Amidst an era of new career options springing up almost every academic year, what has been the reason behind ‘law’ being one of the dear white-collar jobs the youth running for? The recent CLAT stats add on to the fact that there is a sudden wave and rush in choosing law as a career option. Lex Witness gets on to some nerve cracking questions with Dr. K. Parameswaran, Professor (Research) and has been Former Dean at Gujarat National Law University (GNLU), Gandhinagar. He has also taught at Symbiosis School of Law, Pune, NLSIU, Bangalore, NLU, Jodhpur, University of Madras, Indian Institute of Teacher Education (IITE), Gandhinagar and worked at Publication Department of Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry. He authored ‘The Integral Dimensions of Law’ published by LexisNexis.
Educational landscape of post-independent India shows a rich variety. First IITs and IISCs occupied youth’s mind. Then came, IIMs, Medicine etc. Influence of socialistic and welfare ideas brought prominence to Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. With world trade and internationalization, IT has become a trend now in education and industry. IT connects different disciplines and sectors. But, law converts these connections to meaningful convergences between different disciplines and sectors. Legal knowledge integrates all kinds of knowledge. If you want harmony among science, technology, humanities, trade, IT and globalization in your daily life, law becomes indispensable. If you want collective development or shared benefits for everyone in society, law is a leveler; a harmonizer that makes it possible. Law supports everyone in their daily life– personal, professional, national and international. It balances individualism and collectivism. You can see in all noises and agitations that go on around the world, a voice of justice, cry for liberty and passion for equality in growth aiming socioeconomic balance in life. Common man, industrialists, young, old, rural and urban people understand law and its role however fragile our overall legal system may look at present. In this situation, legal education gives dynamism and opportunity to Indian youth than ever before particularly when you see India being youth-driven with hopes for prosperity and anti-corruption. The importance of law, courts, ADRs, corporate matters, human rights and environment takes center stage everywhere. We all know India can achieve more because of largest democracy, highest demography and extremely vocal-society in many ways. But it is only legal education than can make India achieve her heights. Law graduates (UG & PG) in India will usher a new future for our country. Indian students are realizing this potential.
Specialization in law helps in applying one’s legal aptitude to whichever profession one chooses. For ex; if you like IT, your legal knowledge must connect and converge the knowledge of IT to law, legal rights, liberties and regulations in business and contracts. Normally subjects of your higher school education show your initial bent of academic mind like Arts, Management, Commerce, and Sociology & Science. But this initial bent of academic mind has to be taken forward and blended (connection & convergence) with your legal aptitude when you take up legal education. Basic degree is law but it is integrated with other dimensions of knowledge that comes from subjects other than law. Thus, legal knowledge regulates knowledge that comes from commerce, management, science, arts, sociology and so on. In practical terms, law students study basic papers of specialization (BA / BBA / B.Com / B.SW / BSC) in first few semesters and rest of the major semesters for studying all kinds of laws whereby students get an opportunity to integrate law with non-law subjects. This is the aim and function of integrated law degree. A successful career in law comes when students make legal knowledge revolve around specialized knowledge and apply them. It is the legal knowledge that integrates knowledge of other subjects within the domain of law. If you achieve this, your specialization can land you in success. Knowledge of specialization from any of these streams if integrated in legal thinking can make law graduates super specialized in knowledge that can give maximum opportunity in Bar, Bench and corporate houses.
What we understand by that background of law in family is a reference to two things. One, experience of professional knowledge and the other, Godfather personality to mentor. If you have such background in family, it’s a great boost to shape legal knowledge and bring out hidden skills and talents for successful legal career. But, what I have seen in my experience of last 16 years of teaching law in different Universities, NLUs and Law Schools, many law students just transcend that presumption. They take it as a challenge to outgrow what is called the old idea and inhibition. In one way, I can say, this stereotype thinking has become a forgotten myth now especially when you consider Information Highway, IT, Internet, Legal Websites, Case-digests and Blogs which gives you everything about law, legal education and legal career from every corner of the world. Internet shares wide variety of experiences of legal knowledge from eminent people across world who have achieved in law, more than what could have been shared by a Godfather personality few decades back without internet! These experiences shared in web portals from different legal traditions and systems across countries give more opening than before for deep legal thinking and comparative understanding giving vast scope for creative legal ideas in career. In fact, I tell students that Godfathers have come straight into our university and house sitting on our working tables waiting for students to log on! If students sincerely read case-judgments, eminent authors and scholarly articles, all points of information can become powerful points of inspiration for a successful legal career. Crucial factor is hard work and dedication in legal research.
CLAT and other entrance examinations give certain understanding of qualities, traits and aptitude expected from law students, such as GK, Analytical Skills of Legal Aptitude and Logical Reasoning, Elementary Mathematics and English. To me, these represent only one side that is important to enter into law universities or schools. However, to walk around confidently with legal understanding and knowledge in the portals of legal educational institutions, law students need to know more than these entrance examination techniques. From my observation, I can suggest three most important facets that add value to mere legal thinking, logic and reasoning. It can make a law-graduate noble and integral legal person. Firstly, intellectual awareness which is interest in legal reading, developing good memory, analyzing, researching, writing and communicating. Secondly, social empathy which is sense of belongingness to society at all levels and layers, spirit of collectivity towards planet Nature as a whole. Thirdly, emotional strength which is power of interrelating with things or issues in order to understand the legal requirements of things or issues. All good and true qualities that help advance human potential and elevate social life at all levels are the ones expected from law students to develop while they study in a given institution. One of the reasons to call law as a noble profession is because of these higher qualities of life which legal discipline deals with. When one understands the jurisprudence behind the law subjects, one gets to realize these viewpoints. Law students must think and develop all these.
There are so many popular must-reads for first year law students after admission into a law university or school. I share my collection which to me, suits requirements of practical, professional, holistic, and higher legal logic and reasoning as well as of law students in Indian context. I always tell my students that there are no other block-buster thrillers, action stories more interesting to read, than case-law reads of Indian Courts! If you want to know who is powerful among the three players (Executive-Legislative-Judiciary) read ‘Three Judges Cases’ of the Supreme Court of India along with 99th Constitutional Amendment (NJAC Act). Each and every social issue that had hit the Indian Judiciary, Legislation and Government on vital issues give interesting socio-political legal analysis. For example, problem of morality and legality of live-in relationship or same-sex marriage, passionate stories of human obsession to control animal power in the form of bull-fights under the banner of ancient custom and culture, manipulation of human feelings and persecuting harassment resulting in gender injustice, painful agony of family members involved in euthanasia and so on. All these are in fact real-life situations which have revealed in courts of law plots, storylines and conspiracies of human and social battle where truth versus evil, beauty versus disorder, good versus ugly and equality versus discrimination, and so on! It is good to read fiction. But, it is great to read caselaws, which can give more thrill than what fiction can give for a law student. There is no other gripping account of a real story of our own society that came out through these case-laws. This gives socio-economic cultural- psychological inspection of what our unknown friends or distant family members in a larger society had gone through in their fight for justice, equality, liberty and fraternity. One can also go, by reading, judgments of many Indian Justices like V.R. Krishna Iyer, P.N. Bhagawati, H.R. Khanna, Lord Denning (UK), Oliver Wendell Holmes (USA) and others. Whatever be the areas of interest in law, Corporate, IPRs or Trade or International Law, case-laws explain how society looked at the implementation of those laws and statutes. I recommend these readings on top priority.
At present all legal educational institutions in India are in an urgent need for more law teachers and researchers. Academic jobs are plenty than ever before. If you are one who has passion for teaching (with qualities of a law teacher), it is a golden period now. When I say sound legal education holds key for holistic development of India, one can imagine the role of law teachers and researchers. One need not bother too much whether to take Masters in law immediately after Under-Graduation or later with some amount of work experience from industry. Both play their respective roles and advantages if one is committed to what one is pursuing. Key factor is serious legal research which if undertaken with hard work and dedication makes higher education, industry-jobs and teaching posts highly rewarding financially as well as emotionally. Choices are plenty. Scope is very wide. Students must know how to take advantage of the same.
BCI has prescribed a curriculum which law students (UG/PG) should compulsorily study. All legal educational institutions in India offer this curriculum without fail except certain optional / seminar papers which vary from one institution to other depending upon expertise and availability. Beyond this there is no difference as such. However, from student’s point of view, difference is felt from seeing ranks and placements. In my work experience ranks and placements index keep changing from one institution to another every year. As such this should not become a serious issue for students. If students give the best in entrance and then choose what they like, convenient and affordable it is more than enough at the initial stage. Though students generally tend to depend upon educational institutions for placements, institutions cannot give unlimited choices as they have institutional priorities, systemic and structural goals and ideals. If institutions stretch beyond to bring placements, it is good. But, students must bear in mind that the world is wide-open. Internet connects everything that was not possible 20 years before. What is required for students is strategic thinking, a quiet self-assurance, enthusiasm and energy coupled with legal knowledge and research. This can open doors for a new world for all law students.
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