It takes courage & skills to be a legal eagle

By Ranjan K Baruah

After passing the law course, aspirants may become magistrate, public prosecutor, judges, attorney general, solicitor general, advocate general, notary, etc. Selection or appointment is from government side and for some, selection tests are being conducted by the Public Service Commission.
There are also opportunities in the defence forces for lawyers to join as Judge Advocate General Branch. Both male and female may become officers in the defence forces after passing law and appearing for interview of the defence forces. Many lawyers join non-governmental organisations and different civil society groups which work for the rights and justice of the poor and marginalised people of the country. Lawyers do get a chance to work for international organisations like the United Nations or Amnesty International if they have skill and knowledge.
Some may also join teaching profession and become teachers while many choose to become journalists or writers. Some of the students take admission in courses like Chartered Accountancy or Company Secretaryship and practice as CA or CS. Some may also join in legal outsourcing as this has demand. In legal profession one may specialise in these or more to become an expert and build a strong career. Some of the field of specialisations are as follows and most of these are important in India like Civil/Criminal Law, Constitutional Law, Administrative Law, Human Rights Law, Family Law, Taxation, Corporate Law, Business Law, International Law, Labour Law, Real Estate Law, Intellectual property /Patent Law, etc.
One of the common and important entrances related to law admission is CLAT which is known as Common Law Admission Test. CLAT is an all India entrance examination, conducted on rotation by National Law Universities (NLUs) for admissions to their Under-Graduate and Post-Graduate degree programmes.
Having a degree in law does not make someone employable. There are skills and attributes needed to be successful in legal profession. One must have good oral and written communication skills, logical reasoning, power of concentration, patience, good memory to relate and quote past cases to prove your point, ability to argue and discuss matters with a variety of people, self confidence, courage to deal with threats, especially in criminal cases.
One needs to have patience and strong networking skills to get clients. Mere wearing the black coat does not guarantee getting clients but one must have good reputation and credibility and for fresher they have to work hard to make them credible. Students while studying law may start to make networks with different agencies or law firm to get more exposure. Many students join different rights based organisation who work for the rights and justice of the people. Student may make best use of technology like internet to explore more. Command over different languages is another added point for all those who want to practice as lawyer. In the initial stage many lawyers work under seniors and experts but some may work independently depending on their skills and ideas. Remuneration would be small in the initial stage but later one may earn good amount of money along with name and fame. In the present day situation one can think of becoming a legal entrepreneur and innovate in the profession.

Updates:

INSPIRE Fellowship 2018 implemented by the Ministry of Science & Technology, Department of Science & Technology (DST) aims to attract, retain and nurture scientific talents in the country, and thus promote scientific research. The Innovation in Scientific Pursuit for Inspired Research (INSPIRE) scheme aims to strengthen the R&D foundation by offering fellowship. Last date for applying is 10th October

AICTE-Saksham Scholarship Scheme 2018-19 invites applications from differently-abled students who have taken admission in the first year of technical diploma/degree course at an institution recognised by AICTE. Apply before 10th October

AICTE Pragati Scholarship for Girls 2018-19 invites applications from girl students studying in 1st-year technical diploma/degree programme from an AICTE approved college/institution in the current academic year. Apply before 10th October.

(Ranjan K Baruah is a career mentor, skill trainer and motivational speaker and can be reached at [email protected] or 8473943734 for any career related queries)