Supreme Court Lawyers Welfare Trust encourages young talent Introduces 2 annual fellowships

The Supreme Court Lawyers Welfare Trust (SCLWT), aiming to recognize and promote young talent in the field of litigation, has introduced two annual fellowships, called the “Lawyers Welfare Awards”..The Supreme Court Lawyers Welfare Trust (SCLWT), aiming to recognize and promote young talent in the field of litigation, has introduced two annual fellowships, called the “Lawyers Welfare Awards”..Speaking to Bar & Bench about the SCLWT, Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, Trustee of SCLWT said, “The Trust was started about two years back with an endowment of Rs. 1 crore by a Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court, who seeks to remain anonymous. The aim of the Trust is essentially to improve the state of the members of the Supreme Court Bar which includes helping members who need financial help for medical treatment or providing stipend to indigent lawyers etc.”.Talking about this new endeavor of the SCLWT Gopal said, “We noticed that there are lot of young lawyers who are smart and are inclined towards litigation but do not come into litigation in the Supreme Court because they find the cost too prohibitive. So keeping this in mind, we have initiated this fellowship program and the first one will start this year”..The applicants for the Lawyers Welfare Awards must be enrolled with any State Bar Council in India and must have completed a minimum of 2 years, and a maximum of 6 years practice in the courts of India. However, such practice will not include non-litigation practice with law firms/individuals, judicial clerkships and teaching assignments..The candidates applying for this fellowship must be prepared to commit themselves to a minimum period of 2 years’ practice at the Supreme Court..Each Fellow will be entitled to a monthly stipend of Rs. 25,000 over a period of 3 years while practicing in the Supreme Court and a one-time subscription to SCCOnline® which will be registered in the name of the candidate..Gopal also informed Bar & Bench that the stipend of Rs. 25000 will be in addition to whatever else the Fellows are earning, and is meant to take care of their living expenses for the initial three years..“We think that will be a good enough foothold and support to them to set themselves up in the profession”, added Gopal..Gopal further said, “The selected candidates will be free to work with anyone they choose to though the practice should be largely centered around the Supreme Court”..Once all the applicants submit their resumes along with a 1000 word essay on the best case in which the applicant has been involved ), a panel of Trustees will shortlist 15 candidates among the applicants for the final round of interviews. The Chairperson of the Trust, Justice J.S. Verma and few other Trustees will hold the final round of interviews in the first week of September, 2012..The two selected candidates will be awarded the LWA fellowship, which will be effective from October 1, 2012 to September 30, 2015..Interested applicants may e-mail their resume along with the essay to the Trust at scwelfaretrust@gmail.com. The applicants must also annex the relevant documents relating to the case. The last date for submission of the documents is August 15, 2012.