Law Careers
What is Law?
Law is a career stream that candidates pursue at undergraduate (UG), postgraduate (PG) or doctorate (PhD) level to practice the legal profession in India. Law as a career is very popular among students in India. The popularity of this stream can be judged from the fact that famous people like Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela as well as the former US President Barack Obama were lawyers.
Scope of law as a career is immense in India. These days, law graduates do not just opt to get dressed in black and white apparels and head to court but also make their presence feel in corporate houses, law firms, law agencies, administrative services and the likes.
A career in law requires one to put in a lot of hard work and long working hours. The preferred specialisations in law are either criminal or civil. However, these days other branches are also gaining popularity such as cyber law, patent law as well as corporate law.
To make a career in law at the UG level, aspirants can pursue five-year duration integrated LLB courses such as BA LLB, BBA LLB, BSc LLB or BCom LLB. Candidates can also opt to pursue a three year LLB course after completing their graduation. Apart from this, candidates who wish to study further can obtain a master’s degree (LLM) followed by a doctoral degree (PhD).
Law Eligibility & Entrance Exams
Law colleges across India have a different selection process and eligibility criteria for admissions at UG and PG levels. However, given below is the basic eligibility criteria that candidates need to fulfil to secure admission in law courses offered at UG and PG levels:
Eligibility for UG Law Courses: Candidates are eligible to secure admission in UG law courses if they have cleared Higher Secondary School/Intermediate (10+2) or its equivalent exam from a recognised board with not less than 45% marks in aggregate.
Eligibility for PG Law Courses: For admission in LLB (3 years) course, aspirants need to be graduates from a recognised university. Also, for admission in LLM course candidates need to possess an LLB or equivalent degree from a recognised university.
Desired Skills for Law
Other than the educational qualification mentioned above, candidates should possess some skills mentioned below in order to be successful in the field of law.
| Good intellect |
Good judgement of situation/people |
| Persuasion skills |
Convincing skills |
| Ability to argue on a topic |
Strong command over the language |
| Interest in detail |
Ability to assimilate as well as analyse facts |
| Fluency and clarity of speech |
Good presentation skills |
| Confidence |
Unbiased |
| Mental and physical stamina |
Interest in research |
Popular Law Entrance Exams
Law admissions at a majority of colleges and universities in India are done on the basis of entrance exams. Most of the law entrance exams conducted for admission in UG level law courses evaluate candidates on the basis of their aptitude/ knowledge on subjects such as General Knowledge, English, Mathematics (Numerical Ability), Logical Reasoning and Legal Aptitude. On the other hand, popular law exams for PG level law courses comprise questions from subject areas such as Constitutional Law, Jurisprudence and other law subjects (Contract, Torts, Criminal Law, International Law, Environment Law and Human Rights Law, etc).
Some popular law entrance exams that aspirants should consider appearing for in order to secure admission in the best law colleges in the country are mentioned below:
| Popular Law Entrance Exams |
|
|---|---|
| Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) |
All India Law Entrance Test (AILET) |
| Law School Admission Test – India (LSAT India) |
Delhi University LLB Entrance Exam (DU LLB Entrance Exam) |
Check the complete list of law entrance exams in India.
Law Courses
Candidates can pursue degree, diploma as well as certificate law courses at UG, PG and PhD levels.
Degree law courses: Candidates can obtain either an integrated law degree (such as BA LLB, BBA LLB, BSc LLB, BCom LLB etc) after clearing Class 12th or a normal LLB degree after clearing graduation. The duration of an integrated LLB degree is usually five years and that of a normal LLB degree is three years.
Diploma law courses: Candidates can pursue diploma courses at both UG and PG levels. The duration of diploma or PG diploma law courses usually ranges from one to three years.
Certificate law courses: Certificate law courses are basically short-term programmes whose duration ranges from two weeks to six months.
Mode of Law Education
Candidates can pursue law courses as full-time, part-time, distance/ correspondence, online, and virtual classroom programmes. However, it may be noted that a majority of law courses in India are offered as full-time programmes by private colleges and universities. Nonetheless, some law courses in India are also offered by public/ government or public-private institutions in the country.
Law Specialisations
Law courses in India are offered across various specialisations. Given below are some of the popular law specialisations that candidates can choose to make their career in:
| Popular Law Specialisations |
|
|---|---|
| Civil Law |
Criminal Law |
| Cyber Law |
Business Law |
| Corporate Law |
Tax Law |
| Constitutional Law |
Labour & Employment Law |
| Real Estate Law |
Competition Law |
| Media Law |
Banking Law |
| Intellectual Property Law |
Environmental Law |
| International Law |
Mergers and Acquisition Law |
Law Subjects & Syllabus
Law subjects taught in a UG or PG course may vary from college to college. However, given below is the law syllabus that is usually taught in UG and PG level law courses offered in India:
Law Syllabus (UG Courses)
| Course | Subjects |
|---|---|
| Bachelor of Law (LLB) |
|
| BA LLB |
|
| BSc LLB |
|
| BBA LLB |
|
| BCom LLB |
|
Law Syllabus (PG Courses)
| Course | Syllabus |
|---|---|
| LLB |
|
| Master of Laws (LLM) |
|
| Master of Business Law (MBL) |
|
| MBL-LLM |
|
Law Job Profiles & Top Companies
Becoming a lawyer is not the only job profile one can pursue after completing their law courses. Aspirants can also make their law careers in the job profiles mentioned below:
| Law Job Profile | Description |
|---|---|
| Lawyer |
In this job profile aspirants are also sometimes referred to as advocates. A lawyer mostly represents one of the parties/ clients in a trial at court. As part of this job profile, one needs to cross examine witnesses and then list reasons/ facts around why the court should give the judgement in favour of their clients. |
| Legal Advisors |
In this job profile, one is expected to counsel clients on legal rights and obligations. Legal advisors mostly research laws applicable to a particular case and thereafter go through previous judgements passed in cases similar to the one their client is currently facing and thereafter help them in listing out how they can defend themselves. |
| Judges |
As a Judge one has to ensure that justice is administered and legal rights of all the involved parties are safeguarded. A Judge presides over trials/hearings wherein s/he has to listen to the case presented by lawyers. |
| Solicitors |
Solicitors give legal advice and represent their client in legal matters. Solicitors mostly work for firms which take up cases related to their area of work. |
| Legal Executives |
People opting to work for such a job profile typically advise their employers on legal matters. They also work on litigation cases for their firm. They also perform administrative functions along with handling in-house legal problems such as checking deeds, issuing writs, collecting information for affidavits as well as draft legal documents. Legal executives also represent their business house when they discuss legal issues with other firms. |
| Notary Public
|
Notaries are appointed by the central government for the whole or specific part of the country. The various State governments also appoint notaries who work for the whole or a specific part of the state. Any person who has been practicing Law (as a lawyer) for minimum ten years is eligible to apply for a notary post. As per the Notaries Act 1952, the function of a Notary is as follows:
|
| Oath Commissioners |
Anyone who works under this job profile is authorised to verify affidavits. An Oath Commissioner is appointed by the Chief Justice and is usually (though not always) a solicitor. The functions of an Oath Commissioner are as follows:
|
Top Law Companies in India
Salaries earned by law graduates typically vary on the law specialisation they choose along with the company they join. After completing a law course aspirants can work as an understudy with lawyers or even join a corporate company. Know the top law companies here.
The top law companies that are known to hire law graduates are listed below:
- Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A Shroff & Co.
- AZB & Partners
- Khaitan & CO
- J Sagar Associates
- Luthra & Luthra Law Offices
- Trilegal
- S&R Associates
- Economic Laws Practice
- Desai & Diwanji
- Talwar Thakore & Associates
Hightech Software
Node JS, Angular, AWS, Cloudinary Platform
Vision Website
Java, HTML, CSS, AWS, Cloudinary Platform
Innovation
.Net, Java, Node JS, Javascript, Angular JS, Vue
Circle WebApp
Node JS, Angular, AWS, Cloudinary Platform
Linc Software
Java, HTML, CSS, AWS, Cloudinary Platform
Union Banco
Node JS, Angular, AWS, Cloudinary Platform
HT Software
Java, HTML, CSS, AWS, Cloudinary Platform
Hightech Software
Node JS, Angular, AWS, Cloudinary Platform
Related Courses/ Careers
| ID | 454 |
|---|---|
| College Name | (not set) |
| Abbrevation | (not set) |
| Listing Name With City Locality | (not set) |
| Shiksha Id | (not set) |
| Listing Type | (not set) |
| Str Slug | (not set) |
| About College | (not set) |
| Is Multiple Location | (not set) |
| Intership | (not set) |
| Ownership | (not set) |
| About College Placement | (not set) |
| Flagship Course Id | (not set) |
| All Courses Url | (not set) |
| Course Pdf Url | (not set) |
| Total Base Course Count | (not set) |
| Total Course Count | (not set) |
| Meta Title | (not set) |
| Meta Description | (not set) |
| Faq Content | (not set) |
| Institute Name | (not set) |
| Institute Specification Type | (not set) |
| Header Image Desktop New | (not set) |
| Header Image Mobile New | (not set) |
| Logo Image Url | (not set) |
| Estb Year | (not set) |
| Autonomous | (not set) |
| National Importance | (not set) |
| Univeristy Type With Specification | (not set) |
| Ugc Approved | (not set) |
| Naac Accreditation | (not set) |
| Aiu Member | (not set) |
| Student Type | (not set) |
| Parent University Id | (not set) |
