Career in Law

Due to the changing economic and social scenario and the ever-increasing regulatory role being undertaken by the government there is a growing demand for the lawyers. Besides being financially lucrative, Law is an adventurous and thrilling career option.

People often come across situations where legal advice is required. In such situation they need the advice of a legal professionals who analyze and interpret law properly. Lawyers counsel clients about their legal rights and suggest course of action in a particular matter. They also advise clients and draw up legal documents, such as wills and contracts and may represent clients in court and tribunal proceedings.

Litigating lawyers deal with various kinds of issues, ranging from property matters to criminal matters, constitutional issues to matters of family law.

Other lawyers work with corporate houses, or in law firms that service corporates. Here, lawyers work mainly as facilitators, helping companies work smoothly, efficiently, and within the boundaries of the law. Huge mergers, large stock market issues, and foreign investments are issues where many corporates would find themselves struggling to understand how to actually put their ideas in place. Lawyers make it happen.

Academic excellence is not the main thing behind the success in this profession. Professional competence acquired through experience and practice with efficient lawyers is the main yardstick of success.

The realities of working in the legal profession, however, should be fully explored before reaching a decision. Legal work can require spending long hours in tedious, painstaking research and repetitive administrative tasks. 

To practice as a lawyer minimum qualification needed is a law degree by doing a course in law (LLB). P.G. Programmes in law (LLM) are of 2 years duration & eligibility is LLB degree.

There are various branches of specializations in law like civil law, criminal law, corporate law, property law, income tax law, family law, labour law, constitutional law, administration law, copyright and patent law etc. one can choose from.

Skills

Rather than academic excellence personal attributes of a person play a major role in determining success in this profession. One must have good intellectual ability, the ability to assimilate and analyze facts quickly, excellent communication and presentation skills, power of concentration, patience, good memory to relate and quote past cases to prove a point, ability to argue and discuss matters with a variety of people, self confidence etc. Lawyers should also have physical and mental stamina to cope with the long hours of work and work related stress.

Career Options

Lawyers can find employment in a variety of positions in the Government Service as well as other fields. Lawyer can also work as legal counsel and legal advisers for business houses, organizations and families. They can work as trustees of various trusts, as teachers, law reporters, company secretary and so on. Opportunities exist in the defense services too. Additional qualification along with law degree offers scope for a wide range of employment opportunities.

If one decides to become an advocate, he begins as a junior assistant to an advocate, performing routine jobs like filing, researching, securing adjournments and, of course, attending court with the senior. He gradually graduates to working on briefs and drafting plaints. After several years of drafting experience, he begins to participate actively in court.

In the case of the option to become a solicitor, one may join as a junior in a solicitor's firm. Here too, the junior job begins at routine runs like studying law cases, looking up authorities from time to time and filing suits and notices. Depending upon how big or small the solicitor's firm is, the junior may gain valuable experience in a wide range of matters under the guidance of his seniors. Here too, after several years of experience, he may raise to the level of a senior and may eventually be invited to join as one of the partners of the firm.

Plunging into private practice immediately after graduation is practically impossible, unless there is a ready-made family firm. It generally takes several years under an advocate or solicitor before a person is ready to branch off into his own practice.