Internships: A Prerequisite for Law Students

Author: Shubhi Agarwal, BALLB Student

Importance of Internships:

The days have gone when studies were just limited to schools and colleges and work to offices. To get success it is essential to move one step ahead in life. This step is INTERNSHIP. Internships are helping students in building a successful career. Legal internships are no different. They give students practical knowledge and experience of the field in which they want to excel. They provide a platform where they

can learn beyond classroom lessons and apply them practically. These internships also help them get a edge foe jobs in future. Internships assist students in choosing their particular area of interest and for a law student it is a prerequisite to be practical.

Internship Opportunities:

One of the most important feature of legal internships is that it provides multiple platforms to students to 1excel in their field. Law is just not limited with litigation but it has opened boundaries for students in various fields so that they can explore their career in future. There is no hard and fast rule for interning at a particular place but students may intern as per their requirement whether it be Law Firms, NGOs, Courts, Online portals or Public Sector Undertakings like ONGC or Government Places like Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

• Law Firms: As per the Bar Council of India rule one is not allowed to endorse his firm but still students can find contact details of different firms on Google or online portals such as LawOF which work for the benefit of Law Students. These firms give students practical knowledge about how a lawyer works and prepares case files.
• NGOs: NGOs are best for interning at initial bases and learning. NGOs teach a law student that their main ain should be serving the people.
• Court Internships: One has the opportunity to intern at District Court, High Court, Supreme Court, National Tribunal or Human Rights Commission if he is interested in litigation
• Online Internships: Online internships are one of the best medium to learn. These include writing articles, research, drafting, etc.

These are the basic opportunities that a law student could ever get to intern but he can also search more opportunities and apply there.

There is no boundation on time period of internships but usually 21 days is minimum and as per BAR COUNCIL OF INDIA  interning while classes is not permitted.

Internship teaches these following basic things required in the Law Field:

• Drafting
• Researching
• Administrative Skills
• Writing
• Exploring

How to apply for Internships:

The process of applying for internships goes through E-mails followed by telephonic calls. The mail should contain a good write-up in the mil body and the cover letter and Curriculum Vitae attached.

• Curriculum Vitae: The curriculum Vitae should contain all the important information regarding your personal contact details, academic qualifications, achievement in the field of extra curricular activities, previous internship details and experience, and all the other achievements.
• Cover Letter: A cover letter is attached so that the recruiter may come to know why you are interested in interning in that particular place, therefore, it should contain your person details as well as a gist of your achievements and a reason for which you apply for the internship.

Stipend:

Stipend gives an incentive to students to work hard and learn more during internship but it should not be the only cause to intern. The real earning is the experience and practical knowledge that one gets during an internship.

Conclusion:

Legal internships are the heart of law career. To gain practical knowledge in the field of law it is important to learn something beyond classroom knowledge. A budding lawyer is one who explores his opportunities and utilises it to the fullest.

 

 

 

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Disclaimer:

This Article was prepared or accomplished by  Shubhi Agarwal in his personal capacity. The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect the view of the LawOF.in

The Contents of this Website are informative only and for the benefit of the general public. Even though every care has been taken to ensure the correctness of information and procedure, the www.lawof.in is not responsible for any inadvertent errors and the same may please be brought to the notice through e-mail: info@lawof.in The LawOF do not own any responsibility for the views expressed by the Author in the Article and for the errors, if any, in the information contained in the LawOF and the author shall be solely responsible for the same.

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