As recruitment season across law schools for the Batch of 2026 draws to a close, we take a look at how Indian law firms have hired so far this year.
Across the 10 firms that have shared gender data, women make up the majority of this year's hires, with 282 women (57%) compared to 216 men (43%).
Among the 8 firms whose Batch of 2025 figures are available for comparison, this year's combined hiring of 477 is down from at least 542 last year.
Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas (CAM) has hired 100 freshers through campus placements. The gender ratio stands at 63:37 in favour of women. This is down from 170 hires in the Batch of 2025 cycle.
Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co (SAM) has hired 92 fresh graduates, with a male to female ratio of 40:60. Of these, 48 were recruited through campus placements, 34 through PPOs and the remaining 10 through other channels. This is up from 70 hires in the Batch of 2025 cycle. The firm has offered a compensation of ₹20,00,000 per annum, unchanged from last year.
Trilegal has hired 90 fresh graduates - up from around 80 hires in the Batch of 2025 cycle - with an equal 50:50 ratio between male and female recruits. Most of these hires came through pre-placement offers extended under the firm's internship programme. The firm has offered a compensation package of ₹19,50,000 per annum, unchanged from last year.
Khaitan & Co has hired 85 freshers, with 18 offers made through Day Zero placements and 67 through PPOs. The incoming batch includes 47 women (55%) and 38 men (45%). This is down from 106 hires in the Batch of 2025 cycle.
The firm's gross annual compensation stands at ₹22,50,000, comprising a fixed retainership fee, an additional retainership fee and a target-linked performance component. Compensation last year stood at ₹23,00,000.
J Sagar Associates (JSA) has hired 48 fresh graduates, comprising 27 women (56%) and 21 men (44%). About 40 of the 48 hires came through PPOs. This is roughly in line with last year's count of close to 50 hires. JSA added that it also recruits from state-level law schools alongside national ones as part of its focus on regional diversity. The firm did not share an exact compensation figure, saying that its pay is benchmarked against peer law firms.
CMS Induslaw has hired 30 freshers, with a gender split of 17 women (57%) and 13 men (43%). Of these, 27 joined through PPOs and 3 through Day Zero placements. This is roughly unchanged from 31 hires in the Batch of 2025 cycle. The average annual package, including discretionary bonus, is ₹18,72,000, though this may vary for certain niche practices and locations.
Saraf and Partners has welcomed 19 law graduates as part of its 2026 recruitment programme.
S&R Associates has hired 18 fresh graduates, of whom 17 joined through PPOs and one through lateral hiring. The new batch includes 6 women and 12 men. This is down from 21 hires last year.
Argus Partners has hired 14 freshers - 10 women and 4 men. The recruits come from 9 law schools, with NUJS Kolkata contributing the most at 3 hires, followed by NALSAR, NLUO Odisha and Symbiosis Law School, Pune with 2 hires each. One graduate each was hired from HNLU, JGLS, Nirma University Ahmedabad, NUSRL and OP Jindal Global University. This matches the firm's headcount of 14 from the Batch of 2025 cycle.
Talwar Thakore & Associates (TT&A) has hired 11 freshers for the Batch of 2026 - 6 women and 5 men.
HSA Advocates has hired 10 freshers, with 6 women and 4 men. The recruits include 5 in real estate and 3 in compliance, with one hire each in regulatory and projects.
Together, these 11 firms have hired 517 fresh graduates from the batch of 2026 so far.