5 Years a Law Slave

The student body in college is phenomenal- college administration much less so. Nonetheless, opportunities and freedom abound, so you have the chance to make yourself into someone admirable, or totally go down the drain- end of the day, the choice is yours.

I took the CLAT in 2013, with a score of 118 and a rank of 750. RML is ranked the 6th best NLU, and I chose the college for its proximity to my extended family.

The course is well structured, and examines broad and applications of law. Even though as a subject it is vast, the syllabus is designed in order to make students familiar with almost all the fundamentals of the vast variety of legal practice.

There is an Internship Committee, and stipends depend upon the work of the candidate in question. Several tier 1 and tier 2 firms, think tanks and lawyers are approached for internships, and these provide a great learning experience and very useful contacts.

Most students prefer to litigate. Out of the 40 odd students who sit for corporate placements, at least 25 are placed. Detailed placement statistics are made available on the college website. Several think tanks, lawyers and corporate hire law graduates. You can even appear for all government competitive exams, be part of corporate legal counselling, or be in policy formulation analysis. Several NGOs and political parties look to law graduates for placements and pay well.

The college hosts a national moot court competition. There is also a national parliamentary debate competition, a national client counselling competition, a mediation competition and a sports fest. There is also a legal aid clinic. Intra events include a literary fest, street football leagues, basketball tournament, debate and moot intras, etc.

For my batch, the fee structure is fairly reasonable. For successive batches there has been a significant fee hike. I'm guessing that the fee now is 1 lakh yearly, however for us it is only 40k. So now the fee structure is expensive, but several scholarships and education loans are available. If it is any compensation, the infrastructure is worth way more than you pay in fees. The library is state of the art, the hostels are spacious, the gym and sports fields are professional, there is a swimming pool and shopping complex. Lecture halls are very comfortable.

The state government releases several scholarships for BPL and reservation students. The college partners with the IDIA group NGOs for access to legal education for those unable to afford it.

The gender ratio is almost 1:1, and students come from diverse backgrounds and geographical areas. There has been no incident of any kind of conflict between students over cause of background- in fact, students have banded together very often when there have been any cases of discrimination and aught justice. Such is the life of a law school. The student body is fairly open and accepting, it is of course college. The college hosts a national moot court competition. There is also a national parliamentary debate competition, a national client counselling competition, a mediation competition and a sports fest. There is also a legal aid clinic. The national events are top notch, but several times, the Intra events have received greater fanfare and attention.

Hostel facilities are great. No AC, but the upkeep and buildings are in good condition. A cleaning staff comes in daily, and the rooms are spacious. Sharing is only required for first years, after which you get your own single room. Food is edible to revolting, but mess fees are negligible, so that is to be expected.

The alumni network is very open and helpful, and the alumnus association frequently sponsors teams going for international competitions, and regularly offer internship and job opportunities.

Exams happen once a Semester. A continual assessment through research projects is encouraged, and most professors engage in the same. Examinations are end Semester, and carry 70 marks.20 marks come from research projects. The research projects carry marks for discussions, topic development and oral presentations. A rather strange practice of marks for attendance exists however. Basically, a student with above 90 percent gets 10 marks. 80 and above, 8 marks. Anyone lower gets 4-6 marks.

The Common Law Aptitude Test (CLAT) is a rigorous competive exam which nearly 60,000 people write. A two hour exam tests math, GK, english, legal aptitude and logical reasoning. You get National Law Universities based on rank and preferences. There are no interviews and group discussions, however you must have a rudimentary understanding of the law to be able to score well.

The faculty is average to poor in terms of teaching ability. It takes dedicated self studying to stay on top of your subjects, although most faculty are cooperative with student development. Several of the faculty however are certified experts in their subjects, and a conversation with any one of them is very elucidating.