Today ‘Law’ is one of the best career options after 12th, if we consider
the emergence of National Law Schools, their world class education and their impressive
national and international campus placements which are growing even more attractive
with each passing year.
While the traditional options of joining legal practice or the judiciary as solicitors
and advocates or as judges remain open, options like joining the civil services,
academics and working as law officers in the government departments and public sector
and private sector undertakings are also available to the law graduates.
However, most impressive are the options thrown open by the emerging global economy
to a graduate from the top law schools in the country. Emerging options for a law
school graduate are as follows:
International Law Firms
Indian Law Firms
Consulting and Advisory Companies
Corporate Legal Departments of Indian Companies and MNCs
The concept of national law school was a response to meet the
challenges posed by the deteriorating standards in legal education of the country.
The Bar Council of India as the statutory body responsible for legal education and
legal profession took initiative in establishing the first National Law School of
the country with a view to raising the standard of legal education in India. The
Government of Karnataka on the recommendation of the Bar Council of India passed
the National Law School of India Act, 1986. National Law School of India University,
(NLSIU) Bangalore became the first Indian Law University. India’s leading lawyers,
judges and legal academicians have been associating with the Law School since its
inception. Now, India has 13 National Law Schools created by laws passed by respective
state governments providing world-class quality legal education in the country.
As outlined by the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) committee,
the objectives of all these National Law Schools may be summarized as follows:
1. To achieve excellence in legal education and in this process,
benchmark themselves against the international standards.
2. To impart comprehensive legal education relevant to the requirements
of our country.
3. To advance knowledge by promoting inter-disciplinary research
in all branches of law.
4. To inculcate noble professional and ethical values so as to
realize the objectives enshrined in our Constitution.
List of National Law Schools
National Law School / University
Seats
Web Address
1.
National Law School Of India University (NLSIU), Bangalore, Karnataka
Annual campus placements at the top National Law Schools have started witnessing
the active presence of top international law firms from UK like Allen & Overy,
Linklaters, Herbert Smith and Clifford Chance. Some international law firms based
in Singapore, Hong Kong, France, Germany and USA have also recruited from the campuses
of National Law Schools.
Top consulting companies like Boston Consulting Group, Mckinsey, Ernst & Young
and KPMG are recruiting law school graduates on a regular basis. Almost all top
Indian law firms and companies as well as regulatory bodies of the government like
SEBI and Legal Process Outsourcing (LPO) companies like Pangea3 are recruiting students
in campus placements.
Some of the law school graduates opt out of placements each year either to start
a career in legal practice under India’s top lawyers in the Supreme Court and the
High Courts or to study at some of the world’s best law schools like Oxford, Cambridge,
Yale, Harvard, Columbia, LSE, etc. They are also claiming the prestigious Rhodes,
British Chevening and other scholarships every year.
International Law Firms: Clifford Chance LLP (UK), SJ Berwin LLP (UK), Allen
& Overy LLP (UK and Singapore), Simmons & Simmons LLP (UK), Herbert Smith
LLP (UK), KhattarWong (Singapore), etc. Indian Law Firms: Fox Mandal Little, Amarchand Mangaldas, AZB & Partners,
Luthra & Luthra, Khaitan & Co, Wadia Ghandy & Co., Nishith Desai, Anand
and Anand, Titus & Co. etc. Companies: ICICI Bank, Hindustan Lever, Tata group, Mahindra, Wipro, Infosys,
Cholamandalam, General Insurance, Xerox Modi Corp etc. Consulting: McKinsey, Boston Consulting Group, Ernst & Young, etc. Legal Process Outsourcing (LPO): Pangea3, Evalueserve, Integreon,
CPA Global, Mindcrest, SDD Global, etc. Other Organizations: United Nations and its agencies, Indian Red Cross Society,
SEBI, Judicial Clerkship to the Judges of Supreme Court of India, Action Aid (NGO),
etc.
Higher Education: National Law School graduates have joined World’s best
Universities like Yale, Harvard, Oxford, LSE, Princeton, Columbia, Cambridge, Fletcher
College, etc. Scholarships won by Law School Students: Rhodes, British Chevening, Erasmus
Mundus scholarship, etc.
CLAT-2009 was organized by NALSAR Hyderabad for and on behalf of 11 participating
National Law Schools situated in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Bhopal, Jodhpur,
Gandhinagar, Raipur, Patna, Lucknow, Patiala and Cochin. The exam was conducted
on 31st May 2009. It was written by over 13,000 students in 16 cities
across the country for a total of 1100 seats approx. (subject to reservations).
CLAT-2009 saw a significant increase of 20-25% in the number of applicants over
2008 exam. CLAT-2010 would be conducted by National Law Institute University, Bhopal.
Some basic information about CLAT
1. Eligibility: The candidate should have passed 10+2 or an equivalent examination
in aggregate with not less than 50% in all the core subjects together with English.
Candidates appearing in their standard 12 examination are also eligible to apply. 2. Age-Limit: The candidate should not have completed 20 years of age as
on 1st July of the academic year. In case of an SC/ST candidate, the
age limit would be 22 years as on 1st July. 3. Pattern of CLAT 2009: CLAT is a two-hour test with 200 multiple choice
questions in five subject areas as given below:
This is an indicative list of good law schools or colleges or university departments
or faculties of the country offering 5 years integrated LL.B. programme. The list
is not exhaustive and not given in any order of ranking.
Students may visit the websites or contact the respective institutions for more
information.
Law Schools offering only 3 years LL.B. courses after graduation like the Faculty
of Law, Delhi University or Benaras Hindu University, etc. are not included in the
list.
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