Super Lawyer

Blog

  • Ashish Singh, Associate at Luthra&Luthra Delhi’s Litigation Team on work profile and higher studies

    Ashish Singh, Associate at Luthra&Luthra Delhi’s Litigation Team on work profile and higher studies

    Ashish Singh is a graduate of GLC, Mumbai. He had interned at Luthra & Luthra’s Delhi Litigation Team as a Law Student, and therefore right after graduation in 2012, Ashish got a job offer from the same team.

    Right from graduation he has continued to work at Luthra, and he had the opportunity to work independently in various high stakes litigation. He has advised clients on legal issues including corporate frauds, civil commercial litigation, Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, Architect Act, 1972, Copyright and Trademarks and Transfer of Property Act, 1882.

    He has also advised an MNC in the recent Common Wealth Games matters, before the High Court of Delhi.

    In this interview we had asked him to tell us a few things about:

    • Experience at GLC, Mumbai
    • Luthra Delhi’s Litigation work profile
    • Expertise in Anti Piracy litigation matters
    • Utility of Higher Studies in litigation

     

    How would you like to introduce yourself to our readers who are law students and young lawyers?

    Hi, I am Ashish and I am working with Luthra & Luthra Law Offices in the General Litigation Team at New Delhi. I graduated in the year 2012 from Government Law College, Mumbai.

    I am a go getter who believes that all problems have solution. We only need to find them. Litigation has thus given me an avenue to convert this belief of mine into action. The thrill of arguing in Court and getting relief for my Client is something which keeps me on my toes.

     

    Please tell us about your pre college life and your time at law school. Did you have lawyers in your family?

    Throughout my life I have been in boarding. I joined boarding at a young age of 4 1∕2 (four and half) years. I am thankful to my parents for taking this harsh decision of sending me to a boarding school. I call it harsh because it is one of the most difficult decisions for all parents to send their children of such a young age away from them and let me tell you that unlike today there were no mobile phones at that time and the slow postal services was not of much help either. I still remember that there were times when I used to reach home much before the letters that I had sent asking my parents to take me home for vacation.

    I would say this helped me a lot to shape into a strong, confident and independent person. I learnt that “..there are things which only you can do for yourself no one else can do for you…” You have to learn to do things on your own whatever it is tying the lace of your shoes or the knot of your tie or travelling to an unknown city for the first time (without any technology aid).

    In boarding there are many programmes which are mainly organised and managed by students (of course in the supervision of teachers). I was one of the active participants. This experience not only helped me in my college life in getting sponsorship for different events organised in college but is also helping me now in building Client relationship and even while pitching for new Client.

    My five years at GLC were the most enjoyable and important years of my life. For a boy who comes from Bihar and was under supervision 24*7 in boarding, Mumbai and the freedom at college was a breath of fresh air. I enjoyed every bit of it and lived my life to the fullest.

    I am a first generation lawyer. I firmly believe that when one knows what he/she wants from life and is clear about his aim then it becomes totally irrelevant whether you belong to  a family of lawyers or not. What makes you successful in this profession is your grit, determination and the desire to achieve.

     

    You studied at Government Law College, Mumbai, considered to be one of the premier law colleges in India. Please share with us your time in college.

    I feel blessed to have gotten an opportunity to be a part of an institution called Government Law College (GLC), Mumbai. The college was established in 1854 and has given our country some of the most successful lawyers, finest Judges and the first Lady President of India.

    GLC gives you an opportunity to intern throughout the year, thus helping you learn from the experience of seniors in the profession from the day you start your journey to become a lawyer.  Also various competitions that are conducted in GLC throughout the year give you a rounded personality which makes you a better lawyer.

    I actively participated in the events organised in college and tried to intern as regularly as possible.

     

    Apart from getting engrossed with academic work how else did you spend your time in law school?

    GLC has lot of committees to keep you occupied. I was one of the active members of the Legal Aid Committee and our main work was to provide legal help to the poor and needy which ranged from drafting of bail application, complaint before Consumer Forum, etc to coordinating with different NGOs who work in the same filed.

    Apart from studies, I like acting and directing. I was a part of a small theatre group in Mumbai. I used to spend most of my free time rehearsing and performing at different location and often we used to do street play. I love theatre and lot of time was spent at Prithvi theatre.

     

    Please share with us your views on time management in a stressful law school environment.

    Time management is the key to success in all spheres of life. It is important to maintain a work life balance because attending classes, working as an intern, preparing for various competitions and the exams can take a toll on you. It is therefore important to prepare a time schedule keeping in mind the dates for competitions, exams, etc. Ultimately you cannot be a lawyer unless you have a degree. So it is important to clear all your exams in addition to doing internship.

     

    Please tell us about the work environment at Luthra & Luthra. What all do your work profile consist of?  What is a normal workday like?

    Luthra has a wonderful working environment. As a beginner you need a lot of encouragement and support from your seniors. I was lucky to have a few mentors who made the transition from being a law student to a lawyer easier than it would have ordinarily been. One great thing about working at Luthra is the accessibility to both Partners and Senior Partners.

    As mentioned earlier, I work in the General litigation practice and normally my day begins with a visit to Court with my partner. Once I am back, there is enough research and drafting to keep me busy. Also, discussion with the team working on the brief gives you a different perspective to the matter.

     

    ashish-singh-4

    Anti-piracy and Anti-counterfeit issues being a nascent arena of litigation, please tell us how did you get interested in taking these up as your field of practice?

    I began my practice with the Anti-piracy and Anti-counterfeit (APAC) team but gradually was given an opportunity by the firm to work on a wider range of issues in the General Litigation Practice.

    Yes, APAC is a nascent field and there are limited lawyers working in this area. But, it has a huge potential in the coming decade to become a specific practice area. Many counsels who began practising in this new area five six years from now, are now considered expert in the same. I therefore joined an area which had just begun to warm up.

     

    You have had diverse internships. What advice would you want to give to budding lawyers in regard to internships?

    I took whatever internship opportunities I got. Honestly, choosing internships was not a conscious attempt but in the hindsight it has proved to be an enriching experience. It helped me decide that litigation was my calling.

    My advice to law students would be that they should take their internship sincerely. It is the time when one understands the practical aspects of the subject they are studying. They should try to intern in both corporate and litigation practice so that they can decide to choose one depending upon their interest and liking. Also, internship helps one in forging relationship and getting placements. Many PPO’s are given based on the internship performance. I got this job based on my internship performance.

     

    You have been a part of Luthra for a considerable amount of time now. Please share with us Luthra’s expectations from a budding lawyer and what do they look for in the CV of a budding lawyer?

    I think all the law firms have only one expectation from a fresh law graduate that the person should be open to learning.

    In today’s world people prefer to specialise in their areas of interest and pursue higher studies.

     

    What are your views on higher studies? Should a law student pursue higher studies right after graduation or after procuring some work experience?

    I think what you learn from the practical experience can never be learned from books. Though an LL.M does look good on a CV but from a litigation perspective what is more important is your ability to think quickly and respond to situations as they arise in the Court. One has to think on their legs. This comes more by experience than by LLM. LLM from abroad does gives an exposure and broadens ones horizon but the cost at which it comes is a bit too high. Students spending such amount towards LLM also have expectations of high salaries which are little difficult to get in India. This at times, creates disappointment amongst students and they take up jobs abroad resulting in brain drain, and is a loss of brilliant minds of our country. In any case , I think if one is interested in pursuing higher studies it should be done after experience of couple of years as after working for a couple of years one becomes aware about his area of interest and also the industry requirements.

     

    How should we consider choosing a law firm over litigation or litigation over a law firm?

    I don’t think I have chosen law firm over litigation rather I am doing litigation in a law firm. Working with a top tier law firm gives you a chance to do work with big clients on matters involving huge stakes. It also makes you a good team player as a group of people are working on the brief. In addition to the aforesaid, working in a firm also gives you an advantage of seeking assistance of people specializing in specific areas while preparing and drafting matters.

     

    What would be your message to law students who want to have a smooth transition from law student to law professional?

    Don’t get disappointed/disheartened if in case you can’t secure a job in campus placements. I did not get one either. Work hard and be focussed. There is no replacement of working hard. In the initials years try to work on as diverse fields as possible. This will help you have a better understanding of different areas of law which will make you a complete lawyer. There are no short cuts to success. This profession demands a lot of your time, dedication, energy but it also gives you a lot in return. You just need to be focused and patient.

  • Nikita Mamtani, Founder LegalHire talks about being an entreprenuer and the Legal Industry

    Nikita Mamtani, Founder LegalHire talks about being an entreprenuer and the Legal Industry

    Nikita Mamtani graduated in 2012 from UPES, Dehradun. She grooms lawyers for a foothold in the legal industry. She had started working at Thomson Reuters months before graduating. The work profile of Academic Specialist for more than a year in Reuters Legal Education business, bestowed on her the opportunity of interacting with plethora of law students, law college authorities and legal professionals of different segments of the industry. A professional with skills in marketing, networking and building relationships, client management with a flair for sales moving to helping students and professionals grow was a natural progression for her.

     

    When and how did you decide to study law? Which universities did you consider for your legal studies?

    I still remember it was in the year 2006, just a month before my 12th board exams when my father got furious and asked, “what have you thought about your career ahead? What do you want to do in life?” And my sudden answer was, “I want to pursue law, just like you.” So, without even giving it a thought, my unexpected answer made me study law.

    I gave entrance exam for almost all the NLU’s that time and some of the private universities, like Symbiosis. UPES College of Legal Studies was established in 2007, when I gave entrance exams for the second time. I had already decided to switch my field from law to mass media, but then results of UPES were out and I went ahead with pursuing law.

     

    Do you think being from a non-NLU has ever proved to be a hindrance for you? Many non-NLU students complain that they feel being discriminated against during career opportunities. What has been your experience?

    No, not at all. Never did I think I felt discriminated in the industry where opportunities were concerned. The biggest example of which is getting a PPO. I started working before having a law degree in my hand. What I feel is Law colleges do play a crucial role in your overall career growth, but it’s ultimately the individual, who makes his career path. There are extensive and equivalent resources available, one needs to grab the most and achieve the best of them.

     

    Tell us about your internships. Did you get any institutional support for internships from your college?

    I had a varied experience during my internships, from Corporate to Law Firms to NGO’s and last but not the least, Courts. I intentionally chose to intern in different segments of the industry to understand & decide, where I see myself after graduating. Internships made me witness the actual career in law. It was much more than and very different from what we used to learn in law school.

    Although there was a Placement & Internship Cell in the college, of which, I was a part for almost four years, I preferred getting all my Internships personally.

     

    You have done a Judicial Clerkship at High Court of Madhya Pradesh during your graduation. Tell us about your experience as a Judicial Clerk of Justice Rajendra Menon.

    Interning as a Judicial Clerk was a unified experience of both, Bar & the Bench. It was this internship, which clarified the real picture of Indian Courts to me, be it the top lawyers, govt. Advocates or a struggling law graduate. Justice Menon was a great mentor, down to earth, explaining extensively every time I had some query.

     

    Tell us about your work at Thomson Reuters as an Academic Specialist. What were the key responsibilities which you undertook as an Academic Specialist?

    As an Academic Specialist at Thomson Reuters Professional Skills Training business, my experience ranged from handling the Academics of online courses to managing law firms and law colleges. I was also involved in the development & expansion of Professional Skills Training for those legal professionals with work experience who were interested in upgrading their skills. My role required not only sound administration and management skills but also brought to the forefront my skills in sales and marketing activities.

     

    nikita-mamtani

    You started up as a Legal Education Consultant at a very young age. What motivated you to choose this career? Did you aspire to become a Legal Education Consultant?

    I am a PR person. I liked networking, meeting new people, sharing experiences and then bringing out a change, some transformation. At Thomson Reuters, I got it all, but wanted to explore more, which I felt can be done only once I work independently. The decision of becoming a Legal Education Consultant went stronger over the period, with my experiences in the Industry, as and when I used to meet more and more law students.

     

    You have also started your own independent legal practice at High Court of Madhya Pradesh besides your job as a Legal Educational Consultant. How do you manage both at the same time?

    I take up selective cases in High Court. My consulting activities take more of my time than the Courts. So it becomes easy as I prioritise my core working area. At the High Court, I focus on PIL’s and civil matters, mostly arbitration cases. As a consultant, I focus on law students and students who aspire to have a career in law. Outlining their journey from entering a Law School to stepping in the Legal Industry as a professional is my forte. I get to meet all such students in Law Schools and CLAT coaching centres. Consulting becomes much easier through various online platforms where I stay connected with students.

     

    Why did you decide upon opening a Legal Consultancy Firm? What motivated you to start Legal Hire India? What is the story of your start-up?

    Law happened by chance and not by choice to me.

    In my earlier days of preparing for entrance exams and then in my initial years of law school, I always wanted to do something out of the box. Young entrepreneurs in the Legal Education industry always enthralled me. My career objective was then to not only get into the Legal Industry, but to have a diversified profile too.

    Thereon, I wanted all my skills like marketing, networking, building relationships, helping students and professionals grow, to materialize.

    My driving force was the ever stride of doing something different from what is expected of a law graduate, and hence Legal Hire India…

     

    Your consultancy firm also conducts Career Counselling. Have you had students who had great profile but still couldn’t make to any Top tier Law Firms after graduation?

    I appreciate the passion of a law student wanting to get into Top tier law firm and to have that tag.

    But it’s all the game of skill set. You can always play with that and mould the direction of your career path.

    As from my professional experience, I firmly believe it’s always better to be a big fry in a small company, rather than being a small fry in a big company.

     

    Five years from now, where do you see Legal Hire India?

    My short term goal as to Legal Hire India is making it instrumental in the HR and recruitment process of Indian Legal Industry. Every law student should get the best & the most from this industry, be it an NLU graduate or a non-NLU. Our mission also quotes, “Redefining the Legal HR Industry.”

     

    What would be your message to law students who dream of having their legal consultancy firm one day?

    If you have flair of different professional skills and want to get out of the traditional segments after graduating, go for it..!!!

    And in the end, I would say, follow your Heart. Although it’s an old saying, but I feel this is what works well always. One should end up doing what one loves to do as soon as it is discovered, and the path to success automatically becomes easier.

  • Anjali Sheoran on work at LPOs, Ernst & Young and LL.M in Commercial Laws from York University

    Anjali Sheoran on work at LPOs, Ernst & Young and LL.M in Commercial Laws from York University

    Anjali Sheoran graduated from Army Institute of Law in 2010.She then went on to work with an LPO and later worked with LexCounsel and Ernst & Young. She is currently pursuing her Masters in Corporate and Commercial Law from University of York. We asked her to share her experiences and strategies she used over the years.

    In this interview, Anjali talks about:

    • Work experience at UnitedLex, LexCounsel and Ernst & Young
    • Choosing Masters in Corporate and Commercial Law at University of York
    • Writing an SOP and getting recommendation letters

     

    Though it’s one of the most asked questions but yet, why law?

    I believe the best decisions of one’s life are the ones that are spontaneous. Going to law school was one such decision for me. I did not pre-plan my future in law at all even though my maternal grandfather was an advocate. However, once in law school, I adapted quickly to the field and it stuck with me ever since. What I love most about law is its ability to create a ripple effect; of course a lot of laws in the society are influenced by the needs of the society but it still fascinates me how one regulation or law has repercussions across different sectors, be it social or economic or even political.

    So, in answer to your question why law, the answer is simple; law is anything but boring. Its dynamic nature keeps you on your toes all the time and there is something new to learn every day.

     

    How would you describe your time at Army Institute of Law, Mohali?

    Army Institute of Law is still a fairly new law school and I believe it has much potential that is yet to be exploited. Having said that, my time at AIL was one of the best experiences of my life. Academics wise, it was mostly DIY (which is the case with most law schools) but nevertheless, combined studies and rigorous note-taking got us all through to the other side. Also, staying at one place for five years in a hostel was a fascinating journey for me; it is true what they say about college friends. They are indeed friends for life.

    The internships I did during college ranged from litigation to corporate laws and from advocates and law firms to companies in the end. These internships were extremely instrumental in shaping my legal career when I look back now. My first internship was with a Supreme Court advocate and although I worked with him only for about 3 weeks, I understood that litigation was not for me. Although I did not give up that easily and did two more internships in litigation before I decided it was not something I see myself doing in the future. Corporate and commercial laws always attracted me since the beginning. However, the most important thing I learnt from my internships was that it was not easy to make a mark for yourself in law firms. This is because the partners take a long time in trusting a resource and more often than not their commitment to the job is measured by the hours they spend in the office instead of their work. Also, in my experience, young lawyers or interns are not given the respect or the space to work. This is the reason, I chose to intern with Bharti Realty in my last year of college. Companies have a process of doing everything and it keeps everyone in check. In addition, seniors are much more willing to delegate their work to their junior colleagues. I say colleagues because that is how interns and young lawyers are treated in companies.

     

    anjali-sheoran-2

    After graduation, you started working at UnitedLex Corporation where you worked for one year. What had contributed towards this appointment? How was the experience working there?

    UnitedLex is an LPO (Legal Process Outsourcing) and unfortunately in India LPOs are taboo for young lawyers; or at least that was the reaction my friends gave me when I told them. However, LPOs provide a great exposure to international laws and dealing with overseas clients. It also enhances your cultural quotient on the whole and exposes to international working and quality standards. While my internships during law school helped me decide I wanted to work for companies, working with ULx made me realize my natural potential and interest in commercial law. This is where I realised and decided I want to specialise in commercial law.

    ULx specialises in contract management and litigation support and has its headquarters in UK. I was part of the contract management vertical and worked with the global counsel team of British Telecom. I’m not exactly sure what contributed to my appointment with the organisation, as I was a fresher and had no experience, so to say, in commercial law. However, once I joined the team, I worked hard and with the support, training and encouragement provided by my manager, Karma Bhutia (who is now working with GM), I was able to exceed expectations and carry out my own assignments with minimal supervision and received many great reviews from my clients.

    My experience with ULx gave me a professional foundation, in terms of both technical and transferrable skills that I used and built on in all other endeavours ever since. Working with overseas clients was a great experience as well because their style of working and the space and trust they provide to their employees and service providers is absolutely amazing. Also, working with international and UK commercial laws gave me a unique edge over my counterparts as it enabled me to comment and compare laws from different jurisdictions to advise my clients. I brought the exposure to international and EU law in my next job with LexCounsel as well and was appreciated many times for my valuable inputs on commercial law matters.

     

    After having worked at UnitedLex for one year, you joined LexCounsel, Law Offices as an Associate. How did you secure your appointment? How would you describe your experience working there?

    After having worked with ULx for more than a year, I thought it would be a different experience to work for a mainstream law firm as one of the main issues with securing a job with the law firms (without a reference) was that I did not have any experience. I applied to many law firms and secured my position at LexCounsel Law Offices in 2011. Because I already had work experience the interview was very straightforward because I had already gone through the process before and was also much more mature, in terms of my conduct during the interview.

    My experience at LexCounsel, to say the least, was a reality check. Although I excelled at contract management (which was recognised as my niche area), I had no experience in other commercial laws, like customs and excise laws, SEC regulations, FDI policies, etc. that affected commercial decision to such a great extent. Hence, LexCounsel was the organisation where I learnt a great deal about the research and interpretation of law that goes into making the final decisions that businesses make. In addition, I also dealt with many smaller businesses (as I first client in ULx was a well-established organisation) and the legal and commercial issues that they deal with in the current scenario of Indian laws.

     

    How did the shift to E&Y’s Global Counsel Office as a Senior Associate take place? Did you get an offer or did you apply for EY? Tell us about the nature of work you were entrusted with therein.

    My shift to Ernst & Young or EY (as the current brand name of the organisation stands) came about as a personal choice that I made between working with a law firm and a company. Law firms are a great place to work but over the eight months I spent with the firm, I realised there was no work life balance. Companies are much more structured and have a process or procedure for everything which makes the employees’ lives much easier and as a result provide better work life balance; which is extremely important for me.

    I was invited for an interview by EY as one of my previous managers was able to circulate my resume to the organisation. The role with EY was quite similar to my role with ULx but the difference was that, although it was outsourcing, but instead of a third party, the outsourcing was done in-house. EY global shared centre is a part of the EY organisation but our team was outsourced to other EY entities which represented the organisation in the global setup. Our team was considerably new and was handling contract management for different departments’ vendors. These vendors ranged from website and online tool development companies to event managers to companies seeking EY’s sponsorship of their events. In addition, we were also responsible for all the contracts that had to be finalised for EY’s re-branding project that was launched last year. This project was important and a great professional experience as the organisation’s entire identity (including its virtual identity) were set to be overhauled right from its logo to tagline and its mission statement.

    I had a great experience working with the UK GCO team and was appreciated by many clients for being a proactive and dedicated resource. I also received many appreciation certificates for providing consistently high quality services to my clients. I was, not only given the space to work but was also entrusted with many important projects, like overhauling of the standard form contracts of the organisation and developing a new process that we had added to our portfolio. I was also responsible was training the team in the new process; in fact, our first delivery of the project was completed in record time and the clients were extremely so pleased with our performance that they even proposed giving us more work.

     

    Recently, you’ve joined University of York for Masters. Why did you prefer Masters over your job? How did you choose University of York over others? How did you go about choosing a university?

    After I left EY, I did look for other jobs. However, I felt that my resume was slightly limited because, though I had international exposure, I did not have much experience in working as an in-house counsel for an organisation; this limited my options in terms of the kind of jobs that were being offered. Therefore, after going through a series of interviews for similar profiles, I decided to take a break from work and come to the UK for further studies. I chose UK because I have always worked with UK organisations and have a fair experience with UK and EU laws; that exposure has in fact added value to my course as well. Also, because I had worked, I knew exactly the subject I wanted to do my masters in, which was commercial law.

    To be very honest, when I started researching the options I had for masters in corporate and commercial law, my first choice was the University of Edinburgh. However, my consultants, The Chopras, helped me a lot through this process and gave me several options so that I make the best choice available to me. I think, when choosing a masters course, on must keep in mind what he/she wants out of that course. For me, it was to enhance my current professional skills set but I was sceptical about going back to school and being a law student again. Therefore, when I looked at the modules offered by various universities, University of York made the most sense. Not only is York Law School among the most highly regarded law schools in the UK, its unique Problem Based Learning (PBL) programme sets it apart from the rest of the law schools in UK. Yes, other law schools as well have some or the other form of PBL in their courses, but what is unique about YLS is that students are treated as colleagues, instead of students and we are given our space and time to get used to the process. We all had different experiences with PBLover the last term but one thing common to all of us is the environment that PBL provides to learn from each other. Even the seminars and plenary sessions by the lecturers are open to all kinds of discussions and critical analysis of the issues at hand, which is something, at least I did not experience when I was in law school and a lot of my classmates share my views on this.

    I think the most common mistake students make when selecting a University is to look at the location of the University instead of the modules available. I made the same mistake too when I initially looked at the options available to me; and this is why it important to talk to a consultant, like The Chopras, when one is thinking about overseas education. The consultants will guide you through the options that are available and the ranking of different Universities; but most importantly being experts in education consultancy so they make your life so much easier in terms of completing your applications (including advising you on the quality of your SOPs and recommendation letters) and taking you step by step in the visa process.

     

    How did you go about writing your SOP? Could you please share your SOP with our readers? Please give few tips to make one’s SOP standout. What about recommendation letters?

    My consultants provided me with most of the tips for the SOP and recommendation letters and in fact even reviewed them before they were finalised to ensure their quality. There is no set format of writing an SOP and it’s really something that reflects your personality. I believe what Universities are looking for in SOPs is how well a person can articulate themselves on paper and how or why the person will be a welcome addition to the University’s portfolio. The point is not to list all your achievements but articulate your achievements in such a manner that the positive attributes of your personality shine through. So it’s not enough for you to write that you were a hostel prefect in college or school but rather write about what qualities put you in that position of responsibility and what you learnt from the experience. Also, personal statements must include the extracurricular activities you participated in as overseas Universities are inclined towards people with a well-rounded and grounded personality.

    As for academic SOPs, what needs to be highlighted are your academic achievements, again in a manner that your professional personality shines through. For example, you may say you were a topper of your batch in your undergrad but they might prefer if you write about the qualities you possess that aided you in topping your batch (like your ability to critically analyse legal issues or your class participation, etc.). Similarly, you might want to talk about any certificates or awards you may have received while working but highlight your professional attributes that lead to you receiving the appreciation.

    Recommendation letters are usually upto the lecturers or previous employers and students have very less or no say in what they will write about them but many a times, they might not have time (especially lecturers) an they might ask the students to prepare a rough format for them which they modify on their own.

     

    Which non-academic activities make the biggest difference to an applicant’s chances? With a record number of students applying for Masters in Law, how can a candidate distinguish himself/herself in a crowd of applications?

    Non-academic activities or extracurricular activities form the most important part of a student’s personal statement when applying to an overseas University. However, the nature of extracurricular activities does not make much difference; what is important is your role therein. For example, you may just have been a coordinator in an event and another time you may have led an event organisation or be part of a larger team with a small role to play. The different roles you may have played in these activities, big or small, may show your adaptability to different situations. I talked about my training experience while I was working and my experience as a trainer, actually helped me in securing a teaching assistant position with my department. Therefore, it’s not the activity but your role in the activity that is most significant for Universities because your role and how you handled and completed reveals your qualities and that is what they are interested in.

    Further, as for distinguishing yourself in a crowd, the only thing I can suggest is “be yourself”. If one tries to follow the crowd in how to write the SOPs or recommendation letters, you would probably be selected just out of luck instead of merit. If the student wants to be selected on merit, the student must fully participate in the application process and complete all stages (like the IELTS exam, running around for the visa application, etc.) themselves instead of depending on their parents and siblings. It is only when you experience this phase that you will be able to pour out your heart and soul when writing the SOPs because you will appreciate how important that statement is for you.

    Also, some Universities have a requirement of providing an academic writing piece with the applications so it is worthwhile to research on the referencing style used by the law school and also possibly research some tips on academic writing. If you already have work experience though, this might be quite easy but it is still extremely impressive if provide them with a written piece living upto their standards of academic writing, especially in terms of paraphrasing, referencing and variety of sources.

     

    What is your topic of research for LL.M? Why did you choose that subject for research?

    I’m pursuing LLM in Corporate and Commercial Law and although we have not finalised our topics for our research dissertation, since I specialise in contract management, my research topic would most probably around the limitation of liability under contracts or the role of negotiations and standard form commercial contracts between a global organisation and a smaller vendor. The reason why I would like to look at these research topics (which will obviously have to be further developed than these rough ideas) is so that I can draw on my professional experience and tie that up with academic evidence.

     

    What advice would you give to people that are trying to decide which area of law to specialise in?

    Whenever my younger colleagues ask me this question, I always advise them to work for some time and then revisit that question. Like me there are many freshers who have no idea what field of law they are interested in when they look for work and that awareness can only come after working for at least 3-4 years. You might find your niche in the first job itself or you might have to change your job more than once to see what you want to specialise in and what kind of organisation you would want work with. So, my advice would be to take a step back, work and gain some professional experience and then think the area you might want to specialise in. One strong piece of wisdom I would like to pass down is not to follow the herd; I know of people who have done a masters in IPR just because it is a popular course and right now they are dealing with civil and criminal cases that have no connection with IPR. Hence, instead of rushing into your decision, take some time to work and then decide.

    Skills-based learning and specifically writing is as an important skill that young lawyers need. What are some of the other concrete skills that students should look to develop, both as they go into their law school and during  law school, as they prepare for their legal career?

     

    One of the most critical skills that every law student and lawyer must possess is critical analysis. Academic/legal writing is a crucial part of your legal career but if you are unable to critically analyse issues and provide quick and innovative solutions, you cannot excel at what you are doing. The other very important skill is that of reading; I know it sounds like a basic requirement but it is an acquired skill. Be it at work or during law school and masters level, law is about reading and researching and if you take more than an hour to find an answer (you usually get only about 15 mins if you are working), you have already lost the opportunity. You must know exactly where to start your research and develop the skill of skimming through bulky documents (like cases and articles) at an efficient speed. This is the one skill (if you are able to develop it) that will be especially very beneficial at masters level.

     

    Is there anything else you think a law student should know before applying for Masters or that you wished you’d know before joining University of York?

    First step is to get in touch with an education consultancy. Thereafter, research as much as you can about the University you are joining and the city where it is located and ask your consultants about every possible scenario before you come here. If you are coming to UK, be sure to open your bank account as soon as possible and get pocket money for at least the first term because finding part time job may be challenging. Also, arrange for a local number before you reach (Matrix is a good service) but change the number into some local service ASAP and you must get a railcard if you want to travel around UK (it gives you 30% discount all year round and if you play it right, you might be able to secure it at a discounted price in the freshers week).

    York Law School is one of the best and the most innovative law schools I have come across and I’m glad I made this choice even though some people did suggest London is a better place for masters.

     

    How is your experience so far? Tell us about the faculty and facilities. Anything memorable that is stuck in your mind?

    As I said earlier, York Law School is an unconventional schools I have come across and what has really stuck with me here is that not only do they say but they also treat students like young colleagues. This culture is absolutely amazing because it sheds the junior and senior and student and lecturer barriers and just encourages creativity and critical awareness about each other. The law school teaches and learns from its students simultaneously and its process of reflective writing once a module or term is over and feedback on each module after its completion provides room for constant improvement. In fact, that is the culture all around this University, every department conducts feedback surveys to constantly improve the experience of the students here.

    The faculty here is young and vibrant and very approachable; there are no constraints in walking up to the lecturers and have a chat with them about any issues you may be facing. Every student has a dedicated personal advisor who helps them throughout the course, be it academically or personally. There is a centre for English language which provides tips and workshops on how to improve your communication (especially when in an inter-cultural group) and improving your academic writing skills, including technical errors with regard to referencing and plagiarism.

    The facilities at the University are endless. It has a separate area for postgraduate students in the law school as well as the library, which is great for group study sessions. Also, the library has a wide range of books available and there are dedicated subject guides for each field where you can access over a million journals, legal websites, international law websites, local jurisdictions, and so on and so forth.

     

    What are your long term objectives?

    Although I don’t plan that ahead but since I’m a hardworking and driven individual, I see myself as an expert in commercial lawyer and an exceptional manager. I will of course eventually, if the time is right, move into starting my own company where I will not only provide exceptional client service but also be responsible for shaping young legal minds and providing them with international professional environment that I wish I had when I started working.

     

    Lastly, what would be your parting message for our readers?

    I would like to wish everyone, freshers and working professionals, all the very best for their careers and just hope they can be themselves. I hope they try something different and do something innovative in their careers and shape bring the Indian legal community up to international standards. No doubt, many Indian law firms are already setting international standards in India, but I believe it is on us, the younger and present generation, to take those standards to a whole new level such that our law schools, degrees and experience is taken into account at an international platform as well.

  • Praveen Sharma, Business Head at Interactive Media on opting for LL.B after MBA

    Praveen Sharma, Business Head at Interactive Media on opting for LL.B after MBA

    Praveen Sharma is a Commerce and an MBA graduate from Kurukshetra University. Right after his MBA he opted for an LL.B from Delhi University and graduated as a lawyer in 2013. Most of you would know about CAClubIndia.com, LawyersClubIndia.com and MBAClubIndia.com; Praveen is the Business Head of Marketing & Partnership of Interactive Media Pvt. Ltd., the company which runs these famous websites.

    Praveen tells us about:

    • Opting for LL.B as a professional requirement after an MBA
    • The formidable mix of LL.B + MBA
    • Work as a Business Head at Interactive Media
    • Utility of online legal courses juxtaposed with the 3 year LL.B

     

    Please introduce yourself to the readers? Please tell us a little bit about your childhood and your background?

    I’m a traveller, sketcher, stage actor and a football enthusiast who believes that in life “knowing what you don’t want to do is more important than knowing what you want to”. My father was in the Indian Airforce. I was born in Srinagar where he was then posted. Originally from Jind, Haryana, my childhood was spent in Pune and teenage days lived in Ambala. After MBA I pursued LL.B from Delhi University and since then I am in Delhi. Since my childhood days, I am a keen observer of people and nature. Travelling helped me to build my skill of observation & correlation.  Currently I am the Business Head of Marketing & Partnership at Interactive Media Pvt. Ltd (CAclubindia.com, LAWyersclubindia.com and MBAclubindia.com)

     

    Being a Commerce graduate and having an MBA from Kurukshetra University, how did you decide to pursue legal studies? What motivated you to choose law after MBA?

    Hunger of diversification motivated me. My interest areas are varied and the yearning to learn more every day whether it is through experience or academia is always present. Marketing and Legal subjects were always my favourite and so I decided sometime during my schooling that I will pursue both. My inclination towards law and MBA was inspired by my dad who is also both – a law graduate as well as a MBA. I find marketing an expressive and creative medium while law is fascinating and insightful. I believe both if combined make an extremely attractive and great combination of skills.

     

    How was your experience studying LL.B from Delhi University? Being a marketing professional how did you manage to take out time for such an intensive course?

    It was rattling, versed and insightful. Delhi University has its own way of treating things. You will find dramatic political scenario during DUSU elections, debate sessions near tea stalls, Haryanvi tea talks and moot court competitions simultaneously. Everything is so self-driven there. Students are mature and faculties are wonderful and make all efforts to justify the course syllabus. Despite the lack of modern infrastructure, I guess the people who teach and study there make the environment conducive to a holistic education.  In evening class you will find people from different background like CAs, IPS-IAS officers, CS, finance and HR professionals who come there to study law. So you can imagine the level of diversity in one class room for one single objective of studying law. Every single individual has different reason and angle of seeing the particular subject of law – imagine how interesting that is!

    As for time, my boss (Mr. Vivek Jain) has always been very supportive, especially during the course and yes, thanks to Delhi metro which made it possible for me to travel 60 km a day on time. When you have passion for something and desire of doing that you find a way to get it done.

     

    praveen-sharma-1

    You joined Interactive Media Pvt. Ltd., as a Senior Marketing Manager while you were pursuing Law in 2011. Please tell us how did this appointment take place?

    After attaining Management degree, I quit 4 jobs in 2 months, including a campus placement and a job in a PSU. I was reading about some legal topic on the web and found “LAWyersclubindia” link there. I explored the website and it was quite helpful. I joined the website and then sent my CV in careers. After a week I got a call from Interactive Media that the founder wants to meet me for an interview. Initially though reluctant, I went ahead and gave the interview. The meeting was scheduled, I reached there and later Vivek (founder & CEO) came in – a 27 year old, young entrepreneur. We had a long discussion/interview at the end of which he asked me to send a small write-up on the company. I did that and same day got a call confirming my immediate joining. Initially I joined simply to meet my expenses, soon I started getting loads of opportunities to cultivate my skills and learn more- the advantages of working in a start up venture. Vivek trusted me and here I am today.

     

    Please introduce Interactive Media Pvt. Ltd. to our readers. What are the main focus areas, and who form your target clientele?

    Interactive media is a company having three brands (websites) i.e. CAclubindia.com, LAWyersclubindia.com and MBAclubindia.com, these connect more than 1.7 million finance, legal and management professionals. By the end of 2015 we hope to reach out to more than 2 million professionals. Our ideology is to connect users, specifically professionals, to provide a platform to share, exchange and distribute knowledge amongst the fraternity. The registration is free of cost for all and anyone can contribute to the community.

    We have also introduced e-learning classes (asynchronous mode) with CCI Online Classes on CAclubindia.com in 2012, followed by LCIlexlearn  on LAWyersclubinia.com and MCI learning corner on MBAclubindia.com in 2014. Currently more than 15,000 students are enrolled with us across the globe. The main focus area of e-learning classes is to provide value addition certificate courses at affordable price for our members.

    We get some revenue to maintain running cost from our ad sales and our clientele include some of the financial and legal giants like KPMG, CIMA, ACCA, Thomson Reuters, Becker, Microsoft, Intuit, NIIT etc.

     

    Being the Business Head of both Marketing & Partnership at Interactive Media Pvt. Ltd. what kind of responsibilities revolve around your job and what kind of activities do you undertake?

    I am primarily responsible for building business partnerships, strategic alliances and branding & marketing of all three portals and sub-brands. I am also involved in new product development & projection strategies. I represent our company on various platforms and am involved in career counselling, motivational and technical seminars, conducting interviews of stalwarts & taking live hangouts. I also take up training classes of the sales and editorial team of the in-house employees & freelancers. In a nutshell my responsibilities revolve around exploring, strategizing & executing the new horizons for various alliances & partnerships and undertaking the holistic marketing activities for a DotCom and e-learning company.

     

    praveen-sharma-3

    How does your knowledge in law help you in your current work profile? How do you think knowing law can help an entrepreneur?

    My studying law has given me a huge advantage at work. Firstly, we have a website ‘LAWyersclubindia.com’, so it’s easy for me to understand and support operational activities on the website. Secondly, we do lots of partnerships with Indian and foreign entities, my education gave me insight and perception to understand the agreements properly, to negotiate fairly, and to be able to ensure that there are no loopholes which might result in our loss and at the same time taking care of the rights and interests of the other party. It also makes it easy for me to handle technical queries and address them effectively.

    As we are a dot-com company and deal with immense user generated content and so we have to deal with copyright related issues, IT laws on content sharing, user terms and conditions etc. When you have one or two lawyers in your team you can be confident while dealing with such issues.

    Whereas in e-learning we deal with content from third party so Intellectual Property Right comes into the play here. My law background helps me to understand and deal with such issues and gain confidence over partners. Thus, having the basic education in law has given me an immense advantage.

    As knowing finance is a must for entrepreneurs so is basics of law which directly affects their business. Understanding the related laws help an entrepreneur to make new product development strategy or starting a new partnership or venture.  It also gives insight in making a marketing policy. New budding entrepreneurs coming up with startups and running SMEs must learn the basics of law and related laws to their business.

    I believe that every individual should have basic education with regard to their rights and duties. For example laws related to protection against domestic violence, rape, road accident. Laws related to insurance, rights of a minor and more. This helps an individual to exercise their rights and get a broader view of the issue at hand. It helps society to mature as a whole. And a matured society develops faster and remains culturally stable.

     

    How do you think this formidable mix of MBA and LL.B can help people working in a similar profile? Would you recommend Management and Marketing professionals to learn the law?

    MBA+LLB is a great combination. It helps you develop a unique skill set which enables you to mitigate complex business situations by understanding the legal issues related to the situation and taking the managerial approach to solve the problem.  It gives you an advantage over your peers. You become aware of the power of words and use it advantageously. There are great career options available in the industry requiring the blended skill set of these two degrees. For example: legal consultancy, social networking, content marketing, legal journalism, business consultancy and many more. I strongly recommend management and marketing professionals to learn law.

    I take care of social media marketing for our brands. Now, I should be well versed with cyber laws, IT and social media laws because I need to deal with related issues in my day to day work. So, one can do small courses to have a better understanding of the areas which deals with his/her job profile.

     

    If there were any part-time online diplomas in Business Laws awarded by one of the top law schools, like the one from NUJS and iPleaders, would you have taken it up?

    Certainly yes! We need to take a pragmatic approach and undertake such certificate and diploma courses to enhance our corporate skills. It is great option for the young graduates and for professionals who are unable to attend full time college due to time and geographical constraints. Online courses are very popular these days and if such diploma course is there online or in my city which gives me flexibility of attending classes I would love to do such course. This kind of certificate/diploma course will have the industry acceptance and it will impart you with updated knowledge and skills.

     

    What are your long term plans? Do you consider getting into a mainstream legal career ever?

    Mainstream legal career, do you mean litigation? 😀

    Whenever you see shows likes Suits, Boston Legal, The Practice, etc. you feel that urge to go into the court house, argue there and win the case with your charming and witty arguments. But frankly, I am quite satisfied with my current job, I love my job and what I get to do. It gives me the space to think out of the box and come up with new things while letting me stay connected to law. I work on numerous projects at the same time, and there is never a dull moment.

    My long term plan is to be happy and enjoy my work… whatever I choose to do or not to do.

    What would be your message to marketing and management professionals who are thinking of taking up legal studies?

    You have to have love for this profession and desire to learn law. Only then you will be able to use the acquired knowledge properly, to grow intellectually, to help others and to share knowledge.

    Marketing and management professionals should definitely study laws which are directly related to their job profile & business. In general also they should have basic legal understanding. For example if you are a social media manager you must understand copyright laws, Social media laws, cyber laws etc. Finally, the core competency for us is to be able to think and work in diverse situations. So it is a must to know something about everything. Don’t be scared to diversify.

     

    काममयएवायंपुरुषइति। सयथाकामोभवतितत्क्रतुर्भवति।

    यत्क्रतुर्भवतितत्कर्मकुरुते। यत्कर्मकुरुतेतदभिसंपद्यते॥

    You are what your deep, driving desire is

    As your desire is, so is your will

    As your will is, so is your deed

    As your deed is, so is your destiny!

     

  • Anant Raje on choosing NUS over LSE, applying for LL.M and writing an SoP

    Anant Raje on choosing NUS over LSE, applying for LL.M and writing an SoP

    Anant Raje is a graduate from National Law Institute University, Bhopal (Batch of 2012). He has an enviable academic record and an excellent series of internships at top law firms. He has multiple publications to his name. Soon after graduation he started working at Samvatsar Advocates and Associates, Indore where he worked for two years. Currently, he is pursuing Masters in Corporate and Financial Services Law from National University of Singapore.

    In this interview, Anant talks about:

    • Quitting job and aspiring for higher studies
    • Choosing NUS, Singapore over LSE, London
    • Writing an SoP and getting recommendation letters

     

    Please introduce yourself to the readers. Tell us a little about your childhood and your background.

    I am from Indore and have spent all my childhood there. I come from a family of doctors but chose a different career path. I graduated from NLIU Bhopal and am currently pursuing my Master’s degree in Corporate and Financial Services Law at NUS Singapore.

     

    When did you decide to take up law as a career? Tell us something about your college life. Being a law student, were you only focused on academics? How was the academic pressure?

    I would not say that being a lawyer was a childhood dream. However, since a legal background seemed to be a consistent trend in the modern leadership and because law as a profession requires an individual to develop various aspects his personality, I found this attractively challenging.

    The fact that I would be exposed to various subjects ranging from sociology to corporate law and at the same time get to participate in extra-curricular activities drew me towards the NLUs. This was the reason why I chose to take up mooting in college. I was lucky enough to do well in the internal pool selections and go on to represent the university in Jessup International Moot Court Competition, where our team won a memorial awardin the national rounds and Henry Dunant Moot Court Competition, where we made it to the Semi-finals and won the best memorial award.

    For developing a habit of hard work and critical thinking, I would give credit to such competitions, publishing papers and the rigorous curriculum.

     

    What were your areas of interest during your graduation? How did you go about developing expertise and knowledge in these areas?

    Frankly, there were so many subjects to discover and know more about, that having interest in only one was tough. I was attracted to all of them and enjoyed watching them in action in the daily news. I did have some predilection towards Financial Law, Banking Law and Constitutional Law because of their large scale as well as grass-root level implications. It was for the same reason that I enjoyed Public International Law. It is deeply connected to international politics and its function in the international dynamics found my interest.

    As I mentioned earlier, trying to find the application of such laws in the daily news went a long way in helping me understand these fields better. Mooting and internships contributed to a great extent.

     

    As a law student which activities did you participate in? Tell us about your law school journey.

    Apart from the extra-curriculars, I was engaged in several organisational activities in college. These included cultural events and inter-college moots and arbitration competitions. It was always satisfying to work along with my friends towards the success of such events. I also spent my spare time working on publication in law journals, both domestic and international as well as legal magazines.

    I would say that the law school journey was rather enriching and rewarding. Living in a high competition environment teaches a person to work towards their goals even where success is a hard to get.

     

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

    I tried to keep my internships as varied as possible from consumer forums and litigating firms to bigger law firms. One must remember that law is a field with too many options and one must explore them as widely as possible before making a choice. This kind of exploration provides us with a variety of experiences and a wide knowledge base.

     

    anant-raje-2

    Recently, you’ve joined National University of Singapore for LL.M. in Corporate & Financial Law. When you decided to quit job and pursue LL.M? What was your motivation behind doing LL.M.?

    I had taken up a job with a firm in Indore as it did not have tightly compartmentalized teams and it gave me the option of exploring a variety of fields at the same place. It also gave me some time to prepare for the civil services exam without losing touch with the legal field. I had placed a predetermined limit on the years I would spend on it and although my attempt at the examination was not successful, it was enriching in itself; especially as a lawyer. On the parallel, my job enabled me to zero-in on the field of law that I would like to specialize in. The next step was to apply for LLM. From what I had understood and experience proved me right, was that LLM would familiarize me with the core concepts and principles of the relevant laws with a multi-jurisdictional approach. It increases one’s ability to understand the rationale behind the law and enables a person to apply it with acumen and dexterity.

     

    How did you choose NUS over others? How did you go about choosing a university?

    Amongst other options, choosing between LSE and NUS was the toughest. Both the universities had similar curriculums, I was getting the specialization of my choice and the professors were equally accomplished with years of practical experience. Of course LSE also has a bigger brand value. But the fact that many of the NUS modules had an international as well as Asia centric approach attracted me to the curriculum. In the duration of this course, we have been exposed to Asian, European as well as American laws and legal principles. Also, a full scholarship awarded to me by NUS made it the logical choice.

     

    How did you go about writing your SOP? Are there any key factors which one should keep in mind before writing the SOP? How about recommendation letters? Who all recommended you to pursue LL.M?

    I believe the best way to write an SOPs is by avoiding taking a leaf out of other’s books. It just has to be an original and honest statement about one’s own goals, accomplishments and reasons for pursuing the degree. It should, however, not be a baseless rhetoric. One must spend weeks on each SOP, crafted uniquely for each university. It needs to be based in a thorough research on the goals of that university, the background of the professors, their mission statements and the current developments in the relevant fields. Since, LLM courses do not have entrance exams, one’s CV, the SOPs and the recommendation letters go a long way in one’s selection.

    It is best to approach the faculty that knows you best for the academic recommendation letters. It is best to plan it all well in advance and give the faculty enough time to write good recommendations. It also helps to send one’s CV across along with a request for recommendations to give them a reference of your accomplishments.

     

    How different is the style of teaching at NUS? Do they focus more on the practical aspects of the law as compared to the NLUs?

    As I said earlier, the curriculum at NUS is just what I had expected and I am thoroughly satisfied with it. The course always attempts to keep the larger picture in mind while dealing with the depths of the laws. The pedagogy is concept based and very practical. Even examinations require the candidates to write legal opinions and tender advice in hypothetical situations. The classroom environment is vibrant in most of the lectures and requires the students to speak up and analyse constantly. It really coaxes a person to think and not just accept what is being taught. Even in the NLUs some of the good teachers had a very similar approach. They did not care about whether a student is quoting the names of the cases right or regurgitating provisions verbatim. They required students to give logical and legally sound arguments and these are the subjects that I had understood best.

     

    What is your topic of research for LL.M? Why did you choose that subject for research? How is your experience so far?

    The course at NUS offers a variety of modules within a larger area of specialization and within each module there are research papers or assignments that need to be submitted. One has the option of choosing a topic of one’s own liking, subject to the professor’s approval. For example, in one such module I was required to device an enforcement regime for insider trading offences in financial markets and in another I wrote a paper on the legal nature of banker-customer relationship and its larger implications in regulatory laws. I found these modules very educational and thought inducing. They teach us to open up our minds to all the possible perspectives, analyse them and come up with novel arguments and suggestions. It is intellectually challenging and hence stimulating.

     

    Does NUS provide students with scholarships? Are there any other institutions, which provide scholarships?

    Yes NUS automatically considers every applicant for scholarships and awards them on the basis of merit. It is best to keep track of policy changes and exceptions introduced on their website. Apart from scholarships awarded by NUS, Indian students can rely on – JN Tata, KC Mahindra, Aga Khan Foundation Scholarships, Atur Foundation Scholarship, B.D Bangur Endowment (NIRMAN), Narotam Sekhsaria Scholarship, RD Sethna Scholarship Fund etc.

     

    What is your view on the latest trend among law students to pursue Masters abroad? How much of a brain drain do you think this is?

    People choose to take up masters for a variety of reasons. The most common trend is to seek opportunities abroad. One must, however, consider that law as a field is rather tightly knit in every country. It is rare, although not impossible that it would open up to an immigrant lawyer. An LL.M in itself would have some value but it is not a sure-fire method of finding jobs. It is best that it be complemented with clearing internationally respected Bar examinations for example the England and Wales Bar or the NY Bar. One could also consider examinations for Solicitorships or the Qualified Lawyers Transfer Scheme and its equivalent in such jurisdictions. To be able to manage this within a year, one must plan it in detail before setting out to do an LLM.

     

    What are your plans after completing Masters?

    I wish to come back to India to work, preferably, in the field of banking and financial law.

     

    Lastly, what would be your parting message for our readers?

    It is best to take time in discovering what they truly want to do. Some figure it out sooner than the rest but one must not rush into the rat race. In the formative years as a lawyer, it best to seek experience and knowledge. They are the strongest assets that a legal professional can have.

  • Arijeet Mukherjee, Associate at Khaitan & Co. on being an ideal student and law firm atmosphere

    Arijeet Mukherjee, Associate at Khaitan & Co. on being an ideal student and law firm atmosphere

    Arijeet Mukherjee graduated from Symbiosis Law School, with a gold medal as the class topper of his batch (batch 2012). While maintaining Rank 1, he won various moot court competitions and has multiple publications to his credit during his five years in law school. As a law student he has been quite active and participated in many debates, MUNs and conferences.By the time he graduated, he had received a PPO from Khaitan & Co

    We have taken this opportunity to ask him about the several decisive moments in his career amongst other things including:

    • Maintaining grades
    • Acing moot court competitions
    • Securing a PPO at Khaitan & Co.

     

    arijeet-mukherjee-2How did you gravitate towards Law? Tell us about your college life at Pune. What all activities did you partake in?

    I had a keen interest in matters that impacted the society and law was simply one of them; an option which I could take up as a profession. Looking back, the choice of going to law school was more than anything else, a leap of faith and as it turned out it was an excellent experience.

    Pune is one of the most fun cities to be living in as a student and I thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it. College life was not just about academics at any point of time, the whole experience of living independently with friends and making the most of it was extraordinary. All in all, college life at Symbiosis was definitely an exciting and memorable one.

    I was involved in various extra-curricular activities and represented the college in Philip C Jessups, Raj Anand and M S Rammiah moot court competitions. I also participated in the HR and RCPNE Model United Nations. However, the activity closest to my heart was the Make a Difference project, which I was involved in as a part of the Human Rights Cell of the college, wherein I used to teach drawing to children who used to live in a nearby slum.

     

    What were your areas of interest during your graduation? How did you go about developing expertise and knowledge in these areas?

    I was in a peculiar position where I did not have any one particular area / subject of interest per se, some aspects of quite a few subjects really interested me. For instance, I was not particularly keen on intellectual property rights law, but the aspect of pharmaceutical patents was something that really evoked interest. Overall, I can say that no one single area interested me the most, it was eclectic mix of subjects, topics and ideas which fascinated me.

    In this regard, to develop a better understanding of my likings and gain experience, I interned at quite a few places. These internships gave me an exposure to different fields and organisations. I learnt as much in my internships as I did in college, perhaps even more.

     

    You were one of the most exceptional students at Symbiosis Law School. You bagged a Gold medal for being the batch topper. Please give us a few actionable tips on managing higher grades.

    Grades are an important part of law school life, particularly if you are looking towards a future in corporate or law firms, so grades were definitely on my priority list. However, the cliché law exam clearing method of mugging answers never appealed to me. I had quite a few friends in law school, who spent months and weeks mugging answers and more often than not they were successful in getting good grades, but that was not something that I could have ever possibly succeeded in doing.

    My method of achieving high grades was simply studying smart. It is not the volume of materials that you study that can help you get good grades, but it is your understanding of the concept that matters the most. The way I used to go about preparing for my exams was to first identify the important topics, then conceptually understand those topics and create my own answers in plain and simple language, rather than repeating text book answers. This not only helped me get good grades but also made me conceptually stronger and most importantly, reduced stress levels before exams.

    One has to realise that the manner and method of studying is a personal matter and what suits one in all probability will not suit the other. No one can claim that one method is the best and the other a failure, I believe that everyone should find a way to study that they are most comfortable with and not get tensed over what others are doing. In these matters, it is best that you prepare on your own terms and not let others stress you out.

     

    arijeet-mukherjee-1

    You have been the Recipient of various scholarship and awards including Ram Jethmalani Scholarship for Excellence in Law of Evidence, Advocate S K Jain scholarship for topper in B.B.A.LL.B, Advocate Nani Palkhiwala Memorial Trust Award for Excellence in Constitutional Law. How did you go about achieving this?

    As far as the Ram Jethmalani scholarship and Nani Palkhiwala scholarship go, I had developed an interest for topics of constitutional law and evidence law. It was due to this interest that I ended up studying these subjects in greater detail and that was perhaps the reason I was able to receive these scholarships. For the Advocate S K Jain scholarship, I owe it to the study pattern I followed throughout law school of studying smart and not mugging. I must admit that achieving these accolades was not an easy task, but then when one is interested in it the task does not seem uphill.

     

    You have publications in various renowned journals. How should one go about writing papers and getting the same published?

    Publications are definitely a way to gain visibility and put out your work for others to view. However, the trend of publishing something for having a fuller CV is not something I believe in. One should not write for filling up columns in one’s CV, but one should most definitely put pen to paper if one is genuinely interested in the topic.Needless to say that the quality of the article depends on the research one puts in. One important thing to bear in mind is that the articles written should not be generic “gyaan”, but the topic should be distinct and innovative, such that it arouses interest. Even if the topic is general in nature, strive to put that one additional thing that will make your article different from the others.

    As for publishing the articles, there are immense opportunities available online, I highly recommend a thorough regular check on the internet for publication opportunities. The regular publishing hotspots usually have an overflow of interest but the unconventional ones or ones lesser known in India are the ones which must also be explored.

     

    Soon after graduation, you joined Khaitan & Co. as an Associate, how did your appointment take place? What worked for you in securing the job?

    I was selected for a one month internship at Khaitan & Co, Mumbai through college. I had interned in the month of March, which typically is a mad rush season for corporate law firms as it is the financial year end. This effectively meant that even as an intern I was exposed to some big ticket transactions and got opportunity to work on some quality matters. I thoroughly enjoyed my internship experience and based on the feedback, after a brief interview, I was offered a PPO in my fourth year.

    Some of the most important factors that helped me get the PPO were my internship feedback, my grades and my previous internships experiences. As an associate now, I think one additional factor which is considered deeply is one’s attitude. Usually interns are simply judged by their sincerity at work, this sincerity only comes if you are enjoying the experience of interning. My earnest advice in this regard is to enjoy the internships as an experience and you will in all probability do well.

     

    Any tips on how one should go about framing a C.V. and prepare for an interview?

    Keep the CV short and simple, usually no one reads more than a page. Highlight what you think are your big accolades / accomplishments and sieve out the minuscule ones. It is wise to tailor your CV as per the organisation you are applying to, so that the potential employer sees synergy between what they do and what you can offer.

    As far as an interview is concerned, in my experience the most important factor is likeability. One must come across as a likeable person, whom the potential employer would like to hire and make a part of his existing team. This likeability can never be faked, so one must not try to appear something he is not and one must be absolutely comfortable in one’s own skin. Confidence is another appealing factor, if one is not sure about one’s own answer, rest assured he is paving a way for a few very difficult questions ahead. In case you do not know something, admit it and tell the interviewer your limited knowledge on the topic in a confident manner. Some basic technical skills must be polished before the interview, which would off course depend on where you are interviewing.

     

    Many lawyers would say that the actual learning takes place in the years of practice. How far would you say it is true? What was the case in your situation?

    Unfortunately, it is absolutely true generally and specifically in my case as well. You soon realise that what you learn on internships and on the job was nothing like what you were taught in law school. This gap between class room teaching and real life practice is unfortunate and the system of theoretical teaching has to undergo a change so that we have more street smart lawyers. Till the time the system changes, as a student one can greatly enhance one’s learning curve by interning as much at as many different places and organisations as possible.

     

    It’s been more than two years of your work experience in corporate law. What would you say contributes to the high attrition rate of the top law firms?

    There are many factors such as stress, pressure, seniors, larger life callings etc. However, the biggest factor that pushes one over the edge is when one stops enjoying what one does. So work in an organisation as long as you enjoy working there, else move on to what you like doing.

     

    In these two years you must have guided a lot of interns at Khaitan & Co. What do you think differentiates a good intern from the rest?  How can an intern make a positive impression in the limited time they have?

    I believe that a good intern is different from the rest on account of his sincerity. This is not to be confused with face time or perceptions, when intern is given a task he should try doing it to the best of his abilities and that all there is to it. Interns are allowed to and even expected to make mistakes.

    I personally have worked with quite a few interns, and have a personal liking for those students who are here to have fun and enjoy their internship experience. I think a fun and relaxed working attitude definitely creates a positive impression.

     

    Life for lawfirmites can be very hectic at times. What is your take on work-life balance? How do you unwind?

    I have to admit that I am struggling with that. As is well known, college life at Symbiosis is very different from work life and it takes some time to get used to working in a law firm. Work levels and stress levels cross danger marks quite often,so one really needs to take a break regularly. As far as unwinding goes, college life at Symbiosis has equipped all of us pretty well on that front.

     

    What would be your parting message to law students who want to be successful in corporate law?

    For being successful in corporate law, you do not need to dwell yourself in books, enjoy the experiences of interning and learning new things. Look out for stuff that interests you and pursue them, and most of all do only those things that you like. This quotation from Warren Buffet pretty much sums it up:

    “There comes a time when you ought to start doing what you want. Take a job that you love. You will jump out of bed in the morning. I think you are out of your mind if you keep taking jobs that you don’t like because you think it will look good on your resume. Isn’t that a little like saving up sex for your old age?”

  • Suhas Baliga, Principal at Innove Law, on quitting Law Firms and starting up

    Suhas Baliga, Principal at Innove Law, on quitting Law Firms and starting up

    Mr. Suhas Baliga graduated from NLSIU, Bangalore in 2008. He thereafter joined Luthra and Luthra and then moved on to Trilegal. His work at law firms spanned a time period of almost 4 years. Thereafter he moved on to co-found Impact Law Ventures in 2012. In June 2014, he started up with Innove Law which focuses on investment and corporate advice to seed, early stage and growth-stage companies, with a team of three associates.

    We asked him to share his deep insights on:

    • Life at a Law School
    • Building up a firm clientele
    • Challenges of setting up a law firm on one’s own

     

    Tell us a bit about your childhood and pre-college life as well as educational background. Did you have lawyers in your family?

    No. I haven’t had any lawyers in my family as such. Is it helpful to have lawyers in the family? Yes. But at the same time it is not necessary. You can also bring in lawyers into the family by marrying into one! The more difficult part of becoming a lawyer can be setting up a law practice from ground up. I wasn’t brave but had the initial good fortune of working in a firm which paid its associates well and which did not privilege family background but this is not the case with law firms in general. There is some preference for families not because we are a feudal country but because the way law firms are organised and ownership is structured, it favours closely held ownership and management, though things are changing. I never imagined myself to be a lawyer. It was a matter of chance that I went to law school. I was surprised and taken aback since that was the only law school entrance exam that I took while looking forward to engineering since that was something everybody did in Karnataka at that time. In hindsight I am happy I didn’t follow the herd.

     

    So did you prepare for a career in technology or medical before that?

    I did not ever think there is only one path. It is more of a question of what I found interesting at every point of time. Apart from being interested in politics, I was interested in pure sciences. In fact when I was in my 12th, I was either watching the news or studying physics. Because in science there were other subjects to study like biology and chemistry I used to enjoy what I used to do.

     

    What made you gravitate towards the study of law at NLS? Was it planned or just a matter of chance?

    NLS turned out to be a pleasant surprise. I was happy that I wasn’t doing engineering like everyone else and doing something different there. The fact that it was an Arts course where there was history and economics was fun. I always liked reading and writing and this aspect of the course was especially attractive. When I joined NLS it used to have a good public law focus. It used to have three constitutional law courses and three political science courses – I think the arts and public law aspects of law courses have great value in moulding an all-round lawyer. A strong grounding in constitutional law, administrative law and arts subjects also makes for a better corporate lawyer given its influence on legal and regulatory issues in general.

     

    Was the shift from science to BA.LL.B difficult?

    Not really. I remember having my first class at NLS where the professor was talking about a ball which was hit by a cricket bat and it fell outside and landed on the head of a fan in the audience, I found it all very flimsy. After calculus and thermodynamics, it seemed pretty thin. Also what puzzled me is that people used to make notes on these things! I never felt the subjects to be extremely challenging although I found some law subjects fascinating, especially where they intersected with arts subjects or where they are grounded in first principles, such as jurisprudence, criminal law, law of trusts, contract and transfer of property. Even after my 3rd year in college I wasn’t sure of doing law. I worked on a literary magazine for the college and everybody knew me as someone who writes and not someone dribbled in the professional life of law. Although I was sad when I was graduating because of not having extremely high grades, I was happy to have used the five years of college to explore varied interests and passions. In my own way at my own pace that was the best thing about college. In hindsight, I feel I took education like education should be taken. If you were to ask me, at the same time I did not take to everything about law school. I found certain aspects mundane, such as “mooting” and debates, even though a large part of my work today involves negotiating, presenting and having conversations with real people.

     

    Law school can be monotonous at times. What different things did you do these five years at NLS?

    I picked up on certain interests I had before but the law school culture certainly played a part by exposing new avenues to explore them, be it music, movies, theatre, women (!), books. There was much to do. I did participate in things recognizing that college is that period of life where you build relationships both professional/personal and expand your mind and explore new ideas.

    Grades certainly may be a significant criterion, yet ironically if an analysis is made between people who scored at the top of their class and their current state of affairs, the result might be surprising. Grades may give one a good push, probably a foreign law firm job but it is not going to make one’s career. In fact, as a lateral higher when you send an application I doubt your grades will be looked at very closely.

     

    Tell us about your internships. Did you get any institutional support for internships from your college? Any remarkable internship experience which shaped up your career?

    So as far as my internships were concerned, my idea was to broad base them and never to do the same thing twice. First year I interned with a newspaper, Second year I interned with Ramchandra Guha, Third year I interned with a litigator, and in my Fourth year I did a corporate internship and oddly it was then that I discovered some interest in the legal profession. My journey as a corporate lawyer started when I was with Lexygen in Bangalore. When I joined them in their first few months, there were only three lawyers there. Lexygen was an amazing place because there was this young team who were trying to build something big. They used to love doing what they were doing and continue to do so today.

     

    suhas-baliga

    Did you find that your law school education had prepared you sufficiently for the many tasks you were required to execute during your internship?

    Absolutely not. In no way did law school prepare me for an internship. Most of the internships showed me that the work as a lawyer often has little to do with anything that I had studied at law school. One of the major criticisms of law schools today in the profession is that they hardly put any emphasis on analytical and critical reasoning. They don’t learn the method neither do graduating students have an eye for detail or focus on the outcome of what you are doing and what the practical aspects are. You learn some cases and principles and feel very intelligent but the moment there is a real situation before you, you do not know how to react. In India, law practice and academics have been divergent and much needs to be done to bridge this gap. The intersection between teachers and academicians in the university and practising lawyers and professionals is very limited.

     

    What do you feel about the perception that students of certain ‘elite’ NLU’s have a much easier time in kick-starting their career as compared to law students from other colleges?

    It shouldn’t ideally matter which law school you go to. The only difference that I see, not to blow my own horn, is that in NLS during my years, we had to do some 60 term papers out of which 30-40 were serious, so that amount of writing brings in some amount of practice on how to write. So I do give NLS due credit for teaching you how to write. Whether you learn it or not is a different matter. With a lot of other colleges also they have applied the same model but most of the writing they do are for their final exams. I think it is more of a question of rigour and how much work you end up doing and if you are required to do certain amount of work it pushes you to do that amount of work. I think the greatest difference between what is considered a good college like NLS and others are the networks. And that is the only sort of advantage and this is across the board in every industry. In IIM Ahmadabad, your juniors and seniors all of them are from IIM Ahmadabad. It is an old boys club that you can tap into later. And yes there may be a difference in kinds of the professors that you deal with and the kinds of courses that you take up. There were some amazing batch mates and professors during my time with whom I built amazing relationships with. So there are obviously many intangible advantages of going to a good college which may or may not have anything to do with the actual skills that you learn.

     

    Like networking and alumni circle, basically?

    It is not just about alumni, but also the people who come after you in the college and the ability to network across a bunch of lawyers. E.g. I was Roll no 1291. There were 1290 lawyers before me. And now it has come down to 1800 or 2000 or so. There were 2000 lawyers from my college which is not such a huge number and a lot of them were well dispersed across the profession. So now if I want reference in different firms it can be somebody from my college, or if I want to hire people I may send reference to them. So yes it is a network, but more importantly, in terms of your college also you have a residential environment where people engage with each other a lot which has a certain intrinsic value. It is an example of a soft advantage which may not be directly linked what an institution is bringing to them but it is more like an ecosystem wherein it allows people from different spheres to come across, get to know each other and build a professional network. In the long run however, your ability to build networks is dependent on the efforts you put in, and the longer you spend out in the profession the less important your alumni networks become.

     

    So you may agree to the fact that it is more about the student community of the university and not directly linked to the university itself?

    Yes, and that is unfortunate and it is not the ideal situation. The university should contribute to who you are. I am not saying that NLS did or didn’t but there indeed is a lot of scope for improvement, and this is the same thing with an LL.M too. I don’t think a LL.M degree from Harvard makes one a better lawyer as much as give you access to another network. I do not mean to in any way discount the exposure that comes from attending great institutions and taking courses seriously.

     

    After graduating from NLSIU you directly joined Luthra & Luthra. How did the appointment take place? Tell us what a typical day at work was like for you?

    So after my experience in Lexygen, Luthra & Luthra had picked me up for an internship. My internship went well and I liked everything about it. 2008 was a fantastic time, I was interviewed, and they offered me the job. It was a great year even for people like me who were at bottom of my class given that half of my class was taken up by foreign firms.

    Once I joined Luthra and Luthra, I worked with the infrastructure, banking and finance practice. The first six months of Luthra were as or more challenging than five years of law school. Apart from hard work, having to learn very quickly, having to deal with clients, being in situations where you do not understand anything yet you are forced to understand. I was fortunate to have very smart people work with me and that was a fantastic thing to happen in the first year of your career. It was a great place to work at with a comfortable atmosphere and a fair degree of freedom to innovate and yet have high expectations. I used to deal with bureaucrats, anchors, policy issues and policy making, issues in terms of documentation for the infrastructure sector, how contracts should be modelled, high level discussions on how a project can be structured, and in an old fashioned way we learnt to read everything twice, be very thorough. It was also very broad based because there was the corporate side, the contract and commercial side, the legal and regulatory side. After 3 years I felt I needed a change, because I was doing a lot of things which I have done before and I wanted to explore new avenues.

    Trilegal offered me a position in Bombay and ensured that I will have a good mix of work that I had done in the past and what I wanted to do. I was there only for a year so I can’t really judge though I wasn’t really particularly thrilled with the shift as Trilegal had very little work in my practice areas at the time and I wasn’t assigned a stable senior resource to work with. It was in my time there that the bug of enterprise bit me. When I got out of Trilegal, it was clear that I wanted to do something which builds on my experience. It has to innovate and has to be the result of the knowledge that I have inculcated from working with law practice. I also felt there was much that could be done better and decided to move towards setting up my own model.

     

    You thereafter left Trilegal to start your own venture. What were your ideas while quitting Trilegal? What were the challenges you faced starting up with Policy Craft and Impact Law Ventures?

    There was no idea honestly. Like I said my idea was to build on my past experiences and skills that I had like in corporate finance, debt and equity finance, project finance,  and the various skill sets that I had,  and also in terms of building some sort of regulatory practice in terms of being able to do more in research and analysis and advocacy. When I started out the first transaction that came to me, and started working with similar early stage investments, it was 2012 and the early stage market was picking up. In the course of 2012, I learnt what kinds you need to deal with and the kind of market for legal service there is and I think that was very useful when I started working with my partner, Pankaj.

    After quitting Trilegal, there was one month where I borrowed money from my father. Unfortunately I had saved no money! I don’t really see it as a challenge but just me. I have been out on my own for two and a half years now and I see this as a lot less risky as opposed to working with a law firm. Over there, you tick one or two people off and you may just get fired. In a law practice where you serve clients, the relationship is more goal oriented and broad based. It may be risky to have a technology start-up but that is not the case with a law start-up. The latter is built on relationships with clients who trust you, which if maintained well are relationships for life.

     

    You have worked at larger law firms earlier and then after starting your own firm do you feel the work/life balance has changed? Is it more comfortable be your own boss or is the pressure of work almost similar?

    I understand bigger law firms better now that I have seen the business side of having run my own law firm. Most fresh corporate lawyers have an extreme sense of entitlement and typically don’t understand that law firms are a service provider and their clients are service recipients. When you think about the law firm model, or start your own firm, how to pay your employees etc, it gives you a greater insight into how a law firm works. People think if one becomes a corporate lawyer, then one has to draft documents, one would have to read this and that, which is like saying, if I become a Chef I would have to cut bananas! I think creating value for your clients using your abilities to the best you can is the most important.

    So in this profession, if you think that there are some people who get work and some who will do the work, then it means that you don’t recognize that work involves handholding your clients apart from drafting their documents or advising them or giving them memos. I don’t think the way the profession is structured right now; you can really make the distinction and think you are one or the other. If you do you are running a risk. If you can only sell and can’t practise the law, or if you can only practise the law and not sell or manage, either way you would be putting yourself at risk. So ideally, there is no such thing as a rainmaker. There are good lawyers and there are bad lawyers.

     

    Tell us a bit about your current occupation in Innove law.

    One of the things I learnt in the last two and a half years is that there is a community in India that is looking at building businesses which are driven by innovation and explore completely new models, either in terms of technological base or processes or in terms of the kinds of services they are trying to provide to the populations they are trying to serve. A lot of these businesses that are today’s small or that are growing have very interesting entrepreneurs, investors, stakeholders who are trying to build something larger tomorrow and this is the client base that interests me and I feel that the number of people who are starting up or building new businesses, need to go up and they have to do businesses in India in a way that safeguards their interests. So a lot of work that I do and that we intend to do here, whether it is with the clients, or with the policy or regulatory side, is focused on serving this group. We do this by representing entrepreneurs when they are negotiating their investments, represent investors when they are investing, represent businesses when they are growing, give legal advice concerning strategic issues that start-up businesses face amongst other things. This is just a simple way to describe it.

     

    Where do you see yourself in five to ten years down the line?

    So there are two things, in terms of 5 years and Innove law, I would like to see that the clients that we are working with right now and the clients that come to us will grow and will help in pulling the firm along. In 10 years from now, I would like to see myself having published at least one book. It can be fiction or non-fiction. But everyday what drives me is that the people that I work with today own tomorrow. It is fantastic to see your client who was fresh out of college when you first represented him is running a 100 million dollar company. There is nothing like that.

     

    What would be your advice to our readers who may be aspiring to start their own law firms one day?

    My advice to them would be that from day one, build relationships with your clients and colleagues and work hard. Read everything that comes to your desk.  Be imaginative.

  • Divya Mehta, Senior Consultant at Legal League Consulting on Legal Recruitment industry and being a Certified Life Coach

    Divya Mehta, Senior Consultant at Legal League Consulting on Legal Recruitment industry and being a Certified Life Coach

    Divya Mehta graduated from Symbiosis Law School, Pune, in 2008. Soon after graduating she joined Dua Associates as a Trademark Attorney and worked their for about three years, thereafter she left Dua to work at Lall, Lahiri & Salhotra. After working at these two firms she had the opportunity to work as an in-house counsel at Genpact and General Electric in their trademarks and IP department.

    She quit her mainstream career in law and joined LegallyIndia as their Legal Recruitment Head. Currently she is a Senior Consultant at Legal League Consulting and is also a certified Life Coach.

    In this interview Divya helps us to realise the answers of some intriguing questions about legal hires and recruitments.

     

    How would you introduce yourself? Could you please share a little bit of what motivated you to pursue law as a career?

    I have always been intrigued by human behaviour and trying to analyze someone’s thoughts is what drove me to study law. I found it exciting, challenging and was adamant from the age of eleven to pursue law as a profession. Although I didn’t quite zero down on a particular field of law back then, I was willing to take the risk and knew that I would eventually figure it out.

     

    Please tell us a little about your law school days at Symbiosis Law School?

    I wasn’t too enthusiastic a student, I rather took a back-seat when I went to law school and a large part of my law school days went in introspection and self-reflection. A part of me felt lost and unsure, that is when I realized, the only way to decide what I really want is to explore different fields of the legal profession. I used to spend a lot of time in Delhi interning in various law firms and independent practitioners, in order to gain clarity on what really interests me.

     

    How were your internship experiences? How do you say interns can get positive feedback in the limited time they have?

    All my internship experiences were diverse and varied from litigation to arbitration, corporate laws, intellectual property, human rights, banking laws, matrimonial laws to infrastructure and so on. My mind suddenly opened and I realized the difference between text books and the practical world of law and sure enough, there was a huge difference! I interned in some of the top firms like AZB & Partners, Luthra & Luthra Law Offices, with some Senior Advocates in the Supreme Court, High Court and made appearances in the lower courts, as well as an NGO – it was all very exciting!

    My experience as an intern taught me that good work never goes unnoticed. As interns we may feel we cannot add value to a firm or an organisation, however, there is always a thirst for good talent and hard-work. The best way to get a positive feedback is to be self-motivated and display enthusiasm towards the work you are given, and if you feel you do not have enough work, don’t feel shy to ask for work, also never say NO to work. The right attitude helps you go places.

     

    divya-mehta-2What were the biggest challenges in the first year of your graduation? How did you deal with them?

    It was surely challenging and intimidating at the same time to take a decision on either taking up a job or pursuing higher studies. I graduated in the year 2008 and was keen on going to London for an LL.M, however, that was the time the recession impacted the U.K and it wasn’t the best decision to make as there were a serious dearth of jobs back then and I wasn’t sure if it was the right thing to do, so I dropped the idea and instead took up my first job in 2008 as a Trademark Associate with Dua Associates in Delhi.

     

    You worked for a significant amount of time as a trademark attorney. How did you develop interest in the field of intellectual property law?

    I worked as a Trademark attorney for 3 years + in firms like Dua Associates, which was a multi-disciplinary law firm, and then moved to a boutique IP firm, Lall Lahiri & Salhotra which was more niche and specialised. I also got an opportunity to briefly work in-house at Genpact and handled the Trademarks of GE world-wide. It was a great learning experience for me and I got exposure on various facets of Trademarks.

     

    Tell us about the shift from being a Law Firm Associate to an In-house counsel. How different were the two experiences?

    A law firm is very different in culture and work per se from working in-house. Law firms are more focussed on the ground work and are in constant touch with the law itself. The difference between working in a law firm and working in-house is probably the same as “doing” and “getting the work done” i.e. actual work and supervision of work in most cases. However, there are companies that get a majority of their ground work done in-house. Law firms fall short in terms of designation, salary, and structure etc. However, working in-house ensures transparency and a fixed methodology and constitution, therefore, brings about job stability and predictability in long-term working.

     

    Subsequently, you turned into a legal recruiter and headed legal recruitment at Legally India. How did you decide to make this transition from being a lawyer?

    I believe our profession and the kind of work we do, should resonate with our personality and our passion.  I am a people’s person, social, outgoing and love interacting with different people. When I was offered the role of developing the legal recruitment business of Legally India’s jobs portal, Legally Jobs, it immediately excited me and I felt it was the right move for me to make.

    Although I was told by many well-wishers to be cautious about my frequent career moves and I was warned enough that this risk could leave a black spot on my resume, however, a deeper knowing or intuition told me to go ahead with this and it was probably the best decision I have made for myself, in retrospect.

     

    Having worked in the legal recruitment industry what are the challenges you have faced?

    In India, legal recruitment is still a niche concept. Barring a few well-known specialised legal recruitment consultancies, our minds are still not fully open to the need for specialised legal recruitment professionals in India. A law firm or a legal department are nothing without it’s resource. In order to comprehend the requirement of human resource for law firms and corporates, there is a greater technical understanding and research that is needed, which is why the law degree is extremely useful to work in the legal headhunting industry. However, the value of a specialised legal recruitment consultant is appreciated more overseas and unfortunately, has not fully sunk in with the mind-set of lawyers in India, although, there is scope for it to change in the future.

     

    Would you say an LL.M from a foreign university would increase the probability of getting absorbed in the top law firms?

    I strongly recommend an LL.M should be pursued only if the line of work you choose eventually, should commensurate with your specialisation, although a degree from a foreign university definitely looks fancy. However, to get into a top tier law firm, your LL.B grades and law school ranking matters the most.

     

    What would you say contributes to the high attrition rate of many top law firms?

    Long working hours and the lack of reward and appreciation is how of a lot of lawyers feel. When you sign up to be a lawyer, late hours is also what you sign up for. The concern is the lack of empathy your boss may have towards your hard work which can be a huge de-motivating factor and is one of the major causes for high attrition rate in many top law firms. After realising that burning the midnight oil did not really get them where they want to be, the next ideal move which is preferred is usually an in-house job.

     

    How do you balance your time as a Senior Consultant and a Certified Life Coach?

    My primary work is a legal recruitment consultant. However, life coaching is more of a hobby for the time being, which I pursue during my spare time on weekends mostly. I love meeting new people from different countries and understanding the complexities of human nature.

     

    As a concluding message, what would be your suggestions to law students?

    Thank you Ramanuj and Donnie for reaching out to me and making effort to set up this interview and I thank all your readers for taking out time to read this interview.

    I would like to give one small message to all your readers and all law students especially – it’s okay to be confused! Do not let uncertainties cause hindrance to your goals and career aspirations. Explore as much as you can which you’re in law school whether it is interning in different fields of law, or participating in extra-curricular activities such as moot courts or doing something completely different than what you imagined yourself ever doing, even if it does not pertain to law. That is the only way you will get closer to understanding yourself better. Once you know yourself, the path will automatically be clear. Wishing all the budding lawyers a fantastic and bright future ahead!

     

  • Surabhi Singh, Associate at AMSS, on internship, mooting and work

    Surabhi Singh, Associate at AMSS, on internship, mooting and work

    Surabhi Singh is a graduate from National Law Institute University, Bhopal (Batch of 2014).She has an enviable academic record and has an excellent series of internships at top law firms. She has a noteworthy mooting and debating record.

    With such a dynamic profile and her dedication to work, she bagged a job from AMSS in her 5th year of law school. Currently, she is working as an Associate there. We asked her to share her experiences and strategies she used over the years.

    In this interview, Surabhi talks about:

    • Importance of co-curricular activities
    • Securing internships with top-notch law firms
    • Appointment and work at AMSS

     

    Tell us a bit about yourself. How would you like to introduce yourself ?

    I graduated in April from NLIU Bhopal and am currently working at a law firm. To say more, honestly I spent the most time on this question. Not because I went into an introspection crisis as such questions put you in but I am generally a confused person constantly seeking this or that and mostly rejecting it. Without lauding myself for my confusion, I think aspiring lawyers/ smart individuals would and should identify with this.

     

    What motivated you to choose law as a career?

    When I was done with my Class X Board examination I wanted to be a doctor and today if I think about it I cannot point at why was that and why did I not think of law immediately? Mostly I think it was because I was a teen only focusing on doing well in my school exams and spending rest of my time wondering if I would ever look less ugly. So I am thankful to my father for adding some context to my chaos or lack of it and suggesting I study law. Fortunately I listened to him, read about it, liked it and sat for the entrance two years later.

    I think Law is not as much about a taboo on the field itself but the lack of awareness on the options one can pursue after it. If that is repaired, by some way or the other, this should not be an issue.

     

    surabhi-singh-1Tell us about your time at NLIU. Tell us about the highlights of your college life and your achievements?

    Life at NLIU throughout the five years was about learning, in the classroom, living on your own, participating in a group, the dos and donts of what to do before an exam night, like watching Breaking Bad before a jurisprudence exam will give you some wild ideas but maybe you should have slept instead. In short, NLIU gave me a certain kind of flexibility to live and read what I want and the privacy to do it.

    I tried to do everything while I was in college, badly or otherwise, studying, mooting, debating, writing. In my first year I came across International Law and loved it and discovered its nuances, mooted and researched and realized the trials of those sleepless submissions. Later I went on to intern at different places, PSU, Courts, Corporate firms, attending competitions. I coudn’t pick a favourite to label it an achievement but I have in the last five years seen a lot and read a lot.

     

    You have participated and won various moot court competitions. You have also won Best Speaker awards in few of these competitions. What is your advice to budding mooters?

    I think there is this joy in arguing on something you have read a lot and reasoned it within the scope of the argument you must make. So an important prerequisite is that you read enough and everything that follows your line of argument. Factors such as access to resources, institutional support, luck also matter but mooting requires a strong dedication more than anything, and good coffee, from what I fondly remember.

    If I had to advice in some words, I would say read and discuss, with everyone and anyone who might offer some perspective and make sure you know what you ultimately argue or write in a memo.

     

    How does one make a winning memo? According to you, what is the difference between a great and an average memo?

    A good memo is well drafted and well argued. It is lucid but well researched without sounding pedantic. Also much anguish goes into making it.

     

    What are your thoughts on these activities like mooting, debating and publications in journals? How important do you think are these activities in shaping the legal career of a law student?

    I have always felt that no amount of only doing one thing will make you wise enough to be sure of what you want to do at the end of law school or if that job at the top law firm is what you will want to do the rest of your life. Mooting, debating and other frolics might not be necessarily important for your CV for a job application but they will help you decide better and that is the smarter way to make any decision.

     

    What are the tips and strategies you would like to share with our readers who are currently law students?

    If I say I did okay in academics because I actually like studying and not because I intended to as much, I risk sounding ‘hippie’ but I will take that one. It helped that academics are not very rigorous and demanding unless you are aiming for medals, which is something I never had. I mean medals would have put a huge watt smile on my parents’ face and looked pretty on the wall but I never attached too much weightage to them. As far as strategy is concerned, it is definitely smarter to not fail, not get debarred, not let the average grade drop so you cant apply for that internship you always wanted to because it would be inconvenient to sit for the repeat and hunt for an internship. It might sound cliched but having a strategy helps a lot; fixing time to study for exams and then somehow managing to stick to it.

     

    What skills have you acquired from your internships and how helpful have they been in your legal career?

    What I learn from my internships was both in terms of working methods, knowledge and also how one manages to finish tasks in a social set up especially with large law firms, where there are hierarchies and work delegator and delegatee are often not in very close contact. What working and interning in a professional environment also teaches you is the importance of time and efficiency especially certain places that are so demanding that after working with them you would never send out an assignment before performing n number of checks proofing it. These things later on if you end up working with such a place help you adapt to it better.

     

    You have been a member of multiple committees while in law school. Do you think these enhanced your skill-sets? Please share a few of your memorable experience.

    Certainly! To begin with, in the initial years I would never have imagined asking someone to get something done, planning it and structuring it and executing it. Once as  a part of a competition organized in college I was a part of the committee handling media and writing alive blog and I had some great fun updating it, following up with a set of people. And the perks of these things are that you may start speaking to people in college and appreciating skills you never thought they had.

     

    You secured a job offer from AMSS in 5th year of law school. How did you go about this?

    While I interned with AMSS for the first time I realized how large things are outside the class room and how law pans out differently in so many situations. So that made me sit for the placement rounds that happened in college. To ensure they would consider me for an interview I made sure I had enough work experience on my CV relevant to them, and their firm’s portfolio. So my internships were planned and applied for accordingly.

    Tell us about the interview process and how did you prepare for it?

    I had read everything thoroughly on my CV; made sure I knew the basic law behind it and understood the concepts. I also made sure I was prepared with contract law, procedure and some aspects of corporate law. I scanned the important legal and commercial developments thoroughly. The interview was quite smooth and I was not asked a lot of technical questions but I was fairly confident before it because somehow I knew i wouldn’t draw a blank at anything.

     

    Many law students strongly believe that getting a job at one of the top law firms is mostly about securing a high GPA. Would you agree?

    To the contrary, I think law firms look for well rounded students. I know friends and classmates who have made to some top tier firms because they were smart people who might not have the highest GPA but their grasp on concepts and their ideas helped them through. While there is a great chance that you will work for a good law firm ,sooner or later, you might not get to do that moot or organize that competition ever again, so its better to choose the latter.

     

    If you could re-live your 5 years in Law school, is there something you would do differently?

    No, not a thing.

     

    Lastly, what would be your message for our readers?

    Spend your time doing everything, and don’t regret it.

     

  • Deborshi Barat, Actor and capital markets lawyer on passion for theatre, corporate law and LL.M from Tufts Univ

    Deborshi Barat, Actor and capital markets lawyer on passion for theatre, corporate law and LL.M from Tufts Univ

    Deborshi Barat is a professional actor along with being a corporate lawyer. He had graduated from NUJS, Kolkata in the batch of 2008, thereafter he worked at worked at S&R Associates, Delhi for a little more than two years. Most amazingly he took out time between all these and pursued his passion for acting and theatres.

    His first break was in a national award winning movie ‘Ranjana Ami Ar Ashbona’ thereafter he has acted in many Bengali Megaserials. He is currently pursuing an LL.M and MALD (Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy) from the Fletcher School, Tufts University. He is also an author having his first book in Magic Realism already published!

    Let’s ask him about:

    • His law school experience at NUJS and work at S&R Associates
    • His passion for movies and theatre, and receiving the first break
    • LL.M experience from Tufts University and future plans

     

    deborshi-barat-3How would you introduce yourself? Could you please share a little bit of what motivated you to pursue law as a career?

    I was interested in the humanities subjects in school, History, Pol. Science, Civics, the social sciences. In the latter half of my studies at St. Xavier’s Collegiate School, I was involved in debates and public speaking. Various things converged at a definite focal point, and suddenly I was giving the law entrance exams.

     

    How did you make the initial shift from a science background to law? Would you say it was difficult settling in?

    Not at all. I wasn’t cut out for Science. After a few months into the stream, I realized I would make a shift to something that augured well both for my skill-set and interest. Law was a much better fit for me.

     

    Please tell us a bit about your time at NUJS. Please tell us about the manner in which you approached academics while in college.

    NUJS was a lot of fun. I approached the academic aspect of law through logic, common sense, and understanding the broader concepts. Getting to the theories and tenets was half the job, obviously requiring further embellishment, but then what are photocopied notes for? Jokes apart, the environment in a lot of classes was one of inquisitive pedagogy, learning through questions, the old Socratic method, and that helped immensely to sustain interest. Other than academics, debates and dramatics kept me occupied.

     

    deborshi-barat

    You had scored an amazing 119/120 in the TOEFL, bagging the scholarship. How much effort would you say it had required you for this achievement? What prompted you to take this test?

    It isn’t very difficult for someone who’s been taught in English through school and college to secure a high score in this test. It’s designed in such a way that Indians, who are better in English than most other nationalities, can perform well. I was applying for a masters degree and so I took the test. Later, when I was looking for funding, I stumbled across the TOEFL scholarship and applied for it.

     

    When did you start pursuing acting? Was it one of your childhood dreams to act in movies, or did it materialise while at NUJS?

    I’ve been acting on and off through school, especially in the last two years, but it was only after I entered college that I started acting with professional theatre groups. NUJS itself wasn’t a catalyst to pursue acting. Since Calcutta is my hometown and I was enrolled here, I had a lot of time to act, rehearse. Acting in movies wasn’t really a dream, it happened accidentally. I’m mainly a theatre actor.

     

    deborshi-barat-6

    You have acted in the National award winning movie, Ranjana Ami Ar Ashbona, and many other movies and series. Please share with us how all of this happened. When did you receive your first break?

    I was working at S&R Associates in New Delhi for a little over two years, mainly doing capital markets work. I quit my job around the end of August 2010 to process applications for higher studies in U.S. universities for the next year. Since I was applying for Policy studies as well, I was required to give the GRE. Around the time of the test, the Airtel Theatre Festival was happening in Kolkata and my friends persuaded me to be a part of it. A panel discussion was organized to promote the festival, exploring the intersection of theatre and films. A friend of mine was moderating the discussion, and reputed director Anjan Dutt was a speaker on the panel, while I was a speaker too. Later, Mr. Dutt approached me to cast me in his next film, which was Ranjanaa. Subsequently, on account of certain pressing personal circumstances, I was forced to defer my admission abroad and stay on in Kolkata. During this time, I got a few more offers in a couple of other films and some megaserials. However, I did these projects as a pastime, not as an active pursuit of the creative arts.

     

    You are the author of a book, ‘The Hunter of Pigeons’, published by Partridge, a Penguin Random House Company. What is this book about? What made you write it?

    This book is a thriller. As a genre, I’ve been deeply fascinated by magic realism, and accordingly, I’ve tried to incorporate elements of it. The book, however, is a fast-paced mass market work of fiction. During the time that I was in Kolkata, after I’d quit my job and was waiting to go abroad, I had some time on my hands and began working on the book.

     

    Please tell us about your experience with FeminIjtihad as a Supervising Lawyer. What were the responsibilities you were entrusted with?

    A friend of mine at the Fletcher School connected me with Natasha Latiff, the founder of Femin Ijtihad, who was then working on a project in Afghanistan. With her, I render legal opinions aimed at strategic advocacy of human rights, especially for women in Islamic countries. I presently work as a Supervising Lawyer.

     

    How was your work as a corporate lawyer at S&R Associates between 2008 and 2010. Please tell us a little about your work profile while working there. What were the responsibilities you were entrusted with?

    I completed an internship at S&R and Mr. Sandip Bhagat, partner at S&R, offered me a job while I was in my last year of NUJS. I greatly enjoyed my stint there. Most of my work involved Capital Markets, with some litigation and M&A work. S&R has a superb work culture, with a special emphasis on quality, attention to detail and thoroughness. I learnt a lot on the job.

     

    deborshi-barat-2

    How did you decide to quit your job and start up with your independent practice?

    My plan was to process applications for higher studies abroad after I quit and leave the country. However, I was constrained to stay back in Kolkata for a couple of years thereafter. Apart from certain medical issues, I was helping out my family with some legal matters related to property and allied concerns. This prompted me to practise independently for some time, mainly liaising with other lawyers, briefing counsel, drafting, etc. Not only were the skills required for practice entirely different, the motivation and environment of work was different as well. Among other things, the process was far less efficient, slow, ridden with procedures, frustrating delays, etc. One had to get used to a slow-moving dynamic after the deadline-driven corporate culture of a firm.

     

    How is Masters of Arts in Law and Diplomacy along with a Masters in Law from Fletcher School, Tufts University. Please tell us a little about your course structure. What made you choose this programme?

    I wanted to use my law degree and training as a base and explore the Policy paradigm, including International Relations. Hence I applied to the Fletcher School where the keystone degree, the MALD, suited my needs perfectly. Once at Fletcher, I spoke to a few of my professors and they convinced me to apply for a joint LL.M. degree as well. The International Law course structure at Fletcher is one of the best in the world.

     

    How did you go about the admission process? What are your career plans after the completion of your joint degree?

    The admission process was long and arduous. I took a lot of time picking and choosing the universities/courses for which I’d apply, speaking to many people, researching. The process can be a lot quicker if one knows exactly what he/she is looking for, organizing the paperwork accordingly, focussing on the next step. I have a few career plans, but I’m happy to surprise myself!

     

    Is there a stark difference in the teaching pedagogy between the teaching model followed in law schools abroad and those in India? What are your views on this?

    In principle, they are the same. In effect, it’s quite different. The Socratic Method is followed more strictly in U.S. universities. The reading materials for each class are usually substantial, and one is required to have reviewed them thoroughly before the class, such that all students can engage in a discussion during the class which the professor moderates. Issues and questions are raised, clarified, argued upon. This may also be a reflection of education at the masters level, which assumes a level of maturity. I can’t vouch for all law schools in India, but from what I’ve heard, the teaching model in the country involves a lot of in-class lectures, where the professor ‘teaches’ (as opposed to leading a discussion among students) and students listen.

     

    deborshi-barat-5

    What were the biggest hurdles and challenges in the early days of your career as an actor? How did you deal with them?

    I’m still dealing with them! A career as a ‘professional’ actor is one of extreme frustration and patience. Acting is only part of the job, it involves networking, knowing people, haranguing directors, agents, showing up for umpteen auditions, etc. No matter what people say, there’s a huge element of luck. Acting merit is, I think, a very small component of the deal. I am quite bad at networking and following up, so I didn’t do any of it. My bad. My friends and family say I should push more, but I tell them that I didn’t sign up to do all that. I’ve been lucky to get the few projects that I did. Once in them, I tried to do my best. In movies and serials, I haven’t done a major role. So yes, they also serve who only stand and wait.

     

    How do you manage to divide and manage your time effectively? Have you thought of pursuing a career in acting fulltime?

    If there are multiple interests, one usually finds time for each of them. Of course, one has to have the right circumstances, and I’ve been lucky that way. Often, the time is divided into stages. For example, when I was working at S&R, I didn’t do any theatre. After I quit and I was on my own, I had more freedom, more flexibility to dabble in other stuff, things of interest, writing, acting, theatre. I’ve thought of pursuing acting full-time, and upon careful deliberation, I’ve decided against it. Eventually I would love to be a full-time writer though, god willing.

     

    As a concluding message, what would be your advice to law students who would innately want to try their time in acting?

    Law and acting have very little in common. It’s tempting to draw parallels but it isn’t true. Courtroom dramas are good for books and movies. If anyone wants to pursue acting, one should be prepared to give it a lot of time. Besides, law students already have the option of lucrative careers, meaningful work, by dint of their education. In that scenario, it is even more difficult not to crack in the middle of a frustrating wait for acting projects to come along.