In this blog post, Mr. Sumit Roy, a Senior Associate at Seth Dua & Associates and a Mentor at Project Abhimanyu provides advice to a student on how to choose the right field of Law. Project Abhimanyu acts as an external placement cell that guides a student about the available career options and job opportunities as well as helps them apply for internships and jobs.
Query: Sir, I do not know what to do with my career, whether I should go for litigation or for corporate law or for any other thing in the field of law. I don’t have any law background so I need your guidance on how I can make a successful career in this field, what other things or activities I can do with my LLB degree. So please guide me.
Answer:
From your email copied below, what I understand is that you are as of now in your 2nd year of law course. A perusal of your resume also reveals that as of now you have not undertaken any training/internship.
Practising law is not as complex as it appears. If one chooses the correct path and pursues it, then he or she is bound to excel. Needless to say, the path has to be one of liking which incites passion and dedication to work hard.
Working as a corporate lawyer or as a litigator has its own advantages and is more of a personal choice, depending upon the aptitude which differs from person to person. Therefore to decide which arm of practice to choose from, it is necessary to test the waters during the formative years of college. Such can be done by way of internships.
Coming to your question, whether you should choose corporate or litigation. I guess the answer to this question lies into the point I mentioned above – you need to start undertaking internships. I will suggest that you start with an internship with a Trial Lawyer where you stay. This way you get the basics of how a Court works and the kind of hard-work, both mental and physical, required. If the first internship excites you, undertake a second internship in litigation to further fine tune your understanding. It may so happen that the second internship may make you feel that litigation is something that you would want to do and that it is litigation in which you would want to make your career. However, to be sure that you will not want to do corporate work, try doing an internship in a law firm before taking the conclusive decision. Once through with three internships, you should have the inkling if not the conviction, if you would want to be a lawyer or a litigator.
Apart from internships, try to write articles which get published. Articles not only help you while seeking a job, but also enhance your articulation skills.
