Lord over the legal world
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So you thought law was just about dramatic courtroom scenes? Read on to know about the array of career opportunities
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Except for those fortunate ones with lawyers in the family, the rest of us grew up thinking of lawyers as black & white social outcasts chirping the occasional `mee lord' in B-grade Bollywood flicks. Many of my peers never even considered law as a career option when they made those vital decisions of picking their careers. Alarming, because there is no shortage of cutting-edge technology or pioneering business practices but there is an acute lack of human responsibility. We have the best gadgets and multi-billion dollar companies but at the same time we have corporate frauds, terrorism, ethnic violence, genocide, murder and what's more, many of these menaces are even more threatening than they were, say, a decade ago.
Neil Rudenstine, once the President of Harvard University, put it aptly when he said that "Law demands those other capacities -- not so easily categorised or taught -- as insight, intuition, wisdom, and courage. In short, it is intensely human, touching on everything that is essential to our lives...." Those who have experienced a good legal education acquire skills, such as argument, negotiation, counselling and writing, which they can apply in any sphere of life, whether it is business, politics or one's private life. When I stepped out of law school the most significant changes I noticed about myself were not my enhanced knowledge of the various laws but an increased social awareness, an ability to understand issues and arguments and to collect my thoughts and piece together arguments before delivering them effectively. I was wiser and more mature.
Join the `benches'
The quality of legal education in India has been suspect for a long time and this is the principal reason why the perception of law as a career has remained negative despite the importance of law and legal education.
Fortunately, over the last decade this perception has been changing dramatically. The change has been inspired by world class law schools such as the National Law School of India University (NLSIU) in Bangalore. Such is the success of NLSIU that in the last 6-7 years we have seen the emergence of other excellent `national law schools' such as National University of Juridical Sciences (NUJS) in Kolkata and National Academy of Legal Studies and Research (NALSAR) in Hyderabad.
The academic curriculum and quality of students attracted by these law schools has forced India, and the world, to sit up and take notice. NLSIU's triumph in 1999 at what is the equivalent of a world cup in mock advocacy, the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court competition at Washington DC, should have been an object of national pride and deserved attention, equivalent to, if not more than that showered on winners at international science Olympiads. NUJS Kolkata's triumph at the William C Vis Arbitration Moot at Vienna deserved similar attention and national recognition. At the time of the triumph NUJS was all of three years old! The list of fine new law schools doesn't end there!
Despite being infants in legal education National Law Institute University, Bhopal, and National Law University, Jodhpur, have blazed a trail and joined the law schools at Bangalore, Hyderabad and Kolkata at the top tier. I say, with great pride, that our students are as good if not better than any at the other top law schools in the world.
Time to `Act'
Alumni of the top law schools, notably NLSIU (being the most 'senior' national law school), have excelled in diverse areas. They walk the corridors of the Supreme Court, High Courts, top corporate law firms and business houses, agencies of the United Nations etc. Alumni of these colleges even teach at leading institutions such as Oxford and Harvard.
The five-year law degree is extremely versatile. Civil and criminal law are no longer the principal pillars of the five-year law degree as students also study corporate and commercial law, mediation and negotiation, international law, intellectual property law, medical negligence law, and human rights law, just to name a few disciplines.
It is a big myth that one has to be from arts or commerce to do law! In fact, laws such as medical negligence law and patent law require scientific knowledge. The boundaries between science, commerce, arts and law have disappeared and you can select the area of law closest to your interests. Believe it when I say that there is a law that ensures that the moon cannot be made the colony of any one nation!
A law degree equips you not just to be an accomplished lawyer but also a businessman, bureaucrat, diplomat, social activist or academician. Which other degree gives you the option, to name a few, to work with the best law firms; companies such as Infosys, GE or HLL; international organisations such as the Red Cross or Amnesty; or with NGOs such as the Narmada Bachao Andolan or Action-Aid.
Job applicants amongst the graduating batch at the National Law School this year were recruited at average annual salaries comparable to the top management schools and higher than those offered at top engineering schools. It goes without saying that financially the profession is hugely rewarding. A law degree is being increasingly looked at as a huge value add in any profession and combinations of law, such as the law and MBA, are also being valued by the industry. In the words of Dr. Ranjay Gulati, of the world-famous Kellogg Business School, "The spheres of business and law are no longer distinct - each one inspires and completes the other. The global need is for lawyers who understand business and businessman who understand law - it is this specie that can drive sustainable business. The value of a person qualified as a business manager and a lawyer will only grow."
These are still early days for quality legal education in India and the demand for lawyers in every walk of life is bound to grow evermore. The new law schools have achieved so much in so little time - one wonders what the future has in store for them. Clearly, the best is yet to come. There is a word for what has happened to legal education and legal careers in India - it's `revolution'.
SACHIN MALHAN
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