Blogs, News, Advice

Never judge a team before facing them with regards to their capability- do not underestimate them, and more importantly, never underestimate yourself! To quote a cliched achiever's advice- Don't think about the results and do your best, if karma plays a role here, you will return shining, and drunk. Interview by Rohan Mukherjee, Campus Journalist, Lawctopus

Take, for example, a recent Parliamentary Standing Committee report that expressed serious reservations about GM food. The Committee repeatedly quotes with approval the deposition of Dr Vandana Shiva against GM food.

A little-known fact about Dr Shiva is that her organisation, Navdanya, according to its FCRA filings, has received a total of Rs 16.7 crore between 2006 and 2012 in foreign donations from mainly European organisations (some of which also contribute to the CSE) like Bread for the World, Diakonie Emergency Aid, Hivos Foundation, Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst EV, RSF Innovations in Social Finance, and even from the European Union itself. Via the OPEN Magazine. Article written by Prashant Reddy

When you start a firm you need to do everything, right from fixing the internet that does not work to a client meeting. We got our first fee payment on the 3rd month since opening and it was for Rs.800 and there was a sense of pride when we got the cheque with the name “Selvam and Selvam” in it.

Yes, principles are molded, and you tend to modify them as you gain experience, but there times when you question the very purpose of those small talks, those passing smiles, and the continuous dose of pretentious apathy and forced sympathy. By Rohan Mukherjee, student at NLUO, Campus Journalist at Lawctopus

This was where the nuts and bolts came in. The President became the plumber. The CEO became the carpenter. I sat down with courses on web-designing. Make your notes, whittle down your vision from impractical to practical, and big to small. By Kirthi Jayakumar

Information provided by Vishal Shrivastava, Campus Associate, Nirma University

Adv. Sanjay Upadhyay, founder of ELDF, the first environmental law firm shared his views on what is environmental law and why it provides remarkable opportunities as a career. Notes from his talk delivered as a part of the NUJS' Environmental Law Workshop. By Debkanya Naskar

Dr. Nagaraj has been the registrar of NLSIU since 1st September, 2008. He was a Research Scholar at Vanderbilt Law School, USA, during 1994 and at Warwick University, UK, during 1997. He was also the Chairman of Under-Graduate Council during 1999-2001 and 2006-07 and the Chairman of Post Graduate Council during 2005-2006. With inputs from Rohan Mukherjee, NLUO student and Lawctopus Campus Journalist

So, no this is not some crazy person telling you to give up everything you've worked towards and just go party all day, this is just a slightly frustrated law school student at 1 am in the night telling you and every single other law school student out there to loosen up a little, to live a little and I don’t mean by going to International Moots. By Suktika Banerjee, GNLU student and campus jounalist, Lawctopus

He has a vast teaching experience of over 15 years, and has been a part of NALSAR since its inception. He also has had five years experience at the Bar prior to teaching. He has authored and edited many books on Family Law, and has published more than 30 research articles in various reputed law journals. By Priyam Tiwari, NALSAR student and Campus Associate for Lawctopus

As Socrates said: Marry if you find a good wife you will be happy if you find a bad wife, you will be a philosopher. Sadly my experience has been far from pleasant but I got to read and understand an amazing variety of matters; from murders and rapes to property disputes and rent control matters, mining, service matters, land acquisition etc etc. This experience is broader than you will get ANYWHERE else in India in the field of litigation.

I’m a budding litigator and I’m scared of speaking in public. Then I came to law school, and realised (happily enough) that there were others travelling on the same boat as me. I felt the sheer, part-sadistic, part-genuinely-happy delight that the Fox-Without-A-Tail feels when the revelation, that all the other foxes are tail-less too, hits him. By Shreya Agarwal, Lawctopus' Campus Journalist, NLU Orrisa

On the other hand, this absolute low-level scumbag who is a bottom feeder, lazes around, does weed, drinks his days off and HE gets to intern at a damn good law firm because his chachi is firm's partner's wife's favourite parlour owner! This is what it has come to? By Neeati Narayan, Campus Journalist, SLS, Pune

It is not often that literature is kind to lawyers, either vilifying them mercilessly, or stereotyping them as the holier-than-thou humanitarians that, let’s face it, are about as mythical as unicorns. Nevertheless, there have been a few exceptions. The following are five of them. By Vasudha Misra, Second Year, RMLNLU, Lucknow

He went on to do a number of interviews with executives, and to argue that the fast paced lifestyle of today is simply not sustainable for the human mind or body. Eventually we break down, and we wear out -- we get sloppy, we get lazy, we started to automate things, we lose our moral compasses, etc. It's exactly like mania. By Samyak Sibasish, 1st year, NUJS

Some law students have even been threatened. "This won't be good for your career". My reply to the law student always is, "They won't be able to do much. And if such is the attitude of an employer, better not deal with them in any capacity." By Tanuj Kalia

The trick, if you call it that, is psyching yourself into believing that the man in front and sitting up so high, is just a distant but grumpy relative who is a stickler for politeness and formality but whom you must please to be remembered in the Will. By Protik Da

No, you cannot stay away from doing that because there is always another case to read, assignment to write or seminar to prepare for; when while preparing you have to look up every third word you read and wonder if the combined Parliament and Judicial intent was to drive law students insane. By Saloni A D, JSS Law College, Mysore

Imagine yourself fresh out of law school and without uncles, parents or family friends to sponsor you through those first awkward years in Court. No Senior whom you know, no chambers to attend since you do not have the proper references and those who are willing to take you without references being slave drivers or worse. By Protik Prokash Banerji

Firstly, for a law teacher, its very very important that you know the practical niceties of law. So do intern with lawyers, NGOs and law firms and your would-be students will bless you for that. By Tanuj Kalia

The situation is pretty unfortunate. Earlier, we had some awesome seniors who themselves used to take part in events like volleyball, throwball, basketball and also egged us on to participate. It was a nice camaraderie. However, the scene is not the same anymore. Girls not showing any kind of interest for sporting events is sad. By Issac John and Samyak Sibasish

Most of the students from GJLS actively took part in the fashion show, having taken a policy decision not to participate in moot courts etc., activities which now find favour only with the national or regional law schools. "A global lawyer has have all-round abilities", explained Lakshman Kumar, the director of GJLS.

An opinion, as I see it, must set out the questions on which it is sought very clearly and unambiguously. If the Querist (which is what we call a person who seeks the opinion) is himself confused, his questions will be equally mindless. It is your duty as a lawyer to unravel his tangled skein of thought, identify the issues that are material and on which the relief he wants depends, and then frame them as questions. By Protik Da

1. Use precise and simple English in your moot memorials. 2. Present facts from the point of the view of the side which is presenting the memorial. 3. Have a good index and pagination. Using 1, 2,3 and i, ii, iii etc. can be confusing for the judges. 4. Tackle objections which might come from the other side. Negate or distinguish the cases which might be used by the other party. 5. Use spiral binding and good quality paper. Presentation matters. 6. Have multiple copies of every document you want to use. Have one copy for every judge and save time!