Legal education and careers

The essentials

Legal education in India is regulated by the Bar Council of India together with universities, while the University Grants Commission oversees higher education generally. Students can study law through a three-year LL.B. after graduation or a five-year integrated degree (such as B.A. LL.B.) after Class 12. The five-year model was pioneered by the National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bengaluru, the first National Law University, which began teaching in the late 1980s. Admission to most NLUs is through the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT).

Key points

• Teaching methods: lectures, case-law method, moot courts, internships, legal aid clinics and clinical legal education.
• Postgraduate study: LL.M. and research degrees for teaching and specialisation.
• Careers in litigation: practising in trial courts, High Courts or the Supreme Court; working in a senior advocate's chambers.
• Judiciary: entry through state judicial service examinations as civil judges; higher judicial services for experienced advocates.
• Corporate practice: law firms and in-house legal departments of companies (contracts, mergers, compliance, intellectual property, tax).
• Other careers: legal academia and research, legal journalism, policy research, NGOs and human rights work, legislative drafting, legal process outsourcing, arbitration and mediation, the armed forces' Judge Advocate General branch, and public sector legal posts.
• Public law officers: public prosecutors and government counsel.

Exam tips

• Connect each career with the skills it needs: advocacy, drafting, research, negotiation.
• Remember the role of the BCI in recognising law degrees for enrolment.

Common mistakes

• Thinking a law degree leads only to courtroom practice.
• Assuming the five-year programme existed before NLSIU – NLSIU introduced the model.