Going by the law

ALTERNATIVE CAREER

Major corporates are now also making a beeline at law schools for placements.

Consider this. At least 15 foreign law firms are expected to have joint ventures with Indian law firms to set shops in India, once the relevant amendments to Indian laws permitting the entry of foreign firms are in place. This is in addition to the 15-odd legal process outsourcing firms who are already here, hiring students while they are studying in law colleges.

"The field of corporate law is exploding by the day. Earlier considered to be a career for left-overs, now it's for the choicest," says Abhay Ahuja,Honorary Professor, Government Law College & Managing Partner of Abhay Ahuja & Associates.

Reliance, L&T, Coca-Cola, ICICI Bank, Satyam and IL&FS have a legal department where they regularly look at hiring corporate lawyers. And the compensation levels are also comparable to the salaries that an MBA from a second-tier B-school would draw. For instance, at the Pune-based ILS Law College, the salaries are in the range of Rs 5-8 lakhs per annum.

This is a 50 per cent jump in compensations when compared to last year. Faculties say the compensations are only expected to escalate to another 20 per cent in the arriving year. Compensations apart, akin to an MBA, a law graduate also stands to get an equal opportunity to reach the senior management levels in a corporate set up, with a qualification in law. "In many transactions that relate to corporate acquisitions, we see lawyers heading the entire acquisition team," says Ahuja.

"Once they join as legal management trainees they can move up to the ranks of even a CEO," says Smita Sabne, lecturer, ILS Law College Pune. Similarly, the Pune-based Symbiosis Law College has seen compensations in the range of Rs 3 to 3.5 lakh per annum with the highest packet on campus being Rs 6 lakhs per annum. Faculties of premier law schools say that corporate sector and law firms are projecting a demand of 3,000 corporate lawyers annually, while all the premier law schools put together churn out only 1,500 law graduates.

And the demand is expected to grow by 10 per cent per annum due to the fuelling of infrastructure and power projects that look for law graduates who can draft Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) and legally enforceable distribution and transmission contracts among others. A rush of VC funds, the growth in celebrity management firms and the spurt in NGOs who are into micro-finance has also thrown-up new opportunities for corporate lawyers.

And law schools are gearing up in their own way to ensure that students gain an on-ground understanding that goes beyond the books, even as they launch new courses that tackles the current legal bottlenecks.

For instance, in order to give a real-life understanding of the stock markets, students from Government Law College conduct visits to stock exchanges and dealing rooms. GLC also conducts moot courts and there are atleast five to six moot courts where some moot courts are compulsory.

ILS Law College offers courses in medical Jurisprudence, European Union Law, Cyber Laws among others. "The demand is higher for non-litigating lawyers,"says Shashikant Hajare, Principal-in-charge, Symbiosis Law College, Pune.These are lawyers who sit in their offices and practice law, that is they can draft legally-sound documents and contracts that help companies tide over legal turmoils. Symbiosis Law College also offers courses along with a five-year integrated course in Law so that graduates understand management context while hammering out legal matters.