Law as a career in 2020

Introduction:

Whether you are in high school or enrolled for any graduation courses, you may be interested in knowing about the scope of the law as a career option. Law typically is understood as a body of legitimate rules and regulations, within the particular territory of a state or nation. Laws, keeping into consideration the requirements of dynamic times, and society are subject to change. This transitive nature of law accounts for the over expanding opportunities in the legal profession.

Traditionally, when you think of law as a career option, the image that may come to your mind is that of a legal practitioner, whose only job description includes representing their clients in a court of law. However, in modern times, the purview of law as a choice of profession has expanded greatly. A degree holder in law has a wide variety of options to select from when it comes to deciding his/her future vocation.

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How to pursue Law?

You can pursue law in India by enrolling in a three year or five-year law program from a recognized institute or university. To qualify for a three-year law course, it is essential that one has completed a graduate degree or higher. You can also apply for a five-year integrated law program, which, when finished successfully, provides you with an additional degree.

There are 19 National Law Universities in India, along with various other recognized colleges. To get into a five-year law course, one can undertake exams such as CLAT, AILET, LSAT, SET, MHCET, and so on. These exams are aimed at testing the aptitude and knowledge of aspirants.

Whereas if you plan to pursue law after finishing your graduation, you can opt for autonomous LLB tests conducted by numerous institutes that offer a three-year course in law.

Legal Professions that one pursue:

• Litigation Lawyer: In India, an individual is eligible to practice as a lawyer after finishing their graduation in law and passing the All India Bar Exam. A litigation lawyer or an advocate or an attorney is someone who represents his/her client and is authorized to argue in a court of law on behalf of the clients. A legal practitioner may be specialized in one or multiple areas of law.
• Corporate Lawyer: A corporate lawyer has to be well versed with all the business aspects of the law. The work of a corporate lawyer demands expertise in drafting, negotiating, monitoring compliance, and due diligence, to advise on matters of business and investments.
• Legal Advisor: A legal advisor is somebody is who is equally knowledgeable in the field of law, but instead of representing their clients in courts, they focus more on advising and counseling clients. One can provide legal advice to individuals or corporations that can include companies and other forms of businesses.
• Judge: After attaining a law degree, another career path that can be selected is that of a judge. It is possible to become a judge straight after finishing law school by taking part in competitive exams. Otherwise, it is required to be a practicing lawyer in a court of law for a number of years for the application to the position of judge in a court of law.
• Alternate Dispute Resolution: One can also opt for a career in Alternate Dispute Resolution. Arbitration and mediation are methods of settling a disagreement outside the court. These methods have gained popularity in recent times to reduce the workload of the court. After undergoing training, one is eligible for these lucrative career options.
• Legal Academician: Another great career option in the field of law is academics and research. It is a perfect form of livelihood for those who want to indulge in the intricacies of law and jurisprudence and are interested in illuminating the minds of the future legal minds of tomorrow.
• Civil Services: A background in law forms an added advantage for those who want to pursue Civil Services in India. The knowledge of laws and polity acquired while pursuing a degree in law serves an important purpose while being employed in the civil services.
• Legal Journalism: A career in journalism after a law is not a very conventional choice; however the connection between the two should be obvious since multiple skills required to be a journalist overlap with skills that a lawyer must possess. This, therefore, makes journalism, with a specialization in law a lucrative choice of profession.

Apart from the aforementioned options, there are several other career choices that you can select from, after pursuing law, such as social work, or business and entrepreneurship.  Each profession of law requires specialization in a particular area of law, determined by one’s interests and expertise. This in itself, can be explored in great depths during the course of law school.

Skills required for pursuing careers in law:

There are certain skills that are required for any profession in law. Most of such skills, such as good communication and drafting skills, in addition to research abilities, are cultivated in law school itself through the inclusion of a comprehensive and rigorous curriculum.

There is a wide variety of options for aspirants to select from. The skillset required for each profession, albeit different is ultimately the combination of all the skills that are learned throughout a five year or three-year course in law.

Conclusion:

One of the most definitive advantages of selecting law as a career is the pay and the prestige. Lawyers are considered to be an indispensable need of our society, and therefore, they are held in high regard. The salary of a lawyer is one of the highest-paid.  A career in law is also equivalent to being in a school since you get to learn every day for a living. It is true that sometimes the life of a legal practitioner may get hectic; however, all the other beneficial aspects of law outweigh the minor flaws.