How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
Dedication
I
am
dedicating
this book to the 100 early adopters of
LawSikho.com. You trusted us with your time, money and career
when we had no track record. You believed in our vision and you
made it real. Your faith in us energized the LawSikho team, and
made me believe in this ambitious project more than ever. Without
you, we could not even get started. We promise you to bring a new
era of legal education and accessibility in India, because your good
wishes and support is with us.
1
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
Table of Content
What is the advantage of NLU students over Non-NLU students? How can you replicate
these for yourselves?
5
What are the advantages of non-NLU students over NLU students?
16
Aspiration, Desperation, Inspiration, Perspiration
20
The biggest confusion and how law students and young lawyers fall victim to it
28
Playing in the sandbox v. real life projects - how to stand out and succeed big as a
college student
36
The biggest setbacks you will encounter as a law student and how to overcome them 44
Turning points in your legal career: 7 things you need to do
51
The Three Core Practices for Succeeding as a Lawyer
73
How to succeed when the world in unfair
74
The people you will meet as a law student and how to deal with them
81
Why you should consider taking up a LawSikho course sooner than later
82
You don’t have a strategy to become a great lawyer
82
You have interviews or internships coming up and you want to put your best foot forward
83
2
You want results fast
83
You can’t wait for success
83
You do not feel ready
84
Everyone needs practice and training
84
You are tired of cheap and pathetic courses
85
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
Foreword
W​hen
Ramanuj Mukherjee (author, also an NLU
alumnus) shared this book with me for my views
(without going into the content) I was not sure
whether there exists such a divide between NLU and
Non-NLU Students. I passed my law graduation in
1987 when I think the first NLU in Bangalore was
started so I don’t have the first-hand experience of
NLU vs. non-NLU learning.
But I keep hearing
interesting gossips from the interns/ young lawyers on
this topic when I visit NLU & non-NLU Law Colleges
across the Country. I must admit that I never took
them so seriously. Personally, I thought there should
not have been any such divide amongst law students
but having gone through the book I realise the
seriousness of the problems and I am glad that Ramanuj has tried to address them very
objectively with lot of practical suggestions. And I would strongly recommend this book to both
NLU and Non-NLU students so that they know where exactly they go wrong in the initial years of
law career.
The best part of this book is that it brings out the difference in the way students pursue legal
education in NLU including the way they work to get internships, participate in seminars, panel
discussions, exercises, work for placements and finally the alumni support.
It’s the ‘robust
culture’ and ‘fighting spirit’ that they have built over a period and I must congratulate the NLU
professors and their students for this achievement. I guess the ‘robustness’ must be in the air of
these NLU campuses! Prior to 1987 law was very rarely taken as a serious career option whereas
now students who secure more than 90% and those who can easily take engineering or medical
as their career now are willing choosing legal profession as their preferred career choice. They
work very hard to secure these marks, so naturally they would try and work harder to establish
themselves as lawyer. Same is the case with students of IITs and IIMs. The day these students
enter college campus they are set on fire and there is nothing wrong in this approach.
Fortunately, technology has to large extent offered a level playing field for not just law students
but students across various streams of education.
3
Today opportunities for creating new
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
legislations galore because of the emergence of complex business models and revenue
structures across jurisdictions. We would need many young lawyers who can comprehend
disruptive technologies and the advent of the 4​th ​Industrial revolution including ability to offer
solutions to complex disputes that may arise in future. Therefore, there is no need to get terrified
or desperate and rush into uncalled for depression just because of lack of ‘internships or
placements’ opportunities. Students will have to work beyond standard curricula, internships and
placement opportunities because the worst is yet to come.
There is already a threat of artificial intelligence and machine learning replacing many
professionals including junior lawyers. We are in the age of ‘super-struggle’ not just at the entry
point but at all levels and the earliest we start preparing the better it would be for us and for the
organisations that we work for. We would have to constantly keep learning and re-discovering
ourselves. Multi-tasking is the new linear way of progress. We cannot afford to wait for the
providence to send any opportunity our way; we will have to create one for ourselves and seize it.
And this book along with the multiple blogs that are written by Ramanuj and his team on
www.ipleaders.in have done a good job of making you think and introspect, and I only wish you
take every note in right spirit and find a path for progress.
Lastly, I once again sincerely wish that whilst it’s good to learn from the NLU and non-NLU debate
or approach, there is no need to carry any grudge on account of such divide whilst working
professionally. There is and will always be space for good lawyers irrespective of our respective
backgrounds. My all best wishes to all law students NLU as well as Non-NLU. I would like once
again thank Ramanuj for writing this brilliant piece and conclude with my favourite quote –
“If you are resolutely determined to make a lawyer of yourself, the thing is more than half done
already” – Abraham Lincoln
By ​Nitin Potdar, M&A Partner J. Sagar Associates, Mumbai
nitin@jsalaw.com
4
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
What is the advantage of NLU
students over Non-NLU
students? How can you
replicate these for yourselves?
Why should we talk about NLU students or hold them up as benchmarks?
Supposedly, the National Law Universities are islands of excellence amid a sea of mediocrity, to
quote our ex-PM, Manmohan Singh.
Unfortunately, if you do not keep evolving, even what is amazing today will become obsolete
tomorrow. NLUs have severely failed to keep the revolution of excellence going. However, we
cannot deny that the early NLUs, such as NLS Bangalore, à Kolkata, NALSAR Hyderabad, NLU
Jodhpur, etc indeed set a new benchmark in legal education in their early years.
These institutions were once upon a time led by visionary law professors and leaders like Madhav
Menon, NL Mitra, and MP Singh. Currently, they are mostly led by mediocre VCs with very little
vision and drive. Even the students have become complacent and these institutions have been
displaying, what is called in Economics, “rent seeking behaviour”.
So we can say that the institutions of excellence are under threat of being engulfed by the
mediocrity that surrounded it.
Still, law students who attend top National Law Universities have an undeniable edge over most
other law students. It is hard to say that all of the NLUs are able to ensure such advantage, since
dozens of new ones have opened up in new years, increasing the number of seats although the
quality of education at many of them remain questionable. Hence, please focus on the word
“top”. We are talking about the top 6 NLUs only over here.
5
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
Why should you care about what are
the advantages of NLU students?
There is no denying that the wave of NLUs has been the most powerful phenomenon and a big
leap in the history of legal education in India. NLUs introduced a previously unheard level of
infrastructure, ambition, global perspective, outreach, glamour and of course, recruitment.
There is certainly an advantage in attending a top National Law University.
The proof of the pudding is in CLAT. Despite being a badly managed exam so far, tons of people
take it. Exam takers are spending lakhs on coaching and books to crack CLAT. It’s quickly
becoming like IIT JEE and CAT. Highly competitive.
But what are these advantages? Can these be replicated by those who do not go to an NLU but
attend some other law college in a small town perhaps?
I bet one can. I went to a top NLU myself, and I have trained thousands of NLU, as well as
non-NLU graduates and, have helped them to achieve their career goals through iPleaders.in and
LawSikho.com. I have visited almost every NLU (not the very new ones), interacted with students,
teachers and recruiters, and have travelled to at least 50 other law college campuses that do not
have NLU tag.
I am telling you that any law student can learn from the NLU model, apply certain principles to
their lives, and walk on a path of becoming an extraordinary lawyer. And NLU students also need
to pay heed and focus on what really made NLUs special and work on the same principles, failing
which they will be in for a very rude shock, before or after recruitment. The shock for NLU
students is certain if one does not work on becoming a good lawyer, the only thing that is
uncertain is at which point one gets it.
I got that shock too once I started working at a law firm. More about that later.
This is not only relevant for law students. Young graduates as well as practicing lawyers with
considerable experiences can also benefit from the same model and culture, and build on what
they already have.
It is for all of us who want to become extraordinary lawyers. So read on.
6
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
Which are the top NLUs?
NLSIU Bangalore, NALSAR Hyderabad, NUJS Kolkata, NLU Jodhpur, NLU Delhi. Many people
who went to other colleges will perhaps abuse me for not including them in this list, but most law
firm partners I spoke to thought that these NLUs are the top ones, followed closely by NLIU
Bhopal, GNLU Gandhinagar, HNLU Raipur and perhaps Jindal Global Law School (although it’s
not at NLU). Some law firms may prefer institutions like GLC Mumbai, Symbiosis Pune or ILS Pune
over rest of the law schools.
The trump card: Recruitment
All sins are forgiven as long as campus recruitments are happening and people are getting jobs.
Surely, recruitments are still happening. Where would the recruiters go in any case? They have to
hire fresh talent every year no matter what, especially since so many of their business models
depend on finding talented but cheaper employees to leverage highly paid partners!
Also, where you hire from is a signal to the wider market as well. This started in the USA. If you
hire only from Harvard then supposedly you are a very exclusive firm and clients consider you to
be top notch. You would see this play out in the famous TV series “Suits”.
Big Indian law firms have definitely emulated this. They also take pride in the fact that they hire
from top law schools, and batch toppers.
Still, recruiters have also started to find better sources of recruitment. One is long term
internships. Students who intern for a long time with a law firm have higher chances of bagging a
job with the same law firm.
They are also hiring from alternative training programs like that of ​LawSikho or simply opting for
more experienced lawyers rather than hiring fresh law graduates. This is what the law
departments of companies have been anyway doing. It should greatly concern law students if law
firms also turn to the same.
This would leave the law graduates to fend for themselves at the beginning of the career and
learn things on their own. In this phase, they would earn very minimal sums.
Oh, isn’t that what is happening to the vast majority of law students anyway? Except for 5-6 NLUs,
this is the fate of almost all law students.
There is no doubt that the legal profession holds promises of great riches, much power and a
very successful career. However, between law school and such a successful career, there is a
chasm. You need to cross that chasm to succeed.
7
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
Law graduates from the top NLUs may find that they have been given a raft to cross the
chasm. However, it is uphill even after that for everyone.
However, there is no doubt that good recruitment is at the heart of the idea of a top NLU and that
is what keeps these schools going. And that is a big advantage for students who are looking to
get through to top jobs.
We at LawSikho are acutely aware of this phenomenon and therefore replicate it. Each of our
courses is built for getting the job done, and our graduates have a massive advantage when it
comes to getting hired. They are miles ahead of most of their peers, and it becomes evident from
their CV as well as interviews.
Can you serve a client after doing a chapter related to that kind of work? If not, then our chapter
will have to be rewritten. Maybe the course have to be replanned. We won’t have it any other
way. Just look at the weekly exercises or syllabus on any course page, and you will understand
what I am talking about.
We give networking exercises to our students. We make them write articles and publish. We send
them on informational interviews. Everything is done to ensure that they become better lawyers
and learn how to demonstrate it. It works wonders for them!
Ambition, confidence and
competition
Graduates from top NLUs grow up in a very ambitious environment. People are highly competitive
and live in a close knit community within a small campus, and the competition extends to the
point of backbiting and sabotaging others at times in order to get what one wants.
Also people pay a lot of fees, on an average 2-3 lakhs per year. Which makes it mandatory for
them to get a job that will justify such expenditure.
Expectations of parents at home is also high because these students got into top law schools.
This helps the students. As their expectations from themselves is very high, they go out of their
way to achieve the things they are supposed to achieve - internships, jobs, moots and a few other
things.
Ambition and confidence, fuelled by a competitive environment, does wonders for students of top
NLUs.
Imagine, if you realise that half of your batch has confirmed internships in the month of October
for the next summer break, can you sit quietly?
8
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
Would you not also start taking some action?
If your friends are going to intern at amazing places like the United Nations, Competition
Commission or London law firms, will you not also want to do something kick ass?
There are guys in your class who are amazing bloggers or youtubers. Some are already earning
money by giving CLAT tuitions. Won’t you feel a pang that perhaps you are not doing enough?
If your best friend or the boy you fancy is winning moots, would you be content with sitting on
your ass? Probably not.
That’s happening every day in top NLUs, fuelling a cycle of ambition and a great competitive
environment that jolts people out of their inertia.
Compared to that, a student of a typical law school worries only about exams and marks. They
support and comfort each other in their lack of actions, saying oh there is a lot of time, we are
going to figure this out later!
Exposure
One of the biggest advantage of top law schools is the exposure you get.
Ram Jethmalani taught evidence law for a few semesters at NLS Bangalore. He talked about his
experience of the Indira Gandhi murder trial. How amazing is that?
When you get exposed to top notch quality in your formative years, it tends to set very high
standards.
I recently visited Law College, Dehradun to deliver a keynote. I realised that the college has been
inviting various lawyers every single day! Retired judges, Supreme Court lawyers, law firm
partners - they have a guest or two almost every day coming in and interacting with students.
Of course, this is not an NLU, but forget that for a moment and contemplate the power of this
approach. The students are being exposed to some amazing lawyers every single day. The
quality standards and ideas they imbibe from such experience is invaluable.
This is a very powerful strategy and this is exactly what the early NLUs did in their beginning.
Some of them still do it.
It is not only exposure to good lawyers inside the campus. When Madhav Menon founded NUJS,
he made Wednesday holiday rather than Sunday, so that students could visit courts on
Wednesdays and get exposure to that world. NUJS students used to visit the chambers of best
lawyers and even judges and learn from that exposure.
9
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
Of course, later NUJS teachers and students wanted to stop that, so it got stopped! Now
NUJS has Sunday as weekly holiday.
Similarly, classes were earlier finished off by 1 pm mandatorily, so that students could go and
intern in the evening with law firms and lawyers. This practice paid rich dividends back then. I am
shocked to see that most law schools do not allow their students to go for rolling internships,
limiting their growth and curbing career opportunities.
Even I benefited from this opportunity to get early and regular exposure to the legal world. I could
even go and learn foreign languages, martial arts, teach for law entrance, ghost write books, build
a legal risk management consultancy while in college and what not - all of which would never be
possible if I had classes till 5-6 pm every day.
I am shocked to learn that a lot of colleges force their students to sit in class for 8 hours a day!
NLUs would not be the brand that they are today if the original founders were so short sighted.
Exposure is at the heart of idea of NLUs.
Another way we got exposure was our summer, winter and other internships. We would go to
cities like Mumbai, Delhi and do interesting internships. Our VC MP Singh used to give us
internship holidays in such a way that all other colleges would be open at that time, so that we
had to face minimal competition for internship. The month of March, August, September were
prime targets because most universities used to have exam during those times, so we got the
internships easily.
Do you go to such great lengths in order to get amazing exposure that can change your life?
We also got exposure to some amazing teachers. They had very high academic and intellectual
standards. We were forced to raise the bar to match theirs.
That is what made us desirable by employers when we graduated.
You need to think, what do you need to expose yourself to? What will raise your standards?
It’s a question that every individual and organisation has to repeatedly ask themselves and others
around them, because not doing so means stagnation and slow march to irrelevance and
mediocrity.
At LawSikho, we expose our learners to realistic work that they will get when clients come to
them. We expose them to lawyers who are already where these learners want to be, as trainers,
coaches and evaluators. We push our learners’ standards upwards. And they see a total
transformation by the time they finish the course.
10
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
Institutional memory
How does NLSIU Bangalore produce a Rhodes Scholar almost every year? Why don’t NALSAR
and NUJS produce as many?
The answer lies in institutional memory.
You will be remiss if you think NLSIU’s success depends on amazing academics or superior
standards in general.
NUJS students get more jobs than NLS these days from top 6 law firms.
There was a time when most foreign law firm jobs were bagged by NLS students alone. Then
slowly NUJS and NALSAR broke in. Even NLUJ, NLUD and JGLS has began to get some initial
traction on this front. NLS monopoly on this front is all but broken now.
But with Rhodes Scholarship, it is a different story.
Here is my hypothesis about this. NLS has better institutional memory of how to get the Rhodes.
Some students plan for it right from their 1st or 2nd year. It is a matter of great prestige to be that
person, and it is alive in the environment of NLS.
It is not as much present in the atmosphere of NUJS or NALSAR or NLIU. So most people wake
up in their 4th or 5th year, and just apply. They do not prepare as much.
There are some exceptions of course.
But the institutional memory and the culture of NLS is more suitable for pushing Rhodes to your
list of priorities.
There are many other such cultures at NLSIU that sets it apart from every other law school. One
good example is the cohesiveness of the NLSIU alumni community. They have practices where
seniors are formally appointed as informal guardian/mentor etc for juniors. For example, you are
automatically responsible for a person from the next batch who has the same roll number as
yours. Let’s say your roll number is 5, then roll no 5 of next batch is your “batch baby”. Roll no 5 of
next batch is grand kid.
These people hang out in groups, help each other and have each other’s backs throughout law
school.
There are hostel babies also, basically juniors who live in the same room as you did last year and
so on. I believe that such creative campus practices have led to better alum cohesiveness
compared to other law schools.
11
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
There was a time when NUJS was unbeatable in arbitration moots. It was because
seniors would teach and mentor juniors on how to win such a moot. Compare this with a college
which has no seniors to guide you on Rhodes, moots or where seniors are too self-absorbed and
self-important to help their juniors.
At NUJS, one after another startups were produced when I was in college because we all learned
something from each other.
Recruitment driven campus culture
It is often said that you are the average of the 6 people you interact with the most. People source
their personality, thoughts, actions and energy from others around them.
We model ourselves after our successful predecessors and role models.
When you are in a top NLU, you hear about recruitment all the time.
In my first year, I saw the 5th year students getting jobs, and throwing post-recruitment parties!
We loved it. This was our future hopefully as well, if we could keep things together. The reward
was on our face.
So was the fear. We saw after the 2009 market crash, a batch of graduates struggling to get jobs.
Toppers who didn’t get top placements. Seniors worried for months.
Recruitment got into our blood. It not only decided that we must intern as much as we could, but
also meant we applied to a thousand places if we had to. We would work on our CV like our life
depended on it.
Once a friend from a Calcutta University law college asked me how he can get a good internship,
because he applied to several places and didn’t get any response.
So I asked him, how many places did you apply to? First I applied to 2, and when I got no
response I applied to 3 more.
I think I started laughing. I had applied to 25 places that summer. I had called up seniors asking
for advice. I poured over internet trying to understand what would be the right place to intern. I
obsessed over getting the CV right. Read entire books about it. Then I got just 2-3 responses.
My friend just applied to 5 places. And then gave up because no one responded. He didn’t even
google once “what to do in order to get good internships”.
That’s often the secret. The people who get 10X results are often wired to put in 20x effort if
needed.
12
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
And that is what also sets the top NLUs apart. Hustle would be in the air because
everyone is doing everything they can to get internships, join societies, go for extra curricular
events and what not, everything keeping one out come on mind: getting a job.
That kind of single minded focus definitely works wonders.
Interestingly, it is not just the students, even the management thinks in that way. Every teacher
makes an effort to invite experts to the university, hold events that improve the profile of the
university with recruiters, and keep reminding the students what they need to do in order to get
the jobs that they are ultimately interested in.
This definitely helps when it comes to bagging the most number of most sought after jobs in
Indian legal industry. The biggest disadvantage of a non-NLU student, therefore, is such focussing
of attention on recruitment and what is needed to succeed in that game.
Focus on internships
One of the consequences of being focussed on jobs is that students are highly focussed on
internships. Before NLUs, law students did not use to intern. It was mostly and unheard of
concept. But NLU students began to intern aggressively from their first year itself.
By the time I finished my 3rd year, I had done over 12 internships. I would intern at every
opportunity I got.
As the first movers in the class would begin to talk about where they were applying and where
they were accepted, we would begin to apply. And we used to apply even 1 year in advance. And
kept applying.
I remember I had applied for internships to places like Bhutan, Mongolia, Seychelles and
Mauritius. It didn’t work, but did that stop me from trying? Absolutely not.
Our semesters were planned in a way so that we could get maximum time to intern. That was
indeed very helpful.
I mostly see that non-NLU students wake up towards the end of their college about the need to
intern. By then, the opportunities have shrunk, and the people who have been interning from first
year end up having a far superior, putting the late beginners in an even worse spot.
The more you intern, the more you get to network with good lawyers and peers, and more you
develop an understanding about what you have to do to succeed at a workplace.
Remember that in big law firms, for every 10 or 20 interns, only one would get hired for a job.
Hence, it is your job to be the very best, and belong to the top 1% of your batch so that you really
stand out.
13
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
It is therefore important to plan for internships. And very important to intern as many times as you
can, and starting early will give you a huge advantage.
Only 20-30% of our learners at LawSikho are law students, and the vast majority are lawyers.
However, we help these students as well as young lawyers to get jobs at good law firms. How do
we go about it?
We ask lawyers and law firms to give our students (only recommended ones, who we find to be
ready for such opportunity) an assessment internship. Because our previous students have
surprised them, recruiters are happy to oblige. From there, bagging a job is easy because our
students are miles ahead of what these recruiters expect and its visible during the internship.
Law schools have set very low standards in this front, and we absolutely exploit that. Want names
and numbers? Email us or search iPleaders blog. We have dozens of success stories like that
from the last few months itself.
Deliberate branding
Top NLUs have amazing brands in the Indian legal education industry. They are in fact the
biggest brands. This has happened as a result of a sustained effort from the NLUs. Even Jindal
Global Law School has built a great brand.
How was this possible?
They go to great lengths to celebrate the success of students. They allocate resources and
support students to go and win moots, debates and other such activities. They invite influencers
and legal who’s who to the campus to give lectures and participate in various activities.
All these go a long way in promoting the brand of a law school.
However, it is not only the law school that is branded. One very important thing is personal
branding. Law students learn this lesson early in some law schools.
They make an effort to attend conferences, publish papers, win competitions, even write books in
some cases. This is how they keep improving their brand and visibility. It’s like an arms race in
these law schools, everyone is trying to build the biggest brand they can!
This is something that is completely missing outside top NLUs, and that definitely has a very
negative impact.
14
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
Strong student bodies
Top NLUs have strong representative student bodies elected by students. These bodies do a
great job at keeping student interest at the forefront. University administration has to keep the
student bodies in mind while making policy decisions, and this means that NLUs are often far
more student friendly than traditional universities.
These bodies also organize a lot of activities, from college fests to talks by eminent scholars.
Most of them are given a budget for doing all kinds of activities. This helps in branding and
recognition certainly, but the benefits go much further.
These students who are working on these events and activities, learn how to work in teams, how
to communicate with experts and famous lawyers, get to interact with a wide variety of people
and built up a solid professional network if they are smart.
In fact, even recruitment committees in most of the top NLUs are run by students, while private
colleges usually have permanent staff to do that work. These students run recruitment
committees are usually very aggressive, and have a lot of smart law students working for it day
and night, making these NLUs a formidable force when it comes to recruitment. Most private
colleges, despite all the money and senior staff, cannot match the speed, eagerness and
earnestness of these student run recruitment committees.
15
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
What are the advantages of
non-NLU students over NLU
students?
Every disadvantage also bears a possibility of some advantage. And Indeed, non-NLU students
have some advantages over NLU students.
This does not mean I am saying that one should not take admission in NLUs and should instead
enroll in non-NLU colleges. I am not saying that non-NLU students will have it easier. Quite to the
contrary, I wrote a very long article explaining what are the advantages of NLU students and why
they have it a little easier than the rest.
However, I will be amiss if I failed to mention that there are some inherent advantages of non-NLU
students. Understanding these is important because we must play to our strengths just like we
should be aware of our weaknesses.
NLU students are too wired up and
entitled
Sure NLU students have an advantage when it comes to landing a job at a biglaw firm. However,
they are entirely focussed on that, and mostly miss the wonderful training opportunities around
them. A sincere non-NLU student is more likely to explore, work hard, take opportunities more
seriously. NLU students are more likely to believe that they will learn things on the job once they
join the law firm, and therefore make things difficult in the process for themselves. Getting a job is
only the start, you have your entire professional life ahead of you after that. Being unprepared
and entitled is a deadly combination as far as that is concerned.
Compared to them, a non-NLU student who uses his or her 3 or 5 years well is likely to do far far
better after graduation. You will often see this playing out in law firms and courts - the top lawyers
are not necessarily NLU graduates. A lot of NLU graduates start their career at a higher tempo
and then concede that lead over the years to other hard working non-NLU graduates.
16
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
NLU students are less likely to do
long term internships
NLU semesters are structured in such a way that they do not get more than a month or two at a
time for an internship. Most of them are located in smaller cities where they cannot do internship
throughout the year. Also they are kept occupied, mostly with not-so-productive engagements,
they are unable to intern much. Compared to this, graduates of certain colleges such as GLC
Mumbai or CLC Delhi intern throughout the year and get a lot more practical experience, develop
good professional contacts and references and increase their chances of getting through to and
succeeding in law firms and chambers of good lawyers.
Just imagine that there are two fresh candidates join a law firm. One of them has already interned
at that firm for a one year period, which is why he was made that offer. The other person has only
interned for a year but is from a top NLU. Who is more likely to have powerful working
relationship with associates and partners in the firm? Remember that relationships eat pedigree
for breakfast.
Who is more likely to know working styles and communication parameters of different lawyers at
the firm? Who is more likely to be more trusted and given more tasks?
And therefore who is most likely to grow faster within the firm? It’s no different when it comes to
litigation as well. An NLU graduate has something to overcome if he hasn’t spent a lot of time in
long term internships.
NLU students have huge pressures
of expectations and stress
compared to others
When you got to a top NLU, the expectations on you are massive. You are supposed to graduate
with a job with a lot of salary. You are supposed to get the best internships. You are supposed to
win moots. You are supposed to present papers in great conferences and publish articles in top
journals. You are supposed to be part of the cool societies in campus or maybe even start one of
your own. And also date someone hot. You are also supposed to party a lot and still do very well
in exams. You are supposed to get through a top university for your masters with scholarship and
then make partner or senior counsel. Failing to do any of that means you are a loser.
No kidding!
NLU students are under too much peer pressure, social anxiety, a few inches from breakdown or
addiction, and even under family pressure. They may be studying with education loan, which only
increases the psychological burden even further.
17
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
In every NLU campus I visit, I meet lots and lots of depressed law students. They are lost, they do
not know exactly what they have to do, and they know that for every NLU student who gets a
great job, there is another who doesn’t, even at the top most law schools. This gets even worse in
years when financial downturns are experienced.
Sometimes they follow the golden formula and still do not get the results they were promised.
And they wonder, what happened? Where did they go wrong?
NLU students spend way too much
for too little education
NLUs did not start out very expensive, but they are supposed to be self-funded, and have
become unreachable for most Indians today. Only very rich people can afford to pay the NLU fees
today, and the middle class is forced to take a loan. Poor students do not even qualify for such a
huge loan, and are dependant on scholarships or organizations like IDIA.
An NLU these days easily charge 2.5-3 lakhs per year. In 5 years you rake up a bill of 15 lakhs.
Only way you are going to get a loan that huge is if your family has a property to mortgage. Even
when one’s family pays for that expensive education, they expect some solid return. They think
you are going to make a commensurate return on investment. Imagine the burden that creates on
a law graduate who may land a job that pays anything between INR 50,000 and INR 1.5 lakh.
There is serious doubt about whether the education on receives is worth the money and the loan.
If I was considering going to a law school today, I will seriously consider going to a government
college, doing long term internships, figuring things out on my own.
Also, my family didn’t have a property it could mortgage when I went to law school. I would not
even qualify for a scholarship, as both my parents worked in government jobs. But 15 lakhs loan?
Wasn’t going to happen. I just had to take a 3 lakh loan! And below 4 lakhs, it was possible to get
an education loan without collateral.
What do the young law aspirants of today do?
18
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
NLU students underestimate
non-NLU students and this is a
weakness
NLU students suffer from a superiority complex. Sure they get more exposure, often work harder
and start earlier than most non-NLU students, but these are not absolute advantages. Any
non-NLU student could overcome these with systematic development, planning and focussed
execution of such plans.
However, the superiority complex is achilles’ heel of the NLU students. Most of them don’t work
as hard as they need to. They assume that landing a great job is be all and end all of law school
experience whereas they can put these 5 years to far better use.
Lost opportunities cost you. So does underestimating someone else just based on pedigree.
You will see this act out in moot courts, debates, internships and even in law firm partnerships. An
NLU law student will assume that they are superior, not prepare well enough and pay the price
dearly.
19
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
Aspiration, Desperation,
Inspiration, Perspiration
To succeed as a lawyer, you need 4 qualities.
Aspiration, Desperation, Inspiration and Perspiration.
Even if one thing is missing, you will find it hard to succeed.
And all these 4 qualities can be cultivated. More you practice these habits, the easier it gets for
you to deploy more and more of these qualities, and therefore pursue success like an
unstoppable force. From just concepts, these must become a habit for you.
How is that going to happen?
Let’s start understanding what these are and why they are important.
Aspiration
When I used to take classes for CLAT coaching, I used to begin the first class of every batch by
asking the aspirants about why they want to become a lawyer. Some used to say it's the money,
some would say because they think lawyers are very powerful and they want to become powerful
themselves.
Some would just say that their parents wanted them to become a lawyer hence they were forced
to take it up.
I pretty much knew in the first class itself as to who would probably crack the exam. The people
who were going to crack, the look in their eyes, their body language, everything was different
from the rest.
What was that factor? Aspiration. Those who aspired to get into a top law school, worked with
amazing focus and single minded ferociousness.
Tony Robbins says that people are not lazy. They just do not have goals that do not inspire them.
Most people set achievable, easy, small goals, and then do not find any motivation to chase those
goals.
A part of mastering your life is to understand what motivates you, and to self-motivate oneself
continuously to push against barriers and pursue growth rather than comfort.
20
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
However, everything starts from setting ambitious, big, scary but highly rewarding goals. You are
far more likely to work hard towards such ambitious goals, and forsake goals that are not very big
or rewarding.
If you decide to lose 5 kgs, I don’t know if you will follow through. That sounds like a mechanical,
boring, arbitrary number to chase. Sure it’s an improvement, but does it connect emotionally? Is it
something that will excite you in the morning? Is it worth dreaming about all night? Is it worthy of
putting on your bedroom wall, so you can fall asleep while you are looking at it?
Say you set a goal that you want to wear a dress that you always wanted to wear but cannot fit
into anymore due to gaining excessive fat, on your next birthday. Or that you are going to climb
Mount Kilimanjaro on 1st January 2020. Or that you are going to an amateur karate competition in
3 months from now.
Such a concrete goal is far more likely to keep you motivated and keep you going even during
bad times.
This is also why a lot of men talk about 6 pack abs or the warrior body. The image in their mind
inspires them much more than a gym routine can.
Close your eyes and imagine you being so fit that you could walk into a hollywood movie set.
Imagine everything. Imagine what you are wearing, the appreciation of people around you, you
looking amazing standing in front of the mirror, taking it all in.
Now if you keep doing this once every few hours, you will soon be burning with the desire for
looking that great. You will be ready to do anything to get there. That is aspiration.
What would happen to you if you set such goals and created an aspiration for become an
amazing lawyer? What would that look like? What would your average day be like? Where would
you live, what kind of matters will you work on, how much will you be charging per hour?
Such goals are very powerful. They are visceral. You need to visualize these goals, again and
again, until your body, mind and soul is aligned to get there at any cost.
Also, aspiration must be kept alive. You cannot feel it once and then let it go.
Put up posters in your bedroom. Keep reminders next to your work table. Set your password with
your goal.
Keep your aspiration burning. It is the most important fuel, and without it, you will find the journey
very very hard.
Good thing is that even if you have only a little of it, you can get started and then gradually
increase that aspiration. Grow it like one grows fire, by feeding it again and again. By giving it
21
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
attention, by focussing on it time and again and feeding it with new images, new
thoughts and new ideas.
And that brings us to the next quality.
Desperation
Aspiration once fuelled sufficiently, becomes a desperation. In all in life desperation is not
necessarily good, but desperation in matters of self-improvement and big goals is very good.
This is because desperation helps you to focus on what matters right now in exclusion of
everything else.
Your life is not conducive for success. You have TV, internet, social media, porn, music, movies,
people asking for your attention and help and thousands of types of entertainment to distract you
from your goal. Especially our new generations have grown up as entertainment addicts, whether
we realise that or not.
Apart from digital media, there are tons of situations in our lives, from our own urge to socialize
and procrastinate to people disturbing our peace intentionally or inadvertently when we are trying
to get work done. There would be many, many obstacles every step of the way.
Those who succeed do not succeed because they have all these obstacles removed from their
path so that they can run freely, but because they scale those obstacles and learn how to
succeed despite obstacles.
This does not happen without desperate focus and continuous pursuit. Aspiration can fade away
or forgotten when you face a fire fighting situation, but desperation gives you the overwhelming
drive you need in order to attain incredible levels of success.
Smart people often put themselves in desperate situations.
Once Asian Paints brought in a new consultant at the top. They wanted to grow their business
faster.
The consultant asked how long they take to introduce new products. He was told that the
company launched only one new product every year.
The consultant then told the management to announce that the company will launch one new
product every month for the next one year, taking the total of new launches to 12.
That was insane, and everyone in the company protested. This was unachievable. There would
be disasters, we have never done this before. We have not even planned anything properly! We
will ruin the brand with sub par products!
22
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
The management, however, went ahead with the announcement. Catalogues were
updated with new products to be launched in the next one year. Information was given to dealers,
distributors and retailers. Pre-orders were registered.
The company had no choice but to deliver. Or face serious ignominy. They had thrown the hat
over the fence, and now they had to scale the fence to fetch it. Going back without the hat wasn’t
an option at all.
All 12 products were launched on time, and record breaking sales growth was registered.
What can we learn from this corporate parable? That creating desperate situations, in which you
have no option but to succeed, works.
It is called ​burning the bridge strategy. It worked for ancient war generals. It works for me too.
When I started iPleaders, I was able to earn a very good sum from consultancy. I decided to stop
it altogether and focus all my time on online courses at a time when it did not give me an income
security. However, that left me with no option to fail! I had to succeed at the online course
business. The leap of faith worked out. But it also worked because I was desperate and had no
easy way out, not even in contemplation.
That’s how I prepared for law entrances too. I had no back ups. If I didn’t make it, I would have
been in grave trouble. So I prepared like my life depended on it.
You should push yourself into desperate situations from time to time, and that would make you a
tougher person.
How can you do that?
Say yes to opportunities even if you don’t know how to do something. Take it up and then go
learn how to do it.
Bite off more than you can chew. Stretch yourself. So many of you save all your time for studying
but in reality don’t even study. Commit to several project and then work like crazy to make it
happen.
You will never realize what strength you have inside you until you find adversities and overcome
them. Rather than waiting for crisis, smart people put themselves into creative crisis that forces
them to grow.
What kind of creative crisis can you create in your life?
Many people say that they do not have time to go to the gym, or to start a new business on the
side, or to just take up a course. Fine, you don’t have time. What you actually mean by this is that
you would not be comfortable if you made time for such intense tasks. Maybe you will have to
23
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
sleep less. Maybe you will have to become more efficient. Maybe you have to push your
boundaries and go where you have never gone.
So commit to it. Pay at the gym for the next 3 months. If you don’t show up, the money would be
wasted. Take up some clients on the side. Now you have to deliver! Announce a new project and
make sure you cannot back out. Join a course and make full payment, now you have to take the
value from the course!
That’s how you create creative crisis in your life. Please take advantage of it!
Inspiration
Aspiration and Desperation are internal. What about our environment?
That’s where we find inspiration. Our internal state is not always reliable. Things will happen
around you that will disturb your ideal internal state from time to time. How do you counter that?
That you have to do by surrounding yourself by inspiration. You either have distraction and
de-motivation or inspiration and motivation in your environment. You can choose what you want
and plant it there.
Spend some time on this. Plan your environment. Where do you sit and work? Where do you
sleep? What people do you meet? That’s all part of your environment. Design and environment
that supports your aspirations.
I follow certain pages on Instagram because when I open my social media for a dose of
procrastination and social media addiction, that is what stares me at my face. These people and
quotes and their images remind me of what I want to achieve in my life. It invokes aspiration, and
makes me more desperate to reach my goals.
Initially it wasn’t like that. I followed random facebook friends and ended up staring at some
random holidaying pictures or other irrelevant things that didn’t contribute in my life.
Fierceness matters. What would inspire you to be fierce, unstoppable, relentless?
Can you surround yourself with those things?
What about books? I surround myself, everywhere, with books that inspire me. If I go back to my
home in Kolkata, there will be books on the table on which I usually sit that I want to read. I have
already strategically placed them there.
There is always one book on my bedside table. There are a bunch of books on the table where I
sit and work. There is a book on my office table, and I tell people off if they ever move things from
my table.
24
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
There are several books in my phone that I am really looking forward to reading.
Why is this necessary?
That is because I want to be inspired by these great people who have written amazing books
filled with inspiring ideas. There is only one way to stay inspired, and that is to surround yourself
with inspiring things.
Or inspiring people. Do you have mentors, peers, family members, friends who always inspire
you? Do they discuss the amazing things you can or should be doing?
Do you follow inspiring channels and pages on YouTube, Facebook and twitter rather than pages
that make you anxious, worried, scared, jealous or unhappy? Please do. Take 10 minutes and go
see what you follow that does not inspire you but agitate you.
It could be some friends, family members or some politicians, and definitely some journalists
posting things that seem important, but makes you anxious, angry, worried. Promptly unfollow
them, and follow the people whose work, words and ideas truly inspire you to do your best.
Life is too short to live an uninspired life.
Perspiration
Just like me, you have also probably heard this many times - success is 1% inspiration and 99%
perspiration. I don’t agree to this.
If you have done your work with aspiration, desperation and inspiration, perspiration part gets
easy. It becomes fulfilling. Every day I do not work, I feel restless, useless and as if I am wasting
my time. I want to jump back into my work and do something amazing.
Big actions happen effortlessly when everything's in place. So take action put align your
aspiration, desperation and inspirations. A significant part of your perspiration should go towards
putting the above things in place.
Perspiration without that may not be as successful.
However, there is a big difference between actions and thoughts. If you are only thinking and not
taking action, nothing will happen. Thoughts do not move the needle. Actions do. So you must
keep an eye on the actions you are taking as well.
It helps to form habits and routines. Your most important work should become routine something that you do by reflex.
25
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
What do you do first thing in the morning? Could you do the most important task first?
Say your most important task is to write. Or read. Can you start your day with that for an hour?
What part of your work can you turn into a routine? Writing mails and articles for LawSikho
subscribers have become a routine for me since last 6 months. I feel strange if I do not write for a
day! And that has really helped LawSikho’s marketing and lead generation processes.
By the way, perspiration becomes much easier when you have a structured tasklist, or a guided
pathway. This is why school level athletes or cricketers with coaches always do far better than
those who do not have coaches.
The coach plans the strategy, and figures out what has to be done when. The coachee just
follows. The reduced cognitive load ensures that the work actually gets done.
Do you have people in your life who can play that role for you?
I have a coach who has two calls with me every week. I have to plan my weeks work, targets and
discover whatever is stopping me from getting there and then when I attack the work, I have a
crystal clear path before me, just waiting to be executed. This increases my chance of actually
doing the work that I am supposed to do.
Course curriculums at LawSikho are designed based on this principle too. We give you two
assignments every week, and a total of 100 in a year (if you are doing a year long course). All you
need to do is just go through those exercises. To solve the exercises you will have to read certain
materials, use certain templates and go through various videos. You are already informed what
exactly you need to do. This increases the likelihood of your learning.
Imagine doing that week after week.
If you are singing every day for an hour, under the guidance of a coach, following a well planned
strategy, how much better will you become at singing after 3 months? After 6 months? After a
year?
So if you practiced legal skills, like drafting, research, due diligence etc in the same way, could
anyone stop you from becoming an extraordinary lawyer?
Yes, so that’s my success mantra - revealed to you. Aspiration, Desperation, Inspiration and
Perspiration.
What goal are you going to attack first?
Please consider taking up one of our courses. They will provide you an opportunity to master
these principles.
Here are the courses: ​https://lawsikho.com/courses
26
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
The biggest confusion and
how law students and young
lawyers fall victim to it
What is success as a lawyer or a law student?
Is it to win moots?
Is it to score a lot of marks in exams?
Is it to get the LLB degree and enroll into the bar?
Is it to get a job in a big law firm?
Is it to get appreciated by your seniors and peers?
Is it to get an LLM from Oxford, Cambridge or Harvard?
Very hard to tell, isn’t it? Probably all of these look like success to you.
But they should not. This tiring game of score-keeping can take you away from your real goal, and
leave you dissatisfied even though you keep working very hard on achieving one thing after
another.
Success as a lawyer is determined by only one thing: how good a lawyer you are.
How good a lawyer you are is determined by only one thing: are you able to deliver results to
your clients?
When you have clarity about this, your world will fall into place. You will stop chasing milestone
after milestone, and go after the one thing that really matters.
Interestingly, when you do that, the other markers of success will be very easily available to you,
in ways you cannot imagine today.
My father had a dream that I will go to IIT. I didn’t want to. Studying engineering did not inspire
me. I wanted to be a lawyer. In 2013, I led a 4 hour corporate finance workshop at IIT Kharagpur,
attended by over 300 students, for which all of them had paid. I have taken workshops in other
IITs and NITs across the country too.
27
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
I told my father. Showed him the pictures. I don’t think he was satisfied even at that.
However, my point is that if you excel at your work, tags will chase you rather than you having to
chase the tags.
It is easy to chase the wrong markers of success and end up in the wrong place. Going to an NLU
or IIT does not make someone successful in life by default. I know enough people who graduated
from IITs or NLUs bud did not do well in life.
However, show me an amazing lawyer who is great at delivering results to his clients but is not
living a good life. He may be busy, he may even fall sick from over work, but nobody will say that
he is not successful. He will never want for money, and he will always have a deep relationship
with success.
Yes, along the way to becoming a great lawyer, you may hit some milestones, like getting through
to a good law school, scoring well in exams or even getting a big job in a well paying law firm.
However, do not confuse any of these with success. They are no more than milestones on your
way to which to do not spare more than a glance. You destination is straight ahead. Focus on the
road.
Make a list of legal skills you want to have.
What kind of lawyer do you want to be? Do you want to be an M&A lawyer? What are the valuable
skills of an M&A lawyer? What do clients expect from an M&A lawyer? What are the qualities you
have to develop to succeed?
Do you want to work as a technology lawyer for companies like Google and Facebook? Sure.
What are the legal problems such companies face? What kind of skills does one need to solve
such problems? What are the skills you need to develop accordingly?
Do you want to be a corporate lawyer winning cases in the courtroom? Sure, but what are the
challenges you will face? What are the skills you will need to overcome those challenges?
We have done some of this work for you already.
Go through any courses available in LawSikho.com. Every course page will have 3 sections called
What will you learn, Specific Learning Objectives and Syllabus. I also strongly recommend that
you go through the List of Weekly Exercises on courses that excite you.
Even going through these sections will give you immense insights into the kind of work you will
have to do, and therefore the skills you need to develop and the knowledge that you need to
acquire.
Here is an example from the M&A course. But remember that the same principles and
methodology will apply to any course that we offer.
28
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
What will you learn
Get exposure to strategic and drafting work in connection with corporate transactional work M&A, Private Equity, Venture Capital and banking transactions
●
Learn how to handle the entire process from LoI, Term Sheets to closing transactions
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
Learn how to create or assess a negotiation strategy
Understand the commercial aspects of corporate finance transactions
Learn how to act on behalf of acquirer, target company, investors, financiers
Apart from statutory knowledge, develop strategic thinking
Draft various documents, petitions, applications until you are conversant with each
Step-by-step walkthrough of different transactions
Learn how to conduct legal due diligence exercises
Learn about the various compliances, FDI and ECB regulations, how to deal with
regulators like competition commission, RBI, SEBI, MCA etc.
Can you visualize how these skills will help you if you were to become an M&A lawyer? So our
focus would be in imparting these skills in a course.
However, these are still generic skills. How deep do we have to do? What are the details and
specific kind of work we must learn? Lets see the next section to understand that.
As you can see, this is a very long list. This is why it takes a year to work on this vast skill set. You
would also understand why learning these things will put you into another league altogether.
Specific Learning Objectives
●
Learn about different kinds of M&A transaction structures and the differences between
them
●
Understand the costs and steps involved in undertaking a business transfer, asset
purchase, share acquisition and a merger
●
How to choose the right transaction method for mergers and acquisitions
●
Understand various reasons or the rationale behind why an M&A transaction takes place,
with the help of case studies of Google’s acquisition of Motorola, Ola’s acquisition of Taxi
For Sure
●
How to draft an asset purchase agreement, business purchase agreement, joint venture
agreements
29
●
How to implement a leveraged acquisition transaction and its tax implications
●
How is a slump sale effected and what are its tax implications
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
●
What are acquihire transactions and how are these carried out
●
Learn how acquisitions are financed
●
Understand how investment transactions take place, what are the key interests of an
acquirer or investor and the different stages of raising investment
●
Learn how lawyers, bankers and other compliance professionals can be involved in M&A
transactions and how to get assignments in this area
●
Understand the difference between venture capital and private equity investment and
how these are regulated
●
Learn how foreign direct investment can be received, the approvals required for the same,
the securities which can be issued and different transaction structures which can be used
●
What is different about FDI in e-commerce and the corporate structures which can be
used for this purpose
●
Know how income can be repatriated back by the foreign investor
●
How Indian companies can make overseas acquisitions
●
When does the SEBI Takeover code apply and what are the steps to be followed for the
takeover of a listed company
●
Drafting letter of offer in accordance with the requirements of the takeover code
●
What are indirect and creeping acquisitions and how are these carried out
●
Learn about hostile takeovers and their defences
●
Learn how control can be acquired over a company without acquiring shares
●
Understand what private investment in public equity (PIPE) transactions are and how do
these work
●
Learn in what cases the takeover code does not apply and how to seek exemption from
the application of the takeover code
●
Know how and where to complain if the obligations in the open offer are not fulfilled
●
Understand what demergers are and how these are carried out
●
Learn how employees can be impacted by an M&A transaction including termination of
top management and lay off of employees
●
Know what are the approvals required from different authorities for an M&A transaction
and how these are secured
●
Know about how taxation impacts investment transactions
●
Know about how international investments can be structured to gain tax advantages
●
How are M&A transactions and competition law connected, when is the approval of the
Competition Commission of India required and what is the procedure for requesting
approval
30
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
●
Know what is special for M&A transactions in specific sectors such as non
banking finance companies and insurance companies
●
What is delisting and how is the delisting of securities carried out
●
How due diligence is carried out for the M&A transactions and the steps in the due
diligence process
●
Learn how to draft a due diligence report and how to report observations in it
●
How investors can exit from an investment or a joint venture and relevant dispute
resolution mechanisms
●
Understand the different modes of debt finance - loans, credit facilities and external
commercial borrowings
●
Learn about the different types of credit facilities that can be provided by banks
●
Learn about the main clauses in syndicate finance agreements
●
Learn about different kinds of security packages in loan transactions
●
Learn how to draft a mortgage deed, share pledge agreement, corporate or promoter
guarantee and deed of hypothecation
●
Know the benefits of External commercial borrowings and how Indian assets can be
charged for availing these
●
How to raise finance through inter corporate loans and debentures
Then comes specific exercises - that you need to practice. In LawSikho, for any given course, we
have a list of exercises that we have painstakingly developed. These are the actual tools that help
you to get ahead. See the sample list of exercises for the M&A course.
List of Weekly Exercises
Exercise on suitable method for transfer
Exercise on drafting a share purchase agreement
Exercise on board composition pursuant to investment
Exercise on foreign direct investment
Exercise on Corporate Law Concepts for M&A transactions
Exercise on investors interests and shareholders’ agreement
31
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
Exercise on drafting a joint venture agreement
Exercise on different aspects of foreign direct investment
Exercise on FDI in e-commerce
Exercise on acquihire transaction
Exercise on drafting clauses of letter of offer
Exercise on competing offers
Exercise on seeking exemption from takeover code
Exercise on drafting clauses of scheme of arrangement
Exercise on top management termination after merger
Exercise on tax aspects of investment transactions
Exercise on taxation of investment in a joint venture in India by a foreign company
Exercise on the preparation of a requisition list and review of documents
Exercise on presentation in due diligence report
Exercise on Delisting and minimum public shareholding
Exercise on investor exits
Exercise on choosing an appropriate method of debt finance
Exercise on drafting clauses in loan agreements
Exercise on External Commercial Borrowings
Exercise on drafting clauses of share pledge agreement
Exercise on drafting clauses of Corporate Guarantee
32
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
Exercise on drafting business transfer agreement
Exercise on slump sale
Exercise on acquisition financing
Exercise on private placement and private investment in public equity transactions
Exercise on escrow account and settlement under takeover code
Exercise on JV / WOS abroad
Exercise on acquisition of control without share acquisition
Exercise for complaint for delay in receipt of consideration pursuant to open offer
Exercise on drafting petition to be filed before NCLT
Exercise on drafting notice to be filed before CCI
Exercise on inter corporate transactions
Exercise on stamp duty in M&A
Exercise on finding out sectoral regulations applicable for M&A transactions
Exercise on hostile takeover and response by target company in keeping with obligations
Exercise on tax benefits in carry forward of loss and depreciation
Exercise on conditional open offer and timelines of open offer
33
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
Law is vast, please focus on
something specific
Can you get a sense of how to go about developing your skills in a particular area of law from the
discussion above?
Please do not spread yourself too thin. You cannot do this with every area of law, that will simply
not give you the opportunity to go deep. Take one area of law at a time, and dive deep! You need
to create a high level of expertise. You need to understand how things work at a conceptual as
we as practical level in order to deliver results.
There is a lot to do, so the earlier you start the better.
Really, you don’t have to do so much in order to score well in class or to even win a moot. While
those things will provide you some temporary glory, they will not make you successful in life.
Only way to be successful as a lawyer is to learn how to deliver value to your clients.
So get started on the journey, and ignore the noise around you!
It is not necessary that you must take a course from us to learn such things. You could also figure
it out on your own, with help from seniors who actually have got this level of knowledge, or
lawyers who are willing to show you the way.
However, you may find that successful lawyers with this level of skill find it very hard to make time
for teaching young lawyers and law students.
In any case, all the best. We are always around.
34
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
Playing in the sandbox v.
real life projects - how to
stand out and succeed big as a
college student
Your secret advantage: only for the most ambitious
Law students in top NLUs work very hard, not only at academics, but usually at a number of other
pursuits, such as mooting, debating, law review, various college societies, organizing conferences
and symposiums etc. Even in non-NLU law colleges, good students try to do these things
emulating the NLU students.
These are all considered important CV building exercises, and if you are smart, you can use these
well for networking as well.
There is no doubt that these are very good pursuits. However, the problem is that most students
totally get caught up in the web of these activities and completely fail to cash in on an amazing
and unique opportunity people only get in college.
It is indeed a tragedy, because you can completely elevate your law school experience to a
different level altogether if you just adjust your sails a bit. That is what we are going to talk about
in this piece.
The time you are going to spend in
college is limited and precious
The time you spend in college is limited and precious. When you stare at 5 years of law school or
even 3 years, it may seem like a never ending long period, but believe me, it will get over in a
blink.
During this period, you have a lot of freedom, a lot of time on your hands and a young, fresh mind.
Most of you will not have to worry about basic questions of life such as what to eat, how to afford
rent or buying expensive things like cars or houses.
Most of you would not have any major responsibilities in life. You do not have children or old
family members to look after. And hopefully, you have boundless energy and optimism, a natural
side effect of youth.
35
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
Things would not be this way forever.
After you graduate, you will probably get a job, in which you would work somewhere between
10-14 hours a week. You will spend a lot of time commuting. Being lawyers, you will bring work
home and probably sleep very little.
You will struggle to make time to go to the gym or for a walk. Your doctor will scold you and tell
you that your lifestyle is unsustainable.
One in three lawyers apparently have depression, according to studies, and incidence of mental
health problems is much higher among lawyers as opposed to any other profession.
Yes lawyers earn a lot of money and wield a lot of power in our society, but it's also a crazy rat
race to the top. The people down the chain often get crushed.
It is unlikely that you will get much time to innovate, experiment, invest time into
self-development, or even take a breather when you become a lawyer and begin a job or even
begin to practice independently.
From that perspective, the time and the freedom to experiment you have while you are in college
is invaluable. You will never get an opportunity like this again.
Don’t tell me you are already too
busy and have no time
Don’t tell me you are already too busy with academics and mooting and stuff, and that you don’t
have time for anything else. That’s rubbish. You have no idea what is busy. Wait till you join a real
job, then you would know what is busy. What you are doing currently is probably not even one
fourth or one tenth of what you will be doing as a full time professional in a well paid job.
My friends in big law firms often work through the night, months after months, and not sleep even
for 4-5 hours a day. I know people regularly fall sick from working too much. Those who work in
courts, have to spend the day in the court, and then they go back to the chamber to do the next
days drafting, study and preparation. It is rare for them to finish before midnight.
And this cycle goes on and on, until one is senior enough to hire a bunch of reliable juniors to
reduce the workload. Or maybe until they start their own law firm and get some control over their
own time and decide what matters to take and what to reject.
Young lawyers who graduate from law school and join the profession, usually have to work three
times harder, simply because they have no idea about what is going on. The are not taught the
practical aspects of law. Hence they have to learn everything on the fly as they are trying to do
the work.
36
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
This means they repeatedly make mistakes at work and their bosses shout at them and
ask them to do everything from scratch again. As a result they end up spending more time than
necessary at work.
Many young lawyers can’t take this pressure and quit or have nervous breakdowns. In big law
firms and chambers of lawyers, such meltdowns are quite common phenomenon.
The least you can do is to work regularly and develop yourself strategically and continuously so
that you can have the discipline and mental preparation to deal with this gargantuan work
pressure with elan and style when you join the profession.
What I did in college and how it
saved my life
In my 3rd year of law college, I was coming out of a depression. I realised that I needed some sort
of competitive advantage over others to succeed big and get to the top as I wanted to.
I didn’t want to top in the class. That didn’t seem relevant at all. I had seen the power of money in
the preceding few years. Coming from a small town, lower middle class background, I had no clue
about the power of money before that. But I had rich classmates and I saw the magic they had
access to, and I didn’t.
It became clear to me that money would definitely be a parameter for success. So I got rid of the
righteous disdain and high-nosed rejection of money my parents tried to inculcate in me, and
decided that money is important and I was going to earn it.
However, the turning point was my discovery of a skill called speed reading. As I learnt to speed
read, I could suddenly complete my class work super fast. I learnt how to learn case laws even
faster. So when my classmates will spend hours trying to make sense to dense case laws, I would
finish my study in 5-10 minutes and spend the rest of the time on more productive pursuits.
One of the major such pursuits was working for a CLAT coaching centre, building their study
material, promoting their course in different schools, taking classes for CLAT aspirants, or even
just working my English speaking skills or learning martial arts at times.
This was just the beginning. After a point, I launched a website called CLAThacker, which even
got some coverage from LegallyIndia at that time. I took this platform to 3000 members in a year.
Then I felt that this is too small a market, and I wanted to do something bigger.
I tried launching a bar exam course. I would succeed at this only in my 5th year.
I was frequenting startup events in Kolkata by this time. I was exposed to startups our of IIT Kgp
who would start an office in Kolkata, raise venture capital and went on to build large businesses. I
37
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
started helping them out. Soon I had a few clients who wanted me to draft contracts for
them. After a point, I ended up setting up a legal risk management consultancy, and named in
iPleaders.
We worked on several projects, small and large, from incorporation of a company to a 2 Cr
investment deal and made some money. However, it was not easy to get new work. We had to
find a way to generate new leads and impress the business people around us.
We started a blog. That was the genesis of iPleaders blog, now with more than a million users a
month, and one of the biggest legal blogs in the world. But back then when we started, we
rejoiced even if we got a 100 readers in a day.
Even earlier, in my 2nd year itself, I had started a blog called A First Taste of Law, where I wrote
about whatever I wanted to write about, but mostly law school and my life. I convinced a few
more students to write there as well. I was already learning to build teams and persuade people.
As I handled more and more work from the CLAT tutorial, I had to set up an ad hoc team of 20
law students who worked for me. I restricted myself to editing, direction setting, quality standards
and planning.
My leadership qualities were getting developed. I was learning how to delegate and get things
done on a deadline.
However, starting CLAThacker and iPleaders blog meant I was learning email marketing,
blogging, wordpress, online marketing and such other skills necessary to grow online businesses.
Then Day 0 happened. I got multiple offers. I and Abhyuday, my co-founder at iPleaders, planned
and decided to go to the same firm so that someday we could revive the project we were working
on. Until the day we went to that law firm, we kept working on the project we called iPleaders.
The result was this, when we were leaving Trilegal, we had work waiting for us. We hit the ground
running. We knew exactly what we will be doing when we leave. In fact the website of the venture
we will launch once we quit was ready even before we quit.
I saw so many of my batchmates positively suffering in various law firms, or even in litigation. They
didn’t like what they did. They wanted to do something else. However, they didn’t even have the
time to stop and think. Most of them had to suck it up and just do whatever was asked of them to
do.
I didn’t like my law firm job. Towards the end, I hated it. And I didn’t have to stick to it. I was able
to walk my chosen path. It worked out. It was not an overnight success. There was a 3 year
history behind that success. The last 3 years in college I did very different things than what
average law students do in college. And that prepared me to take on a very different kind of
challenge and succeed.
Success is not accidental. You only get opportunity to do such experiments as freely as I could in
college, in college. You will rarely find this kind of opportunity for self improvement and
38
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
self-development once again, unless you secure enough riches to take a break and
experiment without having to worry about earning.
My life would not turn out the same had I not started doing all the different things I was doing in
college, without any idea about how it all was going to add up. I see many young lawyers trying to
do a startup and fail. There is nothing wrong in failure, but I am sure they could have really
increased their chance of success if they worked on some of the relevant skills right from my
college years!
Let us take a look at how people actually spend their time in law school.
How do most law students spend
their time?
Law students spend more time talking about, gossiping about, worrying about and thinking about
exams rather than actually studying for exam.
Law students spend a lifetime talking about moots, gossiping about moots, worrying about and
thinking about moots than actually learning how to do well in moots.
They expect someone in college is going to come and make them learn things and tell them what
to do, which never happens. They see the bevy of choices of various activities before them and
hope that doing some of these will somehow get them to the point of success.
Even worse, some of them assume that they are going to get a great job anyway because they
are part of an elite institution. They just need to wait till the time is right.
They take weeks to write a single article, whereas they would get a few hours to write much more
substantial pieces at their jobs in real life a few years down the line. Even most of the good
students fail to publish more than 2-3 articles in their whole college life.
Some of them work for law reviews, out of which only a few have any decent standards, while the
rest just exists for beefing up CVs of the students with very little relevance to anyone else.
Law students usually spend a lot of time volunteering for various college activities as well.
However, these are often randomly selected and do not necessarily contribute to their
development. This helps colleges as they get free labour but is that always enough?
Most law students stop doing everything else in life from one or two months before the exam.
They save their time for studying but then rarely study that much. In any case they prepare at the
last moment before the exam, through all-nighter study sessions. However, that does not stop
them from not taking up other projects during those months!
39
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
This is how the typical law students spend most of their productive time in law school. If
there are some important things I am missing please let me know!
Playing in the sandbox v. real life
projects: understand the difference
I describe activities such as mooting, debating, writing for law reviews that nobody reads and
MUNs etc as playing in the sandbox. Please be careful to not spend all your time playing in the
sandbox. Even academics in India is mostly sandbox.
Why do I call this playing in the sandbox? These are small games that are supposed to develop
some skills and virtues in you. However, these have no real life impacts. These will be CV points
that would demonstrate your “potential”, but does not demonstrate “actual abilities”. If you win a
moot, you may think you are on the path to be an amazing lawyer, but it would not be true at all.
However, if you take up some pro bono case of some people who cannot afford a lawyer, but has
been stuck in some unjust situation, and get them justice, you will actually take a much bigger
and effective stride towards becoming a good lawyer.
The principle is simple. Is there something you can do that has a real life impact, whether or not
people will pay for the same?
I would suggest that you instead spend at least some of your time, if not most of it, pursuing such
projects that have real life impact.
Take Lawctopus for example. It was a side project Tanuj Kalia came up with. He pursued it with a
few friends. It was originally supposed to be monetized through InternSmith, where they were
going to help people to get internships for a fee. That thing didn’t work out, but as a side effect,
he asked people to write about their internship experiences. That worked! Tons of people were
coming to write and read internship experiences.
An automated content engine was created. Advertisers came in. Since then, Lawctopus has
earned crores and Tanuj never had to go and work for some other company.
Even iPleaders was result of such projects with real life impact. I focussed on helping startup
entrepreneurs who did not have easy access to corporate lawyers back then. When I began to
assist them, it opened the doors of a new world for me.
I also focussed on writing blogs that people actually use in real life rather than writing for journals.
That meant I was able to build up an audience where others only manage to write a point or two
in their CV.
A student of mine, on my advice, began working on consumer cases of poor people in her district.
Then she went on to help construction workers who were not getting minimum wages. In the
40
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
process, she became a familiar face with labour inspectors, lawyers and judges. As a
young law student trying to help out poor people, she received tremendous encouragement and
support from all quarters.
During her internships later on, she stood out as someone with a lot more understanding of law
and process compared to her peers. She was eventually recommended to a very famous lawyers
chamber by another lawyer who had come to be her mentor after taking an interest in her social
work.
She currently practices at the Supreme Court, and every time we meet, she profusely thanks me
for pushing her to do those practical projects that had real life impact. Those experiences
accelerated her learning and growth as a lawyer in the formative years, when the rest of her
classmates were most bothered about getting onto the university mooting team.
Real life experience and skills will always trump the experience and skills of playing in the sand
box.
What are you going to do?
Hard part about real life projects is that you have to find one, define it and actually get it done on
your own initiative. A sandbox game is given to you on a platter.
However, remember that in real life projects there are barely any competitors. You will probably
be the only one doing such a thing. Sandboxes are intensely competitive.
How do you use your time in college
the best: experimental projects
Find your project. What kind of injustice boils your blood?
What are your personal experiences of injustice? Can you stop such things from happening in the
world for other people?
Where can you give your time, energy and focus and make a difference in the world?
What are the things that give you joy, satisfaction and a purpose in life?
Stop worrying about academics and moot and CV, and pursue these things. At least one thing.
Could it be writing? Could it be legal aid?
How can you make the legal aid centre better? In most colleges legal aid centre is dysfunctional.
Can you start a legal aid centre on your own, outside the control of your college, which will likely
dumb down things on every stage and put up obstacles anyway?
41
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
Don’t expect your teachers to understand, encourage or even support these projects. If
they were so smart then the law colleges would not be so bad at training lawyers and law
graduates would not have to struggle so much to find their feet in the world of law practice.
However, your friends and peers may help you. Most will not, but find one or two or three people
who will. Make those people you want to work with read this. They will understand the
importance if they are the right people.
After all, this opportunity will not come again.
When you begin to work on real life projects, you will also begin to understand what are the skills
you need to develop in order to succeed in the world. That is when you will really begin to invest
in yourself, because effort and reward will be visible to you on your face.
You can only do a few things, and the years will pass by very fast. So choose the activities with
maximum impact, because the value you get in life is directly proportional to the impact you
create in your environment.
And it is a thousand times better to be picked up for your abilities than for your potential that one
hopes will someday develop into some ability.
You will probably succeed accidentally, but that is why it is so important to engage in the right
experiments while you are in college.
Finally, it is a battle of mindsets. You need to focus on generating more and more value for
people, rather than competing with them as if you are chasing the same things and you have beat
them one way or the other.
42
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
The biggest setbacks you
will encounter as a law
student and how to overcome
them
If you are not a law student, still read on. You are going to relate to this. It may even help you to
put your law school life into perspective.
1#
Language
The tool of the lawyer is language. If you are not good with language, if you do not know how to
bend the words and sentences to serve your purpose effortlessly, then the only way to go is to
learn the same.
You have to learn to use language - in written form, and in oral form too - and you have to learn
how language is a tool of power and persuasion.
I was in 3rd year in law school when I first attended a class by NL Mitra, a stalwart who was the
2nd VC of NLS Bangalore and then started NLU Jodhpur. He also had a role to play in setting up
the IP law school at IIT Kharagpur. He worked as a partner at a leading law firm after leaving NLU
Jodhpur and occasionally offered some lectures in a few law schools.
Why does a law firm pay so much money to hire an NLU graduate? He asked us. We are better
lawyers? We thought.
He said “you are hired because you are better in English than the rest of the law students.” That
was kind of shocking for us. However, this is also probably true. However, it is not only English
any more. Compared to the NL Mitra days, the complexity of law practice has increased at a lot
and the level of expertise expected from law graduates has changed too. However, the basic
requirement of amazing language skills has not changed.
You will never make it into a big law firm unless you speak and write flawless English.
You will do absolutely fine as a lawyer in district courts even if your English is poor. You will
manage decently well in High Courts even if you English is not perfect. However, you are not
likely to make it into a good law firm or survive in one unless your English language skills are
superlative.
43
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
You will be writing a lot and speaking a lot, so make sure that you are really good at it.
I studied in vernacular medium till I went to NUJS. The English we learnt in school was very basic.
So I had to learn English on my own. This involved mugging up a dictionary, reading up books
that covered things like vocabulary to style guides, immersion into English language by only
reading English books, newspapers, and watching English movies.
The total immersion technique of learning any language is very powerful. Stop talking, reading or
listening to (as far as possible) in any language other than English for a year and see how fast and
how far you go.
One of the most effective things that I did to learn to speak English was imitation of hollywood
movies. I would play a movie on my computer (that I had already watched once, usually James
Bond movies), pause after every dialogue and repeat it loudly, imitating the way they said it on
the screen, before playing the next dialogue.
It is a painful and lengthy process, requires a lot of patience, but the improvement is remarkable
after a couple of weeks.
Anyhow, find your way, but make sure your language skills are top notch.
Another major win for me was blogging. Learning to write well requires you to think in a
structured manner. That helped me a lot as a lawyer and professional later in my life.
#2
Stress, depression, mental health
issues
Growing up is not easy. And going to law school as a teenager or even in your early 20s is very
hard. Excruciating most of the time.
You will probably have a lot of fun. You will go on adventures too. You will learn new things, see
new places and have many new experiences that you will be glad about and proud of.
But you will also probably face extreme stress, unhealthy competitive behaviour, exclusion (elite
groups in law school thrive on exclusion), ridicule for your any real or perceived shortcoming,
bullying seniors, incompetent but vindictive teachers, various kinds of discrimination, favouritism,
unfair treatment and situations, physical or mental harassment, frustration and so on.
It is quite certain that if something of this sort has not happened to you yet, it is only a matter of
time. Don’t hold your breath though.
44
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
You need to be mentally prepared and robust. You need to have your friends, support
system and people in your life who inspire you and uplift you.
You need to reject people who pull you down and want to keep you mediocre and ordinary. You
need to find and spend more time with people who are on a personal journey of joy, happiness
and self development.
The work stress I encountered in law school was unprecedented. I thought class 12 board exam
was hard. I had no idea how much more difficult first semester at NUJS will be.
I remember the feeling of carrying the Himalayas on my shoulders as I realised that I have to write
5 projects of 5000 words each, thoroughly footnoted, within a couple of months. How does one
do that?
The thing about stress is that you need to accept it. You are not supposed to reject it or resist it if
you want to grow, you are supposed to align yourself with the stress and push yourself in the
same direction, jumping into action.
You learn such things over time. You have to learn it by doing it, and you will not learn from
reading this. However, let me warn you fully.
I was depressed in law school for almost 2 years. I would not feel like talking to anyone. I stopped
caring for or grooming myself. I felt hopeless and sad. I didn’t want to wake up in the morning. I
missed classes. And I guess nobody could figure out that I was in such a dark place because I
had to keep my pride intact.
The way I got out of it was through physically invigorating activities, especially running. Even
today, working out keeps me on top of my mental health. Hence, working out is strongly
recommended. Don’t say you do not have time.
You should also use tools like affirmations and meditations. You can even program your mind for
success while you sleep. Here is a video I recommend you to watch and then follow the
instructions. This method works wonders for me these days.
Here is an amazing free meditation app I use almost every day. Look me up in it! Just search with
my name.
Here I shared how Vipassana and other forms of meditation can help you to become more
effective.
If you are already depression or other mental health, consider seeing some qualified
professionals, though be very careful about taking medicines. They should be last resort after you
have tried all other solutions and failed.
45
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
#3
Lack of social belonging and
empowering environment
The years you spend in college are very important. This is not just a few years of your life. This is
the time when you shape you self-image. Who are you in the world? Are you a winner or a loser?
Are you a loner or a team player? Do you take initiative or do you want others to tell you what to
do? Such characteristics get formed in the college years.
This is also a time when you realise that you are alone in the world. It is a part of growing up. As a
younger kid you are usually under the protective umbrella of a family, and your interaction with
the outside world is limited. College is the time when most people begin to deal with the world on
their own and step out of that protective influence of parents.
This is also the time when you want to belong and become part of something that is more than
just you and your family. And it is not easy to find that. Most colleges fail to create environments
where you can feel that you belong to something.
Army does that. Good sports teams do that. It is also done by many theater groups, political
parties and every other successful social/ volunteer driven organizations. The young college kids
are often the life-blood of these organizations.
It is important for you to find such groups or organizations that can empower you, make you feel
at home, and give you a purpose. As young college kids with dreams in your eyes and boundless
energy, you need direction and leadership from more mature people. You need mentors. Look
out for that.
At the same time, know that you are likely to face exclusion by certain social groups, that derive
their value or so-called “exclusivity” from excluding people they consider to be inferior. This is
hurtful, but do not let such judgment define you. What these people think is of no consequence,
and you will rise and grow much beyond such pettiness.
Do not let other people’s prejudice become your reality.
When I was in college, I faced a lot of ridicule and insults because I could not speak good English,
I was from a small town and lower middle class family and did not understand the ways of the rich
people, and was socially awkward and depressed. Imagine the person nobody wanted to invite to
their birthday party. I was that person in my class.
And it made me angry. I was smart, I was strong, I was going to be great. I didn’t understand why I
am not considered good enough. However, that social rejection was my rocket fuel. I wasn’t
going to settle down with what I had. I was going to be the best.
46
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
And that is what I did. I learned that it is better to be interested than interesting. I started taking a
genuine interest in other people. I started caring for others setting aside my own selfish interests
and small complaints. From a person who was worried about my own social status and standing I
became someone who stands for others, and that changed everything forever for me.
I found communities outside college more than inside initially. Startup Saturday, where I met other
entrepreneurs was one. Then there was also a blood donation organization I volunteered for.
Then teaching for CLAT and blogging happened to me.
Suddenly I had a bunch of students to care for and lead to their success. I began to mentor
juniors who needed guidance.
I went on to create my social circle and sphere of influence over the next few years, and it was
much larger than just the college by the time I graduated. I created iPleaders and LawSikho, to
which I and many others can belong to as a community. I am sure you will find your community
too.
Until you do, please watch out. You do not want an environment that diminish you, but one that
empowers you. Some good places to try will be Art of Living, Landmark, ISKCON, Salsa Socials,
Spicmacay, MAD, Toastmasters.
You are also most welcome to become a part of the LawSikho community. We stand for
continuous self development and in the belief that through self-development we can become
extraordinary lawyers.
#4
Low standards
This is one of the biggest dangers. In most law schools you are almost certainly going to
encounter institutionalised mediocrity all around.
Your curriculum will be mediocre. Your exams and assessment will be mediocre. Most of your
teachers will be mediocre, just like the vast majority of your batchmates and seniors.
It doesn’t take much to pass your exams. It doesn’t take much to just survive and carry on. If you
just do the minimum to survive, you will be fine for 5 years. And that is very, very dangerous.
If you do that, you are setting low standards for yourself. You are imbibing mediocrity that will
define everything you will do in life.
This is not how you set yourself up for success. If you want success, you will need to set your
standards really high.
47
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
Read the best books out there. Interact with the best lawyers, and see how they work.
See how the best institutions in the country work. Watch the videos of amazing spreaker on
youtube. Follow the worlds top most people on twitter, linkedin and instagram. The more you will
expose yourself to the very best, the more you will imbibe high standards and will not be able to
tolerate mediocrity, for either yourself or anyone else.
Low standards will destroy you. Do not let yourself be influenced by the low standards you see in
your environment.
#5
Crisis of self-esteem
At least once during your college years, you are going to face a crisis of self-esteem. Who am I?
What is special about me? Am I good enough? Why am I going to be successful? Am I good
person?
You will find it hard to answer these questions. As you will face stress and challenges of a scale
that you have never seen before, you are going to crumble. You will feel that there is no hope in
the world and that the situation is crushing you.
One of the two things will happen at that time. You will either find an escape and distraction such as drugs or alcohol. Every year a very large number of law students in law colleges across
the country fall victim to this.
If you do not fall for this, or somehow get through such distraction or addiction, as you keep
getting crushed by mounting pressure, you will discover immense inner strength. You will realise
that you are who you decide to become. You will realise that no pressure is enough to crush you,
and that you can survive it all and grow stronger day by day.
And that is how every great lawyer ever has been forged.
How LawSikho can help you
At LawSikho, we are acutely aware of these challenges that every law student faces in law
college, and we support our students to get through this minefield. Want to know how? Why don’t
you schedule a call to chat with us?
Here are some courses from which you can benefit immensely. These courses will help you to set
high standards, find your feet in college and earn the respect of your peers, take pride in your
skills and knowledge, keep your brain engaged with new activities, learnings and assignments
48
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
every week, and ensure that your mastery over legal language keeps growing as you
work on assignments and get feedback and even write and publish articles.
Try out a course, and you will never be the same. Visit LawSikho.com and check it out for
yourself.
49
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
Turning points in your legal
career: 7 things you need to do
#1
Find a mentor
A mentor can accelerate your growth.
A mentor gives you permission to try something big and fail at it if you have to, and tells you that
he is there to save you if you screw up.
A mentor nudges you and push you towards doing things you will not do on your own. A mentor
short circuits your mental processes that stop you from growing.
A mentor, however, can only give you what you are ready to take. Most people are not ready to
let a mentor take the reins and lead them into something they are not capable of getting to on
their own.
And it is fine. People take their time to get ready, to grow, to understand what success means for
them.
I wanted to find a mentor since I was in high school. I did not. I used to write in my diaries every
year that I want to find a mentor this year. It didn’t happen. I know now why. I was too stubborn to
accept what anybody said to me. I was always right. I had my head up my ass.
How could I find a mentor?
It took a phenomenal coach, who I encountered at Landmark, to make me realise that. And this
too happened only when I became coachable. Opened myself up to coaching. Following this, I
found many mentors in my life, guiding me in different aspects.
I had a mentor in my martial arts learning. I found business mentors. I found mentors who guided
me in personal matters. Life literally changed!
How can you find mentors? I recommend informational interviews.
Here is what you do: approach 5 people like who you want to become 5 years down the line.
They must be at least 5-7 years ahead of you in their career trajectory. Ask them for one on one
meetings, or if meeting is not possible, ask for a call.
50
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
You can ask for this meeting over an email, linkedin message or even whatsapp if you
have their number. You can follow up over call. This is the crux of the message:
I am researching on xyz career and I have heard great things about your work. Would you give
me 10 minutes of your time? I just want to ask you a few career related questions and it would
help me to strategize my career moves better. I will come to a place of your choice at a time of
your choice.
That’s all. If you write to 10 people, 3-4 at least will respond. That’s enough success rate. I am
ready to write to 10 people to get one yes. Mentally, you should be prepared for that too. If you
can’t handle rejection and criticism in life, you will get nowhere.
Make sure you get to speak with at least 5 people in total, no matter how many doors you have to
knock.
When you meet them, make sure you ask these 5 questions and write down the answers:
I want to become like you. This is where I am today (briefly describe where you are). What are the
things you think I should start doing? What could I do to increase the chances of my success?
What are the biggest challenges and difficulties you have faced in your career journey? What
were the big turning points?
What could accelerate my career growth? Any ideas?
What are the pitfalls and mistakes I need to avoid?
Can I call you once a month and update you about the things I am doing, and just get 5 minutes
of advice?
That’s it. You need to follow up later with what you are doing as well. That is how you find
mindblowing mentors.
#2
Learn to take responsibility
Why was my marks low? Oh because the teacher was partial. Because my roommate does not
sleep at night and it disturbs my sleep. Blah blah.
Why aren’t you going to the gym or doing any work out? Because I am too busy. Because my
maid didn’t come. Blah blah. All valid reasons. But no reasons are good enough for failure.
Most people do not get this. They think valid reason + failure is equal to success. I am sorry, it is
not. Otherwise we will all be successful, rich, healthy and happy.
51
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
The breakthrough happens when you stop giving those reasons. My boss at the law firm where I
briefly worked once asked me: why did you come late? I said I do not want to offer any excuse. I
got late, I apologise, and you will not see me late again.
That was it.
How does it matter why I was late? Does any clients care? Does the firm care? If the firm fails to
pay my full salary, whatever the excuse, will I accept it?
Successful people do not give and do not accept any excuses for less than desirable results.
It is a major turning point when you stop thinking of the world in terms of excuses and start
thinking about what you can do to get the results that you want given the circumstances.
Yes things are screwed up. They will always be. What can we do given the circumstances? You
will not be hired and paid to give reasons as to why things do not work. There are enough
life-long experts who can do that for free for us, and even then we want to keep them outside the
building.
Are you part of the solution? Are you part of the problem? Or are you passive human being sitting
on your ass and pointing fingers at things?
Results transform when you take the responsibility of outcome. Just think of the CEO of a big,
listed company. He has to deliver results no matter what, every quarter. He can’t say that other
people messed up. He can’t say government changed policies. He can’t say that market is down.
He has to deliver no matter what, and he relies on thousands of unpredictable people, processes
and market conditions.
He still has to give a financial projection of growth in the beginning of every quarter, and then
meet that projection or even exceed it no matter what else happens, or his job is in the line.
What can he do to still deliver the projected growth? The first thing is to take responsibility of the
outcome.
Many people are ready to take responsibility for their effort, but not for results. They will typically
say, I will do my best. Sorry, as a lawyer you will not get hired for trying your best. It is not enough.
You need to say “don’t worry, I am here now. I will take care of it.” Maybe you don’t know yet
what is to be done. No problem, please go figure it out and get it done.
But if you can’t say “don’t worry, I will get it done, it’s my responsibility now,” you will remain a
puny, insignificant and irrelevant player always.
52
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
#3
Develop your personality
Everybody knows that they have to do it. But where do you start? What are the actions to take?
I have a few personal principles. Number one is to stop trying to impress others.
We are born with the instinct of impressing other people, and live with the instinct of making
ourselves look good, constantly. We want other people to take interest it us, so we try to be
interesting. We do not want to listen to what others have to say, we just want others to listen to
us.
The biggest breakthrough is when you understand this and flip it around. Magic happens.
It is much more powerful to be interested than interesting. You will get a lot more results if you
take genuine interest in other people.
You will learn to speak, that is the easier part. Learning to listen is even harder. The best leaders
do not only listen with their ears. They listen with their whole body, mind and soul. People
therefore love to talk to them.
You want to be the boss. You want to be the most important person in the room, you want people
to come to you. This is much inferior an approach and the source of poor personality.
If you really want to be a leader, if you really want to develop your personality, do the opposite.
Give importance to the other person. Put other people in leadership. True leaders create more
leaders, not followers. You go to people and take care of them and talk about their interests.
This is what is at the source of building an amazing personality with charisma that everyone is
attracted to.
Charisma is serene passion. Cultivate your passion and interests. What do you deeply care
about? What can you give your life for? When you find that and dedicate your life to that, you
become something bigger than just a person.
That is how amazing personalities are born.
53
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
#4
Learn to express yourself
Expressing yourself coherently and cogently is difficult. Most people cannot do it. I still struggle to
do it sometimes after so many years of training, trying and occasionally succeeding.
At the heart of expressing yourself is sharing your vulnerability. Most people think that showing
their vulnerability makes them weak and pathetic. To the contrary, it takes away the only weapons
your opponents ever had.
Gandhi wrote about all his misadventures and the bad things he did in his youth. He went to a
prostitute, he ate non-veg (against his caste and religious practice), he lied in self-interest - and he
wrote about all of it. Baring his soul endeared him to the country and made him the Mahatma.
If you share your weaknesses and you talk about how redeemed yourself, that makes you
powerful, not weak.
Being able to speak from your core, being able to share what is really important to you minus all
the pretense and drama, to bring out what is the essence of you as a person is something very
powerful. All great artists, songwriters, novelists, performers are able to do it. And that is exactly
what a lawyer also must learn to do.
It is not taught in law school, it is not taught in a course. You have to learn it yourself. But when
you learn to speak your truth, the world will sit up and pay attention.
#5
Identify your niche
You can’t be good at everything.
However, you can be damn good at a handful of things. It is often enough to be great in just one
thing.
Law is too vast for you to be good at every branch. It is far easier to be superb at just one subject.
If you keep pursuing it further than everyone else, you will reap rich dividends in every way.
Most people take too much time to decide what is their niche, what is the area in which they are
going to build their expertise and concentrate effort. This is a huge waste.
54
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
Please do not worry about choosing the right subject. Pick something that catches your
fancy. And then learn everything that is there to learn about that subject. Learn more than a law
firm partner or a lawyer practicing for more than 10 years will know. In that one subject, set the
bar very high.
Write articles about it. Visit conferences on that subject. Get to know people in that area of law.
Get to know the industry. Try to convince your teachers to write projects about that subject. Do all
your internships around that area of law.
Take the example of Ashwin Shankar, a leading shipping lawyer in the country today. He interned
with a shipping lawyer in his 2nd year. Then she did all his internships with the same firm and one
day he became a partner in that firm. He did all his college projects around some or the other
aspect of shipping law. In insurance class he will write a project about shipping insurance. In
contract course he will write about shipping contracts. In constitutional law class he would
convince his teacher to let him write about admiralty jurisdiction or sovereignty over continental
shelf and sea beds. I am not sure the topics are correct, based on my memory, but you get the
drift.
#6
Work on your brain - scientifically
enhance your intelligence
Do you think that your intelligence is a fixed entity, like your blood group, number of bones in the
body or your height?
That’s completely untrue. Your IQ or EQ can be increased or decreased, scientifically.
Still, most of us act like it is not in our control. As if we are born dumb or smart, and we have no
control over it.
All of us are guilty of not working on enhancing our intelligence. We keep trying, we keep
grinding, we keep struggling but we do not do what we really need to do.
Abraham Lincoln, who was himself a lawyer before he became the president of USA and changed
the history of the world by abolishing slavery, had something very interesting to say about that.
“If I had five minutes to chop down a tree, I’d spend the first three sharpening my axe.”
Its obvious, but do you do that? When did you last spend time on sharpening the axe?
Recently a law firm partner was telling me how he tests candidates who want to get hired. He
makes it a point to see how they type. If they are doing touch-typing, which means that they are
55
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
able to type without looking at the keyboard, he prefers to hire those people. They made
an effort to learn an important skill, which although not taught in law school, is very important for a
corporate lawyer who is going to type documents for thousands and thousands of hours for the
rest of his life.
If they didn’t take the initiative to learn touch typing, which is equivalent of sharpening the axe,
then that speaks volumes about them too.
Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately for the ill-prepared, intelligence is not as easy to measure.
However, for ourselves, let us take a look at how we can scientifically enhance our intelligence in
a measurable way.
Ensure high oxygen supply in your environment
Oxygen supply to the brain is a critical factor that can increase, preserve or reduce your
intelligence and overall brain function.
I am starting with this because this is a huge problem today in airtight AC offices where fresh
oxygen does not come in as windows are closed, and the same air is circulated through the day.
The air in most cities are poisonous and barely breathable. Often there is not a healthy level of
oxygen in the air. Air purifiers are now common feature in offices but they do not want ensure
healthy oxygen levels in the air. The only solution for that will be to use indoor plants that can
produce a lot of oxygen and keep your brain healthy.
You need to do this not only where you work, but also where you sleep. Surround yourself with
oxygen producing plants.
What are the plants that do not need much maintenance, survive in an indoor environment
without direct sunlight but produce a lot of oxygen?
Here is a list of may favourites based on what is easy to care for, ease of availability and low cost:
Money Plant
Aloe Vera
Snake plant/ Mother-in-law’s Tongue
Areca Palm
Peace Lily
The NASA clean air study recommended 15-18 good sized oxygen producing plants and air
cleaning plants for an 1,800 square foot house. However, more people you have in a house or
office, more plants you will need.
It is better to err on the side of excess here, so put lots of greens into your houses and offices.
However, pick the ones that you can easily care for. You need to check how much light you have
56
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
wherever you are going to place them and whether that’s suitable for them, and how
often they need watering.
The effort it worth is in terms of well-being, freshness of mind and body, as well as reduced
medical bills. Studies have shown that living in environments that have plenty of oxygen
drastically reduce cancer risk, for example.
Also, low oxygen environments and pollutants make you bum and brain dead. Getting more
oxygen is a must to be effective.
IQ enhancing games
Do you know why children are encouraged to play board games? That’s because these games
have been scientifically shown to enhance IQ. It’s the same reason royalty and rich people in
China, Europe and other countries were traditionally encouraged to play chess.
Playing chess makes you access your left and right brain at the same time, enhancing your
intelligence, concentration, deductive ability and decision making skills.
Einstein’s brilliance is often attributed by brain scientists to his interest in chess and violin.
Einstein could access all his brain at once. How did he train himself to do that? It’s a question
worth pondering.
There are also apps like lumosity that are games designed to enhance your IQ. While scientists
have researched and proved that playing chess over several weeks enhances IQ, there are also
other games like Scrabble, Sudoku and Mahjong that are likely to have similar effects.
It is a good idea to keep playing those games that tax your brain, even when you are an adult.
Work out
People who work out regularly become smarter. Aerobic exercises have been proven to enhance
IQ by many points. A person who does not make time for working out is simply not the most smart
version of himself or herself. You can increase your IQ over the next one month simply by
working out regularly.
However, muscular strength is not what we are seeking here, we are seeking cardiovascular
fitness. Those who have a high level of cardiovascular fitness, tend to get more cognitive scores
in controlled tests.
Verbal intelligence, which is very sought after as far as lawyers are concerned, is closely
correlated with cardiovascular fitness. You will definitely look better if you lift, but if you do sprints,
burpees, crossfit and yoga, that’s likely to make you smarter.
57
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
Most importantly, regular working out will keep stress, depression etc away and prevent
such things from destroying your intelligence. Working out protects your brain from negative
influences.
Diet and supplements
While some food and supplements that can make you smarter, there are other things that make
you dumber. As a general rule, all intoxicants like nicotine and alcohol reduce your intelligence.
A keto diet that relies on ketone bodies rather than glucose has been shown to be metabolically
superior as a source of energy for brain.
Omega 3 fatty acids are known to be good for your brain. So are antioxidants. Many supplements
can increase blood flow to the brain and enhance brain health. However, I am no expert on these
and suggest that you do your own research and consult dieticians.
Many vitamins are critical too. For instance, vitamin B12 deficiency can play havoc with your
mental health and reduce cognitive abilities and make it impossible to focus yourself. Vitamin D3
deficiency can also be a massive dampener and it's very common in most people today due to
lack of exposure to direct sunlight as we live indoors. Taking a vitamin supplement regularly will
protect you from such situations.
I can tell a massive difference in my alertness between the days on which I have vitamin
supplement and the days on which I don't.
There are also more supplements like creatine that can enhance your IQ. Again, consult
appropriate experts first.
Just remember that experts are not coming to your home and making you develop habits. The
only way any diet or supplements are going to help you is if you develop a habit of taking them.
Too many people read too many articles and do nothing in reality. Please don't fall into that trap.
I actually track my intake of protein, vitamins, supplements etc through a daily record keeping app
called Dailyo. I strongly recommend it. I track over 40 activities from meeting friends, to writing,
eating junk food, smoking, taking specific health supplements, working out, writing etc through
this app.
It's very simple, but very effective. It helps me to see what are the good and bad things I am doing
to myself over the months and years. It takes away feelings and assumptions and create actual
data for me to realise what I am doing.
For example, I think that I smoke very less. However, thanks to daily record keeping on Dailyo
app, it turns out that I smoked 14 days out of 31 in the month of March, and took vitamins only on
18 days.
Now I can take corrective action in April because I know where I am going wrong!
58
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
So find out what's good for you and build solid habits that give your good results for a lifetime and
cut off bad habits that compromise your intelligence.
Hydration habits
Not drinking enough water can cause you to lose IQ as well. For the brain to function well, your
body needs to be well hydrated. The critical habits with respect to drinking water as I have found
out through self-experiments, are drinking water before you go to sleep and drinking again after
you wake up. You brain works over time when you sleep, forming memories, creating important
patterns, processing information. Failing to assist it by keeping it hydrated at that time is a recipe
for disaster. So is not giving it water when you wake up.
I make it a point to keep multiple bottles filled with water near my bed. It is a simple but crucial
habit for brain health.
Your brain shrinks when you are dehydrated! And 70% of your brain is water. Avoid dehydration
and you will avoid many common enemies of brain like headaches, lack of energy and anxiety!
Yes, lack of water in the brain can cause migraine and anxiety as well, which is contrary to our
stated objective of enhancing our intelligence.
Engage in art and music
Art and music stimulates different parts of your brain and promotes brain health. I have a couple
of instruments in my bedroom. I haven't formally learnt how to play an instrument ever, nor have I
made the time. However, I keep playing something for a while every day. Not only it helps to
de-stress, as I try to bring out beautiful music from the xylophone or the hapi drum, but it also
engages a different part of the brain that I would probably never use otherwise.
Here is ​an article that discuss whether music can make you smarter.
Successful lawyers often have an interest in music or art. Einstein was an amazing violinist. Many
law firm partners I know play the piano or guitar. Therapists and doctors are often prescribing
music classes to their clients these days.
Why wait for a doctor to tell you? Start playing an instrument. Here is the secret: don't wait to
learn. Buy something easy to play and put them in your bedroom or living room, where you are
bound to see them every day, and spend a few minutes at least with them.
If you don't want to learn to play anything, at least get some Tibetan singing bowls. They are
meditative and amazing. I also picked a hapi drum because the meditative quality of it’s sound.
A piano is also a great choice because it makes such great sound and it's fun playing it.
Comparatively, it will take you a lot more effort before you can play even a single note on a violin.
Guitar is easier, but not as easy on a beginner as a piano or hapi drum.
59
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
I chose xylophone also because it's cheap and amazing to play even when you don't know much
about music. Same goes for a hapi drum. I intend to buy a piano but it's an expensive purchase
and therefore takes time.
Don't fall into the trap of delaying.
Pick an easy and cheap instrument as your first one. Getting started is more important than
getting a specific instrument.
You could also start painting if that's more up your alley. Don't try too many things at once though!
That's a recipe for disaster.
Learn a language
Learning a language is one of the biggest workouts you can give to your mind. Learning a
language will make your brain use every kind of memory. You need to create a vast vocabulary to
form an expression. Then you need to learn the rules of grammar, and many exceptions to those
rules. You also need to teach your brain to process these rules subconsciously, without having to
use the conscious parts of your brain.
Learning a new language literally reorganizes your brain. This is similar to what happens to your
brain when you have to learn music theory, programming or calculus. It's a body of knowledge
and understanding, much beyond just information. It's a body of knowledge combined with skills
and wisdom.
Learning a language fires up your hippocampus, the part of the brain that deals with language
learning. It also deals with many other verbal tasks, like “framing and understanding arguments” so lawyers have a big reason to learn new languages.
Practicing a new language will immediately improve your attention, memory and logical abilities.
Meditation
Although we are covering this at the end, this is probably the most powerful tool at your disposal
if you want to improve the functioning of your brain.
Meditation is a force multiplier when it comes to intelligence. You may have heard that it can
change your life, but that’s mostly because it changes your brain.
Usually, most of us use one half of the brain more than the other. This is subpar. High functioning
personalities are able to synchronize their whole brain. How does one learn to do that? It appears
that meditation has the answer.
Meditation helps to sync both brain hemispheres. This basically means much faster neural
communication and provides greater “processing power”.
60
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
When the logical left brain and creative right brain begin working in harmony, and the conflicts
between them are made silent through meditation, many benefits accrue. For example, problem
solving gets faster, fear, uneasiness and anxiety disappears, creativity jumps, deep thinking
becomes the default rather than the exception.
According to researchers at the University of Wisconsin, meditation can increase the neural “gray
matter thickness” of certain brain regions. You know how physical exercise makes your muscles
stronger, denser, and helps to develop endurance too? Meditation does the exact same thing for
your brain.
My favourite meditations are sleep meditations, which talk to my subconscious mind directly.
Vipassana is also amazing and a life changing experience. My favourite meditation app is Insight
Timer which has thousands of free guided meditations to choose from.
Best time to meditate is in the morning and before you go to sleep.
What are you going to do?
Basically increasing your intelligence comes down to some basic habits you need to develop. A
lot of them are common sensical but not really common place. Most people know what they
should do, but still fail to do so.
The challenge therefore is not knowing what you need to do, but in how to do. The answer is to
make it easy. Simple. As easy as possible. No brainer.
You don't want to sit and think what to do every day. The challenge is to build an environment
where it's automatic and natural.
Take actions that will help you to build that environment and habits for the long run.
This is why those who take our online courses from LawSikho.com experience massive growth in
a short span - because your environment, curated by us, is conducive to quick growth in learning
and development. You do not have to decide what to do to grow to the next level, we already
provide a path and exact tasks you need to undertake.
In other words, LawSikho courses are designed to enhance your legal IQ effortlessly.
61
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
#7
Build your network
Networking is a critical factor for success of a lawyer. Have you heard your friends cribbing about
how some people have an unfair advantage because their uncles are law firm partners or judges,
so they get everything effortlessly? Basically, your friend was complaining about the network of
some people’s uncles network.
That’s just like complaining that some people have more money than you. Network and influence
is a currency. Just like you can accumulate more money in your bank, you can accumulate
network capital.
Networking is not just adding people on LinkedIn or giving out your visiting card. That’s exposure.
Real networking is having the good will, good wishes, and support of other people. You have to
earn it.
Just like you need money in the bank to live a decent life, you also need a good professional
network in order to have a great career.
Build rapport with people. Impress the relevant people. Take the first step and provide value to
them. This is the beginning of creating your professional network. You will need their help.
Why will they help you if they do not like you? Do not pester them. Be agreeable and charming.
Be helpful. Be original and interesting. They will notice you and like you. But before doing all that,
figure out who are the people you need to network with.
I advise our students to identify 30 people who they would like to impress over the next one year.
You need to select people carefully.
Let’s say you want a job in tax team of JSA or a similar big firm. If I was in your place, I will not only
try to impress tax lawyers from JSA but all the other firms. I would also add some independent tax
law practitioners and boutique tax law firm partners to my list. Maybe even some important young
authors on tax laws.
Thereafter, throughout the year, I will share important updates with them that they will find useful
and insightful. I will attend the events they attend, and if possible try to present a paper there. I
may even volunteer to help the organizers of such an event, which would likely give me access
and privileges. I will volunteer my time and effort to any of those people should they need such
resources. You will be surprised, successful people always need more resources of one kind or
the other.
Most people do not go to such lengths to build their professional network. However, building the
professional network is a critical aspect of succeeding as a lawyer. If you find this hard, how are
62
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
you going to find clients for your practice? When and if you make a partner in a law firm
one day, you will be expected to bring in work for the firm. Are you going to be able to do that?
That will be determined by your networking skills.
Hence, it is critical to learn to network while you are in law school. Not only will this help you to
get the job of your dreams, but it will build a habit that will go a long way in making you a
successful lawyer.
How to connect with new people
There is no doubt that people have to have a way to discover you and understand what you can
do for them. There are many ways to do this. However, remember that the quality of interaction is
more valuable than just quantity.
The most well known and perhaps well-received way is face to face meetings. These meetings
work best when you come through a good reference. As a law student, you can ask lawyers for
advice and mentorship. This is very acceptable in the legal profession. For this, you can request
for personal meetings. Just say “can I have 10 minutes of your time? I just wanted some advice on
how I can grow in my career.” While some lawyers will say no, many will say yes.
Even law firm partners and independent lawyers, especially on the transaction side, do such
business development meetings regularly. Sometimes they will travel to other countries and meet
the lawyers and industry people there and share information about their practice. If you want to
be as big as them, you need to take networking seriously.
However, there are other ways in which you can reach out to more people at once. Speaking in
conferences is one very good example. So would be blogging, being active on social media such
as Twitter, Instagram or LinkedIn, as well as youtube.
You can also become part of various communities and groups, through which you can build trust
and connections fast. I know some lawyers who get many clients through networks like Art of
Living, ISKCON and various religious communities. There are others who are approached
because they are members of certain clubs, industry organizations or even political parties.
There are indeed innumerable ways to build quality connections that involve mutual trust and
recognition. That is the very definition of networking.
LawSikho.com is a very powerful community for networking. You get access to people from
different backgrounds and lawyers from various levels of seniority, who study together in the
same course. People help each other to learn, ask questions and answer them, engage in
debates and build amazing lifelong relationships.
More than that, in all our premium courses, we guide people to do networking through small but
effective exercises which are very much part of the course. Networking exercises! We also
63
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
encourage our students to go for informational interviews, which help them to find
mentors and widen their professional networks.
64
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
How to create a vision for
yourself
You will only ever be as great as your vision. If you cannot imagine it, then you will not seek it out
for yourself. If you do not seek it, you will likely never get it.
But if you have a vision that is burning you with passion and desire, then it is highly likely that you
will dedicate your every waking moment towards that vision, and not stop at any hurdle, any
impossibility, any challenge will be consumed like fuel to the fire, and you will find a way to
achieve your vision.
However, you have to keep fueling the vision so it can keep burning.
you cannot imagine it, then you will not seek it out for yourself. If you do not seek it, you will likely
never get it.
But if you have a vision that is burning you with passion and desire, then it is highly likely that you
will dedicate your every waking moment towards that vision, and not stop at any hurdle, any
impossibility, any challenge will be consumed like fuel to the fire, and you will find a way to
achieve your vision.
However, you have to keep fueling the
When I was preparing for law entrance exams, I lived this. I used to dedicate some time every
single day reading more about the legal profession, about pay packages, about lifestyle of
successful lawyers, about how powerful they were, and about how much they charged for an
hours work or a single appearance.
That kept me burning with desire to go to a good law school. I was ready to do anything to get
that. Nothing was going to stop me.
That said, it was very hard for me to crack the law entrance because my English was very poor.
But it was not OK to fail. I had to get through, and I was ready to do anything. It was one of the
most productive years of my life. I memorized the entire Webster Collegiate Dictionary so that I
could improve my vocabulary. I finished Word Power Made Easy (finally)! I was so obsessed, I will
get through hefty books in a matter of days. I would wake up thinking of how to crack the exam
and go to sleep thinking how to crack the exam. I would think about it while I was eating, walking
or even tying my shoelaces. That was my life. I ignored everything else.
I had burned all the bridges behind me. I didn’t take admission in any good college after 12th so
that I could focus on law entrance preparation. I took admission in a night college, where I
eventually stopped going and didn’t bother to take any exams. If I didn’t crack any law entrance, I
had no backup options. I had to, had to, had to get it.
65
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
I topped the NUJS entrance exam, the first exam that happened in the month of January.
The first exam I took. Other exams were in April or May. Before those exams, NUJS results were
out and I took admission. I was the 2nd topper actually. My goal was not to top, but to get
through. I worked so hard, my vision of me getting through a good law school was so powerful,
that I got to the top.
So, how do you create a vision this powerful?
Here are some useful tools that professionals use to create powerful professional vision.
Generating the vision
Walt Disney used to say that if you can dream it, then you can build it. He indeed had first dreamt
of Mickey Mouse before creating the character, which is Disney’s iconic and most loved ever. He
believed in dreaming before building.
This is not so far from what Nikola Tesla, the father of modern AC electricity would do. He could
visualize his theory, or invention in his mind before he built anything.
It all starts from visualizing success. A vision is what you want for yourself and is ready to make all
your choices from that place. This is different from a mere wish. A vision is something that drives
all your actions and your choices.
But at first, it is just a faint picture in your head, backed by a desire. You need to feed that picture
with more details to make it a powerful vision. You want that picture to manifest itself out in the
world.
You have to reinforce that picture time and again so that it becomes second nature to you. You
should create reminders and surround yourself with such reminders. This is where making a
“vision board” comes very handy.
How to make a vision board
A vision board is a collage of images and notes you keep usually in your bedroom, where you see
it as you go to sleep as well as when you wake up. It is a daily reminder of your goals and dreams.
Pin boards are great for making a vision board. You could simply use a chart paper also. Now you
can visualize the life you are going to live as a lawyer. Which court will you practice in? What will
your office look like? Which big companies will be your clients? What kind of car will you be
driving? Which university will you get your masters from? What subjects will you be an expert in?
What skills will you acquire? What prestigious places will you publish in?
66
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
Look, not the same things motivate everyone. For example, I don’t care much for a car.
Nor for a masters degree. But these things excite and inspire a lot of people.
This is your vision. So figure out what will inspire and encourage you to take unreasonable,
massive level of action.
Put up images, notes, letters to yourself, or whatever works for you.
Jim Carrey didn’t make a vision board, but wrote a cheque of 10 million dollars and placed it into
his wallet when he was poor and struggling to find work. He says it worked for him!
Alignment
It may be hard to make all your choices from this vision, but that is the training and the challenge.
My friend recently asked me, hey have you ever been to the National Gallery of Modern Arts? I
said: no, have you? She said: well you like art, right? Wanna go there sometimes?
No. I don’t want to. I said no.
I didn’t have to think much. It’s not aligned with my vision. My vision is to build LawSikho into a
powerful community of legal learning and create extraordinary lawyers. I will spend my time
pursuing that. My entire life is about that. Even if my friend asks me to hang out, I process it
through my vision first. Is the action aligned with my vision?
You may think that this is too obvious. Everybody must be doing what they are aligned with and
intend to do. Absolutely wrong.
Inspect your own life and how you spend time. For most people, they spend far more time
thinking, worrying, procrastinating rather than actually doing productive, focussed, real work.
Also, they get easily waylaid by other people, technology and businesses. Think of how much
time you spend mindlessly scrolling through social media or fighting over politics or some other
thing where your actions make no real difference. Nir Eyal wrote an entire book on how Silicon
Valley companies get consumers to form mindless habits and try to make them spend more and
more time on their platform.
That is misalignment between what you want and what you actually do.
However, the idea would be when you start asking hard questions before you take any action.
What if you asked before every action: Is this forwarding my vision or wasting my time or taking
me backwards?
Then it will be super easy to make the right decisions, and equally hard to make the wrong ones.
67
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
This is alignment. After you have the vision, you have to align your life with the vision.
Nothing should come between you and your pursuit of that vision.
It is a declaration rather than the truth. There will be people and circumstances that will come in
between. You will not get diverted only if your vision is strong and you are determined to achieve
it.
You are going to eat, sleep, breathe and live for your vision. And that is how you are going to
achieve the vision that you dream about.
Action
Thoughts don’t even move a needle. Motivation does not get shit done. You need hustle. You
need action. Action makes things happen.
Massive action is great. More action you take, the better, as long as all the action is guided by
your vision. However, at a lot of times it will be hard to take massive action. But you can always
take small actions. You can always dig in your heels and progress inch by inch.
You will keep going even when it is going to be very hard. And that is what becomes possible
when you have a powerful vision.
Work on it. Prepare you vision board. Place it where you sleep and will get to see every day.
Don’t forget to make learning and development a part of your vision board. If you keep learning
and developing yourself in the direction you want, nobody can stop you from being immensely
successful.
What action can you take to create a vision or even move closer to making your vision a reality
that you could take right now? Would enrolling in one of these courses help?
Here are some amazing intelligent courses that make you do the real work step by step,
systematically, so that you can emerge as a powerful, extraordinary lawyer.
68
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
The Three Core Practices for
Succeeding as a Lawyer
What are the 3 core principles one can follow to succeed as a lawyer? I was posed this question
all of a sudden last evening as I was attending to some seekh kebab at a restaurant next to radio
club in Colaba.
I know Pritish for many years now. Several years back he interned with me when he was a
student at Symbiosis Law School Pune. Currently, he works under a lawyer at Bombay High
Court, doing a lot of tax matter.
He is a hard working person. He wasn’t hard working back in college, but now he really stands
out. Making steady progress in his legal journey every day, he keeps track of every lecture
happening in town and attends them. He reads autobiographies of legal luminaries like Palkhivala
and Fali Nariman in his bed before he falls asleep. He sits in court when he gets time and listens
to the doyens arguing and judges sparring with words and legal positions.
He is steadfastly pursuing the journey to be a good counsel in the Bombay bar.
So Pritish knows about my own journey to understand the legal profession and teach my students
how to be better at their work.
Pritish asked me, what are the three most important things he can work on that will ensure his
success?
That’s really a deep question. It made me think of all the superlawyer interviews, an hour with
lawsikho sessions, working on creating a course on legal practice management and many private
meetings with some of the most successful lawyers in India.
I am not a successful lawyer, not having pursued that path. However, that is my strength too when
it comes to this question. My answer is not based on personal anecdotes, but a distillation of
wisdom of many different people. I suppose very few would have pursued this question as I have.
I gave the seekh kebabs a rest and shared my two pennies with Pritish. Rather than principles or
focus areas, I suggested that he develops three habits or practices.
69
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
#1
Relentlessly upgrade your skills and
knowledge
Being a lawyer is like being an athlete, or a swimmer, or a tennis player. You constantly practice,
and not only in the court, to become better, better, better. A never-ending pursuit.
Law is the profession of the learned. Learning will never be over. It is not enough even to know
the law, you need to know what is going on in the world, in the economy, in politics and
governance. You need to be familiar with all that.
As far as the law is concerned, you need to have in-depth, specialized, detailed knowledge. That
gives you an edge over other lawyers. Once upon a time, you could just read a lot of judgments
every day, and that set you apart. Now this matters a lot less thanks to amazing software that can
find the case law you need superfast.
Now what sets you apart is your knowledge of industries, market practices, problems people are
facing and how to solve them. It’s a constant process of evolution.
If you don’t spend a few hours every day working on your knowledge and learning new skills, you
will be mediocre at best.
Be very very worried if you are not regularly engaging in learning and development pursuits. I
recommend at least one hour a day at least if not more.
This is why our premium courses require you to spend 7-8 hours every week, including attending
one live class every week. Otherwise, practice a skill and get feedback on your output. You don’t
have to necessarily take a course, you can practice this at home or at the office if you have a
supportive boss or mentor who can find enough time for you.
If nothing else, spend an hour reading law, and another hour about other skills relevant to your
practice, every day.
70
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
#2
Work on practice development and
management
There are too many lawyers who know enough but do not have matters. Or have a few but never
will make it big due to poor practice development and management skills.
This becomes more and more important as you grow older.
The story that they will come if you are good enough is a myth. It may happen to a lucky few in a
few practice areas but mostly it does not apply to the average lawyer.
On the other hand, many lawyers who are mediocre initially manage to find and retain good
clients, keep learning enough along the way and become amazing in their chosen practice area
over the years.
A lot of work is quite simple, require diligence and basic expertise in more parts than some crazy
rocket science skills. You get paid well even for such work.
Learn from what you can get, no work is too small. And deliver results to your clients. Make sure
they are treated right. Make sure they have a great experience interacting with you and your staff.
For instance, a lot of back and forth happens when you are trying to draft a contract, trying to get
commercials and other mundane details. I know lawyers who start off by sending a form to the
client which the client has to fill up before contract drafting even starts.
This reduces the chance of client forgetting to supply any important info, or the lawyer forgetting
to ask something. The whole experience becomes seamless. The client sees the difference,
appreciates and remembers.
Another example is sending updates through SMS about case dates, hearings, orders. Imagine
how amazon updates you about every movement of your shipping. Your package just left from
our Pune Warehouse. The package is out for delivery. Every detail is updated.
Don’t you appreciate that?
There are lawyers who are tired of dealing with clients calling up during work hours trying to get
updates on their case. There are others who proactively install software that provides all such
details even before the client can ask. Who will you go to for your next case?
71
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
There are lawyers who master networking, read fat books on networking, spends money
on conferences and meetings, actively cultivating long-term mutually beneficial relationships,
while others sit in their chamber sipping tea and cursing how they are unlucky not to have a
father-in-law who is a judge.
Who will get more clients?
There is a lot more to practice development and management than I can write here. But those of
you who make an effort to learn about it and work on it will go much further than those who will
not.
#3
Writing and publications
If there would be one thing that is going to be common amongst all the amazing lawyers you will
ever meet, apart from the fact that they will be obscenely rich, will be that they are all prolific
writers.
The doyens of the bar are all authors, columnists, contributors to national dailies. Do you think
that is a coincidence?
Even look at the founders of the most popular legal blogs in India and USA. Bloggers like
Somasekhar Sundaresan, Umakanth Varottil, Shamnad Basheer, Tarunabh Khaitan, Apar Gupta –
they are or have been prolific writers.
Writing helps you to organize your thoughts, sharpen your arguments and engage meaningfully in
larger debates in our environment. As a writer, in the beginning, you start by demonstrating your
knowledge and skills, and soon start contributing to the important discourses, and finally emerge
as an influencer.
You earn respect, gain supporters and visibility, and make a difference to others.
I remember Arvind Datar once credited his success as a lawyer to a large extent to writing and
scholarship. Editing Ramaiyya was a turning point for him.
If there is nothing else you can do, just write for one hour every day, and publish at least once a
week. In the age of social media, I strongly recommend that you publish in blogs rather than
arcane law journals that nobody reads. I will recommend Livelaw.in for their excellent turn around
time, and also iPleaders blog. You can ​submit your articles to iPleaders over here​.
This is why we make our students write and publish articles at least once a week in all our
premium courses. In ​Dream Job Boot Camp​, they are expected to write much more frequently,
targeting writing at least 2 articles per day.
72
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
How to succeed when the
world in unfair
Today I was counselling a student. She said she was overlooked at an internship because she
wasn't from a NLU although she worked harder, was far more dedicated and gave it her all while
a NLU student who didn't work half as hard as her got a call back for another internship.
What is the solution, I asked her.
I will do an LLM abroad, she said.
The race for tags. I have seen it so many times. People think that they will get a good tag and that
will solve all problems.
Do you think it was possible that the boy who got picked was more presentable, or that he had
some other skills that you didn't have?
She thought for a while and came up with several answers. However, she was more dedicated
while this boy wasn't as focussed, she said.
This morning I was reading a piece of news about how Hindi medium students protested the
UPSC results saying that students of English medium schools got picked while Hindi medium
students didn't do well in UPSC. Is that fair?
That’s a question you should not worry about. Maybe it is, maybe it is not.
I know that as a thumb rule the world prefers well spoken, articulated, suave people. That gives
an inherent advantage to people who are brought up with that kind of training. Hence the
demand for convent educated brides in our country!
I went to a government school in vernacular medium till I went to NUJS. I learnt to speak broken
English when I was in college. I was forced to get better so that I wasn’t overlooked for
opportunities.
I wasn’t sociable or suave. I am not any of those things even today. I was an extreme introvert. But
I learnt how to hold an audience spellbound. I learnt how to connect with people. I learnt how to
crack an interview. I learnt how to get what I want. I had to. I wanted success, not the solace of
being able to complain about how unfair the world is.
I don’t care how unfair the world is, the only question is how you are still going to win.
At the core of it is humility. At the core of success is knowing that I am not entitled to it. I am the
underdog who is going to fight and it’s not over until I win it.
73
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
When it comes to success, I do not take anything for granted. Success is not an entitlement. I
expect the world to be unfair and prepare to still win.
How would you prepare?
Get another tag? It may or may not work. The shortcut to success is to focus on generating value
for others.
Don’t worry about tags. They will come along the way. There will be a bunch of them in your
cupboard if you are value generation machine.
Worry about how you are going to generate real life value for others. How will you win cases for
your clients? How will you get an FIR registered when police refuses to do so? How will you get
police to investigate after registration of FIR they decide to do nothing? What will you do when
the other side lies in the court, produces false evidence, makes dubious statements?
How will you negotiate deals on behalf of your clients? How will you get out your client’s dues
that is stuck for ages due to some babu sitting on a file? How will you get justice to people who
are unable to get it?
There are enough people in this country who are suffering injustice. You can make a difference to
them. If you do that, you can take a small percentage of the value you generate as your fees. Or
salary.
The rule is that be ready to generate 10x value if you want x money for yourself. Then ask for your
x. Unhesitatingly. Unapologetically.
Here is how I apply it to LawSikho. Let’s say you take our contract drafting course. You are going
to learn how to draft over 100 commercial contracts. You can easily charge anything between INR
10,000 - 50,000 for drafting a single contract. After doing the course, you could easily draft
dozens of contracts in the years to come, earning many times over the fees you paid to us. In fact,
I expect you to be able to pay for the course many times over even before you finish the course if
you start taking freelance work on the side. So we have some tutorials for that also within the
course itself.
Till 15th April, the contract drafting course is available at INR 23,600. It will be INR 30,000 after
that (we are raising the prices of all our courses from 15th April). It is worth it, and I will not hesitate
to charge what it is worth.
And then I have to deliver the value I promised! If we can’t deliver that value, we will have
hundreds of unhappy customers who would complain about us and ruin our reputation. Then
everyone will stop buying our courses.
74
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
If we do our job well, then the news of good results generated by our students will
spread and we will continue to grow. Hundreds of happy students will bring thousands of new
students through word of mouth.
That is how success works. It is not going to be any different for you. Not even if you get a degree
from Harvard, or the tag of any prestigious organization.
You need happy clients. Who will be your clients and why are they going to be happy? Whether
you do a job or own your own practice, this is a question you must answer as a lawyer.
What value are you going to generate for people? How much will you charge for that? How are
going to learn to generate that value?
All our courses are geared towards teaching lawyers, law students and business executives to
generous tremendous value for their clients.
75
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
The people you will meet as
a law student and how to deal
with them
Success in law school is a lot about the people you meet.
I have heard stories of people whose entire objective of going to an ivy league institution was to
find somebody “suitable” to get married to. People who are so focused on a specific goal tend to
achieve their goals too.
That said, not everyone goes to law school to find a suitable match. However, the people you
meet in law school can be instrumental in your career, and can either make or break it.
I give a lot of credit to my batchmates, seniors and teachers, on hindsight, for creating an amazing
environment, which was competitive, inspiring and moved me to take powerful action. It was not
always positive encouragement, and in fact, most of the time it was quite the opposite. I was often
ridiculed and excluded for my lack of social skills, inability to speak proper English, and general
lack of grace that is well appreciated in civilized societies.
Nonetheless, even those interactions fuelled me to work harder, introspect deeper, build a strong
foundation to my character and go for my vision.
When you are comfortable and satisfied, you do not do so much. You tend to do a lot more when
you are pushed against the wall. That describes my situation in law school. I had to succeed or
accept that I wasn’t good enough and must accept a mediocre life ahead, something that I wasn’t
ready to do.
Let’s discuss what are the kind of people you must watch out for and how they will help you to
grow or put up obstacles before you.
Teachers
There are some teachers in law schools who are dedicated, and are looking to make a difference.
They are people like me, who cannot accept the status quo, and must stick out their neck to make
something better happen. They are always looking for opportunities to contribute, and often end
up rubbing people the wrong way. But they have a spine, and they tend to climb high in
organizational structures because you need people who are going to work to keep a place
running!
76
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
Find those teachers in your college, and make sure you are in touch with them. Make
sure they are your mentors. The movers and shakers in the faculty are the ones who are most
likely to make your career journey a more rewarding one. They are also more likely to be
supportive.
From helping in landing jobs to connecting you with great scholarship opportunities, these faculty
members can do a lot for you, provided that they are proactive themselves and take an interest in
things outside the obvious.
Most faculty members of course look at their job as a job, and many of them want to do as little as
possible and go home. They do not write papers themselves, do not attend conferences, do not
network, do not develop their own knowledge and keep teaching the same spiel year after year.
Those teachers are not going to be very helpful for this purpose.
However, remember that teachers are going to give you marks unless you are part of a college
which is affiliated to a university and your teachers are not the ones who check your papers. Even
in that case, they would be allocating some marks to you at least.
Make sure that your teachers know that you are hard working. Go ask questions about your
projects or articles you are writing. Even if you do not get much help, repeatedly approaching
them for advice and sharing your published articles or other such achievements regularly will help
to build up your reputation and therefore will result in better marks.
If you think you get more marks in exams by writing better answers, you have not understood
how academia works. A lot of it is about PR and reputation building. Focus on building a good
reputation with teachers right from the beginning, and you will get many advantages.
Seniors
Most law students look up to some senior or the other for guidance and advice. This is usually a
major folly. While it is perhaps unavoidable that you will get influenced by your seniors, remember
that they have very limited knowledge and experience themselves. Surely, listen to whatever they
have to say and ask many questions so you can absorb every ounce of knowledge you can, be
sceptical about their conclusions and observations.
They probably are in a developmental stage themselves, and their ideas and opinions are going
to go through many evolutions. What they say now may strike you as gold, but it is unlikely to be
worthy.
However, seniors who have accomplished something already, take their advice with respect to
that specific thing very seriously. You will not take the advice of a doctor on plumbing problems
very seriously, will you? How about the advice on a dietician on astrology? Follow the same
principle when it comes to advice of seniors in law school.
77
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
Seniors play a critical role as they go on to work in various law firms and other
organizations before you do. They can share important information and guidance with you which
can make a difference.
After I gave my interview at Trilegal, where I went to work eventually, a senior of mine who was
by then working at Trilegal was asked to give feedback on me. He said very bad things about me.
That didn’t matter of course, and I got the job anyway, because other seniors said good things.
So your seniors opinion of you matters. It matters more and more as you grow into the legal
profession. After all, it is a profession where a lot happens based on perception. So what
conversation is going on about you in the legal fraternity matters a lot.
You need to wrap your head around this and develop a personality that is suitable for this world
of lawyers.
Keep in mind that what your seniors think is not the end of the world. When I was in law school,
there was a very snobbish person who was the editor of Writer's Block, our college magazine. He
would almost always reject whatever I submitted, and laugh at my creative work.
I was thoroughly demoralised.
I was a national award winning writer by this time. I was also a blogger with thousands of readers
on my blog by this time. Still, some asshole editor thought my writing was poor and imposed his
personal standards and denied me a platform of my own college magazine.
Did that stop me? If it did, I will not be writing this today, will I?
Please remember that there will be seniors who will be threatened by you and will act against
your interest. It is all part of the law school life. Be mentally robust so that such things do not bog
you down but give you inspiration to grow bigger.
Batchmates
Your relationship with your batchmates will not be limited to just 3 years or 5 years. Usually, these
relationships continue far beyond college days. You might find your partners, collaborators,
lifelong friends and lifeline relationships from your batchmates. This is true for seniors and juniors
as well.
I will tell you about a horrible experience I had in law school. We were supposed to prepare for
moot. I decided that rather than doing it alone, I should team up with someone. I chose a high
ranking girl student from my batch who had a good rank in the entrance exam to team up with.
She seemed serious. So we divided up the research.
78
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
2 days later when I got back to her with my research, it turned out that she had done
nothing yet. She never mooted actually. However, it was a big mental set back for me. What was I
going to do?
I got angry. I think I screamed at her. If not loudly then silently inside my head. But how does it
matter?
That year I failed to submit a memo. I just had to submit a memo - it wasn’t so difficult because
very few people put in a memo in the first place.
I so wish I had a good mentor - someone who told me what to do, how to do, how to go about the
research, how to avoid pitfalls, that I should start by structuring the memo and write alongside as I
research.
But I didn’t have any such guidance.
I also tended to collaborate with the wrong people.
This was until I found Abhyuday, and he and I realised that we make a great team. We did a lot of
things together since then, including moots, conferences, travel, projects and eventually started
iPleaders and then eventually LawSikho together.
I also had many friends with whom I collaborated with other life changing projects.
Remember, most of your batchmates, peers and seniors are struggling themselves. You need to
be careful about who you collaborate with. You do not know who you can trust for what. It takes
time to discover those things. It is also hard for other people to trust you unless you are already
doing well and displaying some obvious qualities for success.
It will take a while. Be in the mood to experiment. Be open to be disappointed. You will eventually
find the right people.
Also expect that some of your batchmates will be super jealous, secretive, display signs of
unhealthy competition and try to pull you down. Expect it and be on your guard. At the same time,
have compassion for them. They are just kids, and they do not know yet what to do and how to
handle things. Don’t let them get under your skin, nor do retaliate unreasonably or lose your
peace over it.
Remember that your batchmates are going to be lawyers and work in various countries, various
companies and various law firms. They would be a very important part of your network. Will they
remember you fondly and want to help you? Or will they draw their daggers at the mention of
your name?
I wasn’t very good at managing relationships back in college, and that has certainly been a
drawback in my career.
79
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
Juniors
Your juniors in law school are also very important. You must share your knowledge with them, be
generous to them, and contribute to their development. Your juniors can help you immensely to
make your projects work. You need to develop an eye for who needs your mentorship and who
you can help and how.
Your juniors will also become lifelong collaborators, supporters and great friends. It is an amazing
opportunity to build powerful relationships.
Just like your batchmates and seniors, your juniors will also be working all over the world in
important positions, and then can make a huge difference to your life and your career if you
cultivate good relationships. It is fundamentally different from your relationships with batchmates
and seniors because here you must take a lead and contribute in their lives, as that is the primary
role you can take.
Finally….
Law school is pretty much like the rest of the word - and you can look at it as a practice ground.
Your people skills must begin to develop from college itself.
Read up, get a coach, attend seminars or do whatever it takes, but find out what reduces your
effectiveness with people. There would always be something. Once you discover those things
and work on them, an entirely new kind of relationships with people will be possible in your life.
All the best!
80
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
Why you should consider
taking up a LawSikho course
sooner than later
Nobody wakes up in the morning and say you know what, I need to enroll in a course today.
LawSikho courses are not impulse buying courses. There are other companies that cater to that
market. However, we offer serious courses, that require serious commitments. Of both time,
money and efforts.
Only those with a purpose and ambition on their mind will find our courses useful.
Only if your willingness and desire to succeed is superior to your fear of the unknown and
discomfort, you will enroll with us.
I am going to give you 7 solid reasons why people join our courses that really work for them.
See if any of these resonate with you.
You don’t have a strategy to become
a great lawyer
Everyone wants to be a great lawyer. However, it is tough. There are not too many ways to get
there. Most paths are uncertain, and direction is vague at best. We give you a clear path to
follow in order to get specific skills that will help you to achieve your goal of becoming an
amazing lawyer.
What an average lawyer will learn over 2-3 years, you will learn in a matter of months with us.
There is no magic, we have simply invested a lot of time and money in discovering these paths,
and perfected the technique of leading people down the path of success as a learner of the law.
We figured out the strategy part, we have material and classes and coaches lined up for you, we
have thousands of assignments and questions for you to practice from - you just need to do the
work. Get to it, get started.
81
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
You have interviews or
internships coming up and you want
to put your best foot forward
Imagine, you had your best friend's wedding day coming up. You will prepare ahead. You will
pick out a great dress. You will get a nice haircut in time. Maybe take some dance lessons.
What about your upcoming interviews? What about internships?
People who go to internships to learn something are squandering their opportunities. They need
to wake up and realise that internships are a place to perform. No one has time to teach you
anything. You need to go with the mindset of contribution. What will you bring to the table at your
internship? What will make you stand out?
And don’t say hard work. Hard work without the requisite skills is pathetic and useless. Other
wise daily wage labourers will the richest people in the world for who works harder than them?
What skills will you bring on the table?
Those who want to prepare well and prepare ahead should take a LawSikho course. The only
alternative is finding a senior or relative who is a lawyer and will take out the time from their
schedule to personally teach you. Even that will be only 2nd best to LawSikho, albeit perhaps
cheaper.
You​ want results fast
​
A lot of time of the average lawyer goes into figuring things out. What is the right way to draft?
What is the right way to speak? What am I supposed to do in X and Y situation? And people
make tons of mistakes. Imagine having the guidance you need so you do not need to make
those mistakes.
How does Hrithik Roshan go from fat to shredded, sculpted body in 3-6 months when he is
getting ready for a movie? He doesn’t make mistakes. He doesn’t do trial and errors. He has a
team of nutritionists, trainers and coaches who plan every meal, every workout and even the
rest.
Imagine us as your personal trainer. The goal is to get the dream job, to become a great lawyer,
or to just learn the area of law you always wanted to learn.
82
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
You can’t wait for success
You are so close to it. The life you wanted, it is almost in your grasp. There is a small gap to
bridge. No marksheet, no moots, no debate will bridge that gap.
Only and only way is to learn what your clients want from you. For different practice areas, it is
different.
Law is vast. You cannot possibly learn everything. But you can certainly learn how to serve one
set of clients. It will take a few months if you have proper guidance. If you don’t, it could take
years. It takes years for most lawyers anyway. Nothing else is expected.
When they say it takes 5-10 years to establish yourself as a lawyer, what do they mean? They
mean that law school taught you nothing that will help you to survive in this cut throat world of
legal practice. You will take another 5-10 years to learn those skills to survive.
You need that practical skill set. We short circuit the learning process. We make you learn 100
times faster. We are great at it.
This enables you to get success faster. The opportunities that would have come 5 years down
the line, will come next year because you have taken our course and put in the time, effort and
money.
That’s a promise. Don’t wait for success for too long, let’s get to it right away.
You do not feel ready
You have spent years in law school. Maybe a few years in the court also. You are still not ready.
You are making mistakes. You are getting shouted at. You are not getting the responsibilities
you expected to get. You are underpaid. You are not learning fast enough. When are you going
to be ready? When will your time in the sun come?
Let us work with you. Let us figure out where you are falling short. Let us identify and deal with
every chink in your armour. Let us make you fighting fit so that when you hit the market you will
be a dazzling success.
You do not want to leave things to chance.
83
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
Everyone needs practice and
training
Maybe you are damn good at what you do. Maybe you already bagged the jobs you wanted.
Maybe it's going great. But what’s the next level? Are you learning new skills? Are you staying
sharp? Are you arming yourself for the next level?
You need to keep adding new skills! Never stop learning, never stop growing. That’s our mantra
in LawSikho. Want to engage with new and challenging legal problems in simulation mode?
Want to learn about new areas of law that you have not had to opportunity to learn yet?
The best advice lawyers can come up with is read one judgment a day, it will increase your
knowledge. That’s pathetic. It’s good, but not as good as training consciously every day for the
next level of skills. If you think one judgment a day is great, wait till you try and learn one new
legal skill every week.
Cut all the nonsense, get the professional help you need to really grow in your career.
You are tired of cheap and pathetic
courses
By now you probably tried some of our competitor's courses. They sold such courses for a
thousand rupees, or two thousand or three thousand. They provided no value. You were
probably disappointed, and now you think the online training industry is junk.
No sir. You get monkeys if you pay peanuts. We charge a fair amount for our amazing courses.
It costs good money to deliver good services and create high-quality content. I have a team of
30 full-time people at your service, apart from a dozen successful lawyers who are passionate
about teaching who work part-time to offer live classes. And we give a money back guarantee. If
you try our course for a month and don’t like it, take a 100% refund. No questions asked. Read
the ​full policy here.
84
How non-NLU students can do 10x better than NLU students
It really isn’t a big deal
More chapters are available
Hi, I wrote a few more chapters for this book. But I want to make you do a little bit work for this. I
know you will not mind because if you have read so much then you have already received good
value from the book.
Here are the rest of the chapters:
How to score high marks in every subject
How to go about internships
How to prepare for law firm interviews
How to zero in on a career
How to earn money on the side as a law student
How to moot and win every time
How can you get these additional chapters?
First, you can simply buy the amazon kindle version of the book. You can also order a hard copy
of this book by emailing me at ​ramanuj@ipleaders.in​ if you want to keep a copy of this book in
hard copy handy for whenever you need it, or if you want to gift it to someone. Those paid
versions already include all these chapters.
Else, follow me on twitter, facebook, linkedin and instagram, and then send me a mail. My
assistant will check if you have followed, and give you access you these chapters, free of cost.
Sounds good?
I spend many days working on this book. Please do share your views with me about how you
benefitted or did not benefit from this book. Was there something you expected and did not get?
Also, please do share the link of this book with your friends so they can get the same amazing
mails you get from us.
Link of this book : ​https://lawsikho.com/book/10times-better/index.html
85