The ambition to be in the legal profession is usually drawn from inspiration. Most law aspirants find their inspiration either from their family member or any fictional character or because they feel the idea of choosing a career will make a difference in the society.

Develop Good Communication skills:  Lawyers must have excellent verbal and written skills. During conversations, you should communicate concisely, listen actively, and avoid multitasking.

Be Innovative: Lawyers should be open to creative and reasonable solutions. You should be willing to create and adopt effective and cost-efficient processes in servicing your clients.

Be Persistent: Lawyers should be single-minded and determined to forge through most difficult cases and obtain a positive result.

Attitude is Everything. Lawyers should be enthusiastic and energetic to demonstrate a real interest in their field.

How to get into Law school?

First hurdle is entrance exam that needs to be cleared to gain admission into a good and reputed law school. The most required ones are – CLAT (For most National Law Schools), AILET (NLU-Delhi), LSAT (scores accepted by various colleges like IIT Kharagpur’s Law School, OP Jindal Global University, Amity Law School, etc.).

Beside this, you also need to know which course to opt for. The 5-year Integrated Graduate Degree comprises, Bachelor of Law coupled with other disciplines like B. A, B.Sc., B. Com and B.B.A. Students can choose their subjects based on their interest and the stream studied by them at the HSC level. The 3-year law degree can be pursued by a graduate from any discipline.

Eligibility for law school

3 years LL. B program: You need to have graduation in any discipline from a recognized College/University, having minimum 45% marks in aggregate for general category and 40% marks in aggregate for SC/ST category.

LLB course (5-year Integrated):  You need to qualify the entrance test (CLAT for NLU’s, AILET for NLU Delhi) for admission in LLB courses. A lot of reputed colleges have their own entrance tests also.

Top 10 law schools in India

Following are the top 10 law schools in India according to the National Institutional Ranking Framework of the year 2021.

1. National Law School of India Bengaluru (NLSIU University)

National Law School of India University was the first National Law University established in India to introduce legal education reforms. NLS Bangalore is the leader and top ranking college in the field of legal education in India for more than 30 years. NLSIU is at 1^st position in the National Institutional Ranking Framework in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021. The institute accepts student from the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT).  It charges 2.75 lakhs per annum for an integrated 5-year law course.

2. National Law University (NLU) New Delhi

National Law University, Delhi is one of the premier law colleges with own entrance test (AILET) and is ranked at 5,611st position in the world. The All India Law Entrance Test (AILET) is conducted for admission into undergraduate (UG), postgraduate (PG) and doctorate (PhD) level law courses.

3. NALSAR University of Law Hyderabad

National Academy of Legal Studies and Research is a National Law University located in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. It is a public law school and offers five-year BA LLB course. The university gives admission to students based on CLAT exam and the fees is about 2.24 lakhs for first year.

4. National University of Juridical Sciences (NUJS), West Bengal

West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences is a leading law school in India located in Salt Lake City of Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Students can take admission after qualifying CLAT with a fee structure for first year is 2.44 lakhs in an integrated law course.

5. Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IITK)

Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur is the first law school to be established in an Indian Institute of Technology, located in Kharagpur, West Bengal, India. The institute conduct their own entrance exam in which 70% weightage is given to computer-based entrance test and 30% is given to interview. It charges 1.33 lakhs per year.

6. National Law University Gujarat

National Law University Gujarat is a highly rated law college in Gandhi Nagar in Gujarat. This university and college was established under the Gujarat National Law University Act, 2003. The University gives admission based on CLAT score with a per year fee structure of 2.37 lakhs per year.

7. Jamia Millia Islamia

Jamia Millia Islamia is a deemed university, with a deemed status given by University Grants Commission in 1962 and is located in New Delhi. The university has its own entrance exam for admission in law. The total fee per year is 80k.

8. National Law University Jodhpur

National Law University Jodhpur, is highly rated premier law school situated in Jodhpur. The University was established by the Rajasthan government under the National Law University Jodhpur Act 1999. Admissions to the college are strictly based on CLAT score with a fee structure for integrated course is 1.44 lakhs per year.

9. Symbiosis Law School Pune

Symbiosis Law School (SLS), is a private college, situated in Pune. Symbiosis International University is approved by UGC and Bar Council of India and operates various law schools across India and abroad. The college offers various law course across diploma, undergraduate, postgraduate and research programs and offers multiple specialization options. Admissions to various law courses (BALLB, BBA LLB, etc) in Symbiosis Law School are based on results of Symbiosis Law Aptitude Test (SLAT).

10. Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology

Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology, is a private owned deemed university located in Bhubaneswar Odisha, India. The university conducts their own entrance exam called KIITEE law exam and an aspirant must qualify it to take admission in it and it charges 1.70 lakhs for admission in a law course.

The law degree enables people with knowledge of dealing with real-life and challenging issues, understanding human logic, and analysing real life cases along with logical clarity. One can pursue law after graduation or ever after high school by taking admission in an integrated program. There are few common entrance exams like CLAT, but some universities have their own entrance test like KIITEE law exam.