“Justice that
love gives is a surrender, justice that law gives is a punishment” - Mahatma
Gandhi
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Law
Students Dissolution ed?
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If you have
ever felt that law in general is Greek, you may or may not be right. Did you know that India today breed the
larges number of legal professionals in the world? According to a Harward Law
School report, there are approximately, 1.3 million registered attorneys, and
half a million Indian law students pass out every year from various colleges in
India. Albeit that not all of them go through the regular run of the mill jobs
like litigation-oriented practice or drafting. The HBS believes that
partnerships in areas of legal specialization should be toast of the future.
As an ex-content manager and co-founder of a legal website lawisgreek.com, I have felt that Law students are mostly unclear about what role they would like to enshrine in the field of law, for a simple reason that law is vast and it touches all of us in some way or the other. It is not just the glamour, the intensity, or the money or the status that a law graduate brings along once he is in the market place. It is much more than that. If you talk about the Indian legal market, I’d say, we are in a nascent stage in terms of growth even in the law courses offered by government law colleges. A law student should first of all identify his/her inherent interests, desired skill set he has, plus a yardstick to measure “legal professional opportunities” available these days.
Legal Education in India
One might ask
about the outcomes resulting from the influence of the above factors and the
future direction of legal education in India given the level of economic
development and globalization. Never since Independence has legal education
received the attention it receives today from society, government and the
private corporate sector. This has resulted in better infrastructure, greater
private participation and increased investment, though yet inadequate for
quality legal education. In 2010, according to a trusted source, top hundred India
based companies have spent last year nearly $ 500 million in the legal fees. Can
you imagine what will happen in 2013?
Legal Transformation India Going Through
We
are undergoing reforms even in legal education sector, and not just foreign
direct investment. According to a Harvard Law School study, legal education is
undergoing a constant process of change. The change could be in legal
organization, the way management handles legal queries, legal content writing
and dissemination and even the sources to disseminate or publishing legal
content has come a long way since 1950. Basically the legal change is imminent
and based on a social order such as installing democracy, following and
adhering to human rights and installing the rule of law which will in turn
secure the rights of a ‘law abiding citizen’. The rights are justice, liberty,
equality and dignity.
Career in Law – What not to expect
If you are a fresh kid
passing out of a law college, do not expect to make a mark in the legal
fraternity instantly. It takes time, a lot of time to understand the
intricacies the legal profession provides.
Initially a law grad may have to do all sorts of so called ‘dirty jobs’
like accounting or drafting and may find these jobs monotonous and boring, but
that’s the catch. A career in Law is a competitive business, for the simple
reason being that it requires basic understanding of “logical thinking”. Very
good law colleges train to optimize this “logical thinking” and impart quality
law education across. A lawyer thinks
like a detective or an investigative journalist and would like to go deeper in
to the scheme of the things. Are you prepared?
The article first appeared on The 'Learning Curve' sponsored by The Chopras
