In Conversation with Kavya Nargund

Kavya Nargund, is presently a final year law student of the Karnataka State Law University, Hubbali where she is ranked 2. She has also topped the national level entrance exam to the masters in law program (LL.M.) at the Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Rights Law (IPR), Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur (RGSOIPL) and will soon begin her study there.

A consistent academic achiever both at her junior school at Sri. Vidyaniketan Public School Sriramnagar and high school at Bellary Independent PU College, Kavya Nargund in this edited interview to Bar and Bench, talks about her academic journey, what made her choose law as a profession and a master’s degree in law from RGSOIPL, ways in which students can prepare to crack the LL.M. entrance exam at RGSOIPL and her future aspirations.

When and why did you decide to pursue law?

My father wanted me to be a doctor. So I took up science after my 10^th grade. However somewhere in middle of my 11^th grade I realized that medicine or biology per se did not appeal to me. Therefore, I started to explore various other career options which I could pursue after my 12^th grade. It was then that my father suggested a career in law and after some preliminary research, I realized that law as a subject interested me. I learnt how law is fundamental in governance of our society and the enormous power I would acquire being a lawyer and be in a position to protect someone’s right and make contributions in every aspect of human life. This very fact prompted me to pursue law.

Why did you choose RGSOIPL to pursue LL.M. degree?

It was primarily because I wanted to understand the nexus between IPR and technology. Technology is one of the fastest growing industries across the globe and this sector involves many issues within the realm of intellectual property rights. Therefore, knowledge of this sector of law enables lawyers to help inventors protect their innovations, which innovations often help in the greater progress of human civilization. This aspect fascinates me the most about IPR.

RGSOIPL is the only law school within the Indian Institute of Technology set-up that offers specialization in IPR and provides a chance to students to study the close nexus between different dimensions of science, technology and law. The law school in addition to having strong international collaborations, provides students with a world class infrastructure including a fantastic teaching faculty and research support. So when I was selected for an LL.M. at RGSOIPL, there was no second thought about not joining the institute.

How does one prepare for the entrance exam to RGSOIPL?

RGSOIPL admits students to the LL.M. course through a computer based test followed by an interview. The entrance exam is usually based on the Bar Council of India (BCI) approved LL.B. syllabus that any law student would be pursuing during their 3 or 5 years of under-graduation law study in India. Among others, one must give special attention to subjects like jurisprudence, constitutional law, public international law, contract, torts, criminal law and IPR. Students should not assume that IPR will dominate the entrance paper.

In my opinion to excel in any post-graduation law entrance examination one must thoroughly revise and re-revise the BCI mandated compulsory law papers at the undergraduate level. Class notes too play a vital role but notes alone may not suffice and students will do well to additionally closely follow at least one quality standard text book per subject. Appearing for frequent mock tests too help in boosting the exam preparation and also help students identify the problem areas in their exam preparation strategy.

What do you plan to do after completion of LL.M. from RGSOIPL?

I aspire to pursue a career in research and academics as I enjoy analyzing complex problems and working towards finding advance solutions. However, I am also open to exploring different options and new avenues that may come by during my two year study at RGSOIPL.

What would be your advice to future law aspirants?

I would tell students to not take a year off after graduation just to prepare for an entrance exam. 100 hours of dedicated smart work is sufficient to crack any post-graduation law entrance examination given that students would have already studied those subjects in law school. Early preparation would definitely give students a head-start and so students should consider starting early to prepare for their LL.M. entrance exams.

Also best to leave out any guess-work and be prepared for both memory based and application based questions.

And lastly, law students would do good to keep themselves updated with both national as well as global affairs of contemporary relevance and develop a habit of analyzing such news from a legal perspective. This will surely help students to crack their desired law entrance examination.

This interview was conducted by Campus Ambassador, Purbayan Chakraborty.