The legal career is not a last option today, as it was 20 years ago. Today, brilliant minds and young graduates choose this field and make a remarkable mark in the society. The legal career may stretch from a junior associate in a law firm to a judicial clerk in courts. Salaries can range from minimum wage to nine-digit incomes, depending on geographic location, market demand, experience level, practice environment and employer size — and yes, the job itself. These are some of the most highly compensated legal jobs.

Trial Lawyers

Trial lawyers are the highest paid professionals till today and the salary depends upon the location and also the materiality and the importance of the case. Top senior advocates who handle high profile matters in Delhi and Mumbai. Senior advocates like Mr. Ram Jethmalani and Mr. Fali Nariman charge Rs. 25 Lakh + for ONE Supreme Court hearing where as Mr. Nariman charges around 8.5 Lakh rupees for one hearing in the Supreme Court of India.

Intellectual Property Lawyer

IP law is one of the most diverse fields, ranging from patent, trademarks, copyrights, designs etc. This is one of the newest and a fast-growing concept. Since it is new most of the concentration is in the big cities only like Delhi and Mumbai. If started as an IP lawyer in these cities there is a promise to grow further. This is a fast-growing area of law as technology continues to advance, and it is also statistically among the most lucrative.

Tax Lawyer

With the increase in law graduates, tax has also been given much importance. Research based firm like Nishit Desai Associates and Lakshmi Kumaran and Sridharan are the big names today when it comes to tax consulting. It is always recommended for a fresh graduate to join a tax consulting firm in India and gain experience. One can always go to individual practice after gaining experience form the firm. Since, taxation is tricky, starting as an individual practitioner just after passing out may be challenging, both in practice as well as experience. Tax attorneys work with both individuals and businesses to solve tax issues. They help with estate planning, and even with suing the Internal Revenue Service. They are often essential consultants when someone is starting a business or when contracts must be drafted. Although this type of work isn’t as flashy as that of trial lawyers, tax attorneys still bring in a decent pay checks.

Judges

In India Judges preside over the court proceedings. It is one of the lucrative profession and one can join the judiciary just after passing out from law school as a law school graduate. It may be not one of the highest paying jobs in India in the field of law but in India, judges hold very high amount of respect and enjoy privileges and perks. Judges are considered to be one of the best in the field of law and apply mind and has an ability to decide the matter as per the facts and laws applicable. Recently, the salary of judges has been increased by 300 percent.

The salary of Supreme Court judges range between 2.5-3lakhs per month after the increase in March 2017. Prior to the increase the salary ranged between 90 thousand – 1 lakh/month.

Law School Professor

Teachers play an important role in the development and shaping of the future of the future lawyers. Teachers though work day and night and makes sure the candidates over all development, gets a decent salary in India and enjoys respect in the society.

Salary of a junior level teacher ranges from Rs. 30,000 and a senior professor gets a remuneration of Rs. 90,000[2]. To qualify as a professor or an assistant professor it is mandatory to pursue LLM degree after completion of LLB.

Law Firm Associate

Becoming a law firm associate in a tier I law firm or a tier II law firm takes a lot of patience, hard work, interpersonal skills and also dedication. Since, the competition is tough, law firms mostly recruit individuals who are the cream in the business and are promising. Entry in a law firm can be through internships, recruitment through college placements or through self-job interview. In India, the tier I law firms pay a salary of 12-18 lakhs per annum for a fresher and if a fresher can make a mark and achieve heights in the firm and can reach to a position of a partner, the salary would range from around 70 lakhs to 1 Crore or more.

Work for Public Sector Units

Job at a PSU is the ultimate dream of someone with little ambition, one who is satisfied with little work, no competition and foolproof job security. However given that the median age of the Indian population is in the early 20s so the competition for every post every seat is very stringent. Thus it helps if you can piggyback on a good college or university. PSUs recruit people through either a written test (open the employment newspaper and you would find myriad of jobs with their examination schedules) OR through direct recruitment from campus. The salary are awesome here in PSUs with lot’s of privileges.

It is advisable to choose the field of law in the 4^th Year of your law school (like, securities law, tax, IP law, Litigation etc.) and work only on that. After choosing the particular field, start interning in firm/ advocates and senior advocates who deals only with that aspect so that you can sharpen that skill by the end of the fifth year. This will help you to crack an interview easily and fetch a job right after college if you hone the skill properly. Avoid choosing different fields as it will stress you out and you will end up with nothing at hand.

If you are from a tier II law school and not from a tier I law school in India, don’t get disheartened. Life is easy (not very easy) in top 3 law schools in India, but for rest of the law school, it only depends on the student and his/her skills. If the student is skilful, hardworking and dedicated, the college where he/she is studying will not matter.

Good luck!

References:

[1] Considering top 30 law schools in India having 200 graduates in final year batch.

[2] Based on information provided by Gujarat National Law University (https://www.fresherslive.com/govt-jobs-india/gnlu-recruitment-2017-01-vacancy-teaching-and-research-associate-llm-25000-salary-march-25-2017/)

The post Know the India’s Highest Paying Jobs in Law appeared first on Legal Desire Media and Insights.

Following are a few alternative legal career options that you may like to explore for the search of a new and better career path.

Legal Consulting

If you have a sufficient time’s experience in the industry of law and dissatisfied with  the same, you can switch your industry and explore really lucrative opportunities as a consultant in law firms and businesses related to legal issues. Consultants have a broad based knowledge and share their expertise on anything and everything ranging from legal marketing to strategic management to communication to legal strategy. Large scale increase in litigation and jury trials have brought forth the need for a growing range of consultants. If you have litigation experience, a jury consultant should be your alternate option to explore. Additionally, there are options such as trial presentation specialist, trial technology consultant, trial strategy consultant or legal investigator. Nurses with legal knowledge find a growing scope in the field of medical malpractice, personal injury and other matters that involve medical issues; in the form of legal nurse consultants whose work is reviewing medical records and advising attorneys on the medical issues pertaining to the case.

The emergence of digital society has brought in new and evolved opportunities for the tech-savvy legal professionals who have special interest in the digital field. Growing fields of litigation support, e-discovery and computer forensics are the fields for them. Knowledge of legal software and technology application skills coupled with insight in the field of legal field will make you a good fit for litigation support with a law firm, corporation or a legal vendor.

Legal Publishing

As a legal professional, the research, writing and editing skills that you possess are of top notch importance. Put those skills to good and effective use in the publishing industry as a professional legal publisher or editor or writer or even a web manager. The ever expanding legal industry has fuelled the growth of a diverse range of publications that cater to the needs of lawyers, paralegal experts, secretaries, litigation support personnel, court reporters etc. Every single legal profession has its own series of publications that look out for skilled writers with sufficient experience in the industry.

The Internet has also created an array of new and improved opportunities for the legal professional-turned-writer. You can share your long-earned knowledge of the law and showcase the writing skills that you possess by writing content for websites, blogs, contributing to e-newsletters or writing copy for law firm websites.

Education and Administration

Another interesting and comparatively worthy career alternative for the legal professional is a career in legal education or academic administration. While academically speaking, the pathway to the nation’s top elite law schools is pretty hard and steep, nevertheless, teaching opportunities exist in abundance in the less explored paralegal schools and legal education organisations. Legal education institutions that cater for the academic needs, hire individuals with ample legal experience to work in career guidance, career service, law libraries, admissions etc.

Dispute Resolution

The ever increasing crowd in the court proceedings and ever rising legal fees have fuelled a movement to settle certain disputes outside of the courtroom by means of negotiation, mediation and dispute resolutions. Neutral arbitrators are appointed who collaborate with the disputing parties to make them reach into a mutually agreeable consensus. Legal professionals who have a strong communication, negotiation and conflict resolution skill can find well paying jobs in this growing field of dispute resolution as mediators, conflict analysts, arbitrators or conciliators.

Banking and Finance

The banking and finance industry usually witnesses involvement of complicated legal, regulatory and compliance issues. Professionals in the legal field who have a background in finance, banking, securities and tax law can impart that knowledge, putting it to use into lucrative positions in the finance industry as escrow agents, compliance specialists, bank managers and other such positions. Also, lawyers can give legal and transactional advice to the financial institutions, corporations and the govt.

Human Resources Management

Talented and observant professionals are in high demand in law firms and corporations for the purpose of managing their legal staff and recruit fresh legal talent, who are worthy enough. Individuals with adequate experience of management, strong interpersonal skills and legal industrial knowledge can find an array of employment opportunities in the said field as law firm administrators, hiring coordinators, professional development scrutinizer, training managers and legal recruiters.

The post Promising Alternate Career Opportunities for Law Students appeared first on Legal Desire Media and Insights.