1. MHRD PROFESSOR OF IP LAW
THE LURE OF THE LAW
SHAMNAD BASHEER
MHRD PROFESSOR OF IP LAW
WB NUJS
FOUNDER, IDIA
IMS WORKSHOP
25TH MARCH, 2012

2. WHY LAW? WHY NOT? PRIMARY REASONS LOVING THE LAW
INTELLECTUAL STIMULATION
JUSTICE/SOCIAL REFORM
ADVOCACY/LEADERSHIP SKILLS
SECONDARY (PERKS)
PAY PACKAGE
POWER
RESPECTABILITY IN SOCIETY

3. Famous Lawyers: Law and Leadership

4. Famous lawyers-

5. THE LAW SCHOOLS 914 law schools in India
Of those, around 25 have a decent standard
A significant number of these: NLU’s
Emergence of the National Law Universities (NLU)
Started with the National Law School of India
NLSIU, Bangalore
Now 14 of them in various states of India

6. List of NLU’s National Law School of India University, Bangalore (NLS)
NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad (NALSAR)
National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata (NUJS)
National Law Institute University, Bhopal (NLIU)
National Law University, Jodhpur (NLU –Jodhpur)
National Law University, Delhi (NLU – Delhi)
KIIT Law School, Bhubaneshwar (KLS)
Gandhinagar National Law University, Gandhinagar (GNLU)
Hidayatullah National Law University, Raipur (HNLU)
Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University, Lucknow (RMLNLU)
Chanakya National Law University, Patna (CNLU)
Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Patiala (RGNUL)
National University of Advanced Legal Studies, Kochi (NUALS)
National Law University, Bhubhaneshwar (NLU Bhubaneshwar)
National Law University, Ranchi (NLU – Ranchi)

7. Rankings of Law Schools
Always controversial!
Broad categories of ranks (based on CLAT preferences last year).
Tier 1:
NLS (Bang), NALSAR (Hyd), NUJS (Kolkata), NLU (Delhi)
Tier 2:
NLU (Jodhpur), NLU (Bhopal), NLU (Gujarat)
Tier 3:
RMNLU (Lucknow), HNLU (Raipur), NLU (Orissa), RGNLU (Punjab)
Tier 4:
CNLU (Patna), NUALS (Kerala), NLU (Assam), NLU (Ranchi)

8. Other Leading Law Schools
Jindal Global Law School (JLGS), Sonapet, Haryana
Indian Law School (ILS), Pune
Government Law College, Mumbai
Faculty of Law, Delhi University
Symbiosis Law School, Pune
University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun
Nirma University, Gujarat
Christ Law College, Bangalore
Amity Law School, Noida
University Institute of Legal Studies, Punjab University
Kolkata University

9. SOME PROMINENT LAW SCHOOL GRADUATES
VIKRAM RAGHAVAN
Associate General Counsel, WORLD BANK
NANDAN NELVIGI PARTNER, WHITE AND CASE (leading US law firm)
RAHUL CHERIAN
FOUNDER, INCLUSIVE PLANET
SIVARAMJANI THAMBISETTI PROFESSOR, LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS (LSE)

10. SOME PROMINENT LAW SCHOOL GRADUATES (Contd.)
ASHISH ARUN OWNER OF OFFSHORE RESEARCH PARTNERS (LPO) AT 25
SANDEEP FARIAS
OWNER OF VENTURE CAPITAL FIRM
(market driven anti poverty campaign)
MS SRIKAR
IAS OFFICER NLS, 1998
(Secretary to Nilekani)
JOEY MATHEWS
LEADING MODEL

11. Career Prospects: Sheer Diversity
Litigation Lawyer (trial court, high court, supreme court): Senior Lawyer (Grand Counsels)
Kapil Sibal, Abhishek Singhvi, Arun Jaitley
Law Firms (Amarchand, AZB, Khaitan, Trilegal)
Corporate/IPR/Marine law
In house lawyer (TATA general counsel)
NGO (human rights/environmental law)
Research and Academia
Policy body (lobbying/advocacy)
Law and business (legal outsourcing/legal databases)
Legal journalism
International Organisations (UN/World Bank/WTO)

12. The Legal Pay Package Compares with some of the best in the industry
Monthly Salaries:
Law Firms/Companies Rs. 50,000 – 1.2 lakhs pm
Intn’al Law Firms Rs. 2.5 lakhs pm
PSUs Rs. 40,000 pm
International Org Rs. 50,000 pm
NGOs Rs ,000 pm
Litigation Rs ,000 pm

13. LAW SCHOOLS AT A GLANCE

14. WHY A NATIONAL LAW SCHOOL?
Interactive classroom teaching (socratic (case) teaching)
Competent faculty
Well designed course curriculum, legal aid

15. STATE OF THE ART INFRASTRUCTURE AND FACILITIES

16. LAW SCHOOL IS NOT JUST ABOUT THE LAW!

17. CLAT Common Law Entrance Test (CLAT)
Conducted by separate law school each year
Nearing standardisation
Now mainly aptitude based
4 sections
English (including Comprehension): 40 marks
Logical Reasoning: 40 marks
Legal Aptitude: 50 marks
General Knowledge (current affairs): 50 marks
Elementary Mathematics (Numerical Ability of the 10th standard variety): 20 marks
One mark each (no negative marking)

18. CLAT TIPS Sleep well! Aptitude based
Best way is to practice (particularly previous papers)
No memorisation
Read newspapers (English + GK)
Prior knowledge of law can prove disadvantageous
Take the “logic” at face value (propositions are to be taken as true)
Proposition 1: All dogs are black
Proposition 2: All things black are beautiful
Conclusion: Therefore all dogs are beautiful
Sleep well!

19. IDIA (Increasing Diversity by Increasing Access to Legal Education)
A movement to create more diversity from within NLU’s
To Increase Access to Education for the Underprivileged
Opportunity to pursue law for students from all strata of society
To empower and train students selected by IDIA
Create Future Leaders (Community Representatives)

20. ACCESS BARRIERS: WHAT STOPS ME FROM GETTING TO A NATIONAL LAW SCHOOL
CLAT (Common Law Admission Test)
Expensive application forms for CLAT (about Rs. 2500)
Exam centers mostly in urban areas.
CLAT tests on General Knowledge, English, Maths, Legal and Logical reasoning
Rigorous and consistent training
High participation and competition
NATIONAL LAW SCHOOLS
High fees (almost 2 lakhs a year)
Cost of living (laptop, books, etc.)

21. TACKLING THE ACCESS BARRIERS
IDIA prepares students for CLAT:
Aptitude test to select students
1-2 years training, guidance and mentoring
Collaboration with leading coaching centres (IMS)
If admitted, IDIA will:
Pay college fees and expenses (about 10 lakhs per student for 5 year course): but only if admission in top law schools (fee waivers: only 2 law schools)
Mentor students and provide support to students to adjust and cope with law school
Throw up internship opportunities

22. IDIA STRIKES IN THE FIRST YEAR
Success in very First Year!
14 out of 50 students made it to the top NLU's
TOP RANKERS.
Shivendu Pandey: 45th rank in general caterory :National Law School,Bangalore.
Mukesh Kumari Kori: NALSAR,Hyderabad
Karthika Annamlai:NLU, Bhopal.
Johnson Subba (Sikkim): NLU,Orissa
Ria Siuli, NLU Gujarat

23. DISABLED CATEGORY
5 visually impaired students secured admission to leading NLU’s
Bhimvarapu Mouli Aravind,All India PWD Rank 10-WBNUJS.
Goram Sivasankar,PWD Rank 12-GNLU,Ahmedabad.
Bandi Sudhakar,PWD Rank 20-GNLU,Ahmedabad.
Arepalli Naga Babu,PWD Rank 25-RMNLU,Lucknow.
Tudumu Andalu,PWD(SC) Rank 1-NLU,Jodhpur.
All of them are from severely economically disadvantaged backgrounds .

24. OUR SUCCESS STORIES
Ria Shiuli is an 18-year old girl from Basanti, Sunderbans. Her father is illiterate and owns a grocery shop. She is now in GNLU,Gandhinagar.
Karthika Annamalai is an 18-year old girl from Tamil Nadu who embodies success. She lost her mother and had to battle with a drunk uncle to realize her dream of studying in a NLU.

25. Shivendu Pandey’s father passed away eight years back
Shivendu Pandey’s father passed away eight years back. His mother works in the Life Insurance Corporation of India. With a General Category rank 45 in the CLAT, Shivendu is now at NLSIU> Bangalore
Bhimavarapu Mouli Aravind is a visually challenged student from Nellore. He secured a seat in WB National University of Juridical Sciences.

26. Arindam Bhattacharjee- His father is a lawyer who practices at the Murshidabad District Court while his mother is a homemaker. Arindam secured admissionto NLU, Bhopal
Johnson Subba- His father is a peon in the Power Department while his mother is a homemaker. Johnson is now at NLU Orissa

27. Thank you very much!
For more information on IDIA, please see
IDIA contacts: Arnab Basu head of West Bengal chapter
Arnab Roy: (head of North East