Ten things you need to know at the Law School

So, you have chosen to study Law for the five years to come and you don’t know how to go about it? Well, this article is meant just for you then! We discuss here anything and everything you should know while at the Law School. Read on!.1. Internships.This is the most important part of the Law School life. They help you take law from the classroom to the world out there, and help you have a good feel of professional life. Internships can be done in various organizations. To begin with, it is always better to intern in an NGO, as you will learn the basics and also because law firms and corporates generally don’t take first year students for internships. Interning at District Courts tremendously helps in building a firm foundation for further internships at corporate firms. Till your 3rd year, do intern in a wide variety of places Including corporate houses, law firms, individual lawyers, NGOs, Publishing houses , research internships with professors, etc. After you get to know all these, make up your mind and decide what you want in your life and then focus in that area. To know about how to apply for scholarships and LL.M. visit this link..In order that you get to intern in good organizations, do have a well designed CV together with an equally good cover letter. Lawctopus will help you how to draft a good CV and a cover letter..2.Research Assistantships.To hone your research skills, do intern with distinguished Academicians/Professors to get matchless guidance from them. Various prestigious Law Schools have Research Centers at their campus. For example, NLSIU, Bangalore has 10 of them and NALSAR has the Centre for Disability Studies. These Research Centres take interns to assist them in preparing reports. You can visit their websites and apply for internships. The Centre for Disability Studies at NALSAR University of Law has a provision for online internship too. Search through the websites and choose the best suited for you..Also, the Professors at these top-notch universities need research interns under them to assist them in their research projects. You can gain brownie points by working as a Research Assistant under such Professors..3.Moot Court Competitions.Moots! No other obsession has been as viral as this with the Indian Law Students! It is good to see this enthusiasm for this activity but guys, don’t forget that Moots are not everything! No doubt it feels great to win prizes at top-notch moots, but it is not the end of the world! You need to do a lot of things on your CV apart from winning the moots. So, go slow on them! But this is not to mean, you should ignore moots completely. Moot court wins are indeed important, especially when they are prestigious moots. Be selective while choosing them..4.Paper Presentations.A host of national and international seminars and conferences are organized throughout the year. Track them very meticulously (Conference Alerts website is of great help) and keep tab of the deadlines. The standard procedure for paper presentations at the Conferences involves firstly to send the organizers an abstract of your topic of presentation. You are selected based on the quality of the abstract and are provided with the opportunity of presenting the paper..5.Summer Schools/Winter Schools.Academic sessions held by large educational institutions during the summer and winter breaks, chiefly for supplementary and remedial study in the concerned fields of study are called Summer/Winter schools respectively. Try to attend some such schools which interest you, to raise the bars of your CV..The Indian Society of International Law (ISIL) in Delhi, India hosts a summer course on International law every year. Institutes like the London School of Economics, Havard Law School and Stanford Law School too host summer courses in fields like Human Rights, etc. Attending these courses give you a high edge over your peers..6.Law Reports/Online Databases.How many times has it happened to you that you enter the library to take on those racks filled with SCC, AIR, SCJ, CLJ, Cri L J, JILI (whatever damn thing they mean!) and are left totally at sea once you come across these French sounding words?.Well, if you have been faced with this situation often, then it’s time that you brush up your knowledge of Law Reports and Online Databases. Supreme Court Cases (SCC), is a journal published by the Eastern Book Company. It is the law report most cited by the Indian courts and reports cases decided by the Supreme Court of India. All India Reporter (AIR) is a journal which reports cases from the Supreme Court and all the High Courts in India. Supreme Court Journal (SCJ) is a journal which reports cases from the Supreme Court. Company Law Journal (CLJ) reports cases decided exclusively on the matter of Company Law, Criminal Law Journal (Cri L J) reports all the Criminal cases and Journal of Indian Law Institute (JILI) is a prestigious journal published by the Indian law Institute, Delhi which contains articles written by legal luminaries and academicians. Having a working knowledge of these is a must to form a good lawyer..Apart from reporting cases, they also publish articles by jurists and lawyers. You can get your articles published in them by sending your copies to them and once they are cleared for publication by the Editorial Board..Apart from these journals and reports, there are online databases of case-laws and amendments like Manupatra, IndLaw, Westlaw India, LexisNexis (these are usually subscribed to by the University of your study) whose working knowledge is a must for every law student..7.Diploma/Certificate Courses.There are a plethora of diploma and certificate courses available in diverse areas of Law as in Corporate Laws, Labour Laws, Cyber Laws, Taxation Laws, Medical Ethics, Mergers & Acquisitions, Securities and Banking laws, Intellectual Property Laws, International Trade Law, Patents Law, Environment Laws, etc. Having these courses in your career basket does define you in a different way. But see to it that the course content of these diploma/certificate courses do not coincide/overlap with the syllabus of your under-graduation course, as this will prove your attempt at the courses futile..8.Publishing Articles.This is another most important thing you ought to do at the Law School. Publish articles in journals and magazines of national and international repute. And publish your own articles! Plagiarism should be forth-right discouraged by you. Publishing houses will be scanning your work under plagiarism check software!.Basically, a law review is a scholarly journal focusing on legal issues, normally published by an organization of students at a law school or through a bar association. Almost all the National Law Schools in India publish their own Law Reviews and they periodically call for papers to be published in such Reviews. You can write your paper on the given topic and send it to them. There are also a lot many international journals like the Yale Law Journal, the American Journal of International Law, etc., wherein the procedure of publication is similar. The articles are published only after the editorial board passes it for publication..9.Stay Focused.Above all, focus. Stay focused on what you are supposed to be doing and not on what you want to do. Know whether you want to be a practicing advocate or a Partner at a Law Firm, and start working in that regard. Build a good CV and strive to achieve your goals..Concentrate on increasing your CGPA score. Work on framing the pattern of answers much before you write your exams. This way, you will be better able to manage time and come up with good scores..10.Stay tuned to Bar & Bench.We being comprehensive news and analysis portal for Indian legal professionals provide the latest in news, information, interviews and columns. The Apprentice Lawyer section on our website exclusively deals with the needs of students. Stay in touch with us to be the early bird! .The Bar & Bench team wishes you the best of very best!