Lawyer Career Path, How to Become Lawyer in INDIA? | Career Guide

Do you want to become a lawyer but don’t know where to start. Or just curious to know about lawyer as a career option. Don’t worry, you have reached the right page. By the end of this “Lawyer Career Path” article, you will have everything to get start a career in law.

So here you will get every detail about Lawyer Career Path which is really necessary to know before choosing this career path.

Here’s how I am going to make it easy for you to determine; Is the study of law an appropriate career option for you…..or not?

You will get to know! About these following things…

  • What is really meant by Lawyer?
  • Education Qualification
  • Some of the topmost and finest colleges in India
  • Job Responsibilities of an Lawyer
  • What are the Job and Career option after Law? and much more..

Lawyer career path

 

What is meant to be a Lawyer?

If you are thinking a lawyer is a person who is fighting for justice in the judiciary system (Court) only. I want to tell a lawyer is a lot more than that. Nowadays a lawyer is not only working for the District Court, High Court and Supreme Court. As a lawyer, you have various workplace option to choose which we will get to know further in this article.

LL.B is a Latin word which stands for Legum Baccalaureus. In English, we called “Legum Baccalaureus” as Bachelor of Laws (B.L) Or Bachelor of Legislative Law (LL.B)

A Lawyer is appointed to act in the legal matters for the businesses, societies or any other places where law enforcement is needed.

In other words; a lawyer is someone who has studied and practised law. Therefore a person who has a law degree known to be a Lawyer.

A lawyer could be an advocate, legal advisor and counsellor to the clients. Although these names have a similar meaning (synonyms); but there is a thin line present among these words of law and so they are not interchangeable.

It depends on the lawyer that in which field of law he/she wants to get specialized.

A lawyer could be an advocate, legal advisor and counsellor to the clients. It depends on the lawyer that in which field of law he/she gets specialize. Today’s law degree graduates are not only bound within the court premises they have plenty of options choose.

All Advocates are Lawyers but all Lawyers are not Advocates

 

What are the Skills needed to be a Lawyer 

These are the following skills set you must possess as a lawyer…

  • General awareness
  • Memorization power (Active Learner)
  • Active Listening
  • Time management
  • Logical and Analytical
  • Judgment and Decision Making
  • Critical Thinking
  • Instant thinking
  • Writing
  • Communication and interpersonal skill

 

Education Requirements for Becoming a Lawyer 

There are two ways to become a lawyer in India. Indian education system introduces two different programs for the law. You can select either of one path.

[Path 1] 5 years of LLB program

[Path 2] 3 years of LLB program

Ok so let’s get to know who has to follow which path and the path you should choose

Lawyer Career Path [1] to become a Lawyer

Education 1 [Mandatory]: You must have been passed your High School (12th) in any of the stream (Art/Commerce/Science) to follow Lawyer as a career option. And one more necessary thing you must fulfil to become a lawyer is your percentage in 12th class. Don’t worry, it does not require extraordinary marks; you should secure at least 45% in your high school to pursue law as a career option.

However, percentage/Division could be varied according to the colleges you are going to opt to become a lawyer. You can find the list of top most law colleges in India down in this article.

Education 2 [Mandatory]: 5 years LLB

You can choose any of the following programs to start a career in law. All courses have the duration of 5 years

  • Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws (BA. LLB)
  • Bachelor of Business Administration and Bachelor of Laws (BBA. LLB)
  • Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Laws (B.Com LLB)
  • Bachelor of Social Work and Bachelor of Laws (BSW LLB)
  • Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Laws (B.Sc. LLB)
  • Bachelor of Science in Law (BSL)

So when you take admission for 5 years of law programs. There you will not only get LLB degree but also get some additional knowledge about business, social science, environmental along with the LLB program you choose. And throughout your 5 years of academics, you will get specialized in a specific field.

5 years of LLB academic program integrates with other bachelor’s degree. That is the reason why it is called Integrated LLB program.

Education 3 [Optional]: LLM (Master of Laws)

Postgraduation in law is the best option for those candidates who want to teach law in the school and they want to research in the field of law.

Besides research and teaching area; if your aim is to be just a lawyer and want to get the job, a bachelor degree in law is sufficient.

However, if you want to pursue LLM and get more broad knowledge in the field of law, definitely it will be plus for your career growth. Because getting some extra knowledge always make a difference and create a good reputation of yours in front of others.

Therefore if you want to enhance your knowledge then you must go for the LLM. But if you just want to catch a job as a lawyer then the knowledge you get during your LLB would be competent.

Lawyer Career Path [2] to become a Lawyer

Education 1 [Mandatory]: High School (12th) any of the site (Art/Commerce/Science)

Education 2 [Mandatory]: Under Graduation Degree

You just need a bachelor degree, it does not matter what are the subjects you have been studied in your academics. To get admission in law school you must have a bachelor’s degree.

Education 3 [Mandatory]: 3 years LLB

Especially this is the chance given for those students who did not recognise their interest before and hence not able to choose the right career option.

That does not mean your bachelor’s degree will go to waste. Absolutely! It will give you benefits during your lawyer career path.
Remember one thing in life that knowledge doesn’t get waste it will somehow pay you latter.

Unlike the 5 years LLB integrated program; here you only get to study and learn about various types of laws in 3 years of time duration.

Education 4 [Optional]: Like I said before Post graduation- LLM (Master of Laws) and PhD is not mandaory to practice law.

If you are a 12th class student and you are focused to make a career in law, then you can follow path 1 to become a lawyer. So for the high school students who have a clear-cut goal to become a lawyer, path 1 is the best path to start a career in law.

For any reasons you did not select path 1, you still have a chance to become a lawyer by following path number 2.

 

How many years does it take to become a Lawyer?

The duration completely depends upon which one of the above lawyer career path ([1] or [2]) you would choose.

[1] If you opt 5 years of law degree program then you will become a lawyer after just completing your bachelor degree. That means 5 years to become lawyer counted from higher secondary school. Total 5 years of time.

[2] If you are the person who did not realize his/her area of interest before to be a lawyer. Therefore you have to go for 3 years LLB program to become a lawyer. Thus the time you have to spend is 6 or 7 years to become a lawyer after passing higher secondary school (12th). Total 7 ± 1 years of time.

 

What will you learn in LLB (Bachelor of Laws) program?

As you are expecting, the syllabus will be about laws. So in academics you get to know various types of law such as criminal law, Constitutional Law, Human Rights Law, family law, Banking Law, Company Law, Intellectual Property Law, International Trade and Business Law, Information Technology Law, Law of Taxation, Insurance Law, Administrative Law, Humanitarian and Refugee Law, Environmental Law, Labour and Industrial Laws, Law relating to women and children.

Besides the laws, you are also going to learn about these following stuff thought the LLB semesters…

  • The development, culture, structure, and functioning of human society. You will know how social relationships and social interaction work in the society.
  • Along with law books, you also have to read about the history of India to some extent. And the history of legal and constitutional laws.
  • What is a tort? And the jurisdiction law system for tort.
  • All about Evidence like what it is, how to create and evidence laws etc. Evidence plays a vital role in the judiciary, therefore, you must have to know about it.
  • Indian Legal System, Legal Methods and Legal Research.
  • The production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services (Economics).
  • Study of crimes and their different patterns (Criminology)
  • How to write and produce documents without violating any laws (Legal Writing).

Also Read: Criminology as a Career Option

 

How to take admission in the law degree program 

In India, there are various types of entrance exams conducted by many law universities. Find Career Info provides you with a list of some popular entrance exam, which you have to give to get admission in the finest law colleges of India.

The procedure to get a seat in law school is to first compete against other candidates and if you are a deserving candidate then you would get selected for the LLB program. The entrance exam for the 12th and graduate candidates are different.

Topmost Law entrance exam for the 12th-grade students [5 years LLB] 

Law Entrance exam for the graduate candidates [3 years LLB]

 

Topmost and finest law Colleges/Universities in India

 

Where do Lawyers work? (Workplaces)

Most of the LLB candidates have this very common question and so you also have; that after completing LLB what are the workplaces we can go for. These are the following places where a lawyer could be found…

  • Banks (Private + Public)
  • Financial Institution
  • Judiciary
  • Government Legislative Department
  • Ministry of Law and Justice
  • Department of legal affairs
  • Military (Army/Navy/)
  • Corporates and industries
  • Law firms
  • NGO (Non-Governmental Organization)
  • University lecturer

Rather than be on salary you can start your own business. Most common business is; they start their own law firms to provide legal services to the clients such as advice, counselling, and litigation.

 

What are the Job Options after Law school?

These are the most preferred career paths opted by the vast majority of the lawyer to get specialize into; which you can select after completing or pursuing your law degree.

The list is huge, that means a lawyer graduates have too many options to choose; sometimes it appears to be confusing. You can select any of the above-mentioned options according to your preference and what type of lawyer you want to be? So opt for a specific area and specialize in that area.

Also Read: How to become an advocate | Step-by-Step Guide

 

What is the Career Option for Lawyers?

Either you can select above mentioned lawyer career path and become the type of lawyer you want to be or else you can follow these further career option after LLB.

Civil Services: Prepare for India’s highly respectable and prided service exam (IAS). A candidate with a law degree is the great combination to serve the country with honour and fame.

Judiciary: After LLB becoming a judiciary top and highly respected person (Court Judge) is also a common choice among the law graduates. Become a part of one of the Indian democracy pillars is definitely made you something (an honourable person).

Also Read: Primary Education required to become a Court judge [Complete roadmap]

How to become a High Court judge and Supreme Court judge.

Master of Laws (LLM): You can be a master in the legal law system. So if you want to study more about laws then you can go for the 1 or 2 years (depend on the college) of the master degree program. You can pursue your post-graduation in India as well as abroad.

 

What do Lawyers do? (Lawyer Job Description)

As you have seen a lawyer can be part of various workplaces, public and as well as the private sector. So as a lawyer, you have many different career path options to choose. Therefore your work completely depends on the place you would choose to utilize your knowledge of the law.

Whether you choose any career path option, the one thing never going to change is; you must have to interact with the client.

 

Lawyer Career Path Scope

Even today becoming a lawyer is one of the most aspired career options. And it’s not to say wrong that career in law is of the best career path option to follow. Society always is in need of someone that have knowledge of the judiciary and the acting laws behind the bar that not many people are familiar with.  Therefore good lawyers always are in demand.

Who does not need a lawyer? According to the real-life scenario at least once in our lifetime at some point in time, we need legal advice, before going to make that harsh decision. And then we don’t have any other better choice to take legal advice, which is reliable. So obliviously you will knock the door of some lawyer chamber.

India economy is one of the largest economies in the world thus in India lots of businesses are running and to run the business properly and efficiently every business person needs legal advice to grow their businesses in a legitimate manner. And because of the internet (Internet comes under Cyber Law), the number of transaction with the foreign companies also increasing.

Also Read:

Therefore to make the business success full, the companies have to follow the legal procedure. And when the legal words come then the legal law expert (lawyer) also get into the picture.

So if you want to follow Law as a career path you can; this is really one of the best available career profession to choose and it will always be in demand.

 

1 thought on “Lawyer Career Path, How to Become Lawyer in INDIA? | Career Guide”

  1. Can age act as a barrier in the whole career path of lawyer?
    Can one study law or become a lawyer along with being active in some other profession? I mean, is there any distance education system for that and if it there please explain.

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