The Bar Council of India (BCI) is the main regulatory body of law education and also conducts the All India Bar Examination (AIBE), which offers the Certificate of Practice to the law graduates who qualify the exam. After this, the candidates are eligible to practice the legal profession in India. This opens up a sea of scopes for fulfilling their ambition – practising with corporate firms, working as a legal advisor in different companies, or as solicitor general or public prosecutor in government department and ministry. The black robes nowadays do not generally stand for the law graduates because of this new arena of job opportunities in the legal field.
| Legal career | Job prospects |
| Core legal careers | Some of the core legal careers are lawyer, paralegal experts, and Legal Secretary |
| Legal and administrative support | Compliance specialist, Conflicts analyst, Legal recruiter, Court messenger, Law firm administrator, Contract administrator |
| IT career in litigation support | Litigation support professional, E-discovery professional, Document coder |
| Courtroom career | Judge, Law clerks, Judicial officers, junior judges, Courtroom deputy, Court clerk, Mediators, Stenographers, Videographers, Communication Access RealTime Translation service providers |
| Legal consulting careers | Jury consultant, Computer forensic professionals, Forensic scientists, accident reconstruction |
| Legal education careers | Law professor, Law school dean, Law school admission officer, Legal career counsellor |
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Popular areas of Law Practice:
There are fields of law that has flurished during the time of economic recession. Some of the demanding professions have been listed below:
| Civil Litigation | During economic slowdown, companies more likely resort to legal help in order to cope up with the financial loses. There will be law suits filed in teh areas of class action, labour and employment, civil litigation, regulatory actions, and so on. |
| Environmental law | There has been a rise in awareness among organisations to switch to cleaner and greener technologies. This has led to increase in demand for legal experts or environment law attorneys handling carbon assets, greenhouse gas inventories, opting for renewable energy, and so on. |
| Bankruptcy law | This is the most demanding and fastest growing legal industry that calls for restructuring of the assets of the companies, when the world is facing economy revolution with increase in all basic costs. |
| Labour and employment law | With economic downfall comes job loss and increased government involvement. This has led to increase in employment lawsuits. Employers also file legal law suits to collect money from the market from the one's that own them. |
| Intellectual property law | IP is a valuable asset for any organisation, which needs to be legally protected. Thus, demand for intellectual property lawyers are increasing and will remain in demand till there are innovations and inventions. |
| E-Discovery practice | E-discovery attorneys assists the company in identifying, collecting and processing of the data and in turn produce ESI for the litigation. |
Salary range
If you are worried about the salary in this field then you will be surprised to know the details because of the high demand for law graduates in the market. The start-up salary can range from 30-60k. The chief justices get nearly about 1lakh per month. Moreover, there are even lawyers who are paid 5lakhs-1crore for one single appearance in the courtroom.
Studying law and pursuing a career in this stream offers you a diverse career option, growth and opportunity, high payoff, prestige, prosperity, global perspective and an intellectually challenging environment which is changing every day.
Top law universities of India :
- National Law School of India University, Bangalore
- National Law University, New Delhi
- Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur
- NALSAR University of Law
- National Law University, Jodhpur
- WB National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata
- Gujarat National Law University, Gandhinagar
- National Law Institute University, Bhopal
- Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Patiala
- National University of Advanced Legal Studies, Kochi
- Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh
FAQS
Q. CAN I PURSUE LLB AFTER 12th?
A.You cannot pursue LLB directly after 12th. 3year LLB can be done only after completion of graduation in any stream. So, you have to choose integrated BA LLB, B. COM LLB or BBA LLB program of five years duration.
Q.WHAT’S THE BAR EXAM AND WHAT IS IT’S IMPORTANCE?
A.On April 10, 2010, the Bar Council of India resolved to conduct an All India Bar Examination that tests an advocate’s ability to practice law. It is required for an advocate to pass this examination to practice law. This examination is held biannually and tests advocates on a substantive and procedural law. The syllabi for this examination usually get published at least three months before the examination. A candidate may appear for the examination any number of times. Once the advocate passes the examination, he/she will be entitled to a Certificate of Practice law throughout India. It is clarified that the Bar Examination shall be mandatory for all law students graduating from the academic year 2009-2010 onwards to get enrolled as advocates under Section 24 of the Advocates Act, 1961. You can get more information about this exam from the website: http://www.allindiabarexamination.com/
Q. WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT CAREER OPTIONS IN LAW?
A.The career opportunities for an attorney are broad and they are discussed in brief here-
Law Firms: we come across many legal matters on every alternate day. To make our works easy, many law firms and legal staffing firms are opening and expanding these days.
- In-House: In an effort to control legal expenses, many companies seek to minimize the use of outside counsel and prefer to hire their own internal full-time attorneys. The benefits, among many, of being in-house are that there are no minimum billable hours and you may receive stock options and other employee benefits from the corporation.
- Government: A government lawyer works for some branch of the government, whether it is in the city, state, or federal level. They are found working in state capitols, as well as at city hall, representing the governing body that employs them.
- NGOs: Attorneys involved with the non-profit sector offer legal services to a wide variety of non-profit organizations. Daily legal matters may include managing grants, donations and bylaws.
- Other Uses for a Law Degree: As a lawyer, your career options are not limited to practising law. The value of law school graduate is increasing day by day in the corporate sector, especially in the areas like management, sales, human resources, marketing, advertising, training, negotiations and dispute resolution. Other careers non-practising lawyers pursue are teaching, real estate, investing, publishing and writing.
Q. WHICH BOOKS ARE BEST FOR CLAT ENTRANCE EXAM?
A.Some of the good books for CLAT preparation are as follows-
- English- Word Power Made Easy by Norman Lewis
- Legal Reasoning and Awareness- Lexis Nexis student guide for CLAT, Universal’s guide to CLAT and LLB, Pearson CLAT Guide by Gargani et cetera
- Maths- RS Agrawal, 30 days maths wonder
- Logical Reasoning- RS Agrawal
- GK - For static refer Arihant’s guide, internet
- For revision- Tata McGrawhill (CLAT)
Q. IS THERE ANY SPECIAL COURSES ON CYBER SECURITY?
A.Yes, there are so many short term and long term courses are available offline and online in cyber law.
Those are as follows-
- Post Graduate Certificate in Cyber Law (PGCCL) -Duration: 2 years
- B.Tech in Computer Science & Engineering + LLB (Hons.) with specialization in Cyber Laws – duration: 6 years
- LLM in Cyber Law – duration: 2 years
- Diploma in Cyber Law- duration: 1 year, eligibility- must have qualified the 10+2 examination
Q. SHOULD I GATHER WORK EXPERIENCE DURING MY DEGREE STUDIES?
A.Yes, of course. These opportunities will give you an understanding of what it's like to work in a legal environment.
Q. I'M ENTERING INTO LAW AS A MATURE STUDENT. IS IT BENEFICIAL FOR ME??
A. More people are now pursuing a career in law as a second career. Firms and organisations are increasingly appreciating the value of mature trainees with well-developed transferable skills.
Q. WHAT IS INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS LAW AND WHAT ARE ITS SCOPES?
A.International law is generally divided into two areas: “public” international law and “private” international law. Public international law typically focuses on non-profit and government organizations. Private international law deals with all legal issues that affect businesses and corporations. Lawyers who practice international business law work for multinational corporations, or large and small law firms.
International business law covers everything from taxation, trade regulation, human rights and employment law, environmental regulation, to intellectual property and patent law. Most lawyers who practice in this area are “transactional attorneys” which means that they do not go to court.
Q. SHALL I HAVE TO TRAVEL A LOT AND LEARN MANY FOREIGN LANGUAGES TO PRACTICE INTERNATIONAL LAW?
A.The practice of international law does not demand travel as much as many people think; with the advent of the Internet many deals and documents can be completed without having to leave home. Because most international law, especially contract law, is conducted in English, rarely do lawyers practicing international law have to be fluent in another language, although lawyers who are based in foreign countries frequently will be proficient in the language of the country they are posted in.
Q. IS LAW A GOOD CAREER OPTION IN INDIA?
A.One or the other person needs a lawyer, doctor and police at least once in a lifetime. Law is among one of the most esteemed professions in India. It is no doubt a good career option as the demand for good lawyers never decrease. Starting from small family disput to making an affidavit, from marriage to divorce, to starting a business to tax payment, every time we need a lawyer. And in a hugely populated country like India, lawyer have a great demand. But the thing is that you should have command over your profession, the more knowledge and experience you will gain, the more you will prosper in your field
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