post-thumb

Career Options after LLB

If you are in the process of deciding whether to choose law as a career, or are already pursuing a law degree and are exploring the career options after you pass out, then you have landed at the right place.

In this article, we are going to explore various career options available to law graduates, i.e. students who have got their LLB degree (whether through 3-year course, or through 5-year integrated course).

LL.B

LL.B stands for Bachelor of Laws (Lex Legum Baccalaureus). So, technically we write it as LL.B, not as LLB, or L.L.B.

LL.M stands for Masters of Laws (Lex Legum Magister).

The first exam you should give after completing your LLB degree is that of Bar Council of India (All India Bar Examination, AIBE). With just a LLB degree you will become a Lawyer. However, to practice law in courts of India, you need to become an Advocate.

Also, many jobs require you to be a Bar Council certified Advocate to apply for those posts. You become an Advocate after passing the exam of Bar Council of India. Don’t worry. It’s a very simple exam. You will easily pass it.

Table of Contents
  • Government Jobs after LLB
  • Private Job opportunities after LLB
  • Higher Studies options after LLB

Government Jobs after LLB

Government jobs have always been a craze with Indians, and so we will start with these.

Judiciary

This is of course the most sought after, most well-known and most coveted job related to the law field. Each state conducts its own judiciary exam (called PCS-J, or Civil Judge exam).

Once selected, you will join the Lower Judicial Service, i.e. you will become a judicial magistrate. Then in few years you will get promoted to ACJM (Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate), CJM (Chief Judicial Magistrate), then ADJ (Additional District Judge), and then District Judge.

But the promotions are slow. And most of the people get retired even before becoming a District Judge, leave alone getting a chance to become a High Court Judge.

The age limit varies from one state to another, but in general it’s somewhere in between 21 to 35 years. In most cases, you will have to encounter 3 rounds – Prelims (objective), Mains (subjective), and then Interview.

Though if you fail to get selected in Lower Judicial Service exam, you may give an exam for Higher Judicial Service too, later on in your life. But you must be a good practicing lawyer to have a good chance in this exam. You must have a LLB degree and at least 7 years of experience as a lawyer. Age limit in such exams is around 35-45 years.

Note

Unlike IAS, IPS, IRS, etc., there’s no IJS exam yet in India. That is, there is no all-India exam in India for Judiciary services. Most of the bright law students who get selected in lower judiciary, get retired even before reaching the High Court. So, many people in law field say that the first qualification for becoming a High Court Judge, or a Supreme Court judge is to not get selected in Lower Judiciary exams. All in light humour of course!

Institute of Banking Personnel Selection - Specialist Officers Exam (IBPS SO Exam) Law officer

Banks in India not only need officers for banking operations, but for some other specialist tasks too, e.g. for technical (IT), law, etc.

Every bank department has a legal officer. Believe me, I have worked in Bank of Baroda. There are many legal cases involved with money lending, lots of non-performing assets, etc.

So, once you have done your LLB, you can give IBPS SO exam for law officers. However, you must also be enrolled in bar council of India (i.e. at least a practicing lawyer on paper).

One of the advantages of this job is that there are very few transfers. So, you will get location stability, along with job security.

Note

Apart from IBPS, there are some other bank exams too that recruit law officers, e.g. State Bank of India (SBI), some private banks, etc. Then there are insurance companies like LIC, UIIC, etc. that also need law officers.

In most of these exams, there are three stages:

  • Preliminary round – Questions will be asked from Maths, Reasoning, English, General awareness (focus on Banking). It will be like an elimination round, to eliminate non-serious candidates.
  • Mains round – Here your law knowledge will be thoroughly checked.
  • Interview round

RBI conducts a recruitment drive for lawyers every year. Once selected, you will be involved in works like legal drafting, consultation, and will represent RBI in various courts of the land.

Apart from having a LLB degree, you must also be enrolled in bar council and have an experience of 2 years as an advocate or legal officer in some financial institution (e.g. some bank, insurance, etc.), company, or a full time teacher in a university.

Any RBI job is considered good, specially in the banking sector. So, if you are a lawyer and interested in financial matters, then it probably will be one of the best jobs for you. Perks are excellent, and you will get to live in posh areas of major metro cities in India all your life.

Also, as freshers are not allowed in this exam, and the qualifications required are a bit high, the competition is comparatively less here.

Judge Advocate General (JAG)

Indian armed forces also recruit lawyers. It’s one of the most respected branches in the armed forces, just like doctors. Vacancies are limited, and perks and allowances are awesome. So naturally, the competition is high.

There is no written examination. But you must have a first class LLB degree. Once shortlisted, you will just have to clear SSB and their interview.

Age limit is generally 21 to 27 years. Moreover, you should be physically fit, e.g. you should have a good eye vision, good height, etc. Though you will not be tested as vigorously as the fighting soldiers will be, but still you need to match certain standards. After all, you will be representing the Army, Navy, Air Force in various courts of law.

Yes, most of the organizations (be it public, government, or private) need a legal team or department. And so, they recruit lawyers on a regular basis. Indian Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs), such as NTPC, BHEL, ONGC, SAIL, etc. are no exception.

PSUs recruit their legal officers through CLAT PG exam. Top scorers are interviewed and then selected. You need not have any experience to get selected in these jobs.

Though these are PSU jobs, they are almost as stable as government jobs, and the perks and allowances are good too. Moreover, you may get to live in their townships which are like college campuses – clean, peaceful, and grand, almost like Army Cantt areas. So, your family will get a secure environment to live in, and your kids will get to attend good schools in the same PSU campus that you live or work in.

Securities and Exchange Board of India is a regulatory body for the security market of India. They need lawyers too for matters such as stock exchange. So, you will gain a good knowledge of stocks while working in this job – an excellent added advantage.

This job is 9 to 5 kind of a job, and so is less stressful. Perks, allowances, facilities are also good. However, promotions are rather slow.

Public Prosecutors

Central and State governments appoint their own lawyers to represent them in the cases filed against them. These lawyers are called Assistant District Prosecution Officers (ADPO), or Assistant Public Prosecutor Officers (APPO). However, most people just call them government advocates in general parlance.

However, this job is not for a fresher. You need to have at least 7 years of experience as a lawyer to be selected as a Public Prosecutor. The age limit is 35-45 years.

If you fulfil the above criteria, then you may sit in an exam conducted by UPSC. Once you clear that exam, you will just have to clear an interview round.

Some UPSC Exams

Apart from conducting an exam for the post of Public Prosecutors, UPSC also conducts some other exams for law graduates, e.g. for the post of Assistant Legal Advisor, Assistant Law Officer, Company Prosecutor, etc.

Note

Law is also an optional paper in UPSC Civil Services Exam (for IAS, IPS, etc.). So, you may also become IAS, IPS, IRS, etc. using your law knowledge.

UGC NET

University Grants Commission National Eligibility Test (NET) is conducted every year for the post of Researcher and Assistant Professor. So, basically it’s a teaching job related to the law field. Once selected, you can teach in any college that is recognized by UGC.

However, just a LLB degree won’t be sufficient. You must have a post-graduation degree too, i.e. LLM.

There are two papers in this exam – one aptitude test, and other a law test (e.g. constitution law, contract law, law of torts, etc.).

Private Job opportunities after LLB

Corporates

Nowadays, most multi-national companies (MNCs) and Indian companies have their own legal department. When I was working in an American IT company in Noida, there was a separate legal department there with at least 15-20 lawyers working there.

So, you can work in corporate sector even after doing LLB. You need not be an IT engineer, or an MBA, to work in corporate sector.

Here you will get to work in areas like Trademark, Copyright, etc.

There are many career opportunities for lawyers in media houses too – both paper and electronic. You can become legal counsel, or a legal journalist.

NGOs

You may also join an NGO and give them your services. Many NGOs work in the fields of human rights, environment, etc. And they need lawyers who are specialized in these areas.

Law Firms

You may also get a job in some law firm. Though international law firms have yet not been allowed in India, but you will get many Indian law firms. So, the initial salary would probably not be very high.

In fact, you will have to get an internship during your LLB degree, and many students do it in some law firm. Some even get recruited there after the completion of their course.

The initial job should be for learning experience, rather than just for money. And you will get plenty of work experience in such law firms. Here you will also get a chance to work in different fields of the law and choose the one that suits you the most.

Political Parties

Lawyers have a very good opportunity to get into politics. Not only are both fields related to service of people, but both require you to have good vocal and people skills. You will see almost every political party taking the service of some lawyers on a regular basis. For example, Arun Jaitley of BJP, Kapil Sibbal of Congress, etc. These guys also get tickets to fight in elections, and sometimes a Rajya Sabha seat too.

Higher Studies options after LLB

If rather than doing a job, you want to pursue higher education, then also you have many options. You may go for:

  • LLM (Master of Law) – It’s the post-graduate degree in law, and the most famous higher education option after LLB.
  • Master of Business Law (MBL)
  • Master of Corporative Law (MCL)
  • MBA – Some people also go for an MBA degree after LLB. This combination is considered pretty good. In MBA colleges you will get students from a variety of backgrounds, e.g. B. Tech (engineer), B. Com., BBA, even lawyers, doctors, and teachers.

Apart from these, you may also do a specialization in certain field. For this, you may get a diploma in:

  • Environmental Law
  • Intellectual Property Rights
  • Administrative Law
  • Corporative Law
  • Human Rights
  • International Laws
Share on:
comments powered by Disqus