This article is written by Ramanuj Mukherjee, CEO, iPleaders.

I am noticing a very interesting dynamic in Bombay’s old legal district, Fort and Nariman Point this time.

Suddenly the area has become cheap to live in. Isn’t that insane? It used to be the most expensive real estate in India.

But now entire office buildings are lying empty. The business district has moved away.

Take AZB & Partners for example. It was one of the last big law firms to have a Nariman Point office. It moved to Lower Parel like everyone else in 2016.

Of course, the high court is still here at Fort. But it cannot accommodate more judges and there is no place to create new courtrooms. The whisper in the air is that the court will move to Pahadi Goregaon now or later. Apparently, a parcel of land has been identified.

Of course, many old people are stalling the move, but for how long?

Lower Parel is the now undisputed capital of legal profession in Mumbai. But things may move further north. Anyway, a lot of law firms are now located in places like Powai, Borivali, Thane and Malad, places to which clients have moved on in search of large spaces. Where will a JP Morgan find space for 3500 employees in Lower Parel?

So the incredible is happening. People who work in Lower Parel are living in Colaba. The rents are cheaper than I could find 8 years back.

Most people are yet to catch on to the trend. Only very junior lawyers looking for PGs are discovering that they can get a room without sharing at the same budget! Old couples in South Bombay who rent out flats for their income are suddenly seeing a drop in house hunters looking for a place close to their office to stay in.

Some people are going to hate me for leaking their secret.

Anyway, realities shift. Economy changes. Even the citadel moves on. It is important to see the shift ahead of time and position yourself to take advantage of it.

Realities of law practice are shifting too. A lawyer from Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas, for example, was telling me how he needs 2 juniors now to do due diligence now where he required 4 thanks to an AI tool the firm invested in.

AZB now has a transaction support group where they pay much less to the lawyers who are expected mostly to do due diligence.

A software developer showed me software used by many big companies which enable executives to use templates for small contracts and therefore not bother the legal team for every small contract.

Companies are hiring us to train labour and employment law to their HR managers so that the legal team is not asked to interfere in every small issue.

I recently spoke to the head of a major corporation who showed me how they are using chatbots to answer queries of various teams rather than using the time of their substantially big legal team each time. This use to add up to hundreds of hours of lawyers work each year earlier. This work used to be done by the most junior lawyers.

Earlier the junior most hires were put on due diligence. It was the training ground. Now it’s done by a transaction support group to lower costs. Sometimes it is being done with fewer people thanks to artificial intelligence and amazing software products.

Basically, the space for hiring untrained lawyers hoping that a firm or a company will teach them how to do their first job is shrinking.

It will be harder to succeed as a young lawyer unless you equip yourself with the necessary knowledge and train yourself in the skills that are most valuable to your potential employers.

Reality is shifting for the practice of law. If you take note and take the right set of action, you will emerge at the top. Don’t miss the bus.

We do all the hard work for you to think where the legal market is headed and prepare courses that will bridge the gap for you. Your college is probably not doing it and continuing to teach what it used to teach 20 years back.

Don’t be caught off-guard like the uncles and aunties in Colaba Causeway or Tardeo who never thought that rent can ever go down in those areas.

Here are a few upcoming courses you can enroll in right now:

For those looking to make a career in technology law (high demand, great industry projection, industries of the future):

• IP, Media and Entertainment law (fastest growing industry across the world)
• Labour and employment law (as India shifts from informal to the formal economy, demand is rising sharply)
• Company law and corporate governance (evergreen, and with regular amendments, keeping corporate India on its toe)
• Real estate law (the industry is recovering, but lawyers have insane amount work, only to grow in future)