20 February 2015

THE B&B REPORTS

LITIGATION SPECIAL
In a r e c e n t l y p u b l i s h e d
i n t e r v i e w, s e n i o r c o u n s e l
G o p a l Ja i n d e s c r i b e d t h e
profession of litigation as well
worth the wait. !

In many ways, his description

reflects on the nature of
Indian litigation, or at least the
early years of a litigating
professional. !

Lawyers from across the

countr y ha ve said that the
initial years in litigation are
tough, with long working
hours and little reward. !

Senior counsel, and one of

Bangalores most well-regarded
lawyers, Udaya Holla said the
only way to build a successful
litigation practice is through,
sheer doggedness, sheer hard
work!

Hyderabads Niranjan Reddy

recommends that one has to put
in at least three years in the
profession to see any results. !

Another common perception

about litigation is that it is low
paying, especially if you
compare it to the salaries that
are routinely offered by
corporate law firms. !

And this is more so for

graduates emerging from the
relatively young National Law
Universities. In a sur vey we
published last year, only 4% of
NLU graduates across a threeyear period chose to join
litigation.!

Of course, the long gestation

period and low pay are not the

(C) Bar & Bench

only reasons behind this low

figure. !

A s Na t i o n a l Un i v e r s i t y o f
Singapores Umakanth V notes,
the last two decades have seen a
radical transformation across
the Indian legal profession, with
a host of newer law firms setting
up shop. And it is these firms
that have attracted a large
chunk of the NLU graduate
body. !

To put that in perspective, in

2013 more than 21,000 law
graduates registered for the
national bar exam. This number
is expected to double when the
exam is held in May this year.!

!
!

Yet, despite the rich heritage

and sheer size of the Indian Bar,
there is precious little data
available on the Indian litigating
profession. !

There are some, like senior

counsel Aditya Sondhi, who
have
expressed
their
unhappiness at the excessive
focus on salaries. But by and
large, the low salaries that
litigation oers is a reason for
students to think twice before
taking the plunge. !

Which is where Bar & Benchs

6 Question Survey comes in.
On February 10 this year, the
survey was launched. !

But if you move away from the

sixteen-odd NLUs though, the
scenario is completely dierent.
A large section of those who
graduate from one of the
countr ys eight hundred law
colleges will choose to litigate. !

There were six questions asked

covering a range of topics.
Pa r t i c i p a n t s w e r e a s ke d t o
provide details on their
educational qualifications, their
work experience and salaries. !
In t h e n e x t f o u r d a y s , w e
received 924 responses. You can
read the analysis in the
following pages.

20 February 2015

WHO TOOK THE SURVEY

GENERAL BREAKUP
Education
Education

33%
3- year course
5-year course

A total of 306 lawyers were graduates from the

3-year LLB course, while the rest (618) were
products of the 5-year integrated BA LLB
course.!
Out of these 618, four hundred and twenty-six
of (67%) are first generation lawyers ie
graduates who do not have any lawyers in their
family.

67%

Lawyers in the Family?

Lawyers in the Family?!

31%
Yes
No

69%

Work Experience (years)

A total of 636 lawyers who participated in the

survey, do not have any lawyers in their family.
The rest have at least one lawyer in the family,
and thus have been classified as second
generation lawyers for the purposes of this
report.

Work Experience
Two thirds of the respondents have worked for five
years or less, with 263 (28%) having practiced for
anywhere between 5 and 15 years. !

6%
5 years or less
5-15 years
15 years or more

28%

The smallest category (55 lawyers) was of those who

had been in the legal profession for more than 15
years.

66%

Annual Salary (lacs)

Annual Salary (lacs)

These findings largely reflect the fact that the
large majority of respondents have been in the
profession for less than 5 years. !

14%
Less than 5
Between 5-10
More than 10

22%
64%

(C) Bar & Bench

Nearly 600 lawyers earn 5 lacs or less per annum,

and 201 earn anywhere between 5 and 10 lacs. !
A deeper look though does provide some
interesting findings, such as the fact that 32
lawyers with less than 5 years work experience are
earning more than 10 lacs per annum

20 February 2015

FIRST GENERATION LAWYERS

FORUM OF PRACTICE

8%

Only Supreme Court

Only High Court
Only Tribunals

20%

A total of 353 (52%) appear in

the High Courts, trial courts,
and other tribunals. !

High Courts attract the

highest number, with 117
choosing to work in the High
Court alone. !

A total of 150 (23%) appear in

the Supreme Court and other
courts and tribunals while 58
do work ranging from the
trial court all the way up to

72%

the Supreme Court. There

are 32 lawyers who have
chosen to practice only in
the Supreme Court. !

One hundred and twenty

four (20%) of first gen
lawyers have chosen to work
in the trial courts and other
judicial forums. !

And only 13 first gen lawyers

have chosen to work
exclusively in tribunals.

EDUCATION

Four hundred and twentysix of (67%) of these first

generation lawyers are from
the five-year course. !

5-yr course
3-yr course

33%

common criticisms of the

five-year course is that it has
failed to meet the objective
that it had been started with
to improve the Bar.

This is certainly food for

thought. One of the most

67%

ANNUAL INCOME
Of the four hundred and thirty-five first
gen lawyers who have been in the
profession for less than 5 years, three
hundred and forty (78%) make less than Rs.
5,00,000 a year. !

Annual
Salary

5 - 10 lacs

10 lacs +

0-5 years

78%

17%

5%

5-15 years

40%

35%

25%

15 + years

40%

23%

37%

Work Ex

This is not the complete picture though.

Around seventy-two (17%) make between
Rs.5,00,000 and Rs. 10,00,000 per year
while twenty-three first gen lawyers (5%)
make more than Rs.10,00,000 per year.!
One of the underlying assumptions about
litigation, insofar as the pay is concerned, is
that financial remuneration is a factor of
the time spent in the profession. The
sur vey results, however, do not quite
support this.!

0 - 5 lacs

lacs per annum while 57 (35%)

make between 5,00,000 and Rs.
10,00,000 per annum.!

At the top end, 40 lawyers

(25%) make more than Rs.
10,00,000 per year.!

Out of the 162 first generation lawyers who

have spent between five and fifteen years,
65 (40%) continue to make less than Rs. 5

Of the 35 first gen lawyers

who have spent more than 15

(C) Bar & Bench

years in the profession,

thirteen (37%) make more
t h a n R s . 1 0, 0 0, 0 0 0 p e r
annum. !

Another 14 (40%) continue

t o m a ke l e s s t h a n R s .
5,00,000 per annum. !

20 February 2015

SECOND GENERATION LAWYERS

FORUM OF PRACTICE

6%

Only Supreme Court

Only High Court
Only Tribunals

14%

Once again, it is the High

Court that proves to be the
most preferred destination
with 168 respondents
appearing in the High Court
amongst other courts.!

Out of these 64 lawyers have

chosen to practice in the
High Court alone.!

!
80%

When it comes to the apex

court, 69 second-generation

lawyers appear in the

Supreme Court amongst
other courts, out of which 11
practice exclusively in the
Supreme Court. !

In third place is trial court

practice, with 48 lawyers
choosing to not work on the
High Court or Supreme
Court side.!

EDUCATION

5-yr course
3-yr course

33%

AS was found in the case of

first-generation lawyers,
here too the majority are
graduates of the 5-year
course.!

!
67%

Of the 288 lawyers that were

surveyed, an astounding 192
were products of the more
newer 5-year course while

the rest were from the more

traditional 3-yr course. !

This begs the question - is

the 3-year course beginning
to be overshadowed by the
upstart? !

Or is is time to examine and

correct the problems that
ail the 3-year course?

ANNUAL INCOME
Of the 169 second generation lawyers
who have been in the profession for less
than 5 years, 143 (85%) make less than Rs.
5,00,000 a year. !
This is not the complete picture though.
A r o u n d 1 5 ( 9 % ) m a ke b e t w e e n R s .
5,00,000 and Rs. 10,00,000 per year
while 10 second gen lawyers (6%) make
more than Rs.10,00,000 per year.!

!
Out of the 99 second generation lawyers
who have spent between five and fifteen
years, 33 (33%) continue to make less than
Rs. 5,00,000 per annum while 25 (26%)
m a ke b e t w e e n 5, 0 0, 0 0 0 a n d R s .
10,00,000 per annum.!

At the top end, 41 (40%) make more

than Rs.10,00,000 per year.
(C) Bar & Bench

Annual
Salary

0 - 5 lacs

5 - 10 lacs

10 lacs +

0-5 years

85%

9%

6%

5-15 years

33%

26%

40%

15 + years

35%

30%

35%

Work Ex

Of the 20 second generation

lawyers who have spent more
t h a n f i f te e n y e a r s i n t h e
profession, 7 (35%) make
more than Rs.10,00,000 per

annum while 7 (35%)

continue to make less than
Rs.5,00,000 per annum. !