for a new legal show. I applied, got a call for interview and was really skeptical about it. But it was the first interview where I actually meant whatever I said, vastly in contrast with my other numerous ‘lost attention in 5 minutes’ law firm interviews. That was something which encouraged me to join Bloomberg.

     

    What were your primary responsibilities in Bloomberg?

    My responsibilities were two fold – daily news reporting and working for the weekly legal show. As a legal correspondent of a business news channel, my responsibility was to report all the corporate related legal news from the courts. Since I was the only person assigned to the legal beat, I ended up covering corporate legal news coming from all courts in Delhi. This includes Supreme Court, Delhi High Court, District Courts, Company Law Board, Appellate Tribunal for Electricity, Competition Commission of India, National Green Tribunal, Income Tax Appellate Tribunal among others. So a major part of my job was to be in Courts from 10 to 4, report the news, talk to various lawyers and figure out their next step of action in all such high profile matters.

     

    You worked on their show The Courtroom. What did you do for the show?

    The Courtroom was launched last June, when I joined. The entire idea behind it was to make a half hour news show of important corporate legal news of the week. We at Bloomberg discussed how there were so many important legal stories/judgments coming from the courts, specially High Courts which either didn’t get noticed, or were given a ‘five line space’ in newspapers. The judgments had a much bigger impact if analysed properly.

    My job was to identify such judgments/ stories which had a bigger impact, and provide an analysis of the same explaining the larger picture. This involved writing the script for the segments, talking to lawyers and taking their opinion and putting up a segment together for the show.

     

    You were involved with content analysis and editing of the show, The Courtroom. What does that exactly mean?

    The format of the half hour show was top legal news headlines followed by three short segments on analysis of the top judgments of the week. Content analysis involved brainstorming about the headlines, and the content of the three short segments. Identification of the story/judgment is just the first step. Writing the script was the toughest bit. The script was for a layman’s understanding, so I had to forget being a lawyer, and focus on explaining legal jargons in the simplest way possible, without losing the essence of the story. It was initially very difficult, but my boss, who is the Associate Editor in Bloomberg was a good teacher who taught me how to do the scripting.

    So the script for one segment was ready on paper. Two or three lawyers’ opinion was taken on record to give an expert insight. To make it a seamless story for TV viewership, editing came in. I worked along with the editing team. I would record some part of my script (Voice over),figure out the videos which  would come along with voice over, edit/shorten the comments of the lawyers (bytes), put it in place, record a small bit where I would conclude the analysis (reporter’s link) and place it all together to make one segment of the show.

     

    How is the place to work at? Were there other lawyers?

    It is a great place to work at. I really enjoyed my work experience there. The USP of the place was that being a young news channel, it gave a lot of space to its reporters to identify their beat (the area which they would cover), build their contacts and identify a story. There is intense pressure on the reporters in other news channels, specially other business news channels to break one news story every day. That was not there in Bloomberg, and they pay a lot of attention on the news content. One thing which I learnt was that breaking the news was not priority, breaking the correct news was. So if I heard something in court which I knew was important but was not sure of, even though every other reporter was rushing to report the same, I was taught to get a confirmation before I reported on the story.

    No there were no other lawyers. I was the only lawyer reporting legal news among the business news channels.

     

    What was the work environment like?

    The Delhi Bureau of Bloomberg TV India has around 8- 9 reporters. The news content is policy based because of Delhi being the centre of power. I learnt a lot about policy because the news reported from Delhi were mainly from Finance, Aviation, Telecom, Commerce, Coal Ministries among others. Being a part of the newsroom is interesting, as it is not only about a reporter’s knowledge but how he/she handles the pressure of getting confirmation about an important news from a source, verifying it, putting on make up to appear presentable onscreen and then reporting the news live as calmly as possible. It’s about knowing your topic well, in case the teleprompter stops working. Bloomberg’s work environment is good. There is constant pressure to report news, but the bosses didn’t make life hell for losing out on a story, and that’s saying a lot for a news channel.

     

    Young professionals almost inevitably hit rough patches in the career. How do you think they should handle such situations?

    I think it’s all about understanding what would work for you. A lot of us end up looking at a situation from another person’s view point, rather than looking it from one’s own. What would work for your friend may not work for you. It may sound straight from a self help book but it helped when I was going through a lot of stress with my law firm interview rejections – keep faith in yourself.

    Also, I think one should not postpone something they want to do for later. In college, my plan was to work with a law firm for a year and then try my hand at journalism. Exactly the opposite happened, and in retrospect it was better that way, andnowI am much more confident about my decisions.

     

    You recently shifted and started working for Dua Associates. What made you change jobs?

    Yes, I shifted recently to the litigation team in Dua Associates. After college, I knew I didn’t want to quit law altogether, but I also knew that I did not want to be on the corporate side. In law school, litigation is seen to be pursued by someone who has a lawyer in the family, or as a poor cousin of the corporate side. But in reality, it’s a much more satisfying experience for a lawyer. When I started reporting for Bloomberg, I was in courts from 10- 4 everyday, and it was fascinating. I interacted with many lawyers, including senior advocates across all courts because of my work and that made me learn a lot how litigation works- in both good and bad ways. I covered many high profile court proceedings, including SEBI- Sahara dispute, Presidential Reference (of 2G spectrum issue), Uninor dispute, Bellary mining, Novartis patent dispute in Supreme Court. Hearing the senior advocates argue the matters was quite exciting. One prominent lawyer told me that even if there are hundreds of adjournments you face, one chance to argue a matter in court is worth the hassle.

     

    How does working at Dua Associates compare with Bloomberg TV India?

    They are different in a lot of ways. There was a constant pressure in Bloomberg to report news/break news or constantly be in touch with lawyers to get information. Plus there was the additional pressure of brainstorming for each episode of the show every week. Dua is more relaxed that way. I don’t get to see all the high profile litigation matters in court. But now the pressure and priority is about either researching or reading for drafting petitions, applications, and written submissions for the matters you are handling or preparing for filing the same in court. It seems like I am back in college, except that I am studying much more than I did there 🙂

     

    The working environment of a legal firm must be different than working with network television. What does it take to make a shift like that?

    For me, it was not much about the shift, as it was about figuring out what would work for me. I trained to become a lawyer, and I knew I wanted to be one. Litigation is what I have realised would work for me for now. The experience with network television made me get out of my comfort zone, and experience something which was very new. I have become more confident in my interactions with people, and once you start doing live news, everything seems easy in comparison. Bloomberg experience helped me get familiarized with courts, court jargons, proceedings etc. I could make a more informed decision about my current job. So if you are working somewhere, and get a new opportunity, you need to make weigh the pros/cons and understand what kind of learning curve you’ll get.

     

    Lastly, where do you see yourself in the future, in say another 5 years? Any chance that you may get back to journalism?

    I will be litigating hopefully. I don’t see myself getting back into journalism per se, but I plan to start writing for newspapers or magazines soon. As much fun as my TV stint was, with the thrill of appearing on TV and talking to the camera, I don’t see myself returning to news channels as a journalist.

  • Anumita Sarkar on litigation in income tax and being an associate at Lexplosion

    Anumita Sarkar on litigation in income tax and being an associate at Lexplosion

     

    Anumita is currently Legal Associate – Tax compliance, Regulatory Research & Risk Management at Lexplosion. Let’s talk to her about being fluent in tax and her career trajectory.

     

    Hello Anumita! First of all, we’d like to thank you for agreeing to talk to us. Most of our subscribers hail from law schools in India and abroad. How will you introduce yourself to them?

    I am a lawyer, expertise in the area of Income Tax Litigation.

     

    You graduated from Miranda House, University of Delhi with B.A. (Hons) in Sociology and then went on to get a post-graduate diploma in Mass Communication from Bhartiya Vidya Bhawan, New Delhi simultaneously managing to completean LL.B. from Campus Law Centre, University of Delhi. That’s like a lot of studying! Tell us about your experiences at each of these places.

    Studying in Miranda House was a dream-come-true. Those 3 years were simply unforgettable, more so because I was a resident of Miranda House Hostel. After completing my grads, I successfully cracked two entrances (M.A. Sociology at JNU and Delhi University Law Faculty). Although, it was a tough call, but my ambition was always to join the league of legal professionals. Hence, CLC, DU.

    I have always been very energetic and firmly believe in multi-tasking. My very good friend in college inspired me to pursue Mass Communication from BVB, New Delhi. She is an Assistant producer now with CNN-IBN. Pursuing law and journalism required lot of studying, but it was worth it! I successfully completed my LL.B. and journalism and felt confident with both the degrees. I was into dual profession (practicing as a lawyer as well as a content/ copy writer with a travel agency). I was never afraid to venture out new career opportunities.

     

    anumita-sarkarOkay, coming to the very clichéd question- Why Law?

    The subject Law always fascinated me extensively. As I grew up, I realized that law is something which intrigued me deeply. The constitutional changes, legal developments in law brought in the society, etc. It was all over the newspaper daily. I was a voracious reader of various types of magazines and editorials in newspaper (The Hindu). I realized that, I am at my best when I’m challenged and nothing could convince me, until it satisfied me with logic and reasons. Law is something where I relish the opportunity of lateral thinking. There’s nothing better than learning from the supreme master, as in the case of Eklavya!

     

    You took up a course on Intellectual Property from World Intellectual Property Organization. How was the experience?

    It was a fairly good experience. The course covers all the general IP concepts. One can study and read the modules at one’s own pace and time.

     

    I’m sure you were a brilliant student – it won’t be out of place to mention that you have numerous publications and internships! How was the practical aspect of law?

    Internship as a law student and an experience as an Advocate are completely different. My main area of practice was Income Tax Law. I practiced for 3 years before various statutory authorities and income tax appellate tribunal in Kolkata. I have handled independently several types of income tax appeal cases and I feel good to share that I have successfully disposed off many cases (reported judgments). My publications are about my experience in tax litigation. My publications are my in-depth legal research in the study of income tax law and practice.

     

    In India, despite all the hue and cry about female equality, there are numerous families that don’t support female education. How supportive has your family been?

    My parents have been extremely encouraging and ambitious with me and my sisters. My elder sister is a Doctorate from J.N.U and an Assistant professor in Miranda House, Delhi University and my younger sister is a fresh law graduate from N.U.J.S., now pursuing her Judicial Clerkship under a Supreme Court Judge. We have been raised with the best of education and I am proud that my parents are encouraging and extremely supportive. They are liberal and forward looking. They feel proud in our every little success.

     

    You’ve worked as a content writer for a holiday tour company, as a practicing lawyer, and are currently working as a legal associate at Lexplosion Solutions Private Limited. How has the whole journey been like? What were the major hurdles that you faced in your journey so far?

    The legal profession is very challenging and full of struggle, especially when one does not have a god father to support. My interest for litigation put me into professional struggle after passing out from law school. But I was confident that I would succeed in anything that I loved to do. At this time my dad, once being the officer in the Revenue Department, supported and encouraged me to specialize in one of the areas of law. It was not a very difficult decision; Tax was in my blood and it was one of my subject interests of study. I joined a Chartered Accountant firm and I started tax litigation in full swing. Here my competition/ colleagues were mostly Chartered Accountants. Hailing from a non-accountancy background, I initially suffered a low confidence and found it extremely difficult in understanding the jugglery of accounts in income tax practice, especially at the times of scrutiny assessments. But with the help of my boss (F.C.A.) and supportive colleagues/ accountants, tax practice gradually turned out to be smooth. I researched more and more and with the help of itatonline.org and taxmann, I always kept myself updated with the latest changes in income tax law/ litigation. The only thing I did continuously for 3 years was tax litigation and I loved it and I was good at it.

    Lexplosion happened by chance. I felt it was the time for me to explore something more challenging and diversified. I grasped the opportunity to work for Lexplosion, the moment I got selected. Lexplosion Solutions Pvt. Ltd. is a statutory compliance management firm providing compliance solutions to various corporate sectors. My areas of work comprises of providing tax/fiscal compliance solutions to the corporate clients.

     

    You don’t only have a lot of degrees and work hard- in addition, you blog and also volunteer for causes like teaching under privileged children, helping needy children, raising funds for a cancer research institute! You truly are an inspiration to many of us. Tell us something about your volunteering experiences.

    I have been volunteering since I was in school. I was very active when it came to support a social cause, hence I volunteered as a fund raiser for Help Care Society and Cancer Center Welfare home and research institute. While pursuing graduation from Miranda House, I was an active member of MH NSS society. I volunteered as a teacher and taught the under-privileged students.

     

    In addition, you have completed a 4 year course in Art from Sarbabharatiya Sangeet, recognized by the West Bengal State Academy of Dance Drama, Music and Fine Art. Do you still pursue your hobbies and interests? How do you manage your time?

    No, I don’t pursue Art anymore. I regret that I couldn’t complete my diploma in Art. Study took away most of the time. Now, my interest is to blog and providing solutions to the readers as and when I receive any query in my mailbox.

     

    Finally, what would you like to say to our law school students and graduates? Your words will surely inspire to be not just a good lawyer, but a good human being as well.

    Best motivation is self-motivation. Always follow your head and never give up the struggle in the profession. You never know what’s knocking at your door.

  • Pallavi Saluja, Bar & Bench, and Prachi Shrivastava, Legally India, on their foray into legal journalism and the Indian legal journalism market

    Pallavi Saluja, Bar & Bench, and Prachi Shrivastava, Legally India, on their foray into legal journalism and the Indian legal journalism market

    legal journalist
    Pallavi Saluja
    prachi shrivastava
    prachi shrivastava

    Most law students in today’s world believe that practicing law in a court or working for a law firm are the only viable career options that they have. However, there is a slow but steady stream of law students and lawyers opting for alternative career paths.

    For instance, legal journalism is fast gaining popularity. I have plenty of students and interns expressing interest in this field, and I often connect them with well-known legal journalists from whom they can get career related advice.

    The versatility of a law degree brings with it a whole host of marketable skills. Law students can opt for many unconventional career paths which are generally not available to students who do not come from a legal background – legal journalism is a typical example. If you are a law graduate, you can become a journalist without having to study journalism beforehand, unlike the rest of the world.

     

    What is legal journalism?

    Legal journalism, as the name suggests, refers to specialized reporting about all matters pertaining to the field of law. The primary reason why the number of students opting for legal journalism is on the rise is because a legal education already equips you with many skills that legal journalists, or journalists in general, are expected to possess.

    In law school, you learn comprehensive research and writing skills and effective strategies to thoroughly and expeditiously examine facts and figures, synthesize ideas and communicate clearly and concisely. Moreover, you also learn to quickly get to the heart of an issue which is a quality that every journalist must possess. Also, journalists without a knowledge of the law often do a bad job at legal reporting. It has been a problem in the past, and for reporting legal news, court decisions etc.the news publishers have begun to favour law graduates with a flair for journalism. The advent of online media platforms that specialize in news for lawyers has not hurt this trend either.

    Another development which has greatly increased employment prospects for law graduates in the field of journalism pertains to the recent notice issued by the Supreme Court of India following the erroneous reporting of Harish Salve’s statement in the Vodafone case, that makes it mandatory for court reporters to possess a legal degree.

     

    Global reaction to increasing importance of legal reporting

    The growing importance of legal journalism is epitomized by the fact that many universities across the world have started providing comprehensive courses that caters to the needs of legal reporting.

    For example, Columbia University, which is a leading university in the U.S., conducts a joint program between the Journalism School and the School of Law which allows students to earn both the Juris Doctor and the Master of Science degree in Journalism over seven semesters.

    Similarly, New York Law School, University of New South Wales and a large array of other universities offer similar courses. Indian Universities, however, are yet to come up with similar programs.

     

    Let’s talk to the top legal journalists in India

    We caught up with Pallavi Saluja, who is working with Bar & Bench, and Prachi Shrivastava, who works for Legally India, and asked them to share their thoughts about, inter alia, what motivated them as law graduates to enterthe field of legal journalism and how law students should prepare for the transition from law school into the field of journalism.

     

    Why did you choose to opt for legal journalism instead of opting for more conventional fields such as litigation or corporate law?

    Pallavi Saluja: I did not opt for legal journalism right after graduation. I initially did litigation for little over than a year and then worked with a law firm for about five years before changing my career path. Having said that, my past experience has definitely helped me in my current profile.

    After working with a law firm for a while, I was looking for something different and exciting. I came across Bar & Bench and found the idea of being a legal journalist quite fascinating. I think a dedicated legal news portal is a brilliant idea as it brings in a lot of transparency in the legal profession, which is otherwise quire opaque.

    To be honest, while I was in college, I simply had no idea about the wide array of opportunities available in the profession because there wasn’t that much information available. I think it is a very exciting field. The fact that you have to be updated all the time on various legal issues and as to what is going around in the legal fraternity, be it from the litigation circles, the law firm life or law school news– it really keeps you on your toes and it just makes you feel alive.

    Prachi Shrivastava: I have had a lot of fun being on various magazine editorial boards throughout school and law school, and so once out of law school I began to look for an avenue where I could combine my love for writing with my professional training in law. When the opportunity to learn and do legal journalism presented itself to me, the prospect of telling a story about this whole profession appealed to me more than working on one or more areas of it, and so I ended up at Legally India.

     

    Have the skills that you learnt in law school helped you in your career as a legal journalist?

    Pallavi Saluja: Definitely. In my case, I would say apart from the skills that I learnt at law school (research, writing, drafting, analysis), my experience while litigating and working at a law firm has helped me a lot in my current profile.

    Prachi Shrivastava: Journalism, legal or otherwise, and ‘lawyering’ have the same core – asking the right questions to uncover the most accurate and holistic picture of an issue, and presenting it. So at a more visceral level, my legal training continues to help me gain a more comprehensive understanding of the core of many stories.

    Specifically in legal journalism, being from the industry (even though I hardly worked as a lawyer) helps me understand its dynamics much faster than I would have if I had not spent those five years reading, interning, talking and having lunch in the company of law.

     

    Can you give 3 tips to law students who wish to opt for this profession that would help them make a smooth transition from law school into the field of journalism?

    Pallavi Saluja: 

    • Intern with legal news portal or media house to get a general sense of how things work.
    •  Read everything concerning legal news. Write regularly, be it for a blogs, newspapers or magazines.
    • Networking is very important according to me,  especially given the speed at which information spreads. Attend conferences, seminars, workshops and other interactive sessions with lawyers and law students.

    Prachi Shrivastava:

    • Develop a news sense – the sense of what is news and what is “fluff” in the vast pieces of information that are so easily making their way to you. This comes through reading a lot, and then some more, of all news religiously. I wish I had done that from earlier in life.
    • Journalism is not something that starts with a job, it is a lifestyle – be a news hound. Even if you are not a reporter yet, there is nothing stopping you from digging deeper into an issue that interests you, thinking laterally, and asking questions that help reveal a more real-time understanding of  an issue.
    • Drop the legalese, drop the jargon, drop passive voice, drop saying “beneficial construction” and say “this rule favours them” and please get rid of random capitalisations – the rules of grammar don’t change to reflect our lawyerly deference!

     

    What kind of job opportunities are currently available in India for legal journalists?

    Pallavi Saluja: You can work with legal news portals, legal publications and media houses as a legal correspondent/reporter. I would say that in the initial stages at least, you could have an edge over other reporters with your law background.

    Legal journalism, specifically with reference to websites, in India is still in a nascent stage. I think the business of running a legal news portal is going to grow significantly as the market becomes more sophisticated. In fact, I think legal journalism is one of the tools for the market to become more sophisticated. Further, with the liberalisation of the Indian legal market, this will only grow bigger creating huge opportunities in this field.

    Prachi Shrivastava: Legal journalists in India can work as part of a trade journal such as Legally India, reporting on the dynamics of everyday business in the profession and in law schools. Of these, it is common knowledge, that there are less than a handful of opportunities.

    They can also report for mainstream media on mostly the biggest ongoing cases, and sometimes on developments in the profession if they are big enough to be of interest to the papers’ non-lawyer readers.

    Other than that there is interesting analytical work to be done in the form og reporting on corporate law, for instance for Bloomberg’s The Firm, or for websites such as Money Control.

     

    Would you advise law graduates who want to work as legal journalists to work for legal websites/magazines or for other news agencies?

    Pallavi Saluja: Definitely yes, if this is something that interests you and you have the passion for it. At the end of the day, legal journalism is a sub set of journalism itself. If you want to get a broader idea of how media works, then work with a news agency or a publication before branching out into pure legal journalism. I really think that depends on individual choice.

    Now, a word of caution to law students who are planning to take up legal journalism as a profession – you will not earn the same as a law firm lawyer or a litigating lawyer. Sure, the pay scales will go up over the years but I really don’t see it ever being comparable to what a successful legal professional will earn. Of course, it all depends on the media house or organisation you work with, but this is my general opinion.

    Also, if you are not looking to completely detach yourself from law, this is definitely an interesting career choice. You are up to date on legislations, cases, deals and whatever else is happening in the legal sphere without actually practicing law. And I think this is a good option because it provides you with a more objective perspective of things.

    Prachi Shrivastava: I would advise you to choose based on the publication that is giving you the chance to work on what you have the most natural understanding of and can spontaneously ask the right questions for. With time, you must also develop an understanding of related areas and dabble in other kinds of legal journalistic writing.

    Money, obviously, won’t be the driving factor in taking decisions for your legal journalism career, because there simply isn’t any (if compared to the lawyer yardstick).

  • Aishvary Vikram, Winner, BCI Moot, 2013, on being a 4th generation lawyer, his mooting experience, and plans for the future

    Aishvary Vikram, Winner, BCI Moot, 2013, on being a 4th generation lawyer, his mooting experience, and plans for the future

    Aishvary Vikram is a fifth year student of School of Law, KIIT University, specializing in comparative constitutional law. His team was adjudged  the best team at the 29th All India Inter University Moot Court Competition, 2013,  where he bagged the award for best speaker. He has participated in seven moots at the state and national level.

    In this interview he speaks to us about:

    • How to start preparing for moots
    • How to draft memos
    • His internship experience

     

    Why did you want to study law?

    Law was never my first preference but ultimately it became my last choice. For a science student there have traditionally existed only two career choices after class 12, either engineering or medicine. Despite being the 4th generation in my family with a formal training in law, I never got the opportunity to see the law in motion. My great grandfather was a lawyer who later became an MLA but I never got to meet him; my grandfather was a judge but his death prevented me from benefiting from his experience once I had joined law school; my father studied law but never practiced it, so I never got a chance to see what the practice of law is. People usually study law to enter into practice seeing their parents or relatives, and later end up in law firms. Or they are inspired by great legal luminaries, or fictional characters such as Alan Shore or Danny Crane (From the Boston Legal TV series), or at best they want to serve society. This was however not to be my story. I gave the entrance exams for law due to my father’s continuous insistence. Not being able to get through CLAT, I appeared for KLSAT and joined KIIT.

     

    What internships have you done so far? Did you receive any assistance regarding this from your college?

    My track record with internships is really poor. Lost in my own ideology to learn from internships rather than collecting certificates, I have spent a lot of time at BHU, the Allahabad University and the faculty of law library for which certificates were however not provided. Nevertheless, I have done a total of seven internships. Out of these internships, one was under an NGO in my first year, two in a district court in my second year, two in High Courts in my third year, one under Prof. Faizan Mustaffa, Vice Chancellor of the NALSAR in my fourth year and the last under a senior advocate in the Hon’ble Supreme Court in my fifth year. The college has always provided us with great assistance in getting internships and now it has opened various programs to provide internships to the students in accordance with the fields they are interested in.

     

    Which internship experiences will be right at the top and why?

    I have very little to say about my internships due to my inexperience. I find myself an incompetent person in this regard. However, as a piece of advice I would like to say that I have always disliked the working style in law firms due to the non-participatory nature of work where one is only asked to find the law and given no opportunity to relate it to the facts. Sitting on a chair the whole day and finding material is like being Google, which has never interested me (this is my personal opinion and people reading this, are free to discard it).
    aishvary-vikram

     

    Tell us about your mooting accomplishments.

    The first page of the BCI moot chapter started with a phone call from my friends Nitesh Ranjan and Navneet Sahey. Both were in college and were planning to take part in the 29th BCI Moot court competition. Unfortunately their third team member Satyabratha Das was at home, planning to come a little late due to her internships. The 29th Bar Council Moot was something I never planned for. Really, being in the fifth year, people don’t do this moot at this stage. But no other team was ready to do this moot as our vacations had just ended and the date for the open challenge was not suitable. So we made a plan to do this moot just to pass a month, as very little was there to study and our friends were not back from their internships. After the problem was released, we realized that it is far more difficult to research. We had actually done many moots earlier, but for the first time we realized how tough it is to research for four moot problems in a month. We divided the four problem in three groups— Nitesh Ranjan, the lead researcher was to deal with the first problem with Neha Tripathi, an additional researcher provided by our college, Navneet Sahey was to deal with the second problem with Vikash Chandra Shukla, another additional researcher, and I was to deal with the third and the fourth problem. This is how our memorials were prepared. The biggest contribution to our success was from our friend, Abhinav Gupta, who not only assisted us in drafting but did the formatting of the moot memorials, even though he was the convener of the First KIIT Conference on Intellectual property rights and Bikash Shaw, who was always there with us online, downloading the cases even when we were in MITS giving our orals. This moot was more than a moot; it was a litmus test for the bond of friendship we have. Knowing the fact that only participants will get the certificate, our friends as our additional researchers were always with us. The moot experience in terms of orals was extremely good. The teams we faced were well prepared. In preliminary rounds we faced Christ Law College; in he quarters we faced BHU; in the semis we faced NLSIU and finally we faced NLU Bhopal. All the teams were excellent and well prepared. This success wouldn’t have been in our hand if our lead observer, Akshay Rajpurohit was not with us. From printing the compendium, compiling it to bringing snacks and cold drinks, he was always there with us.

     

    What factors do you think contributed to this success?

    My senses are too weak to see the whole picture of support and contributing factors towards my success. My words of appreciation about their contribution would be such a small  description of their help that it will be an insult to the sources. Therefore, without specifically narrating all the assistance I got, I will generally thank my teachers and friends for always assisting me and my parents for always holding my hand.

     

    What separates a great memo from an average memo?

    I will give due credit to my law professors for this, as unlike traditional law universities, our professors have always prepared a course structure taking into consideration laws and practices of different countries to the extent that it doesn’t affect the basic structure. Specifically our Constitutional Law general and specialised papers conducted by Prof. Kumar Kartikeya has taken a further step by incorporating not only the foreign principles or case laws referred to by the Indian judges but has designed the structure in such a way so as to give us a short idea of the constitution in four countries, namely US, Australia, India and unwritten constitution in UK. Due to this comparative approach it was easier for us to research and find case laws and statutes in various countries. If one refers to our memorial, specifically the third and the fourth memorial, one would find foreign case laws and doctrine, which I failed to find in the memorials of other teams in the semi-finals and finals.

     

    Speaking skills or knowledge of law, what is more important?

    It is important to marry the two. The knowledge of law is like an armour which one may use to protect his case while, speaking skills are a spear to rupture the judges’ sarcasm and leave a long time impression on a judge’s mind.

     

    When you get the problem, what is the first thing you would do?

    Read it (I believe this satisfies this question literally), but on a purposeful note, one should read the problem until he is aware of the purpose of each and every single line. It may happen that a part of the problem may seem to be introduction, but later on one realises that even though the particular fact instigates no law finding but, is of peculiar importance to support the formulation of arguments or argues on the basis of the fact.

     

    Share your formatting secrets. 

    A mooter must prepare multiple arguments amalgamating reason and logic. Prepare multiple arguments, so that you may never run out of options. Using rational and convincing arguments with the spirit of law is of utmost importance. Instead of quoting a number of case names or details of the cases and presenting a thesis, one must try to formulate reason, practical and theoretical as to why his argument must be accepted by the court. I have seen people whose memorials consist of hundreds of cases and thousands of authorities but lacks reason or logic. Merely taking a particular statement from various books without knowing the reason or its relevance is of no use. If one may cast a look on best memorials in international moots, one will find my observations true.

     

    Why is mooting important? 

    Actually, I have not yet tasted the flavour of advocacy so I hardly know how it will contribute to my skills as a lawyer. Mooting has been an accident for me. When a colleague could not make it to a moot, my best buddies Vikash Shulka and Abhinash Barik approached me and convinced me to moot with them. So from the first year itself our mooting started and slowly it engulfed me in its charms and beauty. From first year till now, we have done a number of moots. The incentive to start off my mooting carrier goes to my friends but the continuation of this goes to my seniors and my parents who were always there to help me and always motivated me to carry this extra load.

     

    What is your opinion on your intra-college mooting system? 

    The intra moot court system in our college is really good. Thanks to my friend Abhinash Barik, my teachers, Asst. Prof. Kasturi Bhagat and Asst. Prof. Kumar Kartikaya whose imaginative thinking has brought various changes to the system of mooting. There is no favouritism, nor can anyone dominate the moot court society and this includes the Director as well. The moot court competitions are divided into two segments, all national moots except the Bar Council of India and B.R Sahany moot are allotted according to the results of the intra moot court competition and the international moots and the two moots listed above, are open to open challenge. The transparency and student welfare is the fabric of our moot court society, which leaves me with no comments for improvement.

     

    If I have never mooted in my life, but I want to, how should I get started?

    Getting started is really simple as there is no competitive written exam which one needs to qualify to call oneself a mooter. Trying out for national or international moots is also mooting, but continuing the academic practice of mooting is very difficult, as there is always a tilt towards running away from the extra burden a student has conferred upon oneself. Every attempt may not bear a fruitful result and add to that, the extra burden of college good reputation which is a constant pressure for the team, which may bring efficiency but in many cases forbids creativity. One has to have a strong determination if he so intends to enter into the arena of mooting and use his creativity, as judges in various moot courts are not always looking for the case laws in support but the extent of artistry and understanding of law that has been put to the problem. Further, one thing must be really clear before one even attempts to call himself a mooter that mooting is not always among the equals, there is no Article 14 application here. It has always been between students irrespective of their institution, quality of teachers and extent of their support, the year in which one is, no consideration is given to these facts. The thing which every mooter possesses is the moot problem, the library and his creative mind which one has to solely amalgamate and, support of teacher may serve as a catalyst but can never be the basic foundation.

     

    How important is the role of a researcher in a moot team vis-à-vis the speakers?

    Well, in our team, all were researchers seven days prior to the moot and it is only after the preparation of the memorials that we decide who all will be the speakers. The role of speakers and researchers are equally important but I also feel that speakers have a slight edge above the researcher in oral presentations and in sharing the fame, if they so win a moot. There is no “I can do better or it’s not good for me” game in mooting, there is always “What is good for the team and who can better serve the team in orals.” It’s very rightly said that if one wants to travel faster he may run alone but if one wants to survive longer, walk with someone– try to apply this in mooting as well.

     

    What message would you like to share with our readers?

    My inexperience and little knowledge will to some extent make my views premature and short sighted but nevertheless, some of the things I learnt are:

    1. In moots don’t go for law in the strict sense, always try to use creativity and imagination, don’t see the judgement but look behind the judgement and try to focus on jurisprudence than on case laws.
    2. Prepare the brief and arguments and take notes of the judge’s name and para number to some extent, to show your level of preparation.
    3. Try to formulate multiple arguments for the same proposition.
    4. Avoid difficult words.
    5. Show respect for the judges but no flattery.
    6. Be confident and never emphasise on a wrong proposition for the sake of argument.
  • Nima Heydarian, Founder, Indianlawyers.net, on the need to modernise the legal industry and his passion for technology

    Nima Heydarian, Founder, Indianlawyers.net, on the need to modernise the legal industry and his passion for technology

    Nima Heydarian is a Controls Engineer in the Oil & Gas industry with an electrical engineering bachelor’s degree from Purdue University. He has been developing websites and applications on the side for the past eleven years. In 2010, he started a new business called “Heritage Law Marketing” focused on marketing the services of the attorneys based on their heritage background, international practice areas and languages that they speak. He has been developing an online marketplace through which one can reach out to Indian lawyers worldwide, Indianlawyers.net.

    In this interview, we speak to him abut:

    • His project and its importance
    • The challenges faced by him
    • How lawyers will benefit from Indianlawyers.net

     

    nima-hHow did you decide to start a project related to the legal industry?

    I am Iranian. About seven years ago when I was in college I built the website, IranianLawyers.net, to list Iranian lawyers and help them connect with the Iranian community. I built the website as a hobby and completely free of charge. At the back of my mind, I also believed that this could one day be a serious business because I would be addressing a very real need in the market. Also lawyers of other ethnicities are a demographic largely overlooked by the larger legal marketing firms.

    From the beginning my goal was to turn Heritage Law Marketing into a large legal marketing firm so I had to build a solid platform and a set of the tools focused on long term growth. That required time and a decent amount of investment neither of which most senior electrical engineering students have. I graduated college in December 2009 and started the business in March 2010.

     

    To anyone who’s never come across ‘Indianlawyers.net’, how would you describe it?

    It’s a directory of Indian attorneys around the world. We publish legal articles pertaining to the Indian community. We are working on a ranking system to rank Indian non-corporate law firms in India and elsewhere. We also plan to host various “Indian Legal” events around the world.

     

    Could you explain your business model to our readers in layman terms?

    Attorneys pay to be included in our directory and we help them connect with clients seeking their services. We also sell legal marketing services such as Adwords, SEO, Web Design, etc.

     

    What have been some of the challenges?

    The biggest challenge so far has been to stand out among the abundance of the legal directory websites that are out there. We are going to be much more than just a directory and need to do a good job of conveying that message to attorneys who get bombarded by ads from different directories every day.

     

    How did you go about creating the technology behind the product?

    I did as much of the programming myself to save money but for the more complicated and delicate parts of the script I hired the best programmer I knew from around the web. He wasn’t cheap but the results are obvious in how user friendly, fast loading, and solid the website is.

     

    What kind of growth has ‘Indianlawyers.net’ seen since its launch?

    I spent the first 3 years mostly building the platform so we didn’t have much growth during that time. Right now I am offering the listings to about 100 select attorneys free of charge to test features of the website, so that I can get feedback, and generate word of mouth advertising. I hope to have 100 attorneys listed with us by end of 2013.

     

    Any major learning you would like to share with our readers?

    Finding the right people and right team is much harder than it seems.

    What kind of lawyers would benefit from joining the portal? Why should they join it?

    Individual lawyers and small law firms would benefit the most because the legal clients we send to lawyer are mostly individuals, families and small businesses.

    How are you marketing Indianlawyers.net to lawyers?

    I am using a host of different methods right now including social media, article marketing, banner advertising, direct mail, print advertising, etc. I am trying to use as many weapons out of the book Guerrilla Marketing Weapons by Jay Conrad Levinson as possible.

     

    What message would you like to share with our readers?

    The legal industry in India is old and in need of modernization. Let’s work together and make it happen. I am happy to work with anyone else who is looking to leave an impact on the legal industry in India through the use of technology.

  • Divya Vikram, Consultant, Legal League Consulting, on her experience and the future of Legal Management

    Divya Vikram, Consultant, Legal League Consulting, on her experience and the future of Legal Management

    Divya Vikram is a graduate from NUJS, batch of 2012. During her time as an undergraduate, she was Director of the Society for Advancement of Criminal Justice (SACJ) for two consequent years. She has also taught at the Adult Literacy and Legal Education Programme, an initiative undertaken by the Legal Aid Society of NUJS. She is currently a consultant with Legal League Consulting, where she handles Strategy and Business Planning, Practice Development, Brand Communications & Client relationships, Law Firm Alliances and Synergies.

    In this interview we speak to her about:

    • Her experience at LCC and the responsibilities the job entails
    • Striking a balance between work and personal life
    • The future of legal management

     

    How did you decide to study law? Tell us about your college life

     

    Let’s just say, law was sort of a happy accident. College life in the first year I would say was sort of tough. You had to get adjusted to living away from home, your parents and friends back home, hostel life, hostel food, making new friends, coping with law school in general. However, things got better with subsequent years. Law school shapes you as an individual and professional. NUJS offered me diverse things to do as a student, be it moot courts, publications, managing committees/societies, volunteering in various activities etc. apart from the regular studies and projects.

     

    What kind of internships did you do while you were a student? 

    After my first internship at Lawyers Collective (NGO), I decided to do my second internship in a law firm. I started with ALMT Legal then subsequently interned at AZB & Partners, Trilegal, Brus Chambers etc. None of my experiences were remarkable as such but each internship taught me something new. However, at the end of 4th year I decided that five years down the line, I don’t see myself working in a law firm.  Hence in my 5th year in order to experience the corporate world as well, I interned at a Corporate (SunEdison) and loved it.

     

    How did you decide to work with Legal League Consulting?

    The first time I heard about Legal League Consulting (LLC) was in my 5th year when they invited applications through Campus Recruitment Committee. That’s when I checked online about LLC and the managing law firms. Also, I was lucky to find a junior who had interned there and he explained me the nature of work they undertook. From what I learnt about the nature of work I was almost immediately convinced and interested at the prospect of working at LLC.

     

    divya-vikramCan you tell us something about the kind of work LLC does?

    (LLC is the first law firm management company in India legal industry.)

    Legal League Consulting (LLC) provides Management Consulting to the legal industry. We provide solutions to the legal industry with respect to Human Resource Management, Financial Management, Business Development, Strategic Business Planning, Knowledge Management, Partnership Structuring, Alliance, etc. In a Nutshell, it’s basically a 360* degree management service to the Legal industry.

    My role at LLC majorly involves, but not restricted to, formulating policies essential for running of a law firm, undertaking activities to assist firms in developing business. I also assist Law Firms in the implementation of various Human Resource, Business Development and Knowledge Management related systems.

     

    Did you ever hit a rough patch in the beginning of the career? 

    Student life was fun and apart from scoring good grades and working towards a making a good CV and enjoying college life, there was not much you really had to do. But being a professional is altogether a different ball game. It was indeed a little difficult to transition. Firstly, my transition from a lawyer to a management consultant itself was a difficult one, especially those work involving compensation structuring and other finance related aspects. Learning various management concepts, its application and understanding the rationale behind it. As a Consultant, you are solely responsible for all the clients you handle and the documents you send them etc. therefore the accountability factor is more and one cannot afford to make mistakes. Furthermore, one has to be well informed about not only the Company’s clients but the market and global trends and keep evolving.

     

    What is a typical day at work like?

    At LLC I work for the Law Firm Management Team (the other two being Brand Communications and Talent Acquisition Team), where we undertake a wide variety of work starting from HR, Finance, Partnership Structuring, Compensation Benchmarking etc. Hence most of the days, depending on client needs I work on the client deliverables for that particular day or week. Apart from that sometimes I accompany Ms. Bithika Anand, our Founder & CEO and sometimes other seniors to client meetings. In addition to client work we work on developing new products, and other upcoming initiatives of LLC.

     

    What are your thoughts on work-life balance? How do you achieve it yourself?

    Work- life balance is definitely of utmost importance to me. I would definitely need a day off from work to clean my apartment, wash clothes, cook some good food, relax, watch television and catch up with friends. At LLC 2nd and 4th Saturdays is off in addition to Sundays, which is good enough for me to relax. However, very rarely, you might have to attend some client meeting on a non-working Saturday or work towards completing some client deliverable… but that’s fine!

     

    What do you think is the future of Legal Management?

    The future of Legal Management is bright… in fact very bright. Almost every other day we have a new client (law firms, corporates, LPO’s, recently even an NGO) who has approached us for handling their various management related issues and needs. There is growing awareness and realization on the importance of management in runningone’s organization. As lawyers are busy with execution of law, they prefer to leave the day-to-day running and management of their organization to experts in the Management field.

     

    Where do you see yourself five years down the line? What kind of work will you like to do?

    Since I seem to be enjoying my job a lot, I certainly see myself as a Management Consultant… however, a much experienced and evolved professional. As I love doing more of HR work than Finance, I would like to specialize more in the HR related aspects.

     

    What do you do apart from work? How is the life of a law graduate in Delhi?

    I would prefer spending my off days at home either watching television, experimenting my culinary skills, reading books and sometimes meeting up with friends and not to forget shopping.

    Delhi is a wonderful place for youngsters. It offers a wide variety of options for all kinds of people. There are places to shop starting from your malls to Sarojini Nagar and the old Chandni Chowk, places to eat ranging from your Sheraton, Hauz Village, ParanteWaali gali and other street delicacies. For those who love Indian culture and history, there are remains of the past Mughal Rule in India which can be visited and many other places.

     

    Would you like to work for law firms as an associate in future?

    No, not at all.

    Last but not the least, what would be your message for law students?

    There is no reason why a law student will be interested in a message from me. But then if I had to say something, I would say enjoy every bit of your college life, because they are priceless and they will never come back to you. Once you are a professional you will yearn for that kind of time and fun.

    Also, don’t spend law school life just being bothered about internship and grades. Trust me, at the end of the day that hardly matters!

  • Prem Ayyathurai and Sahana Mahesh, co-founders, Kranti, on Government inaction, the culture of dissent and bridging inequalities

    Prem Ayyathurai and Sahana Mahesh, co-founders, Kranti, on Government inaction, the culture of dissent and bridging inequalities

    Prem Ayyathurai and Sahana Mahesh are peers and graduates in law from NLSIU, Bangalore. They co-founded Kranti, an initiative that attempts to mobilise politically conscious students from across the country. Sahana is currently working in the chambers of Jawahar Raja and Rajat Kumar and Prem is in the final trimester of 5th year in law school. They trace their path from law school to kick starting this initiative and highlight their experiences along the journey.

    In this interview we speak to them about:

    • The need for an organised, mobilized student movement
    • Government inaction, disillusionment with the system and trying to bridge inequalities
    • Offering political resistance through art, and celebrating the culture of dissent

     

    How would you introduce yourself to our readers?

    Prem: I have always sucked at introductions, so I’m going to avoid getting into one here.

    Sahana: I am Sahana Manjesh. I’ve recently graduated from the National Law School of India University, Bangalore. Originally from Mysore, I will soon be moving to Delhi to start my litigation practice in the chambers of Jawahar Raja and Rajat Kumar.

     

    Tell us about your childhood and schooling. Is there any particular childhood incident that has proved to be an inspiration for you?

    Prem: Most of my schooling was done at the erstwhile Dr. Kalmadi Shamarao School in Pune. I then attended BMCC and came to NLSIU. There were far too many inspiring people and moments in my childhood that have shaped me and compelled me to push harder; but if I were to place my finger on one, it would be the humbling realization that one generation before mine, my family lived in a small hamlet – the realization of this growth has never left me and pushes me to challenge myself, continuously.

    Sahana: I studied in St.Joseph’s Central School till 10th grade, after which I studied in the Demonstration Multipurpose School for two years, both in Mysore. Again, many moments of inspiration to name.

     

    How is life at NLSIU, Bangalore? Have you always wanted to study law?

    Prem: I didn’t really fit into the law school environment for a long time but I’m sure most people find it lovely. The great thing about NLSIU is that it enables a student to do a great many things – if you have the potential and more importantly, the desire to see things through, this place won’t let you down. The administration and, more importantly, the alumni are always there to support something good.

    I didn’t always want to study law. I decided to aim for legal education after noticing how far too many successful organizers of people’s struggles had some background in law. I want to work on social questions later on in life and so it seemed to be a natural choice, in that context.

    Sahana: I have wanted to study law since I was very young. It seemed to combine my love for words and arguments and oration with my interest in rights and politics. My time in NLSIU has been very rewarding. It is a space that exposes you to a world of opportunities if you allow it.

     

    krantiTell us something about your brainchild ‘Kranti’. 

    Kranti has taken shape, slowly, over the last six months. But it is the culmination of years of wondering about political processes and involvement with student groups. In Pune, I was involved in founding Yugpath about seven years ago. Over the last two years, especially, I have seen with great interest the mobilization of students in different urban spaces across the country (India Against Corruption, and after the rape of Nirbhaya). These were legitimate outbursts of long running disappointments of our generation with the government of this nation. Unfortunately, however, while the mobilization was on an inspiring scale, it was not rooted strongly in ideology. That, amongst many other factors led to the dissipation of these movements once the mass media looked away. Clearly, then, there is frustration in our generation. Enough frustration to step out on the streets (which takes courage) and face police batons. But this expression of frustration needs direction. This was my inspiration for Kranti.

    The aim behind the campaign is to bring together the experiences of veteran organizers of peoples’ struggles along with academics who have been speaking about the failure of the Indian political processes. Having done this, we want the youth across India to engage with these veterans and, together, ponder over what the solutions to India’s future may be.

    Kranti is a festival. It is a festival to discover, celebrate and reclaim the rich culture of dissent in our country. Although Kranti originated in the National Law School of India University in Bangalore early this year, it has since gone on to spread to a few other cities with students from elsewhere joining in. The purpose of Kranti is to introduce college students to the many struggles that are part of India’s story of ‘development’ through the culture of dissent. This, we believe, will go a long way in raising solidarity for these movements and their causes. We do this through street plays, movie screenings, songs of protest and conversations with students.

    Our online content on the culture of dissent is growing. Between July and August we had and continue to have documentary screenings in colleges in Bangalore, Mysore, Pune, Bombay, Hyderabad and Delhi. We have photo exhibitions in Bangalore during August. Through this time, Delhi, Mysore and Kolkata will witness street plays in solidarity with Kranti. Our main events will be in Bangalore during September. On the 7th, activist musicians will perform in our event, “Songs of Protest”. On the 8th, celebrated film makers will present their work. And finally on the 15th, academics and activists will participate in the “Dissent Conference”.

    Kranti is a result of a string of experiences I have had during my time as a law student.  My internships in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Delhi and Bombay exposed me to peoples’ struggles and legal activism both inside and outside the courts. I was associated with the Legal Services Clinic while in college and my activities there sensitized me to various issues of rights. Attempts at legal critique and reform have also led me to discover politics and activism. Kranti to me personally is an effort to share these realisations about India’s inequity with people of my age, for we have the ability to engage in redistributive politics.

     

    It is indeed a commendable initiative, but what do you think about the sustainability of such a revolutionary idea? What makes Kranti different from other similar campaigns?

    What makes Kranti different is straightforward – we are under no illusion that our attempt to strike conversations across the country will culminate in a campaign which will bring change. Note how Kejriwal was involved in a fast earlier demanding democratic revolution but his latest fast was to facilitate gas and electricity connections. That climb down happens when campaigns are not thinking at least 5 years ahead.

    For us, Kranti is special because we are asking deeply uncomfortable questions – by organizing the screening of Kak’s Red Ant Dream, Patwardhan’s Jai Bhim Comrade, or a performance by Kabir Kala Manch, our statement is clear. There may be other platforms which set up ‘conversations’ between the youth and parliamentarians. Our conversation is amongst the youth itself, to ask ourselves what we understand to be the role of the Indian government in ensuring social security, and whether it is legitimate, for example, for India to call left-wing violence ‘terrorism’ but right-wing violence as ‘an expression of frustration’, and so on.

    Personally, I am constantly amazed at the many incredible people who are doing some amazing work – through their art, through their politics, through their words, through their appreciation of contemporary concerns. Kranti is a small idea, in a large world of possibilities. In the time that we have conceptualized and started executing Kranti, we have made many friends and sought guidance from several mentors. These are relationships and networks which help build solidarity for various causes; these relationships will outlive Kranti. At the core of Kranti is the desire to introduce youngsters to the world of dissent, to enable a moment of revelation which could change the way they look at their choices, their politics. If we achieve this with a handful of friends in different corners, I think our job is well begun.

     

    How do you think a common man can contribute towards the movement? And, how can anyone join the movement or volunteer?

    The effort at Kranti is to discover and share information about the many brave dissidents in India and we therefore spend considerable energies in curating this information. You can come take a look at our work, follow us on Twitter @KrantiFest and also spread the word about us!

    Also, in order to ensure our independence in the causes we wish to discuss and engage with, we are funding Kranti through crowd-sourcing. We still have quite a bit of money we need to raise. If you think this idea is worth your money, or know anyone who may be able to afford it, please write in to us at kranticonference@gmail.com to find out about the donation process.

    We need students from across the country to reach out and participate – they can do so by organizing film screenings and talks, or by setting up street plays and reclaiming the public spaces like roads and parks for expression of dissent, or by helping us design posters, pamphlets, films, online campaigns and so on.

    As Sahana pointed out, we are also raising funds ourselves – we are cash-strapped and running a tight show. If people are interested in helping us raise funds, or know of institutions/organizations which can contribute, we’d love to hear about these opportunities.

     

    How supportive have your parents been about this? Were there oppositions from friends and family that you’ve had to face, regarding Kranti?

    My family has always been supportive right from the times of Yugpath, for all the activities I have taken up. There have been times that I called up family and said, “I am filing RTI applications against IAS officers, nobody will employ me after graduation if this thing comes through,” and they’re like, “Haan, thikhai!”

    My parents, sister and friends have indulged me in my obsession with this campaign, through moods both blue and orange.

  • Aonkan Ghosh, student, GNLU, on bagging high profile internships, application procedures, and how to convert them into jobs

    Aonkan Ghosh, student, GNLU, on bagging high profile internships, application procedures, and how to convert them into jobs

    Aonkan Ghosh graduated in law from GNLU, batch of 2009. He has had a series of successful internships during his time an an undergraduate.

    In this interview we talk to him about:

    • Approaching the right firms for internship opportunities
    • Trying to get a versatile internship experience
    • Building contacts and converting internship opportunities into prospective jobs

     

    What have been some of your internships so far?

    Well, I have interned at JSA, Gurgaon, Luthra & Luthra, New Delhi, Kachwaha & partners, New Delhi and Wadia Ghandy, Bangalore.

     

    What is the procedure to apply to these law firms?

    In your junior years I would say, it’s more about luck and persistence but apart from that, I think you should apply to as many places as possible 4-6 months in advance, follow up in general by calling and sending them emails, so that they feel that you are really interested in interning with them and just hope to get an internship!

     

    What was the kind of work allotted to you during your internships?

    I have to say, these law firms have a lot of work and a bit of that chunk is allotted to interns. I have dealt with matters related to due diligence and private equity transactions. I was asked to make research notes and opinions on the aspects of company law. While interning in these top law firms, I even got exposed to indirect taxes and learnt a great deal about arbitration, especially at Kachwaha. I worked with the corporate team and the litigation team both, so I got a chance to experience both kinds of work. Through my internships I have developed a fondness for the subject!

     

    How has your internship experience been?

    The experience was really thrilling. I got to interact with a lot of people and I was lucky to learn a lot from the associates. In law school you read the law but while interning you get to apply it, so overall I got to learn more about law and its application from my internships.

    What is the kind of work environment that you experienced in law firms?

    The internships were an incredible experience. The partners and the associates were extremely hardworking. Interns are also given a lot of work which might not be interesting but at the same time you get to gather a lot of knowledge and I personally did not face much of a problem in working for long hours because a lot of us are used to pulling off all-nighters in law school.

     

    What are the things an intern should keep in mind to get a call back?

    Diligence at work is the most important thing. You can’t be afraid to take initiatives. As an intern you are allowed to make a few mistakes but at the same time you are expected not to repeat them. The conduct of an intern is expected to be highly professional because it is something which is strongly taken into consideration.

     

    What do you think is important to convert a good internship into a job?

    It usually takes more than an internship to secure a job at a particular law firm. For an intern it is extremely important to be patient and wait for the right time to come. Try getting exposed to as many practise areas as you can and not just one. Another important factor is that as an intern you have to be presentable. If you keep all these things in mind then I think you should keep your fingers crossed and hope for a job.

     

    Which was the best law firm internship you have experienced?

    Nothing in particular; as in I won’t single out any firm but I learnt a great deal from all my internships. The experience was very pleasing and I was amazed at the professional conduct of the law firms.

     

    What do law firms consider the most while hiring?

    The pre-requisites are usually display of good academic record, your ability to work hard, then… how well you can apply your mind to situations, your ability to grasp and your awareness of current legal issues.

     

    Do the law firms usually provide the candidates with an option to work with the teams of their choice while recruiting?

    Well… definitely they ask you about your preference but the final decision is with the firm. They hire as per their requirements. Usually the recruiters decide the department which they think would suit you the most, so that you can grow as a professional and succeed.

    There is this general notion about AMSS being a GPA oriented firm. What is your take on that?

    They do take your GPA into consideration like other law firms but apart from the GPA they take your resume into consideration as a whole. I personally think that this notion is misplaced because the interviews for the top law firms are very stringent and even your extra-curricular activities are taken into consideration!

    What would be your advice to the law students who aspire to secure a job at top law firms?

    I think that the aspirants should develop the habit of reading. It is very important to build a knowledge base because it helps a lot in the future and if it is done passionately, then you can push yourself to the limit. Hard work is something very important, whether it is an exam or an internship, so keeping these things in mind is essential to be best prepared for an opportunity.