Internship Experience @ Fox and Mandal, Kolkata: Work on Civil Procedure, Company Laws & Negotiable Instruments, Stipend of Rs. 1500

Your Name, College, Year of Study, Email ID

Rajarshi Basu, National Law University, Odisha, 3rd Year

Name of Organisation, Location city, Team Strength

Fox and Mandal, Advocates and Solicitors, Kolkata, Corporate team, 7 members.

Application Process with contact details

Personal contact.

Duration of internship and timings

1st June to 1st July, 2016

First impression, first day formalities, infrastructure

The first impression of their offices was that it seemed a bit wanting of space. However, I soon realized that it is normally the case anywhere near the High Court.

On the first day, I was quite early and had to wait for their offices to resume work. I was introduced to the Managing Partner.

Then, I was briefed about my job by Mr. Arunabha Sarkar who was a senior associate at F&M in the Corporate group. He would be supervising my internship.

He handed me a brief and I was asked to research relevant case laws in regard to the question of law in that suit.

I was given a separate workstation and access to an intercom in case i needed it. It felt pretty good to have a separate desk.

Main tasks

The main tasks allocated tome was to research relevant case laws for all the cases handled by the team.

I researched case laws on civil procedure, company laws, negotiable instruments, etc. I also accompanied Mr. Sarkar on his appearances at the High Court and I maintained his cause lists.

Work environment and people

The work environment was excellent. The offices are quite plush and it is fully air conditioned.

The associates are very helpful and help you at every chance the get. The background staff are also very friendly and once you get to know them , they willingly run errands for you.

The team you are assigned to almost becomes like a small family.

Best things

The best thing about interning at F&M is that it is such a heritage law firm. It is 125 years old and was the counsel for the British East India Company.

Other good things are, that the work load is immense and you can work as much or as little as you want to, but there is not dearth of work.

The food vendors near this place are excellent as well and you can have a feast for a pittance. The experience and knowledge of the personnel was a great pro too along with their joviality and willingness to show you the ropes of the trade.

Bad things

None

Stipend

Rs. 1500 per month

Biggest Lessons

The biggest lesson I learnt was howto pay attention to the tiniest details in the case and how they could affect the outcome of the trial/appeal.

The other lesson I learnt were on drafting notices and arguments .

Accommodation

I stay in Calcutta, so I commuted from my home.

However, a great numer of PG’s are available in the esplanade are which is adjacent to the High Court of Calcutta where their offices are located.

Office Timings

The normal office hours were from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m for interns. However, the arrival was staggered between 9:30 to 10:30, depending on whether the interns were required to visit court or not.

The departure time also was loosely binding and we had to stay as long as the urgency of our assignment required us to stay. However, on most days we were let off well ahead of time which left us a lot of time to interact with other interns and for a good camaraderie.