Bachelor of laws ( LL.B.) is basically a graduate professional degree that is sought by aspiring students to get into a legal profession. The abbreviation LLB is derived from the Latin words Legum Baccalaureus, which means Bachelor of Laws.
The course essentially covers legal procedures, legal principles, ideals of corporate governance, and laws and regulations of countries. There are plenty of career opportunities in India after completing LL.B.
Broadly, LL.B. graduates can enter all the three major organs of the Government— viz., Legislature, Executive and Judiciary. In fact, LLB opens the door to a wide range of opportunities that cannot be matched by other career options!
Cited below are some of the major options that are available to LL.B. graduates after completion of their courses.
Top Career Path Options After Law in India
Advocate
Advocacy is one of the main professions chosen by LL.B. graduates. Students choosing this path can practice in the courts of law. However, the aspirants have to qualify the examination conducted by the All India Bar Council first in order to qualify for their practice.
Once they enroll with All India Bar Council, they can opt to practice in any court of law across the country.
However, in order to become a good advocate, every aspirant has to first gain some experience as a Junior assistant with a senior advocate. This involves drafting legal files and studying legal documents and cases.
This helps them gain a lot of perspective about the basics of law. Thus, after knowing the various aspects of the law, they would be ready to work as an independent lawyer. The options are plenty when it comes to the different branches of law one can practice in.
Government Services
Law students can also opt to join Government Services after completing their LLB course. If they prepare themselves well, they would be eligible for Indian Legal Services and the various posts that it offers. This covers Legislative Counsel in the Legislative department and Legal advisors in the Department of Legal Affairs.
This requires the law aspirants to qualify the exam held by the Public Service Commission. A number of legislative counsels are appointed under the legislative department Hindi as well as regional languages.
Those who are qualified would also be eligible to join the Air Force, Indian Army, and the Navy. They would also be eligible to appear for the exams like HAS and IAS organized by UPSC (Union Public Service Commission) or SPSC (State Public Service Commission). Moreover, they also have the option of becoming an Assistant Public Prosecution or Public Prosecutor.
The law graduates can study in detail about the Indian Constitution, about powers and functions of government, how government works and many other things in detail which will make it easy for them to crack these exams after some preparations. And, they can also become Public Prosecutor or Assistant Public Prosecution.
For this, after gaining some experience from the practice, they are appointed through an examination conducted by the Union Public Service Commission or by the State Public Service Commission.
Legal Advisor
After completing their LL.B., students can become a legal advisor or join law firms, private companies, corporate firms or banks. They can provide advice on various legal matters. Furthermore, their legal expertise could also be used in NGOs. These provide their clients with legal advisory services. They also assist people to make the correct decision in a given situation. So it is that, most large corporations and government organizations hire legal advisors.
Judiciary
Law students are also free to work for the Judicial machinery of the country as a Judge or Magistrate. For this, they need to pass a Judicial examination conducted by the Public Service Commission, which is a very difficult exam to pass.
Right from the lowest post of the Magistrate, Subjudge or Munsif, they are all filled up by the latest recruitments through Public Service Commission or by the supervision of High Court. Generally, the Magistrate judges the Criminal cases and the Sub Judge decides the Civil Cases. And, through promotion, these judges can become district judges and also attain higher posts.
These judges would be able to gain promotion based on their experience and seniority. The initial requirement of these posts is an LLB degree from an approved University and the candidate should not have crossed the limit of 35 years of age.
Teaching
Law students with impressive academic ability and with the skill of explaining and narrating different topics to a group of people are good fits to become a lecturer in one of the best-recognized Universities or a top Law College of the country. The law graduates can do LL.M. and start their academic career as Assistant Professor in academics after qualifying the National Eligibility Test ( NET) .
Legal Outsourcing
Legal outsourcing refers to the practice of a law firm that acquires legal services from an external firm. This service is typically called off-sharing if the outsourced entity has its origins in another country.
This is one of the fields where the potential has not been reached fully. There are a number of opportunities for the people of the country to grab the openings in this field.
Private Companies
There is also great scope for law graduates to join private firms spread across the country. Here, they can choose to become the legal advisor and help the company with legal decisions. In case one is looking for a well-paid job, they can get an MBA after their LLB.
This way, they would be able to get a dual position in companies. Firstly, they could work as legal advisors. Secondly, they would be able to take part in the business administration. The dual opportunity will guarantee excellent pay package for the employees.
Writer of Law Books /Reports /Journalist
If a student excels at writing and understands the law well, then this profession is the right one for him/her. If they are capable of writing and editing law books used by law students or if they are able to write legal reports for various publications or newspapers, this job would fit them well. They can also work with a journalist as a guide who guides them all the time.
Legal Analyst
Law graduates could join law firms or corporate firm and conduct analyses regarding the law sphere relating to the company and its functions. The position requires aspirants to own a license in order to practice law.
Legal Analysts also have the capability to assist in drafting various legal documents and also assists attorneys. In the case of financial law, this is a great option to explore. It also requires one to be really analytical and organizational along with the great athlete.
Legal Researcher
A legal researcher, by definition, is someone who is responsible for researching various cases and finding ways to win a case. It includes general topics regarding the laws. To put it differently, they are the ones that the lawyers hire in order to gain a deeper insight into the cases and legal nuances. Therefore, this is also an interesting profession for one if he/she is an LLB graduate.
Politics
If one is interested in taking part in the governance of the country or if one has a political background, they can enter politics if they are an LLB graduate. This is helped by the fact that they will have deep knowledge regarding all three domains of the government, i.e. Legislature, Executive and Judiciary. This empowers them to contribute actively to the nation and become a politician.
Here, it may be noted that in India, joining politics does not mandate any educational qualification. Nevertheless, there are several top political leaders in the country who are law graduates.
Moreover, Indian political history is the best proof for the fact that the lawyers are the best politicians out there. The point to remember here is that the 250-member Assembly that formed the Constitution comprised entirely of lawyers. Therefore, studying LLB is one of the best options if one has an interest in pursuing politics.
Remuneration
The remuneration that are available in the field of law is dependent on the type of career one chooses. And, to talk of government jobs, there would be many additional benefits apart from the basic pay, as well.
Indeed, the government servants get a considerably good salary package in the country. As regards the other professions, even though private, they also earn a significant amount of money.
Conclusion
Overall, completing an LL.B. is one of the first steps to a successful career as there are numerous opportunities for aspiring students to pursue a successful career. So, one should know the options well, and choose wisely before they take up a career path.