In this article, Shreyanshi Maheshwari, a student of Symbiosis Law School, NOIDA discusses Contribution of Law Students in Legal Profession.

Introduction

Law as a profession provides valuable service throughout the society in different ways to different groups of people at the different level in both the public and private sphere. Whether be any section of society, the law is needed for all. Law is not just the contribution of the lawyers but the profession also depends on the contribution of the budding lawyers or the law students. It is important to acknowledge and thank those who are the foundation of this profession as they provide their high level of service on which the modern society is dependent. In the modern context, it also provides us with the opportunity to highlight the role of law students in the legal profession as well as in the society. Law students have a strong sense of justice and have a will to remove the injustices from the society and through their legal knowledge gained through legal education they make this change significant. The change is not sudden but is a result of a gradual change that comes over a period of time.

• First, it is important to consider that law student play different roles in different situations. Like they act as a litigator in the moot courtroom while they act as a counselor in the Client Counseling.
• Secondly, their roles also differ from country to country. Nations have different legal systems, different in their legal education and therefore it creates a difference in their work and contribution. Maybe, what is considered to be a contribution of a law student in one country is not considered to be the same in the other country.
• Thirdly, it is important to note that the role of a law student is undergoing significant changes. The nature of legal services, the new education structures, greater flexibility in working practices and many other factors are making significant changes in the existing legal profession.

Role of Law Student in Legal Profession

Moot Court

Clinical legal education plays a very important role in transforming a law student into a good advocate. Moot court plays a very important role in this transformation. Today, society needs to have efficient advocates, lawyers, judges. Making a good and efficient law professional is not an easy task and therefore needs tremendous efforts and commitment. Moot court is one such activity that not only enhances legal knowledge, but it also enhances the communication, drafting, legal research, and presentation skills. Most important, it helps us in boosting our confidence. After presenting moots, students get to know what real court proceedings are like. This makes them well aware of the legal process and prepares them as an advocate.

Mock Trial

It makes students aware of all the aspects of a criminal trial as taking on the roles of the Advocates, Witnesses, clerks, investigating officers, accused and victim. This supplements the traditional classroom learning by encouraging the development of essential skills such as logical reasoning, clear communication, and teamwork, which makes the students well aware of the legal procedure as well as about the laws too. Every student should take part in mock trial as it helps in assisting the way in which the story needs to be formatted and how the trial needs to be presented, helps in seeing the case from the other side, helps in finding the loopholes in your case, assists in evaluating case themes and stories, allow you to polish your skills.

Client Counseling

Traditionally legal counseling was seen as a lawyer advising the client regarding the client’s legal problem. As time changes, Client Counseling Competition came into practice. Modern day education should focus more on the lawyering skills. Client counseling is one such important skill in which law students need to be trained in. One of the most important functions of a lawyer is to advise people who are seeking his assistance in knowing the legal implications of their own actions. In Client Counseling, students themselves act as Client and Advocate and therefore prepare them for a real-life client counseling meeting wherein one being an advocate is required to understand what your client’s problem is and how you can resolve it.

Debating

“Don’t raise your voice, improve your argument”.

Conventional wisdom says that competitive debate is excellent preparation for the practice of law. The art of debate involves mastering the skills of obvious value: the confidence to speak in public and make sense; constructing a logical argument; ability to read audience’s mind and reactions; and most importantly hearing the arguments of others and to respond to them. The aim of a debate should be the truth, neither victory nor unjust interest. Studying law as a course gives a great intellectual challenge as it develops the ability to argue on the basis of the proof and evidence in a way that can be really hard to counter. So if a law student has good debating skills, he will be a good lawyer.

Internships

Law internship is where higher education meets employment. It allows law students to gain experience through working in an organization while studying in a university. It is a first-hand experience in the legal profession and is very helpful in understanding the day-to-day responsibilities of an advocate. It helps us in knowing how to behave in a professional setting so that we never stand out for wrong reasons. While the law school is teaching us the fundamental substantive law, the internships help us to think like a lawyer and are more of practical knowledge of the profession. It provides the law student with the five essentials, that is, direction, good resume, professionalism, substantive work and a better understanding of the profession. More the internships more are your knowledge regarding your profession and greater knowledge results in the great advocate.

Blogging

Blogging offers law students a lot of benefits, allowing them to explore their topic of interest, showcase their writing skills, and to allow them to connect to the other like-minded law students and lawyers. Blogging was initially used by people to showcase their views, opinions, thoughts, experiences, and feelings. Today, it has grown and is used by millions, everyone from an individual to businesses to professionals. Blogging is no longer an individual hobby, it has emerged as an influential tool, affecting the thoughts and views of millions of people. The one writing the blog affects the lives of so many people. The law student while writing blogs affects the minds of various people as they transfer the information regarding their profession to others, as a result, contributing to the whole legal profession.

Legal Research

The ability to conduct a legal research is essential for any lawyer regardless of his area of practice. Law students generally hear the word ‘Legal Research’ on their internships. Contrary to layman meaning it is not just finding the law. It is analyzing law that is in one’s hand, that is, finding, understanding and applying the law. Whether it is a legislation or a case law or a current judgment of High Court or of the Supreme Court, a legal professional needs to be well aware of the current laws and legislation. It is one skill that is primary to legal practice and therefore most important of all. Legal research is gradually improving through the online legal databases. A considerable appreciation for the improvement of legal research goes to these online legal databases. If these online legal databases, used properly and intelligently can give exact and needed knowledge about the case laws. This reduces the time and resources, required to conduct a quality legal research but in addition to this, it needs proper training for using these legal databases. If law students learn to use these legal databases in their law schools it helps them in contributing to a quality legal research during their internships and jobs.

Conclusion

The Legal profession is a profession of service and welfare. And as an agent of justice, lawyers and law students play an important role in the preservation of peace and justice in the society. Law students play different roles, quite a number of which are only noticed by those who are being benefited from their services. Without law students, we won’t have future lawyers and ultimately we’ll have no one to protect us from the abuse of law. There are lawyers on both the sides of our legal system. Someone protects your rights, while the other protects someone else’s right. As we need a doctor to remain physically fit, we need present and future lawyers to remain legally fit.

Studying as a law student you get to know how the theory should be applied in practice. Law students are equipped with a variety of skills such as research, writing, drafting, communication, critical analysis, etc. law students make an impact on the lives of many as they are directly connected to the society and society needs them for everything whether it be for advice or referencing or for representation. Law students are budding future lawyers and contribute to the legal profession in every possible way.