This article is written by Ramanuj Mukherjee, CEO, LawSikho.
We said at the beginning of 2019, that this year will be the year of litigation courses.
We were already the powerhouse for teaching corporate law courses like M&A, Company Law, Investment Laws, Technology Law, Contract Drafting and Negotiation. Most of our students and revenue came from those courses before 2019.
However, we felt that litigation can be as big an opportunity if not much bigger.
We had to make amazing litigation courses. And in existing courses, even if they were meant for corporate lawyers, we had to add a dimension of litigation related learning.
The idea was simple: we have to become really good with litigation courses, similar to what we had already done for corporate law courses.
Did we achieve that?
With barely 55 days to go for 2019 to end, it is high time to evaluate that!
So, I was going through the feedback of hundreds of litigators who have done our courses in the last 6 months. I have been calling up some of them about what they have to say.
I must say I am very happy about what I heard. I will share what they are saying, but let me tell you what are the top 7 reasons our litigator students said that they loved the LawSikho experience, and bought one after another course as they finished the first one.
See if any of them resonate with you.
I would also like to congratulate my colleague Harsh Jain who headed the litigation courses wing and have done a great job at it so far.
So here are the things that our students highlighted regarding what they liked the most about LawSikho courses.
Bringing a modern outlook when the bar is plagued by outdated thought process
How can I become a really good litigator? Read lots of case laws every day.
Sorry, that doesn’t work anymore Mr. Senior Counsel. If you had to build a practice in the last 10 years, you would have realized that even an intern can today find as much case law as a senior counsel could remember from years of studies. The judges these days come prepared with their own case law research in the court and do not rely on what the lawyers have to say necessarily. After all, they can entrust their law clerk to do a bit of research on case laws.
Technology has changed the game. Now even the client does case law research before coming to us!
How can I learn litigation work?
Be a junior-cum-file-bearer-cum-personal-assistant for a lawyer for 5-10 years and then you will know how to build a practice of your own.
No. Sorry. That’s a rather terrible and inefficient way to learn practical skills. Also, what if I want to venture into newer and more lucrative emerging practice areas? Where do I learn that?
Do not specialize too early. Do all sorts of work initially.
Well, not the greatest idea if you want to build your independent practice soon without backing of a family member already established in the practice of law. Those with narrow specializations build profitable practices in niche areas very quickly. Their competence and brand also tend to grow faster.
There have to be better ways to survive and make a career in litigation as far as young advocates are concerned. There have to be better ways in which experienced lawyers can learn new areas of legal work, rapidly. And that is where we focussed at LawSikho.
How can young lawyers earn a reasonable amount to live in a city like Delhi and Mumbai while they work on building a personal brand before the bar and bench, as well as find their clients?
Instead of teaching a bunch of case laws and analyzing sections, as is the tradition, we focussed on teaching work for which one can get paid. The idea we follow is that in every class we better teach a skill for which a lawyer can reasonably charge at least INR10,000 to a client.
Drafting, filing, execution, strategy, how-to guides and process checklists. Do your research, frame arguments, deliver a finished product. Our focus is always on these things for our litigation courses.
We gave our learners assignments followed by comprehensive feedback, followed by live video conference based classes where lawyers argued about each other regarding what would be an even better way to do something.
We also offer a bunch of free sessions every week on subjects like article writing, networking, publications, and resume building, online presence, branding, PR, hiring juniors, finding freelance work and whatnot.
The impact on those who participated in these sessions for our learners has been transformative, and that is a major reason why our learners swear by us. Life-altering ideas lead to life-altering results!
Save time and make fewer avoidable mistakes
Why spend 3 years learning how to draft basic things from a senior when you can learn it in 3 months from us? Yes, that is the kind of speed you can expect when you are learning from us.
Our curriculum is designed for speed, efficiency, and return on investment.
And that is why we can provide a crazy one-month solid money-back guarantee. If you attend classes and do assignments for a month, and find no value in our course, we give 100% money back. If you don’t attend classes and don’t submit assignments, however, and ask for a money-back, we would plainly refuse. Please read the policy properly. You will understand from that policy itself that we are supremely confident of the value we provide.
Within a month of joining the course, you will realize that you are getting at least 10 times more than what you paid us, and would never want to take your money back.
Sometimes, a student behaves rudely or unreasonably with our customer support. And it has happened that we felt that it would be a waste of our time to engage with such a person any further and we have offered their money back on the condition that we would never allow them to enroll for any other courses. And then those people have refused to take it back and pleaded with us to not stop their access!
And that’s because what we provide nobody else does. Someone who has used our courses once will never want to go back.
Does that mean we are perfect? Not at all.
There were some situations where people have complained about some aspect or the other about our courses. We have immediately taken remedial action. And that is why we have evolved fast. We are always talking to our students and trying to understand how to add value to them. We are always trying to figure out what we can do to make the students more successful. And that is what sets us apart.
And that is why we can teach you in 1 year what you will learn from a law firm or a sympathetic senior in 3 years! That is why we get our courses right, one after another.
Start new areas of practice confidently and grow rapidly
While civil litigation and criminal litigation courses are uber-popular, we have not stopped there. We introduced courses like IBC, arbitration, NCLT litigation, real estate litigation, securities litigation, consumer litigation, real estate litigation, trademark litigation and so on.
In some areas, doing just litigation is not enough, and it must be combined with transaction and advisory. There we have created entire courses that include comprehensive litigation modules.
That includes IPR and Media law, where you can learn what you need to learn to do patent litigation, copyright litigation, and trademark litigation independently. However, you will also learn a lot of other work like filing, registration, licensing and so on.
We have also added modules on cyber litigation in our technology law course.
We have added securities litigation in our capital markets and securities law course.
Our company law course now comes with significant exposure to shareholder disputes, class action, and other corporate litigation coverage.
The contract drafting course also comes with a module on dispute resolution. We have recognized that even corporate lawyers need to understand litigation aspects for doing a stellar job, and we have made that a part of course development philosophy.
This means that you can rapidly enter a new practice area, confidently and armed with the practical knowledge that other lawyers, young or old, are sorely missing, providing your leverage that you can really benefit from.
Learn corporate law and get more work from existing clients
Have you ever considered that your existing clients, especially the businesses, can give you a lot more work than they currently do? Maybe you are working with many builders, doing a lot of conveyancing. Can then send you more work related to company law compliance? Will it make sense for you to get that work and hire a junior to do such work? Maybe you can get work related to RERA compliance or handling their investment agreements too? What about their labour and employment law issues? Can you help them to comply with sexual harassment laws?
Often all you have to do is reach out to a client and inform them about something they should do under law or will benefit from doing.
For example: why don’t you register as an MSME, it could help it a lot easier to recover money and get you a great interest rate if buyers default.
Why don’t we revise all your arbitration clauses in various agreements, if that can lead to a significant advantage?
Would you like us to create and implement these 15 employment policies that we think can be very relevant for your company?
Are you facing too much attrition? Maybe we can reduce it with a tweak in your employment agreements?
Our courses teach you how to do exactly those things. Many litigators are doing various corporate law courses from us with exactly this objective!
Build a stronger brand for yourself and demonstrate your knowledge to a larger audience
Why don’t you write some articles? It would help you to get noticed by other lawyers and potential clients.
I don’t get time.
Where will I publish if I write?
What if I write a bad one?
I don’t know what I should write on.
I don’t think I know enough yet to write articles.
Sorry, when you sign up with us, you run out of excuses. We figure it out for you. We push you and nudge you. You end up writing and publishing more articles that you ever did in your life.
For some people, it is easier to make videos for YouTube. Sure, that’s ok too.
We even help you to publish your articles on the iPleaders blog. Our editors help you to sharpen your article. If you write really well, you may win a weekly prize or two.
We also offer a lot of knowledge and classes on brand building. We have even connected our students with publishers. In our massive online groups, our students from different corners of India and even international markets have been referring work and opportunities to each other.
We are always interested in finding new avenues to promote our students and we keep innovating towards the same.
Become part of a pan India peer network
Imagine that there is a lawyer in Delhi who has a client who needs something done in Bangalore. How does the lawyer find a reliable lawyer in Bangalore? Usually, this is done through trusted networks, of friends and colleagues. Maybe batchmates. You ask around.
Now imagine you are part of a network of thousands of lawyers from all over India, the Middle East, China, and even some other foreign countries.
Every time you have a question, you could post it in your group. Need some guidance? Ask your group.
You remain a part of the group even long after you have finished your course. This is a lifetime benefit.
Get back in touch with your intellectual side
The practice of law is brutal. It is so demanding that sometimes you do not get enough time for your family and friends. Lawyers are overworked and stressed. Everybody knows that it is very important to keep learning new things to keep your knowledge fresh and have an edge over other lawyers but in reality, it is very hard to make time for that.
However, stopping your intellectual growth leads to a stunting of your practice as well. Even if you are successful at some level in your practice, you need to keep developing further knowledge in order to grow faster and get to the next level of success in the profession. For that, you need intellectual stimulation and an environment for continuous learning and growth. You need guidance to break through your current hurdles and sticking points.
Given that it is not really viable to go back to a law college or university all the time, what are your alternatives? This is where LawSikho provides a critical solution. We promise to put you back in touch with your intellectual side, which you will realize as you work on unique and challenging assignments, debate with your batchmates, and learn from the experience of mentors who have achieved success in the profession.
This is why many of our students with even 10 or 20 years of experience love the LawSikho experience.
Don’t just believe me, see what they are saying
“The practical aspects are taught in the course along with recent updates which are covered extensively. In fact, I was invited to give a guest lecture on constitutional law, wherein I had an opportunity to argue on the construction of article 21(308). That was a major interesting event in my life which could be possible as I had learned the concept here at LawSikho thoroughly. I feel LawSikho should reach to all law colleges and lawyers in India, as the theoretical approach which is taught in colleges have a lot of difference when we compare it with reality. There is a practical approach in LawSikho courses. It should go viral!!”
-Pradeep Lokhande, Senior Advocate, Bombay High Court
“The course at LawSikho provided me with immense practical knowledge of criminal law and improved my drafting skills. I am able to draft all criminal litigation documents with ease and confidence. I am satisfied with the course content and the live sessions which has an elaborate explanation of different concepts. This course will be really beneficial to lawyers and even people from other backgrounds.”
-Vaibhav Vikram Singh, Lawyer, Supreme Court of India
“I am from a lawyer’s family. We have been practicing law for a long time, but the learning which I had here is quite different. The course gives you confidence, teaches you lots of things which even practising lawyers miss while they doing their day to day work. Materials and templates are quite helpful. I have been doing all assignments as they are designed in such a way that they will be useful when we do such things practically in our career. I am really happy to take this course. It has created a difference in my work as well.”
-Mahesh Dhannawat, Advocate, Jalna District and Session Court, Ex-Vice President, Jalna District Bar Association
“This course at LawSikho triggers learning in two ways i.e. it pushes one to start asking the basic questions such as to why a company structure is actually needed and also to work on sound topics like the unlisted companies and its mandatory dematerialization of shares. This course allows the students to use the MCA website to get the relevant information. The course provides with practical insights like what are the clauses that are crucial and important in a shareholding agreement and many such concepts. It is only when I do weekly exercises, I carefully go through various clauses/sections of the Act and its commentaries making me aware of many aspects of Company Law which, otherwise, I would not have become aware of.”
-Amarnath Simha, Advocate, Bangalore High Court
“Every assignment solved till date has been very useful. Especially, the syndicate loan agreement and enforceability of MOU were very knowledgeable. Enforceability of MOU is useful and can be applied while executing an MOU. Everyone can benefit from this learning especially law students, law interns, fresh lawyers and practising lawyers. This course is helpful to sharpen the non-litigation skills as well.”
-Sreejit Nair, Advocate, Gujarat High Court
“The course encourages learning and ensures understanding. The assignments and the fact that the team coaxes you to work on them, push you towards excellence. It had been long since I wrote articles to be published on blogs but the compulsory assignments got me working on articles again. I like to finish all the tasks within the given timelines because it is fun and has a lot of brainstorming involved. People from all walks of life can benefit from this platform.”
-Vani Panicker, Advocate, Bangalore High Court
“When I joined this course, I was clueless about the process of M&A. But the sessions and the weekly assignments compelled me to research more on the topic. I enjoy working on the weekly assignments as the research helped me learn a lot more on various relevant topics too. The chapter on Due Diligence helped m+-e understand the key points to be kept in mind while performing tasks and how to execute a successful Merger/Acquisition. This has been very helpful for my internship as most of the tasks that were required by me revolved around the same. Any student pursuing M&A or a working professional in this area will be highly benefited from this course.”
-Vishal Kumar, Legal Executive, NK & Partners Law Offices, Delhi
“The amount of active and practical analysis of legal subjects that is encouraged by the coursework, is very impressive. The most beneficial were the articles which have advanced me into a new level of legal research. In my opinion, all kind of professional candidates can benefit from LawSikho’s learning.”
-Nishit Paul, Advocate, Madhya Pradesh High Court
“I really like the course. LawSikho puts in a lot of effort in making the classes efficient and effective. The exercises are valuable. If I miss any classes or exercises due to work pressure, I make it a point to watch recordings and solve them later.”
-Puneet Gupta, Principal, Puneet Gupta Associates
“I have always wanted to deal with commercial property matters and this course helped me in a big way. I am an impaneled lawyer of a bank. They always demand a non-encumbrance certificate after searching property from a paneled lawyer. Since, through this course, my understandings and practical implementations of legal knowledge have increased significantly, and I can successfully serve my clients.”
-Tuhin Chatterjee, Advocate, Calcutta High Court
Here are the courses you can enroll in:
DIPLOMA
Diploma in Entrepreneurship Administration and Business Laws
Diploma in Companies Act, Corporate Governance and SEBI Regulations
Diploma in Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Laws
Diploma in Advanced Contract Drafting, Negotiation and Dispute Resolution
Diploma in Cyber Law, Fintech Regulations and Technology Contracts
EXECUTIVE CERTIFICATE COURSES
Certificate Course in Media and Entertainment Law: Contracts, Licensing and Regulations
Certificate Course in Capital Markets, Securities Laws, Insider Trading and SEBI Litigation
Certificate Course in Advanced Corporate Taxation
Certificate Course in Advanced Civil Litigation: Practice, Procedure and Drafting
Certificate Course in National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) Litigation
Certificate Course in Prevention of Sexual Harassment at the Workplace
Certificate Course in Arbitration: Strategy, Procedure and Drafting
Certificate Course in Trademark Licensing, Prosecution and Litigation
Certificate Course in Labour, Employment and Industrial Laws for HR Managers
Students of Lawsikho courses regularly produce writing assignments and work on practical exercises as a part of their coursework and develop themselves in real-life practical skill.
LawSikho has created a telegram group for exchanging legal knowledge, referrals and various opportunities. You can click on this link and join:
https://t.me/joinchat/J_0YrBa4IBSHdpuTfQO_sA
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