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| CAREER GUIDE |
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Law could be your path to fame |
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Law could be your path to fame
WITH political bigwigs biting the dust before the judiciary, law could well be your path to fame and fortune. A career as a lawyer can be very paying and can lead to positions of influence and power. According to the Bar Council of India (BCI), over 15,000 lawyers enrol every year and the demand for them is steadily increasing. While the lawyer’s work is all the more difficult and demanding, at the same time it is also interesting and fulfilling. However, the reality of the legal profession is different from the glamorised visuals as dished out by Hindi movies. And though the earnings are often modest to begin with these do increase with experience and expertise, says Supreme Court senior advocate P.P. Rao. For a three-year LLB degree course, the eligibility for admission is graduation in any discipline with 50 per cent marks. For a five-year integrated law programme, the minimum requirement is class XII. The Law Faculty of Delhi University (DU) offers three-year LLB degree course for aspirants. According to its Dean, Prof Surendra Prasad, DU’s Law Faculty admits students for its law degree on the basis of their performance in an entrance test. It comprises objective, multiple-choice papers and general awareness and legal aptitude, besides general knowledge in law, analytical reasoning, current events of national and international significance with special reference to law, general sciences, history of India, geography, Indian polity and economy. The intake of students in the Law Faculty is 1,500 of which 22.5 per cent seats are reserved for SC and ST candidates, besides 3 per cent for the physically challenged, explains Professor Prasad. The cost of the LLB degree course is at nominal Rs 4,500. For higher studies, full-time as well as part-time post-graduation degree courses (LLM) are also available with the DU’s Law Faculty at nominal expenses. The National Law School of Indian University (NLSIU), Bangalore, is premier law institute offering a five-year integrated BA, LLB (Hons) degree course to equip students for the Bar and other careers in law. Every year, 15,000 aspirants vie for the 130 seats through an all-India entrance test followed by an interview. Admission to this course is purely based on merit. Students can also avail a two-year LLMprogramme at this institute. The NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad, also offers similar programmes on the same pattern. Other top institutions offering the professional law degree course are: the University College of Law, Bangalore; the Government College of Law, Mumbai; Law College, Pune; Banaras Hindu University; Allahabad University; Symbiosis Society’s Law College, Pune, and the University College of Law, Hyderabad. In all, the professional LLBdegree course is being offered by 500 law colleges and universities in India. After acquiring a law degree, one can enrol with the Bar for practice of law. There is no legal age bar for enrolment now. But to excel in the profession would require a thorough legal knowledge, diligence, steadfastness, determination and ability to reason, memorise and debate, besides a thorough preparation and spirited presentation. A fresher can obtain all these essential attributes by attaching himself to a senior advocate who is confident, knowledgeable, ethical and inspiring. Finding such a guide requires moving around courtrooms, observing experienced lawyers arguing/making their submissions in courts and noting their ability. Integrity, open mind and a humane approach towards clients, undergoing the rigours of litigation, are also equally essential. The Indian legal system covers a wide gamut of laws for specialisation to excel. While the practice is commercial law is more lucrative, customs law is also equally paying. However, specialisation in any particular branch of law depends on one’s personal choice or aptitude, says Mr Alok Sen Gupta, a Delhi-based Supreme Court senior advocate. While some prefer to specialise in civil law, others find criminal law more rewarding and challenging. This apart, taxation law, constitutional law, patent law, mercantile law, company law, contract law, labour law, environment law, consumer law, cyber law, international law, arbitration law and family law are other areas of specialisation to make a good fortune. Corporate law, too, is an equally creative field of specialisation and offers maximum scope in today’s world, according to Prof S.K. Verma, Director, Indian Law Institute, Delhi. Lawyers, after achieving a certain degree of eminence in the profession, get both honour and recognition. Prominent practising lawyers always vie for the top slot in the judiciary. After 15 years of legal working experience, many of them are appointed by the President of India as judges in the respective state high courts. Therefore, law is a noble profession and legal luminaries enjoy enormous clout and prestige. Practising law is not the only option for law graduates. Law degree-holders can join the armed forces to man their legal system. Large industrial houses also require them for inhouse legal service. The public and banking sectors need law graduates as trainees or probationary law officers. The government appoints legal professionals as public prosecutors, solicitors, deputy or additional advocates-general or even advocate-general. It also needs law officers as legal advisers and legal assistants to man many of its departments. The state judicial service is another avenue to which recruitment is made through a competitive examination. Selected persons are appointed as sub-judges or munsifs. They may also become chief judicial magistrates. Your knowledge of law can help you in getting through the civil Services Examination. Law can be offered as an optional subject in the preliminary examination. You could also consider joining the corporate sector, where too you would get a preference over others. Most large companies, public sector undertakings and multinationals require in-house legal services to be fulfilled by legal officers. If you have a flair for writing, you could become a legal correspondent of a newspaper. You could also go into teaching and research or politics. At the same time, you could opt for a Master’s in Business Law from the NLSIU through distance education after MBA or a Company Secretary course to further improve your career prospects. With legal expertise, one can function as legal consultant, provide legal assistance or coaching, set examination papers for law coaching institutes, write a legal column for a newspaper magazine as a freelance writer. Other options, like lecturership, research, writing law books, providing contents for law journals and websites are also available. If you have sufficient money to invest and good legal contacts, you can start your own solicitor firm or NGO dealing with matrimonial cases.
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QUERY HOTLINE Bank on a course in e-commerce Q After completing MSc, I am now working as a junior officer in a public sector bank. Please suggest how I should further equip myself through different courses in view of the changing technologies and banking scenario itself. — Ashwin Makhija, Chandigarh A With changing customer needs, the prevalence of tele-banking and the consumer calling the shots, the banking sector is now facing a challenge, as must be evident in your day-to-day working. As all business transactions are now conducted electronically, a course in e-commerce would give you a headstart over your fellow officers. Although you would be given the necessary training in the future, taking the initiative on your own would boost your image and help you understand the subject better. At the higher end, Oracle DBA/Financials may be a good bet. Yet another option for you, considering that you have done your MSc, would be the M Tech (IT) programme offered by the Institute of Development & Research in Banking Technology (established by the RBI). This multi-disciplinary course offers specialisation in Banking Technology & Information Security) in collaboration with the University of Hyderabad. While direct recruits (BE/BTech/MCA/ MSc Math/Phys/CS or equivalent are admitted on the basis of GATE scores (85%+), employees of banks and financial institutions with three years of work experience can apply under the sponsored category. Do also consider taking the relevant CAIIB exams of the IIB (Indian Institute of Bankers), Mumbai, which will boost your prospects for further promotions. You can also continue your studies through distance learning and pursue courses in Business Finance, Management, Chartered Accountancy, Cost Accountancy, the CFA or Treasury & Forex Management. The ICFAI offers the CIB Programme for Investment Banking professionals and CAIIBs. IGNOU offers an MBA (Banking & Finance) in collaboration with the IIB, which is specifically designed for bankers. Chiropractic Q What is chiropractic and where is it taught? — Jatin, Ludhiana A Chiropractic therapy is part of the alternative system of treatment. This 5000-year-old non-invasive, non-surgical approach for managing ortho-neuro-skeletal disorders, problems of the spine and other chronic disorders by restoring normal body function is quite popular in advanced countries like the USA (where it is taught in 30-odd medical colleges), the UK, Australia and Germany. Circumventing surgery (in most cases) not only cuts down recovery time and costs by 50 per cent, chiropractic therapy is also remarkably successful in conditions such as slip disc, cervical/lumbar spondilytis, golfer’s elbow, tennis elbow, carpel tunnel syndrome, whiplash, sciatica, frozen shoulder, knee, ankle and hip joint problems, etc where normally surgery (entailing fair amount of hospitalisation) is recommended. Ancient Chinese texts on Kung Fu and our own Vedas and Puranas contain references to this form of treatment (merudand or marmabindu chikitsa). MBA Q Could you please tell me about the scope of doing an MBA through distance learning. — Bharti Rai A As a thumb-rule, a regular full-time MBA from a reputed B-school offers better job prospects by way of over-all exposure and on-campus recruitment. MBA courses offered through distance learning are usually preferred by working professionals to upgrade their qualifications for better growth prospects, particularly in the government sector. Naturally, since no placement facilities are offered for students of these courses, you will have to look for a job on your own. All said and done, you will certainly gain in professional knowledge but miss out on classroom interaction, dissection of case studies and the opportunity of networking with your peers, professors and visiting faculty, which form an essential core of the MBA programme. In the West, online MBAs are gaining popularity amongst working people. These are being offered by some of the top B-schools and have a great deal of interactivity built in to make them more meaningful. Of late, a number of such programmes including a few offered via satellite are being offered in India as well. However, such courses too are meant for working people and not freshers. Dress designing Q I have done a course in fashion designing and a six-month course in computer-aided design. I want to participate in competitions like Lakme India Dress Designing Contest. Where can I get information about such competitions? — Faisal Ahmed Naqvi A The Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI), the apex body of Indian fashion, organises this fashion extravaganza every year to offer a platform to Indian fashion industry professionals for displaying their skills and market their creations, thereby highlighting the Indian fashion scenario to the world. This year, the event has taken on a more "serious business" orientation and has focused on expanding the customer base and grow the Indian fashion industry globally. Since you have planned to take up fashion designing as your career, you will need to establish a name in the market for your designing talent. Thereafter, you can host shows and display your creations or supply to boutiques and departmental stores. To participate in events of eminence such as the Lakme India Fashion Week, Femina Fashion Shoot, Femina Miss India, etc. a practising designer has to first register with the FDCI.Each participating designer is expected to showcase his clothes and accessories and is given a complete basic package including a ramp, set of models, sets, a choreographer, lights, stage, etc. For details on the Lakme India Fashion Week, log on to: www.anellosystems.com — Pervin Malhotra, Director, CARING Please send in your query, preferably on a postcard, along with your name, complete address and academic qualifications to: Editor, Query Hotline, The Tribune, Sector 29, Chandigarh-160020, or at
careerguide@tribuneindia.com |
