Career in Law

What: Legal profession is a fast growing profession. In these age of globalization and liberalization, it is likely to get further momentum as more lawyers would be required to handle cases arising out of international trade and as a result of growing importance of WTO. At present there are more than 5, 00,000 advocates in India and the number is increasing with 15,000 new enrolments every year.

Lawyers are held high in esteem in a civil society as they render valuable service to all segments of the society by getting their constitutional and legal rights enforced through courts-civil or criminal, at all levels of judiciary, that is, Trial Court, High Court, Supreme Court or Quasi- Judicial Institutions. Persons holding law degree or other higher legal qualifications have ample employment opportunities in private as well as public sector .It is their choice whether they opt for service or prefer to practice as a lawyer.

As regards remuneration, it depends upon the field a law graduate chooses. If one gets a job in a Govt. department, or in public sector or in a university or in any other organization where govt. rules are applicable he/she will be entitled to get emoluments as per pay scales prescribed by the Government from time to time. After acceptance of recommendations of 6th Pay Commission, Govt. servants are getting handsome salary, say between Rs. 20,000 and one lakh and above depending on the designation and nature of job.

Now multinational companies and law firms have also started campus selections and have been offering annual packages between 3-4 lakhs as per the standing of the company.

How: Of late, law has become a promising career option. To start early, many aspirants opt for the five-year B.A L.L.B course right after Class IIX. In addition to the traditional branches such as civil, criminal, corporate, taxation, labour and election law, there are new areas, including space, cyber, intellectual property, and international laws, that a person can specialise in. Ideally, a fresh lawyer should do litigation for five to 10 years, spending two to three years in a trial court to learn cross-examination, pleadings, drafting.

Where: Go for either a three-year LLB programme after graduation in any discipline, or for a five-year integrated BA LLB programme after passing Class 12. Admission to these courses is usually through a written competition, such as the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT).

You could specialise in a particular area depending on your “interest and inclination,” A number of courses are now available in fields like human rights, intellectual property rights, and cyber law.

Institutions:

• Aligarh Muslim University , Aligarh
• Allahabad University, Allahabad
• Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi
• University of Delhi, New Delhi
• Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi
• National Law University, New Delhi
• National Law School of India University, Bangalore
• National Law Institute University, Bhopal
• National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata
• Ram Manohar Lohia National Law University, Lucknow
• National Law University, Jodhpur