How To Choose The Right Internships In Law School

By Vaishnavi Shukla

This is a topic which all law students struggle with as they don’t really know what kind of internships to do in order to land up in the right job. This article will guide you through the Internship process.

Students on the Shiksha platform ask a lot of questions regarding Law School internships and mostly the questions revolve around “How to choose the right internships in Law school”. To make life easier for law aspirants and to provide them with a streamlined view on internship related confusion, some useful tips are listed below.

In law school what one can do is that they can divide their internships. I know if you are a first-year student then there is a likely chance that you do not know what exactly is your calling or what you might end up doing? Some might think that they really like Corporate Law and may want to become a Corporate lawyer. But, three years down the line or by the end of the fourth year or fifth year you think no, I was wrong, I really don’t want to become a Corporate lawyer, my actual calling is that I really want to serve people. I want to go for litigation but then you look at your CV and all your internships are in corporate law. Now, what do you do? So, never stick to one kind of internship because that might be a problem when you realise that your area of interest has changed.

So, always divide your internships. To make things easier, I will explain how you can divide your internships. There was a lecture in my law school when I was in my second year and I think that lecture helped me so much that I decided to do my internships in that manner and today I’m a Corporate Attorney at Bengaluru. So, my suggestion would be that you divide your internships into five parts.

Research Internship

As a law student always remember that internship is important but what kind of internship you do is more important. One very strong skill you must possess in order to be a successful Lawyer is – Research Skill. In order to enhance this skill, you must definitely do a Research Internship. Start with this in the first year of Law School and this will prepare you for all the other internships that you will apply for. I did my internship at iPleaders, Delhi and it was one of the best decisions I took.

Law Firm Internship

A legal intern's duties vary based on the needs of the firm and the student's level of experience, but typically includes basic office work such as filing, legal research, client assistance and aiding lawyers with paperwork and courtroom preparation. This will increase your knowledge of substantive areas of law, gain exposure to a real work environment, and provide valuable support to a legal employer. Further, in a law firm internship, a student of 5^th year will ideally be performing the same tasks as a lawyer is required to do. By the time the student is in third year, the internship helps a lot to gain cumulative knowledge. The mainline of difference between a 3rd-year law student and a fresh law graduate starting his law practice is the fact that one has taken the Bar exam and one hasn’t.

Also Read: Life at Law School is tough, Internships play a vital role

Corporate Internship

It is the most important branch of law as it brings an in-depth understanding of the issues in the Corporate world which are extremely important to the members working in this field. A corporate internship benefits a student in more ways than one; anyone who wants to make a career working as a corporate lawyer in an MNC, Private Company, LPO etc, must definitely do a corporate internship to learn the nuances of the job and the workings of it. Some of the benefits that arise out of a corporate internship are:

• Improves professional network

In a corporate internship, the student has the advantage to build a professional relationship with many companies they provide support for and that helps in getting better job opportunities in future. A better professional network is as important as gaining knowledge, improving skill set and understanding the nuances of the legal field.

• PPOs (Pre-Placement Offers)

If an intern works pro-actively on the matters it offers support in the Company/ firm then the efforts are appreciated, observed and then the company might offer a pre-placement to the student. This helps the students in not just learning and being part of such a company for four weeks but beyond and become a part of the company as an employee in future. As the intern already knows the working of the company, it saves a lot of company’s time to hire new employees and train them.

• Understanding the practical nuances

These internships are very similar to working as an employee in the corporate sector and hence the practical working of the corporate sector is what the student will come across which will help him/ her in obtaining a job later in life.

Also Read: NLU Placements - Average and Max Package

Work for an independent lawyer

If you want to have a close working environment and learn the courtroom practice you must do this internship. This internship is recommended because, as there are only 2-3 interns working under these lawyers, it leads to direct interaction and learning experience from the senior. This eliminates the possibility of sitting without work and 99% of the time you deal with challenging work and the seniors rely completely on you for information gathering and documentation. In larger law firms, most students get the certificates but the skill set is not improved because they sit without work a lot of times. Hence, this internship is highly recommendable.

Subject matter-specific internship

By this, I refer to the internship in which your interest lies. There are a lot of students who want to do area-specific internships like Sports Law, Real Estate Law, Tax Law, IPR, Banking Law etc. Hence, towards the end of the law school years you must focus on these area-specific internships as this will help while making a career in such an area of Law. By the 4^th and 5^th year most students realise their interests and that is the time when they must look for firms specialising in these areas of Law. This will help you in securing a PPO and if you want to sit for an interview in a similar area-specific law firm, you can use this internship to show experience in that area.

All the best!

About the Author:

 

Vaishnavi Shukla is a Corporate Attorney at Loyal Hospitality Pvt Ltd, an exclusive franchise of Empire Group of Hotels, Bengaluru.