Why McKinsey hires from national law schools
SACHIN MALHAN
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The visit of the world's top business school recruiter to India's best law schools is a testament to the quality of legal education next door.
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The road to McKinsey has always been pretty straight. Straight As in school, Straight As in university, Straight As in IIMs. However, a new path seems to have opened up lately — and it goes through the national law schools. The world's top recruiters now look at the national law schools.
Legal education is today widely considered to be among the most sophisticated educational options in the world. After all, few other professional degrees focus on analysis, communication and the human interface more than law.
For me, and for a number of my classmates, law school was not merely an instruction in how to excel in the practice of the law, whether in companies, law firms or the courts. It was also a broader instruction in how to think and to communicate in a meaningful way. While the latter may be necessary for the practice of the law they are also instrumental in almost any other field. This is what, at least for me, made my education special.
The integration of arts, commerce and the sciences into the core legal subjects makes legal education one of a kind. When I left law school I felt quite comfortable with venturing into areas that were traditionally the domains of the business school and economics honours graduates. Today I marvel at the number of options that a great legal education throws up: I have friends who consult with the Boston Consulting Group, negotiate global issues at the World Bank, and advise with top global law firms like Clifford Chance. This would not have been possible if the law school experience at the national law schools was not multi-disciplinary.
Legal education in India still has a long way to go. The national law schools need to find ways to ensure a sustainable influx of quality faculty and good administrators.
However, one thing is for sure, with the resurgence of the law schools, the quality of talent entering the law schools is bound to rise for a long time to come. This will give industry new places to hunt for talent, it will positively impact the justice system and in the long run, give India a new set of progressive leaders. While this may sound unusually optimistic, law schools have always been central to the development of nations. Ours, I would reason, is no exception.
(The author is a graduate from National Law School of India University, Bangalore, currently involved in training students aspiring to enter law schools).
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