As of March 2018, statistics show that the Indian legal market can surpass its present potential worth of Rs.8,400 crore due to the many new and diversified practices which are no longer limited to just criminal and civil law. Large scale businesses, companies, and MNCs require legal consultancy in taxation, Intellectual Property, Mergers & Acquisitions, Capital Markets, Competition, and due diligence.
While the corporate field alone offers a platter of practice options, litigation and judiciary too have picked up pace in terms of exposure and pay. Litigation presently can also be seen to be expanding its horizons to deal with the courtroom side of the corporate practice apart from matters related to real estate, white-collar crimes, family law, bankruptcy, contracts, and licensing.
Perhaps there's also ample room for those who want to discover the research and academic side of law and public policy. Governmental Institutes, Legislative fellowships, NGOs, and International Governmental Bodies like UNO and its organs are always on the lookout for those who can read, interpret and analyze the law and policies of the state structure.
The holistic impact of the budding opportunities offered by law as a career has enabled the Indian legal education to transform into a well-rounded 5-year course oriented towards practical and philosophical underpinnings of the law. As the Bar Council of India, in 2014 itself there existed 1,200 law schools, a number that grew from a mere 800 in 2012 due to the increasing demand for the course amongst youngsters. Additionally, this led to streamlining and formalization of the legal profession by the Bar Council of India which in turn set into motion major changes in the quality of legal training and educational infrastructure.
The massive preference or rather a keenness for joining the legal profession amongst the youngsters can be reflected in the compounding number of CLAT, AILET, and LSAT applicants each year. In 2021 itself 62000-70,277 applicants had registered for CLAT , a number which has increased from a mere 40,000 in 2016. However, the paucity of seats in National Law Schools has become a barrier in the path of youngsters wishing to pursue a quality legal education.
This is where the advent of private law schools has helped rectify the problem of infrastructural limitations of government institutions. The onset of private education has perhaps given further impetus to those dreaming to build a career in the legal profession. One is hopeful that the optimistic momentum of the law fraternity reaches higher strides in the coming years.
