I am a young lawyer from Kolkata. I passed out in 2015 with a first class. I am very good at research and argumentation. After passing out, I enrolled myself in the bar and cleared the bar exam at first attempt in 2015. I then enrolled myself in Kolkata high court. I long to practice at high court. This is the sole reason why I enrolled there and still go there but since the court is overpopulated with lawyers (over 5000), I don’t get a seat in the bar. I used to roam in the corridor or I sit with 4th grade stuffs.
I then try my luck at lower courts. There I did not get any seniors. I was told by senior lawyers that there is no such thing as senior-junior relationship. Actually if you have your relatives (father-mother-uncle) as lawyer then only can you have a senior. Else you go to hell. This is their language in particular. Most senior lawyer discouraged me to practice there. They told that in this court there is no case. Go to somewhere else, preferably high court. (Well, then what you old punk are doing here?). Some senior lawyers help their sons and daughters and their friends in front of me without even telling me a bit of their cases. Such is the nepotism of court. There was one person I knew personally, a tout, told me that I should bring case to him and he will show me how to file a case. Why I should learn the art of advocacy from a tout and not from a senior lawyer? I do not understand.
To come to lies, lawyers are liars. I am not mocking my own profession but I see how to lie 24/7 in this profession from lower court senior lawyers. You have to lie every second, minute, hour to everybody, even to the junior lawyer who is of your son’s age. And also I had seen how male lawyers harass female lawyers. One senior lawyer, who was 80 years old, cut jokes about a young female lawyer in front of me. That kind of jokes, not even my own father who is 80 years old will tell to me. That kind of jokes was only told by the rustiest street Romeos to passerby girls. Why they used to harass their female colleague that way? Is it jealousy? Why they are jealous? why they cut such a joke in front of a newcomer like me ? Are they trying to tell me that I should harass the same way ? Probably. Nice lesson from a senior lawyer for a junior.
In high court if you don’t have senior, you won’t have a practice. Again, if you don’t have uncle lawyer, you don’t have senior. It is the same old damn situation of lower court. Oh, something I have to tell you guys. I have seen a new breed of lawyers. They are tout lawyer. Confused? A man can either be a lawyer or be a tout. How come he becomes both? Yeah, but it is true. They got cases showing their degree and then they bring those cases to a senior lawyer who used to plead. This is a tout lawyer. I think the face of the legal profession changes a lot.
Not a single word from senior lawyers, only there is demand for cases. You bring cases; I will fight it and eat the money. You have only the experience of carrying loads of files and announcing before learned judge that my senior is coming. If your senior lawyer is your relative, then only you learn something. Such is the condition of court now-a-days.
Many senior advocates advised me that if I join a political party I will get bunch of cases. It means that I have to join a goon of thugs to be a good lawyer. Many of these advocates are members of political party. Most of these lawyers use to gherao the judge, harass judge , insult the bench, lodge fake cases at the instance of the party. Why should I do this things ?
Disappointed, I move towards law books. Law book sellers have unshakable assumption that lawyers are the richest men in the world. So they charge high price for law books. The minimum price of a good law book on a topic is Rs.500. the journals are over Rs. 1000 or Rs.2000. Although very costly, I started to buy them. They are of great help to me. Some of them teach a little bit about advocacy, some teach me about forensic science, some about investigation. One thing is sure. Books are man’s best friend. Some of the good books are:
1] Advocacy by Harris
2] Advocacy from preparation to performance by Hugh Selby
These 2 are perhaps best books of advocacy. Another book which is suitable to Indian legal atmosphere is :
3] Legal confidential by ranjeev c dubey
Then I turn to sites like LCI. The greatest help I get is the help I get from LCI. I can advice a huge number of cases, research a huge number of cases and that is exactly what I always wanted. I personally thank the admin of LCI to give such a help to people like me.
I have experience for law firms too. Bad experience. They wanted the recommendation of judges of high court. Why? Because then only I can win cases for them. Without such relation I cannot even enter as trainee lawyer. If you have an uncle lawyer in those firm, he/she can pull you in. I have neither. So I was kicked out.
In every other option like law officer, bank panel lawyer, law professor etc. You need two things: experience for years and recommendation from a powerful man. Otherwise you are out.
I have only one big question. Why they don’t tell me about these entire thing when I went to enroll myself for LLB. ? Why they show bright picture at the time of enrollment? Is marketing everything in the world? There was a bunch of liars called marketing people at every law school who will show you rosy picture of legal career to lure you to join the llb. Later when you pass out, you will see the true picture. You see how gloomy the picture is. How bad the world is. But it’s too late then.
I write all these to inform the students about their future which they face if they don’t have uncle lawyers.
