A Detailed Guide to Start a Career in Law

“The Study of Law is useful in a variety of points of view. It qualifies a man to be useful to himself, to his neighbours, and to the public,” these were the words of Thomas Jefferson which indeed explained the essence of law as a discipline and a law seeker as a leader. It is not wrong to say that pursuing law is not just a career option but a life-changing experience for many. Law as a career brings out excellent leaders and passionate human beings to the world. This statement can be backed by personalities like – Mahatma Gandhi, Barack Obama, Dr Rajendra Prasad and many more. Want to learn everything about a career in law? Not sure where to start? Well, you are in the right place; stay tuned till the end and you will get answers to all your questions regarding a career in law.

Career in Law in India

A career in law is a rewarding experience both in terms of financial benefits and the sense of fulfilment in helping the citizens of the society, by making them aware and understanding about basic human rights it gives. The first step in starting a career in Law in India is to pursue an undergraduate program like LLB/BBA LLB after 12th. Upon completion of the course, you can either start practising law/join a legal firm. Another option is to enrol in a postgraduate program like LLM in order to advance knowledge and gain requisite career skills.

What is important to note is that a career in Law in India, does not necessarily mean representing clients in courts or tribunals but it has a wider scope. Apart from tendering advice to government agencies, businesses & individuals on legal disputes and issues, Law graduates can work as Judges, Litigators, Consultants, Analysts, etc. The work profile further gets enhanced when one specializes in a field of choice.

Types of Law Careers

When it comes to the different paths that can be followed, it is important to note that a Law graduate can either work in the conventional profiles or can opt for administrative work. So, if you are wondering that what jobs are there in law then, go here is a list of some of the major profiles or sectors you can work in to build a successful career in Law:

Here are various types of law careers:

• Corporate Lawyer
• Litigators
• Banking and Insurance: Administrative Law Officer, Specialist Law Office
• Public Prosecutor
• State-Level or Local-Level Judge
• Investigator
• Criminologist
• Litigation Support Professional
• Solicitor
• Paralegal
• Lecturer/Professor of Law

Corporate Lawyer

A law firm is just a business established by an individual or multiple lawyers to make a profit by practicing law skills. Such law firms tend to expand their geographical reach to capture more areas for more clients. Along with small firms, there are also huge firms that deal with acquisitions, corporate sectors, competition, finance, tax, banking, etc.

Litigators

This career will make you appear in court every single day. Your earning will began on the very first day. Your work is to assist, draft, converse, type, and even much more.

Banking & Insurance Sector

Banks & Insurance organizations tend to have their own independent legal departments. So the very initial recognition you may get in this sector is “Administrative Officer(Law)” or “Specialist Officer(Law).”

Insurance companies conduct examinations independently. Even freshers are welcome for such exams. At last, on the basis of merit and interview, candidates are selected and allocated to their respective positions in a bank. On the other side, there are also some banks that recruit graduates just through an interview.

Public Prosecutor

This is an advocate appointed by the Government to embody the state in criminal matters. State public service commissions perform examinations for appointing such prosecutors. This post will give you an opportunity to have a fixed monthly salary.

Judicial Services

In movies, you may have definitely heard “Order-Order.” The appointing process of becoming a judge may vary among various countries. Anyway, the state’s public service commissions conduct examinations in most places. In some places, even freshers are eligible for such exams but at some, experience is the key.

Investigation Agencies

Be it CBI, FBI, ED, or state investigation agencies, lawyers are always in demand to work in such reputed investigative agencies. Candidates are usually recruited through competitive exams or rigorous selection procedures apart form inter-service transfers.

Criminologist

For those who want to kickstart a career in Law, pursuing Criminology courses or specializing in this law can be a suitable route. Being an Interdisciplinary field, an individual will get to learn various facets of Psychology, Sociology, Political Science, etc.

Litigation Support Professional

They usually reinforce attorneys in the regulation of large-scale litigation. And yes, they design and contrivance databases to classify, register, regulate, and conclude large volumes of data produced every single day. Such professionals are in demand because of the integration of technology into legal services.

Solicitor

A solicitor is an expert who drafts a list of documents and consults with his clients. Such solicitor needs to appear in court on behalf of the client.

Legal Academia

You can work as a full-time professor on a contractual basis in an educational university. In order to get into Legal Academia, you need to accomplish your LLM first. However, the process may vary according to states.

Paralegal

A paralegal is a synonym of a legal assistant who works either in public law firms or private law firms. The work of paralegal is to perform various legal tasks for attorneys. Unlike a secretary, they indulge in major activities like arranging the preparation of hearings, meetings, trial matters, and communication with the clients.

Apart from the aforementioned profiles/work areas, here are some other options that you can consider to build a successful career in Law:

• Law Firm Administrator [Also called Chief Operating Officers/Chief Managing Officers]
• Chief Financial Officer
• Patent Attorney
• Immigration Assistant
• Company Secretary
• Mediator
• Trade Mark Attorney

Is Law a Good Career in India?

If you too love to engage with challenges, problems, and arguments, this way would be the right way for you because of:

• Prestige: Since ancient times, such a career has been always linked with prestige because society pays attention to impressive appearance, high salary, and legal power.
• Diversity: In a process of setting up a legal system, the occurrence of diversities is a sure thing. So there exists a variety of legal career options for you ahead. From consultants, secretaries, paralegals, mediators, judges, and lawyers. More and more career paths are evolving in Law because of the rapid changes.
• Opportunities and Growth: For the last few years, meteoric changes have been taking place in the economy, social life, and political institutions. Such changes have proved to expand the revenue and profit of legal professionals. And you know what? It’s just the beginning.
• No More Boredom: You will be another Sherlock Holmes. Papers, sketches, shreds of evidence, so many things will hit you up. And once you start finding patterns for the guilty ones, boredom will never touch you again.
• Secure Job: If you are working in an institution or for some sort of corporate, you won’t have a chance to lose the job.
• Flexibility: Well, Lawyers are self-governing and they have the chance to make their own schedule, set their own price, and select their own clients. The Lawyer can also stay away from the office for a day in the name of research and personal matters.
• Power To Make A Difference: When we were just kids, we always wanted to possess some sort of supernatural powers because, at that time, we used to compare ourselves to a movie’s superhero who had amazing supernatural powers to change the world. So being a lawyer, you can be that superhero.
• Awareness of Rights And Duties: Although we have been taught in schools and colleges about rights and duties. However, who pays attention to the class? Right? So once you start your career in Law, you will automatically develop an understanding of the current rights and responsibilities. Next time, no one would be able to bother you legally.

Salary

Here is the average salary of different types of careers in law in India:

Career in Law	Average Salary
Junior Lawyer	2 Lakhs to 3 Lakhs per annum
Corporate Lawyer	7 Lakhs per annum
Litigator	2.5 Lakhs per annum
Advocate	3 Lakhs to 4 Lakhs per annum
Paralegal	3 Lakhs to 4 Lakhs per annum
Private Lawyer	3 Lakhs to 4 Lakhs per annum

Types of Law

Have you ever wondered that which field of law is in demand? As discussed, there are scores of avenues one can explore when it comes to establishing a career in law. Though to enroll in law colleges around the world, you don’t have to choose a specialization per se but it is always better to stay abreast of the fields you can gain expertise in. Tabulated below are the various areas in which you can gain expertise:

Criminal Law	Business Law	Family Law
Real Estate and Property Law	Immigration Lawyer	Environmental Law
Cyber Law	Military Law	International Law
Intellectual Property Law	Corporate Lawyer	Commercial Law
Labour Law	Bankruptcy Law	Financial and Securities Law

Top Law Courses

Here are the top law courses across various specializations and education levels that you can choose from:

• BCom LLB
• BA LLB
• BBA LLB
• BSc LLB
• LLB
• LLM
• Master of Business Law (MBL)
• MBL-LLM

Exams to Start a Career in Law

With scores of students opting for degree courses after 12th other than Engineering, Law, as a career path has gained popularity. But to get admission in the best law colleges in India and abroad, one needs to either go through a rigorous selection procedure or needs to clear Law entrance exams. Enlisted are the names of the exams that you need to clear in order to start a career in Law:

• Common Law Admission Test [CLAT]
• All India Law Entrance Test [AILET]
• Law School Admission Test [LSAT]
• IPU CET – Law
• Army Institute of Law Test [AILT]
• Cambridge Law Test
• Law National Aptitude Test [LNAT]
• DU LLB exam

Top Law Colleges in India

Here are the top Law colleges in India which are renowned for their law programs:

• National Law School of India University
• National Law University
• Nalsar University of Law
• Symbiosis Law School
• The West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences
• IIT Kharagpur
• Jamia Millia Islamia

Top Universities Abroad

Now that you are familiar with the key details pertaining to this field, glance through the table below to know the ranks of top law schools in the world:

Universities	QS World Rankings – 2020	Times Higher Education Rankings 2021
Harvard University	1	9
University of Oxford	2	3
University of Cambridge	3	2
Yale University	4	5
Stanford University	5	1
London School of Economics and Political Science [LSE]	6	10
University of California, Berkeley	7	13
Columbia University	8	20
New York University	9	7
The University of Melbourne	10	11
University of Chicago	11	4

Scope of a Career in Law

Law is a financially lucrative career as well as intellectually challenging and earns handsome salary varying as per the role as well as the company they are working with.

The salary of a Litigation lawyer is ₹419728 p.a. while a Corporate Lawyer earns somewhere around ₹692821 per year according to Payscale.

Legal Process Outsourcing (LPOs) also hire law graduates for attractive packages and you can also choose from a career in social work and work for the benefit of the public and become a link between people and the government. There is also a wide range of unconventional careers in this field that one can choose from like Public Policy, Immigration, Criminology, Financial Securities, Legal Psychology, etc.

Career in Law PPT

Career in law from teachwell

FAQs  

Therefore, pursuing a career in Law can open the gates to innumerable opportunities across various industries. If completing the admission process seems a daunting task, talk to our experts at Leverage Edu. Right from helping you write an exceptional SOP to preparing you for a visa interview, the team of experts will provide assistance at every step!