Salary of a Lawyer in India: Corporate Lawyer Vs. Litigation Lawyer
Confused about choosing a career as a litigator or corporate lawyer? Want to know which career option can provide you with a higher salary? Learn the difference between the salaries of a corporate lawyer and a litigation lawyer in India in this article.
Corporate Lawyer vs Litigation Lawyer: Which Profession has a Higher Income?
Law is one of the most promising career fields for professionals in India. This field also provides professionals with attractive earning opportunities. However, the income or salary that you earn as a law professional depends on the law domain in which you work. There are two main domains of law in India, namely, Corporate Law and Litigation, in which people work in modern times. Salaries in these two law fields are different. If you are also planning to choose one of the two law fields and want to become a litigation lawyer or corporate lawyer, you must know the difference between the salaries of these two types of lawyers and achieve financial success from these career options. This article will explain the difference between the salaries of a corporate lawyer and a litigation lawyer and how to achieve financial success as a lawyer.
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Litigation Lawyers Vs. Corporate Lawyers
Before selecting your career as a litigation lawyer or corporate lawyer based on the salary in these fields, you must know the difference between the two professions. Check out the difference between a corporate lawyer and a litigation lawyer and their roles and responsibilities in India.
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Corporate Lawyer |
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Factors Affecting the Salary of Litigation Lawyers and Corporate Lawyers
If you want to earn a handsome salary as a litigation lawyer or corporate lawyer, you must know the factors that can affect your salary. These factors have been listed as follows:
- Skills as a lawyer
- College or university from which you earned your law degree
- Work experience
- City in which you work or practice law
- Forum for which you work (District Court, High Court or Supreme Court)
- Your success rate as a lawyer
- Industry or law domain for which you work
Salary of Litigation Lawyers in India
The salary of a litigation lawyer or advocate in India with experience of 7–10 years ranges from INR 8–10 Lakh to INR 12–15 Lakh per annum.
On the contrary, the salary of a fresher litigation lawyer working as a junior under a senior lawyer is very low. It ranges from INR 200 to INR 700 per appearance or hearing. This is because, as a litigation lawyer, you need very high credibility to deal with various legal issues, and this credibility comes from experience. Thus, in the long run, when you gain significant experience and expertise as a litigation lawyer, you can earn INR 25–30 Lakh per appearance. Senior Counsel, such as Ram Jethmalani (Harshad Metha’s advocate for Scam 1992) and Harish Salve (the advocate of renowned companies, including Reliance Industries, Tata Group, and ITC Limited), earn this much money per appearance in the litigation profession.
Where to Work as a Litigation Lawyer in India
Litigation lawyers can work as individual advocates or as junior lawyers under a senior lawyer. They also work as legal consultants. Apart from these mentioned job roles, the following institutions provide job opportunities to litigation lawyers:
- AZB & Partners
- DSK Legal
- Khaitan & Co
- Bharucha & Partners
- IndusLaw
- JSA Law
- Cyruk Amarchand Mangaldas
- Dhir & Dhir Associates
- Link Legal
- Phoenix Legal
- Shardul Amarchand Mangladas
Earning Scope in Litigation
Earning a huge income as a litigation lawyer in the initial years of your career is a hard nut to crack. You need to be exceptionally skilled and experienced to make a desirable amount of money as a litigation lawyer. You cannot avoid the fact that growth in litigation because of new lawyers or advocates faces difficulties in establishing clientele because of a lack of guidance.
Salary of Corporate Lawyers in India
The average annual salary of a corporate lawyer in India with experience of 7–10 years ranges from INR 25–30 Lakh to INR 100–125 Lakh. Law students who want to become corporate lawyers must know that their salary will prominently depend on their skills and work experience. Apart from these two factors, they also need to consider the factors mentioned above that affect the salary of a corporate lawyer in India.
The salary of a fresher corporate lawyer in India who has graduated from a tier 1 or top college in the court ranges from INR 12–15 lakh. However, skilled corporate law graduates who graduate from tier 2 and tier 3 law colleges can earn INR 5-8 Lakh as a fresher corporate lawyer in India.
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Where to work as a Corporate Lawyer in India?
As a corporate law professional in India, you can work as a junior lawyer under a senior lawyer. Experienced and fresher corporate lawyers in the country can apply for jobs at the following corporate law firms:
- Khaitan & Co.
- Shardul Amarchand Mangladas
- Trilegal India
- DSK Legal
- Anand & Anand
- J Sagar And Associates (JSA)
- Vaish Associates
- AZB & Partners
- Phoenix Legal
- Vaish Associatea
- S&R Associates
- Desai & Dewanji
- Talwar Thakore and Associates
- Cyril Amarchand Mangladas
- Touchstone Partners
- Laksmikumaran & Sridharan
Earning Scope in Corporate Law
With an increase in industrialization and business activities in India, demands for corporate law services in India increase among corporate organisations. The increased demands for corporate law services have also increased the scope of earning in corporate law in India. Thus, corporate law provides attractive opportunities to make money in India.
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