Marine Lawyers Face Less Competition and Earn More Money

What's it About?

Maritime lawyers are legal professionals who deal with matters related to laws governing maritime territories around the world. They are required to represent parties litigating over the arrest or release of a maritime vessel, recovering fees or seeking compensation from vessel owners in case of an accident, collision or sinking. Maritime lawyers are required to look into matters as diverse as assessing the liability of ferrying goods or the exploitation of fish stocks in the sea.

Clock Work

9 am: Meet the client.

10 am: Appear in the court with a senior counsel

2 pm: Explore the possibility of arbitration with the client

4 pm: Prepare for the next day's case

6pm: Read court judgments and journals to stay abreast of the latest developments

The Payoff

As a trainee or junior, a maritime lawyer can earn anywhere between R10,000 to R25,000. The salary increases with experience and time. If you start independent practice, then your income will completely depend on your reputation and the quantum of work you have.

Senior advocates normally charge a minimum of R1.5 lakh per hearing in the high courts or the Supreme Court of India.

Skills

• One should be well versed with the Merchant Shipping Act, Admiralty Act and the precedents in marine laws across the world.

• One needs to understand international laws too

• One will have to deal with work/people from across the world - the litigating parties/cases could be linked to other countries. Which is why a lawyer should be able to work in night shifts and according to different time zones.

• One must be incisive because maritime law is a highly specialised area.

• If you have a science background, then it works as an added advantage

How do I Get There?

One must be a law graduate. It's not mandatory to pursue postgraduate studies, though it helps to learn the fundamentals academically. "When you have studied law in great detail then you come back with a lot of authority on the subject, which is very important," says S. Venkiteswaran, a senior maritime lawyer. There are some universities in India and abroad which offer a specialisation such as University of Southampton and University of Tulane.

Institutes & URL's

• Five-year BA, LLB from National Law University, Bangalore; www.nls.ac.in

• Five-year BA, LLB from Nalsar, Hyderabad; www.nalsar.ac.in

• Five-year BA, LLB from National Law Institute University, Bhopal; www.nliu.com

• Five-year BA, LLB from National Law University, Delhi; www.nludelhi.ac.in

• LLM in maritime law from the Faculty of Law, University of Southampton; www.soton.ac.uk

• LLM in admiralty from Tulane University Law School, New Orleans, USA

Pros & Cons

• Money is quite good. Those who manage to gain a firm foothold in the profession get paid very high level

• Maritime law will give the practitioner an opportunity to go global.

• Being a niche field, it's not easy to begin a career because there are very few senior advocates under whom one can learn the ropes

 

Author: Vimal Chander Joshi (HT Horizons)

Date: 10th December, 2010

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