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  • Sapna Sainath on being the Principal of Bangalore Institute of Legal Studies and experience as a teacher

    Sapna Sainath on being the Principal of Bangalore Institute of Legal Studies and experience as a teacher

    sapna-s-1Dr. Sapna Sainath is an Associate Professor & the Principal of Bangalore Institute of Legal Studies. In this interview we ask her about her story from being a law student to the Principal. She shares her experience as a researcher, a public speaker and a teacher. She also tells us about what is expected out of a student to make the most out of his/her law school life.

     

    Please tell us a bit about your pre-college years, you as a student, your ambitions as a child. Did you have lawyers in your family or among close relatives?

    I was born in Bangalore and have always lived in the old, traditional and conservative part of the city-Basavanagudi. After completing my schooling at Sri Kumarans Children’s Home (SKCH), one of the most well known schools in the south of Bangalore, with a merit scholarship, I did my Pre-University with Science in Vijaya College, again a landmark in South Bangalore. Coincidentally, I am now the Principal of BILS, which is under the management of Vijaya College.

    After II PUC, came the cross roads of professional courses where I had to choose between BE and Dental, as I had secured seats in both. But, I made my choice easily and very fast with Law. The reason being that, my father, Shri. Sainath, is an Advocate who specializes in Tax and Company Law Matters and, on and off, has been to the US to brief cases. It was easy sailing through seven years of LLB and LLM and I secured a First Class First Rank in both, all credits to the utterly law school environment at home. Because, by then, my brother had also joined Law, my mother was no less than an experienced lawyer’s office assistant and there always used to be a big crowd of people, the clients and juniors, with the top floor of our house being converted into another branch of the office.

     

    What were your objectives when you thought about law while still in the preliminary years of Law College? What were your goals after graduating? What were the options available to you? Did you want to practice as an Advocate just like your father?

    My foray into the academic line was simple obedience of my father’s instructions. I joined Bangalore Institute of Legal Studies (BILS) in 1999, an LLM in hand and fresh out of college. I was lucky to have had the initial mentorship of Prof. S.S. Alur, then Principal of BILS and teaching experience with an enthusiastic student community, which has only grown better over the years.

     

    You have pursued PhD from NLSIU. What was your motivation behind pursuing PhD? When did you finally decide that you need to do it? What was your topic of research for PhD? Why did you choose that subject for research?

    The year 2010 proved to be a milestone in my teaching career because that year, I registered for my PhD at NLSIU under the guide-ship of Dr. Sarasu Esther Thomas. Dr.Sarasu, has not just been my guide for my doctorate but a Guru in the real sense who changed my thought process and gave a new direction to my academic career. I worked under her for research papers in Human Rights under the Ford Foundation Project.

    My PhD dissertation topic is titled, “Employment and Related Laws in the Information Technology Enabled Services Sector (ITES) in Bangalore- A Gender Perspective”. My research has adopted a Feminist Methodology and the investigation is on women-centric issues like sexual harassment at work place, gender discrimination etc., I was conferred with a PhD in August 2014. Since then, gender issues have become my core research area and I have also published many articles in this area in Indian Bar Review, International Journal of Law and Policy Review, to name a few, in the course of these three years.

    I have realized one thing; constant, serious research is oxygen if you need to be in the academic field. It’s my passion for research which got me the enrolment in LLD at the NLSIU, even before I was conferred with the PhD degree. My research area will alternate between Institutional Child Abuse or Cyber Crime and Security Issues- only time will tell.

     

    You have taught a number of both traditional legal subjects and the trending ones from Criminal Law to Human Rights to International Law. Which of these you enjoy teaching the most? Also, which other subject would you like to teach?

    Though as a law student, I studied the subjects more from the examination point of view, my real studying and understanding the concepts came only after I started teaching. I have thoroughly enjoined interacting with students on law of Torts (it still remains my favourite subject) and Jurisprudence.

     

    Tell us about your teaching methodology. Do you encourage students to take notes or do you engage your students in active class participation? What advice do you share with your students on scoring higher grades?

    I have adopted a teaching methodology of my own without being overtly formal about the so-called ‘pedagogy’.  I just enjoy communicating and sharing with the students. The different perspectives that pour in from the students have been a great learning experience. Case law discussion figures prominently in my classes.

     

    Please share your journey as an Associate Professor at BILS.

    When I look back at my journey from being little more than a college girl when I joined BILS to being promoted as Senior Lecturer, then Assistant Professor of Law, then Associate Professor of Law and finally the Principal, I only want to thank God for putting me in a place which helped me grow as a person and gave me professional freedom to pursue my career.

    In October 2013, when I took over as the Principal of BILS, the institution where I grew as a person as well as a professional in the last fifteen years, it was my second milestone. BILS had become a second home to me and therefore, on one hand, as its Principal, it was an advantage being on home turf and on the other, it was a huge responsibility to be put at the helm because the aim to do the best and to perfection so, nothing should go wrong for BILS, was a bit of pressure.

     

    You have been a Chairperson of Board of Examination for MG University, Kerala. What was your scope of responsibility?

    I have held various University positions from which, I have had varied experiences in the course of these fifteen years. As an examiner, I have been in a position to tell students the importance of presentation in answering a University Examination. Having evaluated hundreds of answer scripts, I know what makes a scoring paper and what does not. Being on the University Board of Studies many times, has improved my editing skills.

     

    You have been invited to address several seminars and public lectures. Having been a delegate at the Seminar on “IP Management  And IP As A Profession” conducted by United Nations Industrial Development Organization in collaboration with Brain League. How has the experience been?

    Seminars and Presentations in the initial stages used to be on voluntary basis, but now it is on invitational basis as a resource person. Public speaking which addresses a target audience has always given me immense satisfaction and I have always come back richer with experience and contentment. Most of my Seminars are gender thematic which has helped me develop and recognize my own inner voice and strength.

     

    How do you say a student can manage to stay ahead of the ‘rat race’? What are your long term goals as the Principal of BILS?

    The most important milestone has been the establishment of research centre at BILS called- B-CARL BILS CENTRE FOR APPLIED RESEARCH IN LAW. As a first project, the Centre will undertake the research into an important area – sexual harassment of women at work place. The objective will be to review the working of the 2013 anti-sexual harassment law. It has already garnered much interest from the Women and Child Development Ministry (WCD), India and we are confident that it will go a long way. As a Director of B-CARL, I will be directly reporting to the Dean of BILS, who will be Chairman of the Centre. His rare mix of an IPS Officer, hard core Advocate and efficient administrator as Vice-President of our Management will add a new dimension because I will, for the first time, be foraying into research on the applied side as against the doctrinaire research which is a dangerous streak for academicians.

    From whatever  little experience I was fortunate to gain over the years, one thing about whichI am now certain- anything done with dedication, diligence and determination will bear fruit. I have been fortunate to find two gurus in my professional life, though a little later in the day- one in the form of my PhD guide and the other in the form of the Dean, BILS from whom I have learnt certain very important lessons and they are-

    • Total Focus & Dedication in whatever you do.
    • Perseverance- never give up anything that you undertake.
    • Most importantly, keep your word once you have given it.

    These are lessons not just for one’s profession but one’s life. They were not difficult for me to follow as I have been brought up with the same values. What it definitely did, was to reaffirm my faith in them that no modern work place or technology can be a substitute for values.

    At BILS we have always stood by these values as the first teaching with academics following next. Today’s students have no doubt more exposure than we did fifteen years back and that again means the competition will be equally high. Let each student remember first to enjoy the college life- it will never come back. Take joy in winning a moot, participating in a debate, presenting a seminar or gaining experience as an internee. Just as a busy man has time for everything, a good law student will have to do everything from internship, to debate, to seminar, to moot court, paper publication et al.

     

    Lastly, what would be your message to our readers?

    My message to students is- it’s all about time management. If you want what you want, you have to do what you have to do.

  • Pratika Shankar on bagging a PPO from WadiaGhandy, winning Best Student Advocate at Stetsons and importance of academics

    Pratika Shankar on bagging a PPO from WadiaGhandy, winning Best Student Advocate at Stetsons and importance of academics

    pratika-shankar-2Pratika (pronounced “Prateek”, as he puts it) is a graduate of the 2013 batch of RGNUL, Patiala. He is a working as an associate at Wadia Ghandy & Co., Bombay. He has a noteworthy academic, mooting and debating record and has gone about achieving things on the sole basis of his merit.

    In this brash, honest and gripping interview, he sheds light on, inter alia:

    • His journey from an intern to an associate
    • Getting recruited at Wadia Ghandy & Co.
    • Importance of academics, moots and debates

     

    Tell us a bit about your pre-university life. Did you have lawyers in your family? Why did you decide to study law? What inspired you to do so?

    I was born to a teacher-mother and an advocate-father- a genetic profile looking at which, one might completely dismiss my childhood to have been immersed in the deep sea of books and knowledge. But thankfully my parents knew better and let me make the most of my childhood, which was filled with all the quintessential colours of masti, shararat, mohobbat and cricket. From gully cricket tournaments to getting thrashed by school teachers arguably every single day (and mostly in front of my mother, being a teacher in the same school), to writing my first love letter in the sixth standard (and being thrashed again, by my father this time), I have been there, done that.

    Ironically, all ingredients forming the recipe of a good lawyer were missing in me all through my childhood, i.e., love for the books, clarity in thought and focus, etc. I was an avid debater, actor-director in plays, tabla player and a poet who dreamt of getting into the National School of Drama (“NSD”) one day. But then, childhood is like a honeymoon- a short but wonderful, memorable phase of life, which is immediately followed by the shock of reality and responsibility. And that how NSD gave way for the entry of law in my life- suggested to my mother by a colleague and passed on to me as a lucrative career opportunity in the 21st century India. At first I was dismissive as I had grown up watching my father stare at piles of papers containing gibberish every single day and knew for sure that this was not my cup of tea. But then, I saw Damini. Sunny Deol (the actor) shouting “tareekh pe tareekh” (the dialogues) in a full- house courtroom (the theatre) and winning the case (applause of the audience) – the decision was almost instantaneous.

     

    How would you describe your time at RGNUL Patiala? Also, please tell us one thing about your university days you regret the most, and one that gives you immense joy.

    My time at RGNUL, in one word, was an ‘experience’. It expanded the horizon of my world from one of the most backward states of the country to one of the most prosperous ones. I met people from different parts of the country, lived in a hostel, shared a room with a stranger, made new friends, got to understand the different (read drunk and bhand) states of human behaviour, engaged in petty batch politics, ego clashes with batch mates (and thus cold wars)- all of this and much more, all by myself. There were innumerable experiences, and each one of them had a lesson. I sincerely believe the transition from a child to a man is incomplete without spending some time in a hostel.

    Time spent in university was an altogether different set of experiences. There was stiff competition in the academics as well as co-curricular activities which I learnt to cope with. At the macro level, there were several institutional challenges. We got over some of them through our efforts, learnt to live with some in a matter-of-fact-way. My most enriching experience on the campus came from a third kind of institutional challenge we faced- which could be overcome with some effort by the authorities, but what I saw instead was tremendous lack of will. I was quite often reprimanded by the authorities for asking the right (read wrong) questions, and that also brought me face-to-face with certain harsher realities of the world we live in.

    One Regret- I did not channelize my time and energies at the right places and spent too much time regretting the choices I had made in life. This complex led me to create a superiority bubble for myself in the mediocre world that I lived in on which I kept floating it on the shallow waters for as long as I could. Had I come of out my bubble and dived into the deep ocean of knowledge and learning, I would have been a better person today.

    Biggest source of joy- I could write a book on this one, but let’s just say that amidst all the ups and downs of my stay at Patiala for five years, there was one perennial source of joy- not in Patiala but 67 kilometres away, in the city of Chandigarh. No matter what, I shall always rejoice my stay at RGNUL for as they say there is always a blessing in disguise- she is mine!

     

    You were the “Best Student Advocate” in Stetsons 2010 and a part of the 3rd-best team. Also, you were a part of one of the top 5 teams at Henry Dunant. Please share with us the relevance of moot courts and what you’ve learnt from it.

    I feel mooting is one of the most important events in the journey of a law student en route to becoming a successful lawyer. Most of my fellow colleagues would say that mooting is important only if one wants to pursue litigation, or to make the CV look fancy as you also pointed out. Here, I beg to differ with my learned friends. If you noticed in the first sentence, I have used the word ‘lawyer’ and not ‘advocate’ for a reason- I personally believe that success in moot courts are not only about your oratory skills, or a neatly formatted memorial. Rather, moot courts are a test of how much life you can pump into hypothetical facts and events and how many different vantage points you can create to interpret what is otherwise written in black and white. To accomplish this, one needs to (i) have thorough knowledge about the legal position; (ii) develop an out-of-the-box approach; and finally (iii) put it across to the other person (the judge) confidently, better than anyone else. I feel that these three qualities can be very effective armoury, be it in a courtroom, a negotiating table or a structuring meeting of a corporate transaction. Having given you all of this gyaan, let me also admit that my prime motivation behind mooting, and mooting well (remember my bubble?) was that it does look fancy in the CV!

     

    You were also an avid parliamentary debater. What about it made it one of your passions in university? Do you believe good speaking skills are beneficial for a lawyer even if he’s not going to litigate in the court?

    Well, debating was not a passion I developed in my university days. I was an avid debater during school as well, and thanks to the constant encouragement by my parents, I had already participated in around a couple of dozen inter-school competitions before being admitted to RGNUL. However, I was introduced to the world of parliamentary debating only at RGNUL and frankly, it was an altogether different level of experience and joy (credits due here to my teammates Nitin Sharma and Sourabh Rath).

    What drove me to debating since childhood? My love for speech, my desire to make myself heard and the sense of accomplishment I felt when my point of view prevailed over all others that were presented. I feel very sad that debating is always treated inferior to mooting and other co-curricular activities; it always plays second fiddle to the star ‘mooting achievements’ column on one’s CV. As per me, a good debater needs to possess the same qualities I mentioned earlier in case of mooting- knowledge over a wide range of issues and events; an out-of-the-box thinking; and confidence to present your point of view better than your opponent. Additionally, one thing which differentiates debates (and probably makes it even more difficult) from moots is lack of time. In a parliamentary debate, you get a total preparation time of 20 minutes to prepare 3 sets of speeches on a topic you may not know jack about. It might sound scary, but what is does is that it teaches you to think on your toes. You have to keep evolving and re-inventing your arguments, and mostly during your speech. And needless to say- you better possess these skills before entering a negotiation room rather than your opponent possessing them and putting it to good use to counter everything you say.

     

    Throughout university you managed to maintain an excellent GPA. How did you do it and how did it help you in your career?

    Firstly, I don’t think that being able to maintain a respectable GPA is any achievement to boast about; rather it should be the primary focus of every student. I mean, isn’t that why we went to the law school in the first place?! Honestly, in my own eyes, all the extra-curricular achievements would have counted for nothing, had they come at the cost of academics. Having said that, to be very frank, I was never one of those nerdy types you would find mugging books in the library every evening. But the desire to do well in academics was always there, because I was clear that if there would ever be one thing which would always speak for itself throughout my professional career, it would be the first heading on my CV, i.e., ‘Academic Credentials’.

     

    On a much more serious note, for my academic success, I would like to duly credit my effeminate handwriting and the constant support of Gautam Bhargav (Roll No. 320) and Aditya Ranjan (Roll No. 322) during every single paper, every single semester, which motivated me and ensured that I attempted each and every question asked in the paper!

     

    To my knowledge, you’ve never used ‘jugaad’ to secure your internships. What was your method of networking as a law student? What was the procedure you followed to apply for internships with leading law firms?

    In my view, when you apply for an internship riding on your CV without any jugaad, the kind of response you get is highly driven by two factors- the name of your institution and your luck (your CV must reach the right inbox at the right time). While nothing much can be said or done about the luck element here, I certainly hope and believe that with the students of the so-called lower grade law schools doing tremendously well in whatever limited internship opportunities that they get, in the coming years, the internship selection procedure will become institution neutral. This would serve two purposes- one, it will ensure that the best of the candidates are chosen to get trained at the best of the places, irrespective of how they had performed in an entrance examination three / four years ago; and two, it will eliminate the infamous jugaad element to a large extent, which has led to many students (including me) feeling highly demoralised and demotivated during their college life.

    As for how I could manage some of the good internships on my own, well, at first there was luck which created an opportunity for me, and then it was my hard work during a particular internship which led to better ones. You will appreciate the fact that the world we live in (especially law firms) is a very small place and networking is not that difficult if you actually give it some appreciation. Having said that, I also firmly believe that the only sustainable networking methodology is the one built on the foundation of your efficiency, and topped up by your confident, yet humbled and polite approach (never read that as a sycophancy- that is arguably the single most detested thing ever) while interacting with your seniors.

     

    You interned at Wadia Ghandy & Co. (“WG”) and then bagged a job offer. Please tell us about this journey from being an intern to becoming an associate. Any tips on how to crack a law firm interview?

    I interned at WG only once and for a period of three weeks with the banking and finance team. Honestly, this internship was a real eye opener for me in terms of how little I knew about the law and how hard I still needed to work in order to find a place for myself as an associate at a good law firm. So, I never really expected to be called for a job interview or for that matter even a second internship.

    However, towards the end of my ninth semester, I applied to WG and requested for an interview slot, which to my surprise, I was instantaneously granted. For me, it looked like the battle half won. However, with that frame of mind, I was in for a bumpy road ahead (a tip here is to always remember that that the real test is not procuring a slot for the interview, but the interview itself). Accordingly, the first round of interview was full of rigorous questions and answers (read questions and very few short answers). While I did somehow manage to advance to the next round of interview, a word of caution was thrown at me that my performance in the first round was not at all satisfactory and I needed to pull up my socks. In the second round there were lesser questions and lengthier answers and the interviewers were happy with my performance. Before I could jump up in joy for having procured a job offer, I was told that there would be a third round of interview, and this time with the big boss- Mr. Ashish Ahuja, the Managing Partner of WG. I was in serious doubt- given that I have already cleared the technical interview, would this be a personality evaluation round, or would there be more questions, difficult questions. Sensibly though, I prepared for the latter. Actually, it was not an interview at all. Rather, it was Dale Steyn charging at you on a WACA pitch with a swinging new ball and continuously bowling for five full overs with you having no idea after each ball as to what the next ball would be! The questions were not difficult, but absolutely unpredictable. I mean who could expect a question on Muslim succession laws straight after having terribly negotiated a question on renvoi?! But after getting hit on the body for quite a few times, I finally decided to do it the Rahul Dravid way- (i) Don’t flash at every ball and know your limits; (ii) Confidently play the balls within the hitting zone; (ii) Even more confidently leave alone the ones outside the off stump of your mind. You might score slowly, but you will also have fewer edges, and therefore the risk to get dismissed.

    Apart from a tactful approach during an interview, you also need an approach for the interview.  There are three suggestions that I would offer here:

    (i) rather than delving too much into understanding the fancy sounding jargons like hedge funds / private equity / project finance, focus on three core areas around which most of the questions are built- Transfer of Property Act, 1882, Indian Contract Act, 1872 and the Companies Act, 2013;

    (ii) keep yourself abreast with the day to day happenings in the legal world, including any latest statutory enactments and judgments; and

    (iii) always remember that no interviewer expects you to know all answers, simply because you cannot. But it is important that every word written in your CV (from your assignments during your internships to your hobbies) and all related questions along with their best possible answers should be dancing in front of your eyes for all times during the interview.

    One last thing- do not lie during an interview; trust me, you will get caught!

     

    How has your experience been so far with Wadia Ghandy? Please talk to us about the work culture in Wadia Ghandy and Mumbai in particular.

    My experience at WG has been very enriching. I have been working in the general corporate laws team led by Mr. Ashish Ahuja and it has been my good fortune to have worked directly with him on several matters. Particularly, I feel lucky to be working with seniors who not only give me good matters to work on, but provide a congenial work environment with a good work-life balance, which are things, as I have often heard, generally missing in a law firm setup, largely attributed to the tremendous work pressure and cut throat competition. I firmly believe that while the kind of work we get is very important for career building, the right work environment is equally important to ensure maximum efficiency. After all, if you ask an ISRO scientist to monitor the Mangalyaan while sitting in a fish market, I am not sure how that well would turn out to be.

     

    Please share with us a few things you’ve learned after spending a year as a corporate lawyer, which you believe the young aspirants out there ought to know before they step into the real world.

    More often than not, I hear the present interns and future lawyers say- ‘one automatically gets to learn most of the associates’ work while interning at multiple law firms for multiple times’. Please allow me to bust this myth for you. Whoever feels this way is living in a fool’s paradise because honestly, you can never learn to work like an associate unless you have actually worked as an associate. And the reason is expectation, or in fact the lack of it. As an intern, you might be over enthusiastic about an assignment you have gotten from a partner (and you should be, too) but when you look at the same assignment from the eyes of the partner who gave you the assignment, you will be amazed to see where it stands on the weight of expectations. The quality of your work will always be judged as a student of law, and not as a lawyer. And going a step further, if you think that “wo associate gadha hai. Partner to uska kaam bhi mujhe de raha hai” it shows nothing but your naiveté. I have taken assignments as an intern, and now I give assignments to interns. And after being on both the sides, I can tell you- the qualities which will make you stand out as an intern at a law firm are dedication, diligence, humility and politeness (again, never read politeness as sycophancy- you will get the most-creepy-intern award at the end of your internship). Lastly, always try and be as professional as you can. I don’t think I need to give any gyaan on the ‘real world’ after college- you will know it when you get there. Till then, no need to stress too much.

     

    Thank you for giving me this wonderful opportunity to share my experiences. I am truly humbled. And allow me to end the interview in the words of our own rock star Prime Minister- “May the force be with you!” “Namoste!”

  • Hita Kumar on leaving AMSS to pursue LL.M from NUS over Cambridge, writing an SOP and getting recommendations

    Hita Kumar on leaving AMSS to pursue LL.M from NUS over Cambridge, writing an SOP and getting recommendations

    hita-kumar-2Hita Kumar is a graduate from National Law Institute University, Bhopal (Batch of 2012). Her journey through law school has been one of an ideal student. While maintaining a good CGPA, she bagged a job with AMSS in law school. She worked there for two years. Currently, she is pursuing Masters in Corporate and Financial Services Law from National University of Singapore.

    In this interview Hita talks about:

    • Choosing NUS over Cambridge University for Masters
    • Writing an SOP and getting recommendation letters
    • Work experience at AMSS and leaving it to pursue LL.M

     

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

    I am not your stereotypical law student who loves hearing her own voice, arguing for the sake of argument and is very opinionated (no offence!), but rather more of an introvert who is not afraid to speak her mind when a situation requires me to. I’ve been told that I come across as very serious, sincere and nerdy, which is probably true when it comes to my work but people who are close to me know how nutty I can be. I’ve done my BA.LLB (Hons.) from NLIU, worked at AMSS, Bangalore and am now pursuing my Masters in Corporate and Financial Services Law at NUS. On paper I probably look like countless others, but I’ve probably gone through this journey with the least number of hiccups, which only goes to show that consistent hard work generally pays off.

     

    How did you gravitate towards law? Why law and not engineering or medical studies?

    From the unbiased ethics of law to the high dependence on insightful reasoning, I gravitated towards law for a number of reasons and not specifically one reason, such as wanting to be well-spoken, well read and highly regarded, wanting to be person whom you can trust to resolve issues and wanting to have the power to make right an injustice, to even know an injustice when faced with one. While I enjoyed science during 11th and 12thI never saw myself as an engineer or a doctor because it seemed too common a career choice for people who took up science. An alternative to law that I did seriously consider was a degree in Economics.

     

    How would you describe your time at NLIU-Bhopal?

    My time at NLIU was quite fulfilling and whilst it was demanding and academics were always a priority; NLIU was structured in the way that we were given a lot of freedom to venture into activities that interested us.It was up to us to take the initiative and develop our skills during our tenure as law students. I tried my hand at mooting, client counselling, negotiation, writing and organising events on campus. I particularly enjoyed my stint as part of the founding editorial team of the NLIU Law Review. Being a sports enthusiast, I often spent time playing basketball, throw ball and badminton. Representing the University for events both; co-curricular and in the sports field was something I always looked forward to. NLIU Bhopal is where I grew up. Entering law school at 18 straight out of school and leaving at 23, with lawyer’s degree in hand, my time at NLIU has had the biggest impact in my life to date.

     

    You have worked at AMSS for two years. How was the experience?

    In two words, a ‘roller coaster’; there were highs and lows, it was exciting and intimidating, and I left AMSS feeling like it was one hell of a good ride. I was part of the first batch for which there was a rotation policy i.e. we were with three different teams for six months each, before being allotted a specific practice area. This was a great opportunity for a fresh graduate like me, to work on different areas and different teams before finally being allocated permanently with one team. It gave me the opportunity to explore a number of areas of corporate law and get a broader perspective of the working of the Indian corporate legal system. While there was a tremendous learning of various corporate laws but also an emphasis on learning of other skills like client handling, time management, drafting and presenting. 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.The fact that I made some really good friends along the way made the journey better than expected!

     

    The glitz of a corporate job may blind a law student and he may fail to look at different career opportunities. Were you in doubtful before joining NUS? Why did you prefer to pursue Masters over your job?

    I think the emphasis in Indian law schools is always on recruitments and the placement season is invariably a very tough time for most students. The pressure of getting a job, if not a lucrative one, is very high. Being at NUS, I now realise there were/are far more career options and job profiles that I could’ve seriously considered had I known about them; which is why I feel it is extremely important to have a strong working relationship with your alumni, have a wide circle of friends and acquaintances including people beyond your law school and to never be hesitant to reach out to any of them for guidance.

    Having said that, I had to do a lot of soul searching before I could finally come to the conclusion that I wanted to quit my job and study for the Masters program at NUS. There was a constant debate about whether an LLM over AMSS is the so called ‘right’ way to go? Would it bear fruit at the end of day? A dear senior of mine once told me time and again that it’s what you make of the opportunities you choose that determines the outcome and not the choice itself.

    As to why I preferred doing an LL.M over the option of continuing with my job, it would have to be the timing. For me, it was the perfect time to take a step back and reinforce my academic foundation in corporate law. After two years of experience in the profession, I now having a better insight into how the business of law is actually conducted and I could explore this further by studying the areas of law I am interested in during my LL.M.

     

    When you decided to quit job and pursue LL.M? Was it pre-planned or it just happened during your law firm days? What was your motivation behind doing LL.M.?

    Pursuing an LL.M was not part of the original plan, at least not consciously. At some point, whilst working I realised that I was not ready to be an adult just yet! On a more serious note, I decided to give myself an opportunity to explore the academics in depth before I settle down into my forte. My motivation behind doing an LL.M, and a foreign LL.M at that, was to experience a different kind of education system and culture.

     

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

    My choice to study at NUS was a practical one. Having said that I was quite convinced that NUS has an excellent LL.M program, especially for corporate laws and has been consistently ranked as the top university in Asia. To be completely honest, the clincher, was the funding offer I received from NUS. I was granted the Faculty Graduate Scholarship which covered my tuition expenses which made the offer of admission too good to refuse. Whilst I did have the option to take up the MCL program at Cambridge, I guess the practicality and the positives that NUS had to offer outweighed the option of taking up a huge loan for a relatively new program. While choosing a University, it is important to research the actual program you would like to join by speaking with alumni, it’s not ideal just to go by the name and reputation of the University; keeping in mind always, your reasons and priorities for pursuing an LL.M.

     

    How did you go about writing your SOP? Are there any key factors which one should keep in mind before writing the SOP?

    Writing an SOP and the entire application process in general is extremely testing and can get frustrating at times. My guess is that universities intentionally make it so, to weed out half-hearted applications! I spoke to a lot of people who have been through the process themselves, all whom had varying but valuable input. I think it comes down to putting across those aspects of yourself and your credentials that you feel paint a complete picture of yourself and one that leaves an impression with the admissions committee. There’s no formula to writing an SOP but a couple of things according to me would certainly make a difference would be (1) the reasons you think you standout from the rest of your peers; (2) the reasons you want to get back to academics after your first degree; and(3) correct grammar! It’s also very important to get many as many people as possible to vet your SOP, the more eyes you get on your SOP, the more it will evolve.

     

    How about recommendation letters? Who all recommended you to pursue LL.M?

    Since I had only worked for two years before completing my LL.M applications, I requested my professors at NLIU to give me their recommendation. They were all very supportive of my decision and asked me for my CV to get a better idea of the particular work I did throughout law school. Of course, there is a fair bit of coordination involved if you are not in university anymore, so I would keep enough time before the deadlines to make all the arrangements and request for a few extra copies should the need arise.

     

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

    NUS does give out scholarships on the basis of merit. You may opt to automatically be considered for the various scholarships as part of the application itself. There are various other institutions that give scholarships (full, partial and loan scholarships) which are well known such as given by Inlaks Foundation, Tata Foundation, Aga Khan Foundation, Narottam Sekhsaria Foundation and the Mahindra foundation, amongst others. It’s important to start doing your research on scholarships at a very early stage and keep track of the requirements and deadlines.

     

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

    So far, my experience has been absolutely fantastic. My modules are extremely interesting and the Professors supplement them with excellent lectures and reading materials. The NUS Law faculty is very highly qualified and motivated to teach and engage students. The facilities range from an extensive library (with a large number of E-resources), to sports facilities, from well-regarded centres of research like the Centre for International Law, Centre for Asian Legal Studies and Centre for Banking and Finance Law to state-of-the-art use of IT in various internal systems like the Integrated Virtual Learning Environment, where all the materials for modules you have opted for are posted. Having been here only a couple of months now, I am still soaking it all in. What has been striking has been the frequency and quality of the seminars that are conducted on various topical legal issues by guests to the university. Though, the very first thing that hit me was that my lectures were 3 hours long. But as it turns out, if you like what you hear, 3 hours can fly by fast enough!

     

    How’s the Indian fraternity over there? Are there many Indian students?

    There are enough and more Indians here that I never feel too far away from home! I think that says it all.

     

    How difficult was studying abroad in terms of finding accommodation, finances and settling in?

    Singapore is an excellent place for people who have never lived abroad. It’s almost impossible to get lost, filled with Indians and generally some of the most friendly and helpful people. While the cost of living is definitely higher than India, I can’t imagine it being too difficult to manage your finances if you can budget your expenses.

     

    Where do you see yourself five years from now?

    Probably doing something that I don’t even know of right now, but hopefully something that is exciting. However, options that one could probably look at are working at a foreign law firm, a multi-national corporation, teaching, a legislative think tank, an arbitration institution, a legal team of an international organisation like the WTO, and many others. Taking courses that interest you, talking to people in the field and keeping an open mind will help things fall into place.

     

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

    While I have no regrets about my time in NLIU, I’m sure there are things I could’ve done better like taken a few more risks with internships, kept in touch with more alumni and stressed out a little less!

     

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

    Make the most of the opportunities that come your way, so that you don’t have regrets in life!

  • Anamika Ahir on appointment and work at SEBI, internships and publications

    Anamika Ahir on appointment and work at SEBI, internships and publications

    anamika-2Anamika Ahir graduated from NLIU in 2013. She was an avid mooter during her law school years and has multiple publications to her name. Presently, she is working with the Securities and Exchange Board of India. We asked her to share her experiences with us.

    She tells us about:

    • Recruitment process at SEBI
    • Importance of Internships
    • Writing for journals and publications

     

    Tell us a bit about yourself – your childhood, life before your career in the field of law and educational background.

    I remember myself to be a little reserved as a child. I took academics seriously but I was also inclined towards extra-curricular activities. I actively participated in creative activities like writing poems, singing, and dramatics in school. I enjoyed camping and outdoor adventures and ended up attending two years of NCC (National Cadet Corps) during school days. Lately, I have developed a fondness towards learning languages and I have already cleared first proficiency level in French.

     

    How did you choose the field of law as a career?

    I never seriously thought of pursuing law as a career. The idea was suggested to me by my parents, although no one in my family is from legal background. At first I was a bit unsure about it but after giving it a thought I decided to “give it a try”. Fortunately, I managed to get through NLIU, Bhopal and decided to pursue law at once. Since then it has been an awesome journey and there was no looking back.

     

    How would you describe your time at NLIU? What kind of co-curricular activities did you participate in?

    Law School was a remarkable experience for me. It was more like a roller coaster ride than a cruise. I have had numerous ups and downs, but somehow I’ve been able to land on my feet. All the thrill and fear during the ride has made my persona more resilient than ever. I think that the dearest reward I received from my law school education is the skill to appreciate a particular issue from various perspectives. This, I believe, is the most valuable asset of a lawyer.

    While pursuing law, amongst a host of activities I chose to participate in moot court competitions and presenting papers in seminars. I considered both these activities to be indispensable if I wanted to make the most of my legal education. Personally, I enjoyed mooting the most. I had the opportunity to represent my university at moot court competitions organised by the Bar Council of India and Chandigarh Judicial Academy. Presenting a case before a bench comprising of high court and district court judges was an elating experience for me.

     

    Which is the most important co-curricular activity in law school considering its relevance to the field of law?

    Honestly, one cannot classify any one co-curricular activity as “most important” based on its relevance to the field of law. The diversity in the field of law forbids any such general classifications. For example, a student interested in legal journalism might find debating and writing papers more useful than mooting.

    However, having said that, I would still recommend students to try their hand at mooting just for the experience. Moot courts are a unique attribute of law schools and this itself makes it worth giving it a try. Mooting develops all critical skills such as legal writing, researching and speaking simultaneously. These skills are more or less relevant for most fields of law.

     

    You published legal articles in multiple journals when you were in law school. Do you feel this activity just contributes to building a polished CV or does it have relevance beyond that?

    Publishing articles definitely has its relevance way beyond polishing your CV and bragging about it. The main benefit of publishing articles is reaped while writing the article even before it gets published. That’s right! The reason why publishing articles is held in high regard is because it is the best evidence of a student’s researching & writing skills. The process of research and analysis followed while writing a paper ensures the overall development of critical legal skills. It not only builds confidence but also reflects on your academic orientation. Keeping in mind the numerous benefits of publishing a paper, trying your hand at writing is worth the effort and the success in getting your work published is irrelevant.

     

    How should one get started about publication? How much time is required to write an article?

    The best and the easy way will be to work sincerely on the projects you submit as a part of your curriculum. If you have a well written project half of your job is done. Now, all you need to do is convert your project work into an article by adding the desired research and structure as per the requirement. This is ideal for students who have not yet ventured in the field of writing. For those who have already tried and tested their writing skills, they may identify topics of their interest which have legal relevance and then pursue it to its logical end.

    The time frame within which an article can be written depends on the subject of the article. In my case, I have always written on legal issues highlighted in current affairs. Therefore, it was imperative for me to finish writing within a week or less keeping in mind the ever changing position of law.

     

    You have worked at ELP, NDA as an intern. Tell us about your experience at these internships. Now that you look back, how do you think these internships influenced your career?

    I managed to score an internship at NDA through the Placement Committee of my university. The selection process involved screening of your CV followed by a telephonic interview. My work profile while interning at NDA majorly involved due diligence of companies and research work related to FEMA and Companies Bill. This was my first internship with a big law firm and I left no stone unturned to ensure that I make the most of it. Unfortunately, I fell very ill during the internship and was not able to put in extra hours of work when required. Nevertheless, I ensured that I did not miss work on any day and was always ready to push myself as much as I could during the office hours. Even after this I was lucky enough to secure a second round of internship at NDA.

    My second internship was at ELP. I applied to the HR of the firm personally and secured an internship. My work profile at ELP was similar to that of NDA as far as the due diligence and research work is concerned. This time I also got to draft and review agreements and affidavits in addition to the research work.

    The whole experience of working within the corporate structure helped me in gauging my potential of working and growing in such organisations at a very early stage. This helped me in making crucial decisions during my placements.

     

    Did you plan out your internships throughout law school or did it all just happen by chance? Any advice for the young law students as to how they should choose and plan their internships?

    By the end of my second year of law I had decided to pursue a career in corporate law. Since then, all my internships were planned in advance. Luckily for me everything worked out well and I was able to score some good internships.

    According to me following factors should be considered before choosing an internship:

    1. Firstly, decide on what type of law you want to pursue, the earlier you figure out which area of law is crafted for you the better. The first two years of law can be dedicated to discover which area of law you desire to pursue. It is a good idea to intern with an organisation which specializes in the field of law of your choice. For instance, if you pick family law or labour law you might consider an internship with either a boutique law firm or a practising Advocate focussing on the area of your interest.
    2. Secondly, the timing of the internship must be considered while making a decision. Any internship after your second year of law should be well planned and must be associated with the field of law you want to pursue after graduation. All the experimentation and testing must ideally be over by that time. Also keep in mind the part of the year in which you want to intern. If you plan to intern during the summers, don’t forget that courts are closed in June for summer vacation, therefore, interning under a practising Advocate will not give you the expected court room exposure.
    3. Thirdly, the length of your internship must be considered before making any decision. Most internships last for a summer. Such internships allow you to focus on your law school studies during the academic year. You can opt for longer internships provided that your law school attendance and examination rules permit you to do so.
    4. Fourthly, I would advise students to refrain from interning at big law firms in the first two years of their law school. It’s a well known fact that most big law firms do not accept interns from first, second or sometimes even third year of law. Any internship with such organisations in your initial years of law is a giveaway of the fact that the internship was obtained through personal contacts. This will reflect poorly in your resume at a later stage. The other reason to avoid interning with big law firms initially lies in the fact that law students at entry level are not well equipped to deliver the work expected from interns in such organisations.

     

    How do you think one can make most out of internships?

    There are mainly three things a law student gains out of internships:

    1. Practical knowledge: Internships are a device of bridging the gap between pedantic orientation of a law student and the pragmatic approach of a professional. In order to maximise this, interns should develop a mindset to let go of the idealistic academic approach towards work and focus more on the ultimate goal of “How to accomplish work effectively”. For example, if you are asked to research any topic, it is imperative for the intern not to begin with an academic approach. It is always a good idea to “ASK QUESTIONS” and to know the background in which a specific research work is given before you start your full-fledged research. Most of the time the person giving instructions may not mention why he needs a particular information or what is going to materialise out of the given research exercise. Asking questions will not only give you clarity but also display that your aim is not to mechanically get done with the work but highlight your genuine interest in your work.
    2. Networking: One of the most important advantages of interning is NETWORKING. Building a good rapport within the organisation and also amongst other interns will reward you throughout your career. Starting this as early as possible is a smart move. Networking will open your mind to new opportunities and keep you abreast with the dynamic legal industry.
    3. Building work ethic: Internships are the only occasions during which a law student gets the feel of work culture in the legal industry. One should use this opportunity to build work ethics. Later, this exercise will make your transition from a student to a professional very smooth.

     

    How relevant did you find your law school education with the kind of work you were required to do during internships?

    Quite relevant, I must say. While interning at law firms, I found myself already equipped with necessary skills of legal research, legal writing and drafting of documents. The law school curriculum ensures that these skills are developed in students to a certain level. All you have to do is put them to use in order to hone them to perfection.

     

    Right after your graduation, you’re working with SEBI. What is this experience like? What were the obstacles and challenges you faced during this job?

    Working with SEBI is a unique experience. SEBI is a comparatively new regulatory organisation (it was established in the year 1988) with a challenging role assigned to it. Indian securities market is changing with lightning speed. Understandably, the regulator is also making sincere efforts in keeping itself abreast with the dynamic securities market. Being a part of the legal front of SEBI, my role in the organisation is equally challenging.

    The experience of working with SEBI is enjoyable and at the same time full of responsibilities. The biggest challenge while working with SEBI was to understand the fundamentals of the complex functioning of securities markets. When I joined the organisation I had sound theoretical knowledge of laws relating to securities market. But it wasn’t long before it dawned upon me that this wasn’t enough. It took me quite some time to figure out the structural and functional aspects of the securities market. I am still learning the interplay of most of the sophisticated mechanisms of the market.

     

    What would you suggest a law student should do in order to land a job in SEBI?

    SEBI follows a two tier selection mechanism for recruiting officers.  I would advise all students who are interested in working with SEBI to keep a track of announcements made in this respect. Information regarding the examination is available on the SEBI website. The first tier of the selection process involves Multiple Choice Question (MCQ) based examination. The said examination is conducted for the following subjects:

    1. English
    2. Quantitative Aptitude
    3. Reasoning Ability
    4. General Awareness

    Based on the score of this examination, candidates are shortlisted for the final round of personal interview for recruitment of officers at Grade- A level. Law students must be well versed with the latest developments in laws relating to securities market. In addition to this brushing up constitutional law and procedural law before appearing for the interview will be helpful.

     

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

    I have made a sincere effort to share my insights candidly with the readers. I would advise all the readers to always strive for better and never let the sense of complacency overshadow the urge to grow and excel. To compete with oneself is the best way to push your limits. Remember, the toughest competition is always the one which you have with yourself. Follow this and you will find yourself self-motivated far from envy and unhealthy competition.

  • Shweta Bansal on work at AMSS, leaving firm job for Civil Services and acing it

    Shweta Bansal on work at AMSS, leaving firm job for Civil Services and acing it

    shweta-bansal-2Shweta Bansal a graduate from NUJS, Kolkata, After a successful career with AMSS, she went for the Civil Services. With utmost diligence and determination, she successfully cleared the Civil Services exam. She gives an insight into her childhood, the hurdles in life which she overcame and how she has been able to mould her life into a real success story.

    In this interview she talks about:

    • Her life and journey as a law student
    • Preparing for the Civil Services
    • Books and other knowledge sources helpful in preparation
    • An insight into the interview process

     

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

    I was born and raised in Lucknow and pursued my schooling from the prestigious La Martiniere Girls College Lucknow. My life took a drastic turn at the age of 6 due to a major spinal injury, after which for many years I had to push myself immensely to grapple with a disability. Gradually, with the support of family, friends, and teachers, I continued with my studies. My grandmother has been thoroughly instrumental in my life and is the reason behind my little success story. At the Intermediate level, I studied humanities with Economics and secured a top spot in my class 12th boards. My good performance at school and at extra-curricular activities can be attributed to my teachers, more specifically to Mrs. Bhavna Kalra who taught me the importance of standing up on my own two feet. Thereafter I pursued my law from NUJS and spent few of my most crucial and definitive years there, shaping and building my career in Law.

     

    How was your experience at NUJS? What activities were you involved in apart from the regular academic curriculum?

    [sociallocker]
    I look back at my experience at NUJS as a great learning experience and despite the struggles I encountered, it provided a strong base to my career in Law. I am a person with a keen interest in a variety of non academic activities and NUJS gave me a brilliant platform to explore various such opportunities to help groom me as a well rounded personality. I fared well academically despite several health challenges and had an opportunity to perform with my college band, participate in fine arts and sketching competitions both at NUJS and at other Fests and Cultural events. I was even fortunate to present my paper at Hong Kong on legal valuation of patents as a solution to farmer suicide due to crop failure.

     

    You secured a job with AMSS. What worked for you in securing the placement?

    My journey with AMSS has been the best experience of my life. In 2006 after completing a two and a half month internship with AMSS, New Delhi and I was offered a pre placement at the Firm by Ms. Anuradha RV who has been a constant guide and support throughout my career at AMSS and even after. The work experience and firm culture at AMSS is unmatched and goes a long way in understanding and dealing with different areas of law. My experience at AMSS was exceptionally good and Mr. Shardul Shroff has been like a father figure in my life, Ms. Gunjan Shah and Ms. Purva Chadha played an instrumental role in shaping my legal skills and mentoring me.

     

    When and what inspired you to appear for Civil Services after having a career at AMSS?

    Truly speaking I was always keen to take the civil services exam but wanted to establish myself professionally before taking the plunge. I personally feel having an option to fall back upon provides you with the required security to give your best at the preparation level and if one has law as a career, civil services would tremendously compliment it as a career.

     

    How did you manage preparing for the Civil Service exam with your law firm job and other commitments?

    I was fortunate to be granted a sabbatical by Mr. Shardul Shroff to help me prepare for the exam.

     

    When did you start preparing for the exams? When should a person ideally start preparation for the Civil Services exam?

    Civil Service preparation requires absolute dedication and thus in November, 2010, I took a two year sabbatical leave from my work at AMSS and pursued my preparation. I gave my prelims with 5 months of preparation and cleared it however I couldn’t clear the mains due to my Hindi language paper. In my second attempt I cleared all three legs paving my way for the services.

     

    How many hours did you put in for your preparations every day? Is having a fixed schedule or weekly targets important according to you?

    The key to Civil Service preparation is consistency and diligence. I would plan my preparation targets on a daily basis and made it a point to achieve them so that there is no backlog created as the material to be read and study is extremely vast. My targeted study period was nothing less than 8 hours daily. Reading of The Hindu daily is a must for any civil services aspirant.

     

    Which were the easiest and the toughest part of your preparation?

    The easiest part for me during the Civil Service preparation was to tackle and remember the material provided by the coaching institutes, which hardly constitutes 30% of the entire bulk of study material one has to go through. Moreover I was extremely fortunate to get great guidance and support from Cyril Darlong Diengdoh and Ashutosh Salil who constantly mentored me. The tough part is primarily to figure out the remaining 70% of the study material and syllabus and this makes all the difference. I also faced the mammoth ‘Maths’ dilemma in CSAT since I had primarily been a student with a humanities background. I consider prelims and General studies papers for the Mains the toughest leg of the entire exercise. Prelims requires a thorough reading of  the fundamental concepts of different subjects and mains requires more focus on the current affairs.Prelims is the first scanning ground so the competition is really tough and negative marking only adds to the competition. Mains in contrast gives you an opportunity to get creative with your answers of course without derailing from the subject. GS paper I and II of Mains require very thorough reading of the editorials and various reports published by the government.

     

    What are the aspects that a Civil Service aspirant must focus on and start preparing for in advance?

    I would begin by stressing on the basics, they are the cardinal point of the entire preparation for Civil Services and if one is well prepared with the basics, one can tackle most of the questions. It is also important not to get lost in the sea of knowledge. Instead, focus on a few basic books so that revisions are possible. Since Prelims focuses more on the basic concepts, NCERTS can be quite handy, the Main examination is a combination of basic and current affairs, so your focus should be on newspapers, government reports and government websites.

     

    What were the attributes of your legal education and background which helped you in succeeding in the Civil Service Exams?

    A legal education and background definitely helps in the civil service preparation especially in Polity and General Studies Paper I and II of the Mains. Certain topics are common between the Law paper and Public Administration so that makes life easier. Also having studied law equips you with analysis and digging of most concepts and thereby providing an added advantage in writing answers. My background as a lawyer went a long way especially in my interview as most of my interview questions were based on law.

     

    What is the importance of CGPA for law students especially for Civil Service exam aspirant? Does it make any difference during the interview?

    CGPA is important and it is a reflection on the attitude and seriousness of a student but it does not per se reflect upon the merit of the person. Thus it makes a good impression to have a good CGPA but it is not the only factor that determines the merit of a student.

     

    Tell us about your interview? What kinds of questions were asked by the interview board?

    My interview was conducted by a 5 member panel headed by Mr. P.K. Mishra. The panel is always well read and grills you on the basis of your mains form. The major thrust of the questions was about my take on various socio-legal issues like Khap Panchayat, live-in relationship, decriminalization of S. 309 of the Indian Penal Code which criminalises attempt to commit suicide, the Aruna Shanbaug case. My legal background and extensive work experience also helped me tackle questions about good governance and withdrawal of subsidies. The panel also intended to assess my perspective on various problems and my ability to provide a solution for the same, for instance, crimes against women and measures to curb and tackle it. During the interview the objective of the panel is multifaceted since they assess your overall personality and knowledge. In fact the panel asked me to sketch one of the panel members within 30 seconds, since they read about my interest in sketching. The interview is both grueling and unpredictable.  It is very important to maintain your calm and be absolutely honest with the panel. Mr. P.K. Mishra was a great help in my interview once he realized I knew my stuff. He discouraged excessive grueling by other members.

     

    For the meantime, before your training period starts, you are holding the position of a Consultant with AMSS. What is the nature of your consultancy with AMSS and has your role in the firm changed?

    I came back to AMSS after my mains in 2012 to work with my mentor, Mr. Shardul Shroff on a unique role which has absolute administrative bearings and nothing to do with the transactional work of the firm. At the moment, I aid the firm with regards to firm development and handle the administrative concerns and issues.

     

    What would be your message for law students who are preparing or planning to prepare to appear for the Civil Service exams?

    The thumb rule should be firstly to focus on your education as a law student, studying and working towards making one’s basics strong. It is exceptionally useful in Civil Service to hold a law degree but before plunging into Civil Service preparation one should secure themselves a career to fall back upon as civil services can be a gamble. Education, work and then Civil Service has been my strategy as I believe that one should never put all their eggs in one basket.

     

    Lastly, what would be your message for the readers who want to pursue career in Civil Services?

    There is no substitute for hard work and diligence. Consistency and dedication goes a long way in achieving the desired result. One should regard coaching institutions as a very small part of the Civil Service preparation and should rather focus more on self preparation and self study. Be honest in your preparation and give your best. The outcome is never in your hands but the effort is. Civil services requires focused study so its important to isolate yourself socially till you are done with the Mains.[/sociallocker]

  • Surabhi Modi on Clat Possible, CLAT 2015 and the mantra to successful entrepreneurship

    Surabhi Modi on Clat Possible, CLAT 2015 and the mantra to successful entrepreneurship

    Surabhi Modi is an outstanding Fulbright scholar from Delhi University. She is an ardent reader; research scholar in films and literature and a successful entrepreneur in the field of legal education. She is the managing director of Team Satyam, Clat Possible tutorials, which was conceived in Lucknow but is now a leading name in legal education and amongst tutorials nationwide.

    Surabhi talks about:

    • Her interests and journey as a scholar.
    • Her entrepreneurship in the field of law and the success of Clat Possible.
    • She discusses the viability of CLAT and her take on CLAT 2015.
    • Her mantra to law students in the area of entrepreneurship

     

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

    Introductions are most difficult I must admit. I’m an educational entrepreneur and erudite. I’m currently the managing director at Clat Possible, which I must proudly admit is India’s fastest growing law test prep brand, currently at number 2 in terms of volume in its very young existence of just 4 1/2 years. I love studying which explains the fact that I’m doing that still, I’m a research scholar in films and literature. I’ve graduated from Hindu College, DU and received a Fulbright Scholarship from UC Davis in 2009. I’m an avid reader and promote reading through a small Reading Café. I’m also a movie buff and screen films for my students. I’m planning to start small film appreciation courses at various colleges as well.

     

    You have an exceptional background in English literature and have also been a recipient of the prestigious Fulbright scholarship. Tell us something about it.

    The funny thing is that I started out as a science student. I was a very curious case of misplaced love towards subjects and wrong career counselling; which is why I make a good career counsellor as well!! But eventually I had the good sense of pursuing this subject professionally and taking it forward now that I’m doing my PhD on it. Because I have always been a reader right from my school days, I always got 90 + in high school and intermediate I was comfortably able to switch to English. I loved classics and gender studies even when I did not understand the terms; so I had introduced myself to Doris Lessing, Mahasweta Devi and these helped me in getting my scholarship.

     

    Without much background, you decided to pursue your entrepreneurship in the field of law? What gravitated you towards law?

    Frankly, we were earlier only into PG entrances like CAT etc, when my friend from NLSIU brought to us his venture for law entrances. I agreed to take it up just because he was my very good friend and then I did not read much into basic details like what is market size of this product etc. We started extremely small with 8 students. all wards of lawyers or judges. Then there was no CLAT, all law schools held their own exam and we only looked at NLS, NALSAR and NUJS and also NLIU. We sent at least 7 to the NLUs from the 8 that we taught. It didn’t make business sense but the kids were very bright and it was a happy change. Next year we enrolled 17 students and that year 2005 I was even getting married so my family imposed a curfew on me for 2 months and you won’t believe these kids started coming instead to be taught by me. Now that really endeared us to this product and here we are today 4000 students plus and yet all very dear to us.

    Our passion is only fuelled further with the love these kids give us, for example this interview was requested by my very dear student Gargi. So each of us at CP would go the extra mile for these students, who in turn reciprocate our love and care. We are not perceived as coaching wala but as friends and mentors  and that’s my most prominent achievement. I’ve successfully broken the traditional ‘coaching’ mould.

     

    You are a founding member of Clat Possible. Please tell us about ClatPossible and its verticals. With so much of competition existing in the coaching and teaching field, tell us about your journey with Clat Possible so far.

    So I think I got carried away in the last question and really did answer it there, now that I see it had asked me only about how I started. Sadly, brevity surely is not my talent.

     

    In your opinion, what makes Clat Possible different from its peers?

    As I had mentioned earlier, which I reiterate; CP is not just a coaching centre. It has become (thanks to my supremely talented and highly qualified team) a mentorship program. The real reason being that each one of us has voluntarily opted for this career leaving behind great careers if I may say so or rather acceptable careers in mainstream education (which is me), FMCG sector (Satyam Sahai, Founder after his MBA) and my other colleagues who have come from Amarchand, Luthra etc. So our job doesn’t end at teaching reasoning, we help the children grow and gain confidence.

    We screen movies, hold talks on books, engage them in a parliamentary debate, hold mock parliaments, summits, policy summits. Now how these exercises one might ask are relevant to CLAT? Well, they are. The research involved would eventually help them in GK. A film might help them with language and their EQ and everything is relevant for learning which should be liberal and not skewed. Most of my colleagues are very well read and are national level debaters, researchers and mooters. Now that team can just not sit and teach a syllabus in a pedantic mould. Honestly most of us will die if we do not innovate and you see our results which are living examples of how are innovation and maverick style has helped do many students successfully join law schools and with such aplomb they are carrying themselves there. So we don’t just give the NLUs we provide them with confident students.

     

    Do you provide any work opportunities for law students? Do you recruit undergraduate law students as part time faculty?

    Not just part time- we are regular on the place com and recruit NLU talent for various roles where teaching is only one!! There is R & D, operations, franchise management, HR and even opportunities at business partnership. We are a regular firm with a proper hierarchy and roles.

     

    What are your views on CLAT and its viability and standard as an entrance exam for premier law schools in India?

    CLAT is a decent exam but has a lot of underutilized potential. Its undoing if ever there will be would be the fact that it is fraught with errors and ad hocism. It still needs a structure which needs to be followed sanctimoniously. There are also many question types to it that are obsolete and need revision. I really loved the question papers that came when there was no CLAT. Each law school had good questions and really did test aptitude in the true sense of the word. If CLAT could revert to that kind of questioning the exam would get into an international league.

     

    CLAT 2015 is most likely going to be Online; how do you think students should get themselves prepared for an online exam?

    The basic fundamental learning would not change. The only difference would come in in the platform where the paper would be supplanted by the screen. A much easier option I tell you. A computer based test is a very convenient thing for both the organisers as well as the students (if they are comfortable with on screen reading). Anyway nothing is sure now but it will happen one day for sure. As it removes a lot of hassle of printing and exam leakage and even costs.

    The students just have to practice a lot of taking exams from screens. They need a good interface and a great test engine to give them real time experience. But as I said the fundamental prep remains the same. We are now giving all handouts also on the student account of CP and the students have an option of writing both the mocks and other practice tests online. So there has to be loads of practice of sitting on the computer for more than two hours and continual reading with unwavering attention. Maybe aside from test taking students read their newspapers and magazines online to help them get into the momentum. Even books, good time to go Kindle.

     

    Being a law and CLAT mentor, any advice to students preparing themselves to give the CLAT exam and entering into law schools.

    The single most relevant advice to all CLAT aspirants and even otherwise is; start reading newspapers. Most of your career woes will end there. All issues regarding learning good English, GK, reading, concentration and even reading speed will enhance. So I’m not asking for the moon. It is just a small life style change from not reading the newspaper to reading one. After you’re done just come to CP and you’ll be mentored so thoroughly that an NLU would just be one of the benefits.

     

    What are the prime hurdles that a non-lawyer entrepreneur has to come across?

    In the lawyer world? None. Infact you are trusted more for the fact that you are not a liar….. sorry lawyer. Ha ha. But really none. And maybe that can be attributed to the fact that lawyers are a discerning people and when they see talent they respect it. I’m friends with so many lawyers and judges now, even VCs who appreciate my work, who want to work with me or who entrust me with the career of their wards.

     

    What does it take to be an entrepreneur? What are the three great skills of an entrepreneur according to you? What differentiates the best and the rest?

    Entrepreneurship is a big word and is even taught as a subject in B Schools. And I have no formal training in it which is just as well. Whatever I know today, I know from experience and more so from the whip learning from my husband who as the word goes is most intolerant of any shoddy work on my part. But yes, I’ve learnt a lot, had my share of struggles and now I can say each entrepreneurship experience is as unique as your DNA. Nonetheless it has some essential ingredients which from my experience I believe are:

    • Leading from example
    • Eye for detail
    • Knowing when to delegate

    And they are in their order of priority. Till date I have no qualms about doing ground sales, waiting for meeting principals and clients for hours each time we open our centre in a new city, eventually to be turned down or getting no audience with that principal. I have to do these things still because I know I do them best, I have resilience and also I’m the best sales pitch in the company. Now no one on my sales team can err or give up because they see me. I do not sit on a high chair saying it’s below me to meet individual clients and schools. As an MD and mentor most VCs welcome me and/or invite me and I have respect in my circles but the moment I become the business woman I get my share of ‘please come another day, the principal is busy.’ The beauty lies in this irony. I’m invited a judge or chairperson for a debate by the same institutes who would later reject my proposal.  Yes, there is a marketing team and a sales team but we all work together. Every new city sees me as the first face and we move on.

     

    Lastly, what would be your message to law students and young lawyers who want to pursue entrepreneurship?

    Please do so by all means, contact me at surabhi@clatpossible.com and let’s become entrepreneurs. It definitely has its shares of lows but then what doesn’t. but the sense of achievement the first 1000/- bucks you earn gives you may not come from the 1 lakh salary. Abstract as it may seem in thought it is just as tangible in experience. The joys of entrepreneurship are cathartic, however one should be ready to sweep one’s own room, shine the plate that says MD and then sit with aplomb in the room and play MD.

  • Sanchit Aggarwal, Masters Candidate, ISB, on marrying law with management

    Sanchit Aggarwal, Masters Candidate, ISB, on marrying law with management

    sanchit-aggarwal-1Sanchit Aggarwal is a graduate of Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Patiala, batch of 2014. He has recently qualified for the MBA Programme at the Indian School of Business which is one of the most prestigious institutions for pursuing MBA. Currently he’s an Associate at APJ-SLJ Law Offices and will soon be joining ISB.

    We spoke to him about:

    • Selection process at ISB
    • Balancing studies in law school and MBA prep
    • Prospects of BALLB + MBA

     

    When did you decide to pursue an MBA?

    Even before I joined Law School, I dreamt of doing an MBA post Law. I have always been fascinated by Business and the art of minting money.

    I have always been of the school of thought that being a student of a National Law University, the major take away after five years should not merely be the knowledge of law, but the legal skills that one acquires in the process of the study and interpretation of law, mooting, interning, debating, writing research papers and other activities that a law student takes up. I have never supported the conventional view of practising law after studying law. There are a plethora of avenues out there, awaiting to be exploited. I always wanted to use my acquired legal skills in a business environment, my long term aim being to become an entrepreneur. I think law gives you the edge of knowing the regulatory framework well enough, understanding the compliances and understanding the statutory and other measures required and applying them to run a business. I believe people working in organizations in the top positions ought to have a decent understanding of the law, in order to manage business in their top capacity. Discovering a new avenue was my primary motivation in this journey.

     

    Why did you choose ISB over IIMs?

    I preferred ISB over IIM’s and hence aspired for ISB only. The major reason behind this decision was the ideology of ISB compared to that of IIMs. If you compare the level of diversity in both these colleges, you are bound to see a remarkable difference. While more than 90% of the students at any of the IIMs are engineers and mostly boys, the case at ISB is drastically dissimilar. ISB promotes and supports diversity in its students’ backgrounds, similar to the top B-schools in the world. The Class of ISB is a mix of engineers, doctors, CA’s, Army Officers, Government Servants, Social Workers, Economists, Architects, Sportsmen and several other professionals from diverse background. Without denying the fact that majority of students are engineers, the fact that every student regardless of his background is at par and carries with himself the power to do equally good is also true. The curriculum, the activities and other co-curricular activities at ISB are designed to cater to the needs of all individuals and not just one category of students. Thus being a lawyer, I thought it to be a saner decision to join ISB as I would get a more nurturing environment where I could develop myself to my potential, exploit my strengths and not merely follow a fixed path. Many might disagree with my opinion.

     

    Please tell us about the admission process.

    ISB accepts only GMAT scores. Getting into ISB is a three stage admission process.

    First Stage: You are required to submit a video essay (ISB gives you a topic to speak on, in limited time) and list all your achievements and activities till date.

    Second Stage: You have to submit your GMAT score. Further three essays, generally on topics describing your goals, achievements, moments that have changed you etc. Then two online evaluations (recommendations) by your employer or professor or any person under whom you have worked. I submitted one from the VC of my University and second one from Senior General Manager, ICICI Bank.

    Third Stage: In the Final Stage you are given a complex case study to solve, generally based on market study and business. Then is the interview by a panel of three consisting of one from the faculty, one alumni of ISB and one from the admissions committee.

    These stages are elimination stages.

     

    What was your score for GMAT? Did you take any other MBA entrance exams?

    I managed to secure 700/800 on GMAT. Since I primarily aimed at ISB, I did not give any other MBA entrance exams.

     

    What was your preparation strategy for GMAT and how did it change over the time?

    I prepared for GMAT for just two months in my semester break. I made it a point to be consistent with my preparation as I had limited time at my disposal. My strategy was fairly simple, i.e. to be consistent, in spite of all the lows and try to commit the least fundamental errors as I couldn’t afford them, due to paucity of time. I also decided to cancel my confirmed internships, to avoid falling flat on my face in my quest for a B-School entry pass. So I dedicated all my time preparing for the second stage of ISB, of which GMAT was an essential element. I focused most on essays and evaluations, rather than blindly focusing on the GMAT. This in my opinion is the biggest mistake that many students make, i.e. by channelizing all their time and energy on GMAT, ignoring other important aspects of the application. B-Schools view a candidate’s application holistically and never pick a candidate for just one star in his application. An Application with good academics, good essays, good profile and a good GMAT score has a higher probability of selection compared to an application with excellent academics and excellent GMAT, but average essays and an average profile.

    My suggestion to all B-School aspirants as far as an Admission Application is concerned is that you must try and focus on all aspects of your application, especially on your weakest areas, as your weaknesses would be highlighted before your strengths.

     

    What was your preparation strategy for the Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation and Verbal Ability & Logical Reasoning?

    As I mentioned earlier, I faced scarcity of time. There was a lot to be done and time was limited. Thus time management was the key. I tried spending at least some time on every part of my Application on a daily basis. Being a lawyer I had become a little distant from quant, but I always loved mathematics in school. It took a little time to get adjusted to solving math problems, contrasting to searching for case laws, but ultimately it was fun. I found the Verbal section in the GMAT a little tough. It is very important to have good basics in grammar, fast reading and interpretation skills (a breeze for lawyers) and most importantly good time management to master this section. I started giving mock tests at an early stage in my preparation, just to fast track my preparation and focus primarily on my weak areas.

     

    What kinds of questions were asked by the interview board?

    The interview board comprised of an ISB Faculty, an ISB Alumni and a person from the admissions committee. Each wanted to test me on a different ground. My job was to get a unanimous nod from all three.

    The ISB Faculty primarily asked me basic questions like ‘Why MBA after Law?’, ‘Where do you see yourself after ISB?’, ‘How will your Legal Background help you with MBA?’ ‘How will you cope up with Accounts and Economics?’

    The person from the admissions committee was more concerned in screening my Application. He asked me even minute details from my essays and evaluations. He grilled me on my essays to primarily see whether I had actually written them and how well I could actually explain them.

    The most interesting questions were posed by the ISB alumni. I was even asked to do a spontaneous market analysis for law firms in India. Further he primarily wanted to know my aspirations and how I could meet them by studying at ISB. He tested my Business and Management skills to a certain extent.

    The interview lasted for around 45 minutes and had me sweating. It was very different from what I had expected, but at the end of it, I actually felt good about myself. My advice to all aspirants would be to keep it as real as possible and not try to fake. Being a lawyer helped a lot, as they definitely see the candidate’s confidence and composure.

     

    What advantages does the combination of Law + MBA entail in the current as well as future market?

    The majority of the sectors like Telecom, Banking, Real Estate, Infrastructure, Pharmacy, Trading, Aviation and several other sectors are highly regulated. A person managing these businesses and at a decision making position needs to understand the law, in order to take saner decisions and understand the advice given by the Legal Department. It is important to understand the reasons of the regulations and compliances as well as the consequences of non-adherence. I believe a businessman/ top management individual would greatly benefit from knowing the law and similarly a Law firm Partner level individual would benefit from a formal background in management. Law + MBA combination is gaining popularity in the USA and European Union. JD + MBA is one of the most sought after courses on offer by Harvard. I feel that the future market holds a lot of water for individuals with a Law + MBA background and the demand for them will accrue in the time to come.

     

    Please tell us about the difficulties you faced.

    Coming from background where doing an MBA is not even considered as an option, it was never easy to explain my decision to people around me (“ye law ke baad MBA kaun karta hai” being the question I answered more than 10 times daily). Moreover I did not know anybody who could actually help me with my GMAT, essays and other related aspects. I took no coaching as well, thus my biggest source of information were articles and opinions written by people who had cleared MBA entrances. Taking the decision of not doing an internship after the end of my Fourth Year, was very tough and seemed very risky to me at that point of time. But apart from this, I really did not face any other major difficulties.

     

    Do you plan on returning to the legal industry?

    I have specialized in Business Laws from law college and plan to pursue the same for the next couple of years. I want to understand the legal aspect of Business transactions and practice relevant Business Laws. Further I also want to gauge the functioning of a corporate law firm in India from a management perspective. I believe being a lawyer I have the privilege of working at a law firm and understanding the operations of the same. So I see no point of directly taking up a marketing or finance job at this stage, without exploring the legal industry.

    Answering your second question, I am absolutely open to returning to the corporate legal industry if I feel I can contribute my bit in improving the management and functioning of law firms in India. I believe my experience in the legal industry coupled with my management education from ISB shall put me in a position to improve the operations and management of Law firms in India. But alas I am too young to actually comment on that.

     

    Do you think an MBA has rendered your five years of law education redundant?

    Not at all. In fact I feel that MBA will immensely enhance the value of my legal education and enable me to utilize my legal background in a rather non-conventional manner.

    As of now I plan to get into strategy consulting post ISB and in the further future, I want to become an entrepreneur.

     

    What would be your advice to the current lot of law students wanting to go to a business school later on?

    It is never easy to swim against the tide. But if your dream is different, you ought to think differently. I advise all law students who aspire to go to B-School, to pursue their aspirations to the extent they possibly can and not half heartedly. I say this because it is very difficult to think beyond getting a job when you see your batch mates getting them. It is up to you whether you choose to pursue MBA in India or abroad, or give CAT or GMAT, just be consistent. There might not be many successful examples in front of you, as many lawyers haven’t pursued an MBA, but let this not deter you from doing it, if you believe that it would benefit you.

  • Prof. Faizan Mustafa, VC, NALSAR, on his experience in academia, and being a prolific author

    Prof. Faizan Mustafa, VC, NALSAR, on his experience in academia, and being a prolific author

    Prof. Faizan Mustafa graduated from Aligarh Muslim University in History and Law. Thereafter, he pursued his doctoral research in Intellectual Property Law. He is currently the Vice Chancellor of NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad, he was also the Founding Director of KIIT School of Law and National Law University Odisha, Cuttack.

    He was also consulted in the drafting of Eritrean Constitution and Asian Human Rights Charter of Asian Human Rights Commission, Hong Kong. As a keen researcher and avid academician, Dr. Mustafa has authored several books and has about hundred national and International papers to his credit. Supreme Court of India has also quoted his article in its decision on the right to die. He has worked in unexplored areas like Copyright Law, HIV Law, Art.356, Strict Liability Law, Freedom of Information Law, Religious Conversion Laws, etc.

    We requested him to share his views on:

    • His illustrious experience
    • Life in academia
    • Being a prolific author

     

    How did you decide to opt for the field of law?

    I was admitted in Allahabad University in 1982. My elder sister was doing her M.A. (History) and I used to read her History books and developed interest in History. Aligarh Muslim University’s academic session was delayed and therefore I got enrolled at Allahabad University. When I came for Durga Puja holidays, I received a call letter from AMU and since it was my desire to study History under Prof. Irfan Habib, I left Allahabad University and joined Aligarh Muslim University. I enjoyed my graduation in History at AMU and was taught by some of the best historians such as Prof. Athar Ali, Prof. Shireen Moosvi, Prof. M.A. Alvi, Prof. A.J. Qaiser, Prof. I.A.Khan, among others. Due to my interest in debating and having studied History quite well, I opted for Law and I thoroughly enjoyed my legal education at AMU Law Faculty. This University was the best place after Campus Law Centre, Delhi to study law at that point of time. The departmental politics in History Department was another contributing factor for me to leave the discipline which was my first love.

     

    Do you feel that the legal profession has significantly changed from the time when you decided to study law?

    I agree that legal profession has significantly changed from the time when I studied law. At that point of time most people did not do law out of choice as engineering and medicine were the prized courses. But the kind of diversity I had in my class was great as I had some B.Tech graduates and Post-Graduates of various subjects in sciences and humanities in my class. We had one M.B.B.S. graduate as well. The establishment of National Law School, Bangalore and other National Law Schools brought in a paradigm shift and law is today a very prestigious course. We attract very bright youngsters and they have proved their worth. The demography of Law Schools and colleges has completely changed in last 25 years.

     

    Which areas of the law fascinated you the most as a law student?

    Law Department of AMU was established in 1891 and this department has given maximum number of Vice-Chancellors to National Law Universities. Prof. Madhava Menon, Founder Vice-Chancellor National Law School, Bangalore and West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata himself studied and taught at AMU. Prior to my joining law, some leading teachers of the University had already moved out of Aligarh or had gone abroad such as Prof. S.Dayal, went to Panjab University, Prof. S.C. Agarwal and Mrs. Agarwal went to Pune University. Prof.Tahir Mahmood went to Delhi University. Prof. Mohd. Ghouse had gone to Ananthapur University and several other Professors including Prof. M.R.Zafar and Prof.Syed Khalid Rasheed had gone to Nigeria but we still had Prof. S. Misbha-ul-Hasan who had studied at Yale, Prof. V.S.Rekhi who subsequently became founder Vice-Chancellor of National Law Institute University, Bhopal, Prof. M.Z.Siddiqui, Prof. Ahmed Siddique, Prof. Mustafa Ali Khan and Dr. Musheer Alam, Prof. G.A.Khan etc. on the faculty.  All of them were great teachers and they have influenced me in a big way. Prof. M.Z.Siddiqui taught me for five years for LL.B., LL.M. and then guided my Ph.D. and proved to be a teacher, philosopher and friend in the true sense of the term. Prof. V.S.Rekhi was a great constitutional law teacher. Because of him I developed interest in this subject. Due to these teachers of great eminence, I developed interest in law particularly in criminal law and evidence. If you have a good teacher then learning becomes a fun activity and the teacher would help you in developing quest for clarity which would lead to good understanding of complicated legal problems. Law quickly became my second love.

     

    What are the 3 most important tips that you would like to share with law students for consistently excelling in academics?

    My three tips to students to consistently excel in academics are:

    • Develop interest in the subject you are doing
    • Read good text books and articles from the journals and finally
    • Never miss classes.

     

    Why did you choose copyright law in particular as the subject for your Ph.D thesis?

    Copyright was the 5th topic which I selected for my Ph.D. In 1980’s IPR was not there as a subject in most law colleges and faculties including Aligarh. Even today as per Bar Council of India regulations on legal education, IPR is only an optional subject. India was blacklisted by U.S. under Super 301 and this controversy about our IPR regime was responsible for choosing copyright law as a subject of my research. Moreover the country has just initiated a debate on the reforms which are to be brought in the Copyright Act of 1957. I believe that in addition to personal interest in choosing a Ph.D. topic, we should also think of its current relevance for the country.

     

    faizan-mustafa

    What role do legal researchers and academics play in the Indian legal system?

    Legal researchers and academics are not considered important stakeholders in our legal system. We have not yet appointed any professor of law as the Judge of the Supreme Court even though Art.124 of the Constitution explicitly talks about the appointment of an eminent jurist as Judge of the Supreme Court. The establishment of Law Schools and the involvement of Chief Justice of India as their Visitor and Chief Justices of High Court as their Chancellors has opened up avenues of dialogue between academics and judges and I am sure that this would help them to learn from each other.

     

    Tell us about your Diploma in International and Comparative Human Rights from International Institute of Human Rights, Strasbourg, France.

    The Strasbourg Course in International and Comparative Human Rights was an intensive course and had several processes of evaluation including a Moot Court in which you are given a problem to argue before European Court of Human Rights at Strasbourg. The course had good input of practical issues and helped me in understanding human rights problems. Human Rights was also not there as a subject in most law colleges including Aligarh. I introduced this subject at AMU Law Faculty.

     

    How did you decide to go into academics?

    I was persuaded to join teaching by my Dean Prof. M.Z.Siddiqui as per the tradition of the University to recruit Gold Medallists. I had qualified IAS Prelims but he asked me not to write Mains exam. I was appointed within one month of my completing LL.M. and since I had seen some of the best law teachers, I tried to emulate them and started enjoying teaching. My advice to law students who want to join academia is that the amount of autonomy which you get as a teacher you cannot get in any other field.  Nobody is your boss and nobody writes your confidential appraisal reports.

     

    When would you say that an academician is successful?

    A teacher is successful if he is able to ignite fire in the minds of students. A law teacher would be considered successful if he has taught his students how to find law. He is not supposed to tell them what is Law. The goal of a legal academician should be to produce competent and socially relevant lawyers. Today anyone who is appointed as an Assistant Professor in Law and he is good would surely end up as Vice-chancellor of some National Law University. Thus in appointing Assistant Professors I also consider how would they shape up as Vice-Chancellor.

     

    You were involved in the drafting of the Eritrean Constitution and the Asian Human Rights Charter. What were the most intellectually stimulating aspects of this experience?

    Eritrea came out as a country out of partition from Ethiopia. Ethiopia was never colonized except Italian occupation of some parts of Eritrea for about five years. They had uninterrupted monarchy for about 3,000 years. They also had the experience of socialism prior to the drafting of the constitution.  I gave number of suggestions on the fundamental rights and the government-people relationship. Similarly, Asian Human Rights Charter was drafted in 1995 and legal luminaries like Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer were involved in its drafting. As a young law teacher I learned great deal during the consultation on the drafting of this Charter. Justice Iyer’s presence and conversation with me are still fresh in my mind. I specifically recall sessions on Rights of Elderly and HIV patients which were indeed intellectually enriching.

     

    How did you find time to produce so many scholarly articles?

    (Dr. Mustafa has authored several books and have written approximately 100 national and international research papers on a large array of subjects pertaining to Information Law, Religious Conversion, HIV, the Right to Die, mandatory death sentence, etc. His article was also quoted by the Supreme Court in its decision on the Right to Die.)

    I do not think I have written anything substantial. In fact I feel bad when I read my own writings. The only consolation which I get is that I tried to study areas of contemporary relevance. I took up Right to Information Law in 1995 and wrote another book on this subject in 2003. Parliament enacted a law on RTI in 2005. Similarly I had written on HIV Law some two decades ago but the country is yet to have a law on this subject. I had written on mandatory death sentence many years ago but we continue to have laws which still provide for mandatory death sentence in spite of it being held unconstitutional by the Supreme Court way back in 1983.

    I had also written something on recognizing domestic work as work two years ago. Supreme Court of India was shocked to note that the work performed by the housewives is not considered as productive work and house-wives are clubbed together with prostitutes and beggars. Ministry of Welfare tried to salvage the situation and came up with a proposal whereby housewife would be paid 15% of the salary of their husband. I again opposed this proposal because it reduces wife to the status of an employee. Fortunately nothing happened thereafter.

    I have also been writing on the inconsistency in the decision of the Supreme Court on the commutation of death sentence. ‘Right to Die’ has been another area of my interest and continues to be relevant because new BJP government proposes to delete Sec.309 from IPC. If you have an idea which you want to communicate with others or initiate debate on an important issue you will feel compelled to write. I think teaching schedule has no relationship with one’s writings as the maximum number of classes a Professor takes in a week is not more than twelve. Moreover, we have long winter and summer breaks. One can also take sabbatical to write books, etc.

     

    Any time management tip for budding legal academics?

    Time management is an individualistic trait. If a teacher writes even one paper a year, I think it is good enough. A good academic should spend lot of time in reading.

     

    When would you say a legal academician is ready to start writing books?

    One should write when one feels he must write.  From one’s teaching one gets ideas for research and writing and therefore teaching and research go hand in hand. It is painful that good teaching is not given any importance in the selection committee of teachers. The focus is only on the number of publications. UGC should do something about it.

     

    What, in your view, are the few most important skills that law students should strive to acquire in order to write research papers effectively?

    I do not believe in teaching research methodology. I never taught this course. Research is like swimming and no amount of teaching can help you in learning it. You need to go in water and learn. Similarly you need to start writing, over the years you would improve your writing skills.

     

    What have been the biggest challenges and impediments in building institutions?

    (Dr. Mustafa is the founder Vice-Chancellor of National Law University, Orissa as well as the founder Director of KIIT Law School.)

    I had a great time in Orissa and believe me I enjoyed every minute of my stay in Orissa. KIIT Law School is like second home to me and I feel more at ease in Bhubaneshwar than in Aligarh. Dr. Achyuta Samanta, Founder of KIIT University is a human being par excellence who believes in “art of giving”. He has too much of positive energy. He is a living legend of our time. He has set up Asia’s biggest tribal school with 25,000 students who are given education free of cost and the school takes care of their food and clothing. He gave me full freedom to set up a law school and I am sure in the years to come KIIT Law School would become a leading institution of legal education.

    My challenge as founder Director was to create a space for KIIT Law School and I feel that KIIT Law School can be easily compared today with several National Law Schools. Establishing National Law University at Cuttack was my other significant assignment in Orissa and I got full support from the dynamic Chief Minister of Orissa. I continue to believe that NLUO was a unique experiment in terms of innovation in the curricula. My most effective strategy was to create ownership of NLUO amongst judges and lawyers of Orissa. We conducted first 3 admission tests and each year NLUO’s admission test was rated as the best law admission test of the year.

     

    Do you think the reputation that precedes NLU’s far supersedes their actual quality?

    There is some truth in it that with the establishment of National Law Schools the quality of law students has gone up but the quality of law teachers has gone down. But then it is the problem of all professional courses. We are not able to attract our brightest students to teaching. I feel the solution is to make B.A.LL.B. as the qualification for appointment as Assistant Professor. At NALSAR, I have succeeded in persuading some of our young graduates to join academia. Moreover I believe readymade teachers are not available anywhere. It is the duty of the Vice-Chancellor and other senior Professors to train youngsters. In the recruitment of Assistant Professors I always look at their potential and my ability to train the selected candidates in becoming a good teacher.

     

    Does law school prepare its students adequately to face real life scenarios?

    The Law School curricula may not be completely outdated. But it is certainly stressful. I am a firm believer of reducing academic stress. I also believe that the number of projects should be drastically reduced and the students should not be asked to do more than one project in a semester. Our curricula has not been made after receiving inputs from the industry. We need good Law School – Industry interface in preparing curricula. We should also accept the fact that classroom is not the only place of learning.

     

    What do you have to say about top notch law schools being inaccessible to many owing to their fee structure?

    Law schools are islands of excellence and should therefore just like IITs be directly funded by Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India. Due to the small number of students, the fee collection is very small and government has to give generous grants to these institutions to keep them functional.  If government agrees to liberally fund then the fees would be automatically reduced.

     

    What steps should be taken to usher in greater uniformity in the quality of legal education in the country?

    1085 odd law colleges are in pathetic state and there is an urgent need to bring them at par with National Law Universities. Admission to all law colleges should be based on CLAT. If this is not possible, CLAT would collapse. Vacant teaching positions should immediately be filled and National Law Schools as part of their CRC should be asked to adopt at least one law college every year and give training to their teachers and help them in building libraries.

     

    Any thoughts on the current system in place to train the Indian judiciary and continuous legal education of lawyers?

    I think we should quickly have Indian Judicial Service in place to attract bright youngsters. National Judicial Academy and State Judicial Academies are doing well to train our judges. Judicial training is different from judicial education. National Law School and Judicial Academy, Assam is a novel experiment where law school and judicial academy have been integrated. A closer relationship between Judicial Academies and Law Schools may help us in the long run. A programme for training lawyers was also initiated by Government of India and I think it was a welcome step.

     

    NUJS and GNLU have introduced online courses that are receiving much attention and attracting professionals from various backgrounds. What are your thoughts on these?

    Online education is the in-thing today and a country of our size badly needs it. We run number of courses in the proximate and online onsite mode (P.G. Diploma in Cyber Law, Media Law, Patent Law, International Humanitarian Law, Two-Year Master’s Degree in Aviation Law and Air Transport Management (MALATM); Two-Year Master’s Degree in Space and Telecommunication Laws (MSTL); One-Year Post-Graduate Diploma in Aviation Law and Air Transport Management (PGDALATM) and One-Year Post – Graduate Diploma in GIS & Remote Sensing Laws). We need to further strengthen these courses. We are going to launch some new courses as well.

     

    As the current Vice Chancellor of NALSAR, how do you feel NALSAR can take a greater role in social engineering in India?

    In my opinion in terms of academics, NALSAR is doing exceedingly well and is the best destination for legal education in the country. I had introduced number of academic reforms such as flexible choice-based credit policy, huge number of electives, diversified project scheme etc. We are indeed producing highly competent law graduates. If we can produce some socially relevant lawyers it would be good for the country. We are offering number of unique courses which help our students in appreciating social issues.

     

    Do you feel that there should be an independent CLAT body?

    There is an urgent need to bring structured reforms in CLAT and compel all Law colleges of the country to admit students only on the basis of CLAT scores.

     

    What would be your message to those hard working law students who did not make it to a top NLU but want to excel in the profession?

    None of the leading lawyers of the country went to top National Law Schools. In the long run it does not matter from which institution you got your degree; if one is hard working one would surely succeed in life. There is no short-cut to success. Those who are not admitted to top National Law Universities should not feel frustrated, they are no less than anybody as CLAT or for that matter any competitive examination is not a perfect measurement of one’s merit and talent.

  • Kriti Kalyani, Associate, LKS, on tips for interviews and building a profile

    Kriti Kalyani, Associate, LKS, on tips for interviews and building a profile

    kriti-kalyani-2Kriti Kalyani is a graduate from National Law Institute University, Bhopal, batch of 2014. Her diligence paid off when she received a job offer from Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan (LKS) in her fifth year of law school. Currently, she is working as an Associate there.

    In this interview, Kriti talks about:

    • Importance of Internships
    • Preparing for job interviews
    • Securing a job at LKS

     

    Tell us a bit about your pre-college life.

    I have a theory. I wish to do everything possible, so I don’t have any regrets in life. I am grateful to my school for providing the opportunities and giving ample recognition to students. Studies, co-curriculars like Student Council, debates, elocutions, dances, poems and essays to name a few things I did. I belong to the generation where people judged you if you took Commerce. So I did exactly that and proved them wrong. And fortunately, I love where I am today.

    I am a first generation lawyer in my family. So law was not an easy choice. But in a way, it was good, since there were no standards to match up to.

     

    Why did you decide to study Law?

    Frankly, there was no inspiration. No Perry Masons, no Boston Legal. I wanted to do something different and Science was out of the mix. I love reading and talking. Being a lawyer pays me to do exactly that. What more can one want in their profession!

     

    How practical do you think are the shows like The Practice, J.A.G., Boston Legal, Suits, etc. and movies like 12 Angry Men, Philadelphia, etc.?

    These shows miss out on the important details and the unglamorous parts of the profession. But their aim is entertainment and not to raise awareness if the profession, so we cannot really blame them.

     

    How would you describe your time at National Law Institute University, Bhopal?

    As much as we crib and complain while we are at it, I miss every moment I spent there. NLIU made me what I am today. A college expands your horizon in terms of the people you meet, the work you do, and makes you the person you eventually become. It’s not about what your college gives you but what you take from it. Studies, Moots, Asian Debate Championship, London Mediation Competition, Cultural Events, Sports Fests, are just a few things which I did in college. I managed the mess for a year, and stayed up nights to organize events which our college hosted.  If you do something each day, that your future-self would thank you for, then you have done a good job!

     

    Do you think mooting is beneficial for Law students or is it just to make your CV look fancy?

    Yes, mooting is beneficial. But in my opinion not to per se make one’s CV fancy. It teaches you to research smart, gives you the argumentative technique, teaches you the importance of paying attention to details and to withstand the judges’ grilling sessions. Not to sound preachy, I had actually quit mooting in my 2nd year, after being a participant in a moot that was fixed. I did one moot as researcher, in 5th year, and our team won it. It reinforced my faith, that it would probably be okay if someone did not moot.

     

    How did you secure internships with top tier firms?

    Most of the internships, including the last one at Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan, Delhi were through personally sending mails and following up. Nishith Desai and Associates, Bangalore was through College Placement Committee. I consider myself lucky because I never had to pester HRs and got confirmations based on my mails. What worked for me was the cover letter and to understand and similarly modify one’s approach based on the firm one is sending their CV to. Do NOT send a bcc to all firms in one go! Putting in mails well in advance and following up is a must.

     

    How relevant did you find your law school education with the kind of work you were required to do at law firms?

    Law school education is like how Sheldon in The Big Bang Theory learns to drive a car, sitting in his living room, knowing the physics of it, and learning to drive through a computer simulation. We all know how that would pan out if he were to drive on a busy road.

    My plan was to know the options that the field had to offer before choosing one. I wanted to know what I would like and what I wouldn’t. My internships were 50% plan of what I want, and 50% chance of what I’d get. I have interned at a PSU, a corporate law firm, a litigation firm, an IPR firm, and a tax firm. I finally decided that I liked tax enough to make it my profession. Also, because we are not extensively taught tax in our curriculum, there was more curiosity and eagerness to learn.

     

    What do you have to say about the advisability of law students pursuing internships at firms alone?

    Corporate law firms are just one part of what this field offers. I agree that it’s probably the most glamorous part in terms of money, but money won’t sustain you in it for long, interest will. So ensure that you like your work before you decide to pick it up. A possible way to go about it could be by way of elimination of available areas of practice. Some people wish to pursue UPSC and Judicial Exams. Corporate law firms wouldn’t really help them much.

     

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

    It’s one of those underrated and creditless things that you do in college. I think it’s equally important to learn the administrative work and to have the ability to make others work. I worked hard for every cell I was part of, for every event I volunteered. Eventually, I became Convener of the Cell for Studies in Intellectual Property Rights (CSIPR) which publishes its Annual IPR Journal. Dealing with college administration, correspondences with authors, ensuring work to be done on time, etc. made me more patient. The clerical and at times monotonous work is a huge part of a lawyer’s life. Trust me, paperwork never leaves you, and the Cell gave me enough experience to not throw papers in somebody’s face!

    I was also part of the Sports Committee for a good four years. Organizing Virudhaka-2013 was an amazing experience and this September-October, I am even getting nostalgic!

     

    You secured a job at Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan (L&S) in your fifth year of law school. How did you go about achieving this?

    I had applied via mail to L&S for my Summer Internship, and fortunately I got through. My previous internship at Nishith Desai Associates, Bangalore helped. At L&S, the presentation which the interns made in the end was the deciding factor. I read a lot of cases, lot of opinions, prepared a chronology of judicial pronouncements and even prepared the pattern of the mindset of the Tribunal and High Court judges. The presentation was well liked and my mentor put in a good word for me. I got a call back, but L&S came to campus before my scheduled internship and I got placed!

     

    How many times did you intern at L&S before you bagged the job offer?

    L&S usually follows a policy of 1 call-back and then a PPO. I interned at L&S in June and got a call back for October. However, they came to campus in September and I was recruited.

     

    How did you go about preparing for your interview?

    My senior had told me, not knowing something which is mentioned on your CV is a criminal offence! So I did my CV well. That means reading up on all recent changes in the topics you did three years ago! Apart from that I brushed up my tax basics. L&S usually does not ask a lot of HR questions, so did not do those much. I was asked Class 12th Accountancy in my interview as well, so there isn’t a 1-2-3-step formula. You can only do so much. Be confident and trust all that you have learnt in five years.

     

    How do you think one should go about writing a CV when one is applying for a job?

    DO NOT lie on your CV. If you’re going to lie, be smart about it. Add topics/subjects which you know about. Do not add something which you won’t be able to answer in an interview.

     

    Where do you see yourself five years from now?

    Well, that’s a difficult question. As of now, it’s been three months at L & S, in the service tax litigation team, and so far it has been an amazing experience. I cannot plan too far ahead, so as of now I am learning the tricks of the trade, and it’s good. LL.M. is a distant plan, if at all.

     

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

    If I could re-live the five years, I’d probably try and get an article published. I’d pray for the patience to write one!

     

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

    All life philosophy apart, enjoy your time while you can. As easy-going and independent work life feels, it isn’t! It has its perks, but nowhere close to being in college. Coming back from work, and having just enough time to pick up a book and read one chapter is a luxury. So, make the best of it while you can. Make it count!

  • Bishen Jeswant, Sub-editor, ESPNcricinfo, on experience at Trilegal and sports journalism

    Bishen Jeswant, Sub-editor, ESPNcricinfo, on experience at Trilegal and sports journalism

    Bishen Jeswant graduated from National Law Institute University, Bhopal in 2011 and is currently working as sub-editor with ESPNCricinfo. He decided to leave his lucrative career with Trilegal to pursue his passion for cricket. He is also qualified to be a coach at Karnataka State Cricket Academy.

    In this interview, we speak to him about:

    • Balancing academics and extra-curricular activities
    • His experience with Trilegal
    • A typical workday at ESPNcricinfo

    What got you into legal studies?

    The reason I picked law was because I was attracted to public speaking, but you realise soom enough after entering law school that public speaking is but a minor aspect of good lawyering. So, while I may not have decided to pursue law for the right reasons, it was a happy accident because I thoroughly enough the critical reasoning and logical thinking aspects of law over the course of my five years.

    I was part of the last non-CLAT batch and we wrote a whole gamut of exams in the hope of securing admission to at least one of the top law schools. The NLIU-Bhopal entrance paper was leaked that year (2007) and we had to take it twice.

     

    How would you describe your fresher year at NLIU?

    The term fresher is often associated with ‘ragging’ and I will admit that I was slightly apprehensive when I joined college. However, I strongly feel that the ‘Personality Development Program’, as our seniors called it, was an integral part of settling in, making friends and being able to call NLIU home. There was nothing so untoward that it could not be dealt with by a positive attitude and an open mind.

    Once settled in, the first year is the time to explore and make use of every opportunity that law school provides, and it does provide you with a whole lot. Whether mooting, debating, client counselling, research paper writing or MUNs, the time in the first year was spent in turning every possible stone to assess and determine the type of activities that I wanted to pursue during the five years, and to understand the bigger picture of what I wanted to achieve.

     

    What is your advice to budding mooters?

    (Bishen has participated in various moot court competitions like Pro Bono Enviro Moot Court Competition, National Corporate Moot Court Competition and NUJS Herbert Smith Moot Court Competition. He has also won Best Speaker awards in few of these competitions.)

    Apart from having strong research, I think the most important aspect of mooting, and even arguing in a real courtroom, is reading the judge. Whether the decision goes your way or not is dependent on whether the adjudicator is adequately satisfied. Within the first few minutes of the oral rounds, it is important to gauge whether the judge is the kind of person who likes to be bombarded with law, or whether he prefers crisp logical arguments, whether he appreciates lawyers being deferential etc. I’ve also felt that a good argument is one that is not only legally and logically sound, but one that is well presented, clearly structured and easily comprehensible. It is very important to modulate your voice, change your pitch, adapt your tone, and vary the pace of speech depending on the significance of the point that you are arguing and the emphasis that you would like to lay.

     

    Tell us about the 1st All India Moot Court Conveners Conference at NLIU, Bhopal, that you were instrumental in organising as Convener of Moot Court Association.

    During my stint as MCA Convener, I felt that it was imperative to utilize my position for the betterment of mooting, and the growth my University. I became Convenor in my fifth year, and had come across various shortfalls in the country’s mooting structure through the course of my first four years. Issues ranging from the scale of marking, moot formats, fairness in matchups, seeding of teams, etc. I felt that the only way to correct these issues was to bring all those people who matter into one room and pass resolutions to standardize mooting across the board, and this is how the Guidelines for Uniform Moot Practices (GUMP) were formed, with the help of Moot Conveners from around twenty law schools, as well as Surana & Surana, a law firm that organizes around ten moots in a year, including Stetson, Jessup and the like.

    We conducted the 1st NLIU Intra University Client Counselling Competition as well that year, with the intention that this would become a national event in subsequent years, making NLIU the first national law school to have its own client counselling competition.

     

    bishen-jeswant-2How did you manage the academic pressure along with your extracurricular interests?

    There is plenty of time in college to focus on academics while doing other activities side-by-side, all one needs is the drive. For me, it was important that I undertook as many extra-curricular activities as possible during my five years. I acknowledged that this attitude would not allow me to be at the top my class academically, but I set myself a target to maintain an ‘A’ Grade (or 70%) throughout the five years. I eventually finished with about 71%, with the batch topper scoring about 75%. It is therefore a question of simply setting targets, and having the discipline and focus to achieve them.

    There is so much time that despite devoting the required amounts towards academics and extra-curricular, there is still enough left to play sports, watch movies, TV shows and spend time with friends. This may seem harsh, but those who claim that one cannot excel in extra-curricular activities without compromising on their academics, are simply looking for an easy excuse.

     

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

    Internships serve the limited purpose of exposing you to the professional world. No internship can prepare you for what a corporate lawyer or litigating advocate will have to deal with on a daily basis, but it can certainly provide you with the exposure required to soften your landing. Students in law school spend too much time fretting about internships. While having good internships on your CV will probably help you in landing a job, it is not worth agonizing over. The important thing is to set out your goals and ambitions and focus on carrying out the right processes, the internships and everything else will follow.

     

    How did you secure your appointment with Trilegal?

    I thoroughly enjoyed working with Trilegal, a big firm with a young culture, professional outlook and some great people. My two year stint with Trilegal taught me a lot about the need for discipline in the professional sphere, the need to pay attention to detail and the need to communicate efficiently with your peers, superiors and subordinates. I worked in the field of employment law and one of challenges was deciding whether I should specialize so early in life. I eventually decided that I would be an expert in one field right from the start rather than be a jack of all trades. It helped that the subject matter itself was quite interesting. Other challenges of the job are around meeting tight deadlines, putting yourself in the client’s shoes, being able to analyze issues from the other party’s standpoint etc., all of which you learn to deal with on the job.

     

    What prompted you to leave a lucrative legal career and join ESPN?

    The answer to this question is very simple. I have always been extremely passionate about cricket and have dreamt of working in the sporting sphere. I had spent two years working with a firm, and realized that if I would not be able to attempt a career switch few years down the line – for various reasons, beginning with the fact that most organizations would not be willing to hire a 30 year old at an entry-level job and further that I would have become too comfortable in my legal job to experiment too much or make too many compromises. The bottom line is that I would have regretted not giving my passion a chance, and it was therefore a very simple decision to make.

     

    How did you approach the ESPN for this job?

    I didn’t have any contacts at ESPN, so I had to go about this the hard way. I penned a few articles to create a portfolio of sorts and decided to use this to apply to a few places. I had applied to CricBuzz, ESPNCricinfo and had even written to Anil Kumble, who was the then President of the Karnataka State Cricket Association. I had made these applications in the hope that I would hear back from at least one of them, but somehow, I heard back from all three, and ended up being in a position to choose where I wanted to work. I chose ESPNCricinfo because, apart from being a market leader, this is a site that I have been using for years and was therefore close to my heart. There was an opening in the stats team here, and I was to write some stats based articles to demonstrate my aptitude and statistical bent of mind, all of which thankfully worked out well. The rest is history.

     

    Tell us about your workplace and what a typical workday in your life looks like?

    A typical workday could be broken up into two types – match days and non-match days. On a match day, I will usually provide continuous live stats for viewers based on the current trends in that particular game. At the end of a game (or a day, in case of a Test match), I will usually publish a statistical report assessing the day’s play. Not everyone in the office will be covering the same match, so all of us have a personal TV as well as a laptop at each of our workstations to enable to us carry out our individual duties. On a non-match day, the nature of the articles that I write will usually be more analytical and not related to a particular match, such as on whether ‘Dhoni is statistically India’s best captain’, or whether ‘Hashim Amla is statistically the best ODI batsman’. Perks of the job include being able to meet the Dravids, Chappells and Laxmans of the world on a regular basis and being able to interact with them.

     

    You have been an active cricket player and also work as a coach? How did you manage to find time for pursuing these activities?

    I had coached at Jawahar Sports Club in Bangalore and cleared the KSCA State Panel Umpires exam as well as the KSCA Level “O” Coaches Exam. The answer to how I found time is a continuation of a previous answer – the time is there, it was only a question of whether I have the drive and discipline to make use of it. In this case, I was doing something that I love, and therefore, making time did not feel like a chore. I’ve always believed that most things in life are about showing initiative and taking that first step, and once that is done, the rest falls into place slightly easier. To make the effort sweeter, all of these activities that I undertook eventually helped in bagging the ESPN job.

     

    What would you be your suggestion to law students keen on pursuing a career in sports?

    Whether my decision was right or wrong will depend on how a reader views it, but here are my two cents anyway. At any stage in our life, when we choose to do or not do something, we must ask ourselves whether we are likely to later regret our actions. If the answer is yes, we need to take steps to ensure that there is no regret later.

    Writing a blog is a good way to start building your portfolio while in college. This is something that I didn’t do, and had to therefore write articles at a later point, under a time crunch and significantly more pressure, in order to set out on my mission. Also, students are sometimes under pressure to take up a legal job because they have invested five years and a lot of money on education. However, if you find that you true calling is not law, it is only smart that you don’t waste more time in a legal job. However, if you are not absolutely certain about your career, I would suggest that you undertake a legal job for at least a couple of years so that it becomes that much easier to return to the profession at a later point, should you choose to do so.