As per an estimate by the Bar Council of India, there are around 1,200 to 1,500 lawyers who enroll each year. Your career in the legal services will be governed by your choices and will lead you to the many options you can choose from.
Eligibility and training for Law:
In order to pursue your career in the legal services you need to have passed 10+2 level examination recognized by the Bar Council of India. Clearing the law entrance is a must to gain entry in many law institutes. A student can either pursue a three-year law course after graduation in any discipline or a five-year course after Class 12, leading to a BA LLB (Hons).
Most often, admissions are based on marks scored in the graduation level examinations; however, there are other universities that conduct entrance exams as well. Also for specialization in a particular branch, there are short diploma courses in criminal, corporate law, labour and labour welfare, taxation and so on.
In order to be able to practice, it is mandatory to complete a year’s internship.
Course overview
You would be studying all kinds of laws that exist in our legal system such as corporate law, company law and the law of torts. While pursuing your course, one option that students can explore is working as legal trainee under judges of the Supreme Court of India. You would gain in depth knowledge about laws and its applicability in the legal world.
On completion of the degree and the internship, a person can become either an advocate or a solicitor. An advocate pleads in court and is actively involved in litigation. He decides what legislation and what precedents are relevant in a particular case. However, a solicitor offers legal advice to clients on a wide range of subjects, from personal to business matters. In the event of a case going to court, the solicitor briefs and advises the advocate who takes up the case on behalf of the client.
Specializations offered
There are several fields a lawyer can choose from to specialize in:
- Criminal Law is where the lawyers deal with offences against society or state. It involves interviewing clients and interrogating witnesses, correlating findings, conducting trials, preparing a case for defense, examining, cross examining in court and so on.
- Corporation Law is where lawyers deal with advising corporations on their legal rights, obligations, and privileges; studying statutes, constitutions and ordinances; and, helping the corporations to make the all-important decision of whether to go in for a suit at all.
- Civil Law is the one that deals with concerns of private rights of individuals, handling damage suits, breach of contract suits, drawing deeds, wills, mortgages, acting as trustee or guardian, etc.
- Labour Law deals with workers, their associations, working conditions, workers’ rights and duties, etc. Frequently, a lawyer specialising in labour law is called upon to sort out issues between management and employees in firms.
- Real Estate Law covers conveyance of property, search records and deeds to establish titles of property; acting as trustee for property; and, drawing up legal documents for deeds and mortgages.
- Patent Law focuses on securing patents for inventors from the patent office. Here the lawyer specialises in prosecuting or defending patent infringement and preparing detailed specifications of the patent and so on.
- Tax Law has a tuned in focus on income tax, estate tax, real tax, franchises, problems of inheritance, etc.
- International Law specializes on treaties, customs and traditions observed by nations in their relations with one another.
Top LLB institutes in India
- National Law School of India University- Bangalore
- National Academy of Legal Studies and Research University – Andhra Pradesh
- Campus Law Centre- Delhi
- National Law Institute University (NLIU) – Bhopal
- Symbiosis Law School- Pune
- WB National University of Juridical Sciences (NUJS) – Kolkata
- National Law University- Jodhpur
- ILS Law College- Pune
- Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law, IIT Kharagpur- Kharagpur
- Gujarat National Law University (GNLU) – Ahmedabad
- Amity University- Delhi/NCR
- Faculty of Law Banaras Hindu University- Varanasi
- Faculty of Law, Aligarh Muslim University- Aligarh
- Government Law College- Mumbai
- Army Institute of Law (AIL) – Punjab
- Hidayatullah National Law University (HNLU) – Chhattisgarh
- School of Law Christ University (SLCU) – Bangalore
- Cochin University of Science and Technology- Kochi
- Faculty of Law, Jamia Milia Islamia- Delhi
Career Prospects
The Registry of the Supreme Court of India advertises every year for jobs of law clerk-cum-research assistant, a good entry point for some. Lawyers are also required in corporate companies as well as government set ups. You can work with a senior lawyer to gain hands-on experience in different specializations such as corporate, labour, consumer, fundamental rights and telecom law. Salary largely varies depending on your area of expertise, from Rs 10,000/- to even Rs 1 lakh in a corporate company for a fresher.
Law jobs are lucrative in today’s world. As much as private practice pays well, top-notch law firms are also a good option for lawyer jobs. Lawyer careers and salaries grow fast because of the demand in the market. Depending on the type of court job, lawyers salaries per hour are also high. There are many benefits to being a lawyer irrespective of the type of role you choose. Either which way, it is a lucrative option.