Image of lawyers in India not very good, says SC judge

The image of lawyers in the country is not very good and the profession requires more quality, Supreme Court judge Justice L Nageswara Rao today said and urged student-lawyers not to be attracted towards corporate jobs.
Delivering the keynote address at the 14th K K Luthra memorial moot court competition here, Justice Rao asked the law students to take up the profession and go to courts.
"This (Court) is the place where real lawyers should be," Justice Rao said, adding the duties of the profession must be understood while entering the field.
Handing out the prizes to the winners of the moot court competition, he said, "The image of lawyers in this country is not that very good. I am being very frank here. I am telling you about our standing in the society. I speak for the profession also. There should be more quality when it comes to the profession.

"The duties of the profession has to be understood by all of you when you come into the profession. Duty to the clients, the court and to the society. The service that you do by filling your pockets should not be forgotten. That should not take a backseat."
School of Law, Sastra university, Tamil Nadu bagged the first prize while the Campus Law Centre of the Faculty of Law in Lucknow came second.

Yashdeep Chahal of the Campus Law Centre, Delhi University was declared as the Best Speaker in the competition and Ribhav Pandey of the same institution came second.

Justice Rao congratulated the winners. Encouraging the participants, he said one should also learn to lose.
"As a lawyer, you should also learn to lose matters, especially when you come to Supreme Court most of the cases are dismissed," he said in a lighter vein, adding that in that way one can learn ways to win from understanding the opponents methods.
"I would encourage everyone not to be attracted by corporate jobs. All of you should come to courts," he added.
Justices Vibhu Bakhru, V Kameswar Rao and C Hari Shankar of the Delhi High Court were the Guests of Honour at the event.