I had a chance this morning to reflect on my 18 year journey in the world of law.

What fundamental changes have taken place in the Indian legal industry since I decided to study law in 2005? Let me share 10 major changes - 6 not so good for lawyers, and 4 amazing trends 1. In 2005 there were hardly 30,000-50,000 seats to study law, if my memory serves me right. By the time I graduated, there were more than 1 lakh seats per year. It appears the number of approved seats for law colleges has crossed 2 lakhs per year as per UGC data.

A young girl who spent a few weeks in a jail in a false case told me how she had no access to period care while she was in judicial custody.

Women used, reused and shared a piece of cloth to stem the bleeding.

This is happening for ages and no FEMINISTS stepped up to fix it. We have been filing RTIs over the last two months through LawSikho RTI cell in jails in all districts of India.

And a picture of dystopia emerging

Jails have no budget, no provisions and no plans for providing period care to women in jail.

We are still collating all the info.

We are hiring 3 associates in our legal testprep team. This is full time work from home opportunity for lawyers. Immediate joining.

Details below👎👎👎1/n Your primary role would be to anchor courses, deliver some online classes, manage guest lectures, plan classes & course delivery in a way that learners get adequate preparation, counsel students and help them to excel in competitive exams.
2/n

Businesses that can't function without awesome content writers:

- fintech companies
- SaaS companies
- digital marketing agencies
- law, accountancy, compliance firms
- every organisation that has a blog
- non profit organizations
- edtech startups (for marketing, for content) - well, every kind of B2C startup
- B2B startups for their funnels, blogs, communities
- Anyone who is building a website
- Every e-commerce brand
- Every content creator and influencers

Zomato & Swiggy are creating a new middle class in India. Delivery boys earn 20-25k per month, putting them in top 3% of earners in India. Yet people who pay pittance to their house help crying on Twitter that zomato exploits delivery boys. Logic has died. Just called a house help agency in Gurgaon. You can find a full time help for 8k! Imagine how terrible the situation is. Try calling & finding out yourself if you don’t believe me. Unskilled Labourers in factories here get paid around 15k. Are you kidding me? Zomato is the devil?

If you can't win the game, change the game. Don't play by the rules that are designed to keep you out.

Here is a story of how I saw my law school senior get a PPO in a top law firm against all odds although everyone had written him off.

Thread👎👎👎 Imagine reading about the deals you are working on in newspaper headlines

I first heard it from a senior in college. When I was in 2nd year, he was in his 4th year.

He was at the bottom of his batch. So he knew it will be damn hard for him to get a good job.

When I was a law student, I thought criminal law practice is not attractive for a first-generation young lawyer. I was given the impression that it would take a decade of slogging it out at very low wage doing unremarkable work, before you can earn a respectable living.

Thread: Things have changed a lot over the years. Criminal law practice is viable today for first-generation lawyers if you pursue certain super-specializations.

We always tell you to look for opportunities where demand is high but supply is low.

We are living in very interesting times, when it is easier to get an internship with a silicon valley startup than with a law firm in India, thanks to remote work. And yet, most law students and lawyers are clueless about the massive opportunities before them.

A thread👎👎👎 Here is something you can try (recommended at home):

Make a list of exciting Silicon Valley startups that are in very early stages. Look for companies that are still under 10 people. You can find them from media reports about seed funding, product launches, and so on.

Are you planning to do an US LLM? Want to migrate to USA as a lawyer? Read this thread: 👎👎👎 Paralegal? That’s beneath my standards! I am studying law so I can be a hotshot lawyer, not a paralegal!

It’s just clerical work, eh!

I understand if you do fancy yourself being a paralegal.

My advice to those who are in law school:

- Focus on learning tangible skills
- Intern all year round, never stop interning
- Prefer long-term internships rather than short ones
- Try to get yourself paid work, whatever it is - because nothing else will teach you professionalism - Learn to take pride in your work - if it came from you, it better be damn good
- Learn to form meaningful connections with people around you
- Do not obsess with your academic score, it will cease to matter within 2-3 years of your graduation

Do not refuse opportunities because they look like hard work, or because they do not fall within the script you were taught to follow by your environment. Remember, the best opportunities are seldom recognized by masses. Popular choices are rarely the best. You have to develop a discerning eye for spotting opportunities where others see nothing good.

Do not be afraid to start small.
However small or humble your beginning may be, but it is no indication of where you will end up.
What are the indications at which we can then look at to predict your future?
Your ambitions.
Your courage.
Your intent.
Your actions.
👎👎 Your investments.
Your dedication to excellence.
Your patience and perseverance.
How you give your best to even the smallest of tasks.
Those things scale.
As you grow, the impact of your intention, ambition, actions, investments and dedication multiplies.

I recently spoke to around 20 in-house counsels, and asked them how things have changed since lockdown started.

What are their priorities and concerns in the post-COVID world?

#law #lawyers #lawstudents #lawsikho #inhousecounsel What I learned was quite instructive!

Btw, if you are giving any in-house counsel job interviews in the next 12- 24 months, make sure you are able to explain how you can help the business with all these issues described here.

Even talking about these issues will set you apart.

I thought I knew a lot about gender justice. I have been trying to do my bit through lots of initiatives at my end, such as free legal helpline for victims of sexual blackmail, writing how-to blogposts for women who need legal help in a host of issues... that are read by thousands of people every day, and supporting feminist causes wherever I could.

And so I assumed that I am beyond misogyny and sexism. How can anyone question me? I was not willing to consider or reflect on my own behaviour.

What’s up with the apology?

So the tweetstorm that started last night has not subsided, and it’s mostly about why LawSikho and I have not apologised for last night’s webinar with Kshitij Sehrawat, a dating coach. Actually, there are lots of questions. It is possible that if I answer that one question in one way, as in the nature of mobs on social media, it would be overly generalised, taken out of context and further retweetable content created out of it.

What would be the path and intensity of a tornado?

Edward Lorenz, a scientist, made an insane discovery.

#path #Laws #lawyers #lawsikho Even the flapping of the wings of a butterfly that occurred several weeks prior can greatly influence the ultimate outcome of how and where the tornado forms, how far it travels and how soon it ceases to exist.

Ridiculous, right?

It's not just end of a year, today we say good bye to an entire decade. Today is the last day of teenage for the twenty first century. From tomorrow, it will be twenty plus!

#decade #investments #time #lawyers #laws #lawsikho I am sure we are all going to party tonight. And reflect back at the decade we are leaving behind.

It would perhaps take a few years to understand what this decade was all about.

Are you a law firm lawyer or litigator looking to shift into an in-house role? It is a great idea.

#opportunities #counsel #jobs #lawyers #lawsikho This is a line of work that has gained a lot of prominence and is an in-demand choice for young lawyers.

What is the biggest hurdle for young lawyers and law students on the way to success as a lawyer?

#lawyers #negativity #environment #success I would say it is the general negativity and environment of doom and gloom that every young lawyer in this country is subjected to. Junior lawyers are given horrible advice all the time.

I was watching a video today, where a woman was being interviewed. She was driving a truck.

I thought it is impossible for me to do a 5 mins plank.

Ramit Sethi once announced a challenge on his blog. Either do a 5 minutes plank or do 1000 push-ups.

#impossible #challenge #practice #Lawyers #law #lawsikho In my experience, I could not even do 1-minute plank, so I did not even try. That one looked impossible. I and my 2 cofounders that time attempted to do 1000 push-ups. I did 500 in one hour thirty minutes and gave up.

Have you met someone who loves doing what they do? Someone whose joy of doing some work is so infectious that it inspires those around him or her?

#lawyer #lawsikho #lawyersindia #vakeel #lawschool #indianlawyers #lawyerlife #lawyered #lawyering Mother Teresa was known for that quality. It was such a matter for passion for her to help the most unfortunate, and she stood by the helpless with such passion and interest, that it inspired millions of others to follow suit.