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Getting started Why this book?

Law school is not an easy place. After struggling for a year or two, and overcoming numerous hurdles when you land up in the world of your dreams, you realise that the battle has just began. Coming from a school and the comfortable environment of a home (unless you went to a boarding school) one feels like stepping into a hot cauldron of expectations, academic pressure, opportunities of every kind and a feeling of hanging from a cliff.

A law school puts a lot of intelligent, hard working, very ambitious and competitive kids together within a small campus, and then puts them through an academic grind. The institution will also give you lots of exposure to things that everyone wants to achieve, and you will be competing some more. One of the most difficult things will be managing the people, you so called friends. Due to the residential nature of most law schools, living in a law school is like living in a medieval village there is a lot of interaction with other people living on the campus, and everyone knows intimate details of your life, whether you like that or not. Very often, the most successful people in law school are also the most disliked.

You would want different things at different points in law school. Most of us have gone through those phases and we have achieved some of those and lost out on others. I started writing about my findings and experiments on A First Taste of Law in 2007 my second year in law school. Others joined in over time and started writing great posts on life in law school. Srishti started writing for A First Taste of Law and then started her own blog LawSchoolsTerrace later.

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This summer Srishti came up with the great idea of compiling the best posts so that law students can find all the great ideas, solutions, insights and hacks we have come up with over the years can be found in one e-book. Kudos to her for the brainwave.We have decided to go a step further with this and publish a book, which will be a heavily edited, more elaborate and mature version of this e-book. Be generous of your feedback, and let us know what other subjects you will like to be covered in the final version. The search for publishers is on; anyone interested can contact us at this email: srishti@ipleaders.in and info@ipleaders.in.

What qualifies us to write this book? We have heard a lot of anonymous cowards shout on forums like Legallyindia and Barnadbench calling others self imposed experts. Well, no we do not have degrees or certificates to show for our qualification to write about the law school life. Last time I heard, no one has been issuing such certificates. We are as qualified as any senior sharing their experience and insights with a junior. We have lived our respective law school lives, and we have lived t well. Whether we have been good at it or not, let our writing give you an idea about that.

We also suggest that you subscribe for the updates on our blogs, links of which are on the footer or every page of this book. Keep an eye out for good posts, let us know what you like and what you would like to read more about. I love to connect with my readers and understand my writing from their point of view, so feel free to add me on social media websites like Facebook and LinkedIn to discuss this book or other blogposts.

All the best for the glorious days ahead of you in law school!

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Compiled By-

SRISHTI A. SHRIVASTAVA
*Posts from Law Schools Terrace and A First Taste of Law

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Chapter

Page No.

1. Mantra to live in law school- know how to hack the law school system 1.1 Preparing yourself for law school before you enter 1.2 Dos and Donts of Law School

6 6 13

2. Psychology of a law school student- The change in thought process

15

3. Handle Ragging- First thing you face in law school

18

4. How to write tutorials/ project/ research proposal- You need to know how to write those thousands of word without subjecting yourself to the menace of plagiarism 4.1 Handling tutorials 4.2 How to research and write projects 4.3 How to make research proposal

25

25 29 36

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5. Academic help for first years- Know how to deal with the first year law subjects

39

6. Mooting- The buzz word you are going to hear very often 6.1 To moot or not to moot 6.2 Mooting tips

44 44 49

7.Handling life in Law School 7.1 Dont be a nobody in lawschool- pursue your passion 7.2 Want to live life your own way- Know how to tackle law school 7.3 When you are tired of all the hoopla about law school- just say Fuck it 7.4Learn to make contacts- you will realise the importance of networking once you get into law school 7.5 Learn the eternal laws of help seeking in law school 7.6 Hack your law school exam

54 54 56 60 62

65 70

8. Insiders story 8.1 Diary of a lawschool fresher I 8.2 Diary of a Law School Fresher II 8.3 Sail like Sindbad- through the lawschool

73 73 78 83

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1. Mantra to live in Law School


1.1. Preparing Yourself for Law School- Before You Enter

How one can prepare for law school until you actually join a law school. The first task is to understand law school a little and what makes it tick.

Yes, law school is a strange place to figure out, especially when you are in the first semester. Also note that everyone who goes to law school doesn't do well. There are people who fail year after year, screws up their mind and body due to excessive use of all sort of intoxicants, some just fail to adjust with the competitive life and hard schedule and still there are other people who doesn't fail, doesn't dope, doesn't learn anything either but lives on in the campus for 5 years to realise in the end that they had their chance but they miserably wasted it.

The truth is, you have a dream of making it big in life, and so you have worked hard for months to get through to a good college. Good colleges include other law colleges apart from law schools, like Symbiosis or ILS, Pune. You are paying a considerable chunk of money as fees. The best reason to perform well,

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however, is that you have a great advantage once you are in a law school: you get phenomenal exposure no matter what is your aim. It could be advocacy (initially in form of mooting), debating, writing, photography, journalism, management or entrepreneurship - whatever is your passion, you are likely find a lot of opportunities to develop your skills.

Why do people from law schools do well, not only in law but in a lot of other things? The answer is sort of intuitive. Firstly, you shall find people of very diverse interests, people of great caliber all around you - learning violin or playing piano, directing theatres, setting up businesses, learning foreign languages. Living with a lot of intelligent, competitive and highly active young people can have a very positive effect on you (for some people it doesn't). Secondly, there are some basic, foundational skills that are key ingredients for success, no matter what you do,these are ability to research, ability to express yourself professionally and clearly in writing and oral speech, which we can call communication skills, and ability to collaborate with others. When combined with qualities like perseverance, and willingness to take up responsibility, these give anyone a winning edge. Its a rare and valuable combination.

In a law school, somehow most students end up with good research skills. An essential part of this is to know how to use technology and the internet for research. Research is not an academic ability - it is more of a life skill. When I say one should know how to research I do not mean ability to look through hundreds of pages or webpages, assimilating information, or knowing it all. If you can, and you do look up the medicine your doctor prescribed to you on Wikipedia to understand it, or if you did look up the internet for tips on how to manage your time and found a

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good solution suitable for you, if you look up Google maps to get an idea about the place where you are going for a trip, you know how to research. You would then also be able to locate a piece of information on the internet, or in law books that is needed for your client. Or the crucial strategy for buying shares in the stock market. If you know how to research, you would find out what is it that law firms like Clifford Chance want in a law graduate. You would also dig up ten ways to learn French even if you can not go to a brick and mortar language school for want of time. Then you would find out that any lawyer knowing Chinese or Russian is guaranteed to get a job no matter how bad their grades are in law school. For a good researcher, there is always a way.

And then there are communication skills. Key to successful communication is clarity and confidence. Clarity of thought is developed through analytical exercises, and you get to do that plenty if you are remotely interested in what is happening in your law school. Then comes the part where you convey these clear thoughts - that requires some amount of speaking or writing skills - these are purely technical and transferable skills, can be learnt very fast,maybe in a day if you put your mind to it and find the right resources. Then you get ample practice in a law school. In classrooms, then debates and moots, all the fighting that takes place in different committee meetings and the general politics that goes on. It prepares you almost for anything in life.

Confidence - I put down all my success to this attribute. There were bad times, times in which i took bad hits, there was a time when I couldn't speak English, so couldn't moot; or perhaps was ridiculed for lack of social grace. I could have decided that I am worse than the people ridiculing

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me or winning over me and that is the natural order of things. Or I could have fought with them on the spot and do nothing to improve myself thereafter. I was saved by my confidence, which made taking either of these courses impossible and unnecessary. Fighting was redundant - I knew I am far more superior [at least it helped to think so :P] - just that I didn't have the right opportunities yet. I told myself I shall do better than anyone else - and I worked on it. Frankly, it was not all that hard work once I genuinely believed in myself. As confidence increased, so did my rate of success, especially when it comes to people.

No one likes a guy who does not appear confident while he communicates, or works together. Lets say you want your work done. If someone says he will get it done, and another person says he will try, who will you give the work to? However, its not just what you say but how you say it that matters the most. The person hearing your answer also notices the movement of your fingers, or hand gesture, hears the hint of doubt in your voice. If not consciously, then unconsciously one puts all these into making a decision about a person. Read MalcomGladwell here for a better understanding of this phenomenon, and his theory on how people judge a stranger with a blink!

Believing in your abilities matters a lot because faking genuine confidence and more than that hiding, genuine anxiety or lack of confidence is extremely difficult. Law schools give you this confidence. It makes you think, falsely in most cases, that you are better than others out there. You have a financially secure world waiting for you at the end of five years. Your law school education is your ticket for a high flying life. You 'deserve' a good job. This belief is reinforced

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in every law-schoolite year after year, and as a result they are more confident than the average people they encounter. That translates into a lot of advantage during giving interviews, handling clients, networking, requesting a contact for a help, in almost every aspect of a professional life, even if you are not working in law firms - confidence is a self-fulfilling prediction, like a bank run.

The ones, who dont do well, were confident and hopeful of a good career, they were elated to beat thousands of others to secure a law school seat too, and its just that they lost their confidence along the way somewhere. Maybe it was a bad end term, maybe it was a rude rejection from a person one adores, maybe it was just the pressure of assignments - when one loses the belief that they are one of the best, or that they have potential to become the best, or at least that they are quite on the heels of the best, in some aspect of life or the other - they lose their way.

There is an easy way to test if you are confident. Can you walk up to the prettiest/wisest/most dangerous guy/girl you know and simply ask him/her to help you with something? It takes a lot of confidence to ask for help from anyone, more so when you consider someone to be good, or famous, or doing well, in fact better than you. Can you ask a senior who graduated for help with an internship? Most people in law schools, despite their generally higher level of confidence, can not. Maybe this is so because confidence is relative in social situations, you are more confident when you are dealing with a beggar than when you are speaking to the queen, right? In reality, it is more important to be confident while you are speaking to the queen,in all probability, more

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rewarding too. Those who consciously or unconsciously manage to be relatively more confident, increase their probability of success. In fact, it is better to be arrogant than being nervous. Of course, true confidence will also lead one to be polite and fun to be with.

So what can you do to improve your chances of doing well in law school apart from understanding the importance of things like research, communication skills and confidence? You can start improving them right away. Not in the unconscious, shaky or sometimes incomplete way in which it happens to most law schoolites, but by taking conscious steps. Learn to research. Start searching internet for all the information you need, for every question that crops up in your mind. Learn to use search engines like Google in the best way. Its not just about putting in some words and clicking search - you need to know different advanced search functions, you need to know how to filter results, how to patiently go through search results till you find what you need. Do it and you will learn it; it doesn't take a boot camp to learn to research.

Start right now by searching for ways to improve your communication skills or confidence level. Don't be happy with the first relevant results you see, look till you are convinced that you have found the best solution available out there, or something that perfectly caters to your needs. Look through the commercials and advertisements for courses and you shall find great free content. Try changing your keywords and search again and again till then. And start talking to people if you already don't. Don't just yap but have good conversations - people with social skills (like your conversationist cousin or chatty class mate) are just the ones with these three essential skills - research, communication and confidence. They have enough to speak about, they can speak it

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well, and they have the confidence to go talk to the right people. You will see this sort of people will also be the first people to get recruited. Developing your social skills involve practising all these three essentials, so you can take that up as a challenge. If you are good, you can still improve and invest on it now that you know what gets you success.

One way to increase confidence is to learn new skills. Learn piano for the next 6 months, or do a basic course in German. The ensuing surge in confidence could define your career in law school and later.

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1.2. Dos and Don'ts of Law School


-Srishti A. Shrivastava

What should you expect from law school? Law School selects the best of best students. No one is less than anyone, so when you enter law school, expect cut throat competition. You might be a stud debater in your school but you may not find a place in college debate team. Initially, academics will be really a pain, cases to read, projects to make, you will be introduced to luminaries such as Mulla, Seervai and terms like Plagiarism, Footnoting, Memorial, Authorities etc. etc., it will take time to get the hang of these things.

Expect people from diverse background and way of life, you will see people from all over the India and an amalgamation of culture. You will find myriad variety of person, good people, bad people, and teetotaller to alcoholic to drug addicts. It depends entirely on you that which kind of people you select to hang out with.

Expect plethora of opportunities to excel, be it in moot, debate, theatres, sports etc. You will get opportunity to write for major journal, attend big conferences, and listen to famous public figure.

Dos and Donts of law school

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Do sink into the environment of law school as soon as possible. The more time you take to adjust to the ambience, more time you waste which you could have used productively.

Law school offers ample opportunities. Do avail them. Identify your area of interest. You dont need to be jack of all trades but be a master of one. Develop expertise in your field of interest.

Do identify seniors and people who can help you and guide with your academics. I would have been no where if I would not have got right guidance from my seniors. Make good friends and productive contacts. Be good at networking.

Dont get petrified by tough competition. Dont retreat. Many a times it happens, the cut throat competition and a feeling that you might fail scares the shit out of a person. Dont be scared. Be wise enough to ask your seniors about how they dealt with the academics and co- curricular in their first year.

Even if you dont succeed at first, dont give up, be patient, work your way up, you will certainly succeed. All the very best for your law school life!

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2. Change in Thought Process in Law School


-AditiChoudhary

Law School offers diverse environment, pressure, cut throat competition, insecurities, decision making, peer influences, and above all your struggle for making your own identity. Thats what college life is all about, right? Most of us end up taking important decisions of our lives in this phase in some way or the other, laws school or no law school. But what I believe is that law schools are capable of influencing the whole thought process of an individual in a much more radical fashion.

Law schools, through their curriculum itself have a capability to influence your perception because of the direct connection it has with the general lifestyle. You can connect what you study here to your general psychology much easily than the other specific technical courses. A wide expanse of the world and its systems is unfolded in front of you, as a result of which your mind develops much higher standards of rationality. Most of my peers agree with me on this respect! Vigilance is another dimension which is added and developed here. You gradually become aware of the world around you. Legal education mostly deals with describing how the socio political world around us functions. This is further synchronized with practical experiences

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and live opportunities of application. And when I talk about application here, I am not talking about just internships and work experience. The world itself is your field in this case. What law teaches you is to identify yourself as a significant unit if this field and make you own perception of it.

And while doing this, you get a lot of options to consider. You have a diverse crowd all around you, facilitating a sea of opinions, probabilities and possibilities on a certain question. Your thinking is influenced by these varied opinions which on one hand may develop a sense of receptiveness with respect to new ideas and on the other hand provide ample options to choose from while forming an opinion of your own. But this is not as easy as it sounds. The options although extend your area of thinking and improve your quality of decisions but make the decision making itself a hard nut to crack. This trait of decision making comes afresh to most of us in this phase of life, and suddenly we are left alone to decide the future course of our lives all by ourselves. Conflicts may arise, are bound to arise. As such, you learn to identify yourself as an individual. You learn to apply a sort of cost benefit analysis in deciding the orientation of your life, understanding the opportunity cost of each choice foregone.

The atmosphere forces you to adapt and decide. You can dodge this no longer cause you got to survive here. Its at this phase you see Darwins principles in full application. Law schools often make you see the world in a miniature form and prepare you for survival before you actually experience it. With people influencing you, evaluating you and competing with you constantly,

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you gradually realise the worth of your individuality, your efforts. This evolves you into an independent thinker.

Here, you just cant live with the fact that you lack confidence, that you are and going to remain academically mediocre, that your intellect is just average, and so on. This place teaches you to get up and turn the tables to your side, one way or the other. Of course different phenomenon works differently on different individuals. For instance, seeing some cut throat stuff, some may have a defense approach towards it while some may join the league. But important point here is that you learn to live with it.

There is something here that makes you someone worth being followed than a mere follower, a person who can influence rather than get influenced, who can turn every bias in the world to help him in his goals. Life in a law school may prove a survival kit when it comes to going out andsustaining in the real world. At the end, I wont leave you with something you should do to do better in law school. I dont need to. Law school forces are already working on you for that. So just take the lead and get going. Instead I will leave you with a quote I came across while preparing for my law entrances, which is proving itself true every instance:

Good law schools teach you to think like a lawyer, but the best law schools teach you to think and thats what makes the difference

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3. Handle Ragging
-Jenisha Parikh

I distinctly remember that my parents were overwhelmed with worries and anxieties when I was supposed to leave for college. One of their major worries was ragging. Well. Its not difficult to understand why. Havent you heard all those horrific ragging stories? How people had to leave the colleges of their choice due to ragging? Probably you should not believe all of them, but well, lets face it: no matter how much the law schools boast of having strict antiragging policies, ragging (or the politically correct version of it called positive interaction) takes place in every law college, and even the most elite law schools. Maybe more in the elite law schools, for most of them are residential. Ragging may pick up a very different dimension and scale if you have to live with your seniors within the same hostel, away from your parents or family who would usually support you in times of trouble.

Need you be worried? The good news is that usually the ragging that takes place in law schools is not the sort of ragging that is reported by the media. Note that never any horrific incident from one of the elite law schools have been reported yet. Most law schools have a strict anti-ragging policy and

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committees in place to investigate and deal with any complaints. In fact, since the recent Supreme Court Judgments and tough legal stance taken by government, law schools have been a little paranoid about ragging. As a result, you shall hear in most of the law schools that there is no ragging, just positive interaction which helps the seniors and the freshers to get to know each other.

Usually, during positive interaction, the freshers may be asked to dance/sing/imitate someone/give answer to awkward questions. Generally everyone is asked to introduce themselves. This may be followed by a group of seniors asking a series of questions the questions often border on outrageous, offending, and funny. Most of the times, it is all clean fun, and does not end up in humiliation of the junior being ragged. But well, not everyone is the same and some people do tend to cross a line. In a law school at least, I would expect a senior to show you the way even if you find yourself in an awkward situation. If other seniors cross a line, most often one of their peers will get things under control. It is very rarely that one may find oneself in one of those truly tragic situations, where you are mistreated or badly behaved with. Well, it is generally nothing that you cannot handle with grace, given that you understand the psychology that goes behind ragging, arrogant seniors and mentally prepared for this kind of situations. It is just another social situation where you are interacting with a bunch of strangers, who not necessarily have anything against you, but will like to prove their superiority in front of you and their peers. You can let them have their way as long as it is not insulting or humiliating for you, and if crosses a certain line, youd have to take a different strategy. At least now, the law and the general sympathy is very much on your side, so I do not see any need to panic!

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What are the types of ragging you may face? We have divided different types of raggings/positive interactions in a few categories based on degree and the intention of the seniors:

1. Good intentioned, fun interaction: the most common form of ragging in law schools. This is what positive interaction should be. Seniors ask funny, intelligent questions. Gives group tasks. Asks people to sing and dance. This is a nice way of getting to know your seniors, and classmates too. Most likely you shall be part of one of these sessions, just do whatever you are asked to do. Probably you shall enjoy it too unless you are very sensitive/introvert. Realise one thing, no one is forcing you to do anything, and you know that no one will prevent you from walking away. But that will leave a bad impression on everyone else; people will see your reaction as socially unacceptable.

I have seen students getting offended by the smallest of tasks like dancing, which is quite unwarranted. Yes, it may put you out of your comfort zone, but that is the whole point. It is a socially challenging situation for you, but this is one of the best environments for you to learn how to deal with such pressure. In real life, you shall face a plenty of humiliating situations with teachers, in front of your boss, maybe when the result comes out would you cry and run away and hide? If you raise a hue and cry about such small things, you will definitely come under the scanner for being too fussy and snobbish. Not only in college, but in all social circumstances. Moreover, your seniors will not like you and

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you do not need that! It is actually due to this positive interaction that you end up sharing a great bond with those same seniors! I have seen many freshers taking full advantage of these positive interactions by entertaining the seniors well and giving them an impression of being a sporty junior. It is safe to do as directed in such harmless sessions of positive interaction.

2. Stupid senior, trying to establish his superiority: This can get frustrating. You see a dumb guy, trying to act smart, or prove a point. Play along as long as they are not getting abusive. If you think they are doing it too much, be very tactful, and leave soon. Maybe take their permission before you leave. Well, you dont have to show them their place, not yet. Maybe after a couple of months if they keep badgering you, go for it.

3. A group of feminist women: they will catch hold of you, and after asking the general stuff like whats your name, how many siblings they will start asking you things like do you think women are better than men? Do you think a man should beat up his wife if she engages in adultery? And other questions in that line. Say only politically correct things. If you do not know what is politically correct, just say I believe in equality. Just that.

4. A bunch of drunken guys: Tricky. Very tricky. Say that you need to go to toilet, or that you are getting a call from dad, and disappear. You dont want to be there for long. If you cant escape, keep quiet. Dont say more than one or two word, that too only as answers.

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Just keep quiet and get away at the earliest opportunity. If things go out of hand, just run. Next day these guys will probably apologise anyway, but you need not depend on a drunken mans sense of civility.

5. Sadist, frustrated people: There are always some people who are miserable themselves and are hell bent on making others miserable. These guys jump up in joy when they see the freshers: a clueless, helpless lot, easy preys. They ask people to hump the wall, walk on the cornice, or to kiss an electric bulb. Force people to drink and smoke. These are the people who are the real reason we needed to have an anti-ragging law. Well, in the law schools that I know about such behaviour is not acceptable. If someone asks you to do such things, outright refuse to do it. They will probably be abusive too, if you indeed have the misfortune of meeting such people. Try to be as polite as possible, leave the place as soon as you can. They are unlikely to do too much, as there is enough pressure from all quarters against such activity. You can even drop a mail to me; Ill get you in touch with people in your law school who can help you.

I will be very surprised if any senior this year prove to be so stupid as to get drunk and beat up juniors in name of ragging, given that they have 90% chance of getting expelled for the same. Nevertheless, Id rather that you are prepared for the worst. If you are physically manhandled, or hit what should you do? Run away, of course! Makes no sense to fight it out, just seek help of a reasonable senior. If you know no one, inform the security guards, you have them in all law schools. They will call the warden. If such a situation occurs, dont bother to think that your

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seniors will not like you because you complained. Most people will in fact respect you for you did not let people walk over you when they were unreasonable.

In lesser cases, when safety is not in immediate danger, it is not unusual to be in a dilemma as to whether one should inform the college authorities or stay silent for the sake of not locking horns with the seniors. In such cases, it is wise to discuss the matter with your batchmates. Also, not all seniors would support such acts, so help can come from those quarters too. If the issue is not resolved amicably with the help of batchmates and other seniors and if the violence persists, then it would be appropriate to approach the authorities.

Further, I shall discuss some quick tips as to how freshers should conduct themselves for the first few months of college to avoid the limelight for wrong reasons, as that might lead to more sessions of positive interactions. Have a good impression or no impression at all, but do not form a bad impression! Be careful while conversing with people, including your batchmates. Do not make politically incorrect statements, like demeaning people coming from a particular city, region, religion, etc. It is very important to be careful with your words as people might twist even a simple unintended non-slanderous statement that is made! Once you fall in this trap, regular sessions of positive interaction are definitely in store for you.

Cardinal rule for those who want to avoid ragging: avoid attention. Do not stand out. Be the most inconspicuous and boring person. If you have a goatee, get rid of it. No funky hairstyle for a

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month. If you are a stud, keep your studliness in check J you can let it blossom after a couple of months, once the onslaught of positive interaction is over!

On the whole, be smart and social in your interactions with people. If you feel that positive interaction goes overboard in what might be serious ragging, then you do not need to be a mute victim and accept it. However, while deciding whether positive interaction is acceptable, it is important to be reasonable and not be over sensitive.

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4. Handling tutorials/ projects/ research paper 4.1 How to write tutorials


-Srishti A. Shrivastava

There are some basic rules that should be taken into account while writing tutorials.

Basic guidelines for writing tutorials The first thing to have off pat while writing a tutorial is to understand the topic and the question. Writing without due comprehension is likely to cause blunders. As the system in NUJS stands, a topic is given every week on which the tutorial has to be submitted on the subsequent week.

On being provided with the topic, your first day should be consumed in analysing the question by breaking it into parts and trying to understand what it wishes to convey. If the topic seems indiscernible, the respective subjects faculty should be consulted in order to have the question expounded. One thing to be kept in psyche is that you have to focus on the point the professor wants you to emphasise on.

After making sure that you clearly understand the question, your next course of action should be to start searching for the books mentioned in your reading list for the topic. Extra research may be done if you are not satisfied with the suggested reading material. Generally, the reading

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material is vast, this, however, does not mean that you need to swot every detail. You need to skim through the material and search for what is relevant. While reading and understanding, take down the important points. This should be followed by the mental process of figuring out an appropriate structure for the essay.

The process of understanding the question and going through the reading material will consume three to four days. Once your notes are ready and you have a structure in mind, start drafting your essay. Remember to compile all the relevant points and importantly, make sure that your essay deals with the question posed adequately.

Drafting is followed by editing repeatedly, ensuring that you have addressed each and every aspect of question. When you are done with editing, you are done with your essay!

Precautions to be taken while writing tutorials

Writing an essay can be a cake walk if you deal with it in a proper fashion. Many people look at the question, a day or two before the submission date and begin writing the night before the submission day. This hurry-scurry not only ends up producing essays that shows explicit signs of haste (such things can be concealed in a project of 5000 words, but not in a tutorial essay) but

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also essays that fail to answer the question posed adequately. Either the essay ends up stressing excessively on a certain point, or tries to cover everything and anything related to the topic. This will lead to disastrous results.

Another point to be taken into account is the word limit. You need to restrict yourself to the word limit, however hard it may be. The trick in such situations is to strictly focus on the question asked and restraint yourself from writing everything related to the topic. Crossing the word limit may fetch you negative marks.

You need to write your essay in a regimented pattern. You just cant come up with an essay of 1500 words by whirling a magic wand or by burning the midnight oil the night before the submission day. Do your essay step by step, making sure that you deal with the question adequately. Such step-by-step process will also endow you with the time to revise your final copy of the essay. It will also give you the contentment of having given your best along wit h ensuring decent result up to much an extent.

Way to deal with tutorial discussion The tutorial as a process does not witness an end just after you finish off your essay. Tutorial discussion on the topic is followed by submission of essay. Tutors who are students of 4th or 5th year moderate the discussion. Students are supposed to discuss their respective essays and present their view point in tutorial discussion. Since, tutorial discussion carry 5 marks, there are

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many people who tend to speak just for the sake of speaking. It causes a negative impact. The substance in what you say matter more than how much you say about the topic. You should raise relevant points that help in the discussion instead of speaking up just for the sake of it. This will surely have a good effect on your tutorial marks. Also, collaborate, dont compete. Usually that will ensure good performance for everyone. Thus, just spend some time on your tutorial and think it through and you can ace it!

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4.2 How to write projects


-PreetaDhar

Projects are an inevitable part of law school life there is no escape. There might be some occasional exceptions, but by and large, every once in a while, the old familiar feeling sets in during project submission time. Here are a few secrets about projects, how to do them well and how to do them efficiently. I will ask you to keep an open mind while reading this. Trust me, it is not as bad as you think. Lets go step by step

The Background Research

Background research is the key to an efficient and successful project. And this is not about the project topic itself. This is a necessary due diligence that is often overlooked. Lets face it the main objective of writing project papers is scoring well. Therefore, it is important to know what the professor wants. Some might want imaginative projects. Some others might prefer a thoroughly researched project exhausting all the available scholarly works in the bibliography. Some others might focus on the small details like footnoting and formatting. While all aspects of project writing are important, some are given a greater weightage than others by individual professors. Find out what your evaluator is looking for ask your seniors, or if you could tactfully phrase it, ask your evaluator.

The Project Topic


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In most cases, project topics are assigned by the course teacher. In some rare cases, you might be asked to choose your own project topics. I would recommend putting in some thought at this stage, if that is the case. In that case, the rest of your assignment becomes significantly easier, as you already have an idea about what you want to do and if youre lucky, maybe you even have an idea about how you want to go about it.

In some other cases (and you might come across this as you progress through your law school tenure), you might have worked on a topic or a related area in a subject, be it in an internship, or another project or some paper that you have worked on before. In such cases, you might want to write a project on that topic. In such cases, it is mostly safe to approach your course professor for a change in he project topic, provided you can satisfactorily convince him. For instance, I have worked on the social impact of homosexuality in my sociology paper, and therefore, for my family law paper, I would like to work on the family law rights of sexuality minorities since I am planning to write a paper on this area for a journal is a good argument. I have a project of a friend who has written on family law rights of homosexuals, and I plan to submit that as my own is not.

Another thing is, the scope of the project. You might find that the topic you are working on is either too broad (for instance, Relevance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights), or too narrow. You may discover this at the very outset, or only after some preliminary reading. In either case, in such situations, it is a good idea to consult with your professor, as otherwise, there

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is a substantial risk that things could go horribly wrong. You could either convince him to let you restrict or expand the scope of your project as the case may be, or find out exactly what he wants. Structuring a paper So how do you start writing your project? Read your project topic. Carefully, and several times. If you do not know anything at all about the topic, do some basic reading. A friendly textbook or a simple internet search. Write down the primary thoughts that strike you about the topic. What do you want to say about the topic in the project paper that you are going to write? Trust your instincts. Continue reading on your topic, but dont get lost in the objective. The objective is simple - frame a question; answer it. Its as simple as that.

Well, not that simple. The other important thing is to structure your paper. Once you have your primary research question and your thesis, continue your research, but as you do so, structure your thoughts logically and plan them out. Identify the components and the layers of your argument, and use headings and sub-headings, wherever required. The focus should be on arranging the components of your argument to make it logical and effective. A well-structured paper not only looks organized and impressive, but also is also extremely easy to write.

Art of Arguing Again, keep it simple. It helps to have some clarity of thought. Know what you want to say, and say it upfront. Use simple arguments to support it. Outline the structure of your argument, and tie up loose ends. The reader should not waste

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time and effort to figure out what you want to say in the first place.

In my opinion, you should avoid being ambivalent. It is acceptable to present both sides of the argument, but draw your conclusions, and rebut arguments that go against you, if you decide to argue both sides. Another practice that is best avoided is to use authority to make an argument. It is, in a manner, placing the cart before the horse. It is much better, purely logically speaking, to make an argument and support it with an authority.

Most importantly, all your arguments should be connected, and the reader should have a complete picture, and figure out the strength and purpose of your arguments. Spend time reading your project after you are done with it to ensure that it reads logically, and easily.

Useful Tools At some point of time, you must have looked for ways to make your project sound smart. Here are a few tricks of the trade that you could try:

Case comment This is one of the most essential skills that you will pick up from your stint at law school the art of making a case comment. What is important, is to read a case that goes on for a fair number of pages, and to pick up the essence of it. To figure out the most relevant facts, the main issues, the main arguments and the holding. Very few authorities can be used as effectively as case laws

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and precedents, if you manage to perfect the skill. And with time and practice, it comes instinctively. More importantly, it can look really impressive in your project.

Comparative analysis This is another pet tool to make your project more impressive: make a comparative analysis of laws in other jurisdictions. Unsurprisingly, the USA and UK are the top favourites for this. But there are a host of other jurisdictions that you could also consider, if relevant for example, South Africa (this is a gem for Constitutional Law), Canada, Australia, to name a few. For instance, say, a comparison of the system for inter-state water dispute in federal states like the USA, Autralia and South Africa can be very effective for a project on inter-state water disputes in India. This also works for international law for instance, for a project on the African Court of Human Rights, a comparative study of the European Court of Human Rights and the InterAmerican Court of Human Rights can be very useful.

You can look at what works in other jurisdictions/syatems, and what lessons we can draw from them and make suggestions. Or, you could look at why things havent worked in other

jurisdictions, and make suggestions to avoid similar failures.

Economic analysis This is perhaps my favourite tool. There is a whole school and a very well developed jurisprudence on the economic analysis of law. While at advanced stages it could be very

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complex, at its most basic, it is very intuitive, logical and simple. Basically, it is using small tools of economics, like calculation of efficiency, or a basic cost-benefit analysis, or predicting behavioural outcomes through a game-theory analysis to make arguments. More on that in another post. From the perspective of writing a project, it can be very useful for streamlining your arguments, making them effective, and earning your brownie points, if you do it right.

The finishing touches

You must understand that although you may have finished writing the content of you project, this last aspect is just as important. In fact, if you ignore this, a large part of your endeavors may be overlooked. Here, I am talking about the technical aspects. Write a good research methodology (if you are required to write one), introduction and conclusion your evaluator is most likely going to read these parts more carefully than the whole of the rest of your project. Format it and proofread it well so that your work does not come off as shoddy. And be meticulous about your footnotes. www.google.com is not a proper footnote. Make the effort to have good authorities, and to cite them in your project and include them in your bibliography.

Tip off

Writing projects could be fun. Think about the learning experience, and try to have fun. The projects in which I have scored well have always been the ones which I had a lot of fun writing. And you will like the learning experience, if you are sincere about it.

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Also, projects once written can be extremely useful. You should seriously think about converting a well-researched and well-written project for submission to law journals for publications. Approach friendly seniors they are more often than not, happy to help you out.

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4.3 How to make a research proposal


-JishnuSanyal

Defining research proposal

Research proposal in context of a law student is nothing but a document which states the purpose of your research project and how you intend to carry out your research step by step (methodology). In law schools a research proposal is just another name given to a project proposal and therefore in many ways less formal than research proposals for PhD etc where the forms and procedures are generally well defined by the field of study. But nonetheless it forms a first impression about your project and hence is important.

It is also important to master the art for you may have to make professional research proposals in future, be it for doing your masters, or while working as a research intern.

The format of a research proposal

1. Title One should come up with a catchy title, one which grabs attention while trying to be concise and true to the subject at hand as possible.

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2. Abstract A brief summary of the project, it generally includes the research questions, the reasoning behind the study, the outlines or the chapters you are classifying your project under and findings one is expected to arrive at.

3. Research methodology - this part generally informs about the approach you are taking to address the research questions. The emphasis of this section is to describe specifically how you will collect the data (data collection) and in what way you are applying the collected data in your project.

Usual Sources of data for a law student are the secondary sources such as books, articles, newspaper reports, research papers, committee reports and a few primary sources of information such as the Constitution, various legislation, rules and regulations, any survey that you may conduct. Primary source is a source where you get first hand information. Secondary sources provide derivative information based on primary sources.

In most cases, a law student uses a doctrinaire analysis methodology, which is basically reading works of others and basing your analysis of the subject on what those sources say on that matter. Sometimes you may do a comparative study also, e.g. of Indian law on smoking and Bhutanese Law on the same.

4. Literature survey this mainly outlines all the sources you have used in your research and what they have to say on the subject of research. It includes books, reviews, articles, and work of

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other researchers. It need not be exhaustive, just enough to show that you have read and assimilated the literature available with respect to the topic.

5. Expected results This section is meant to give a clear indication of what one could get from the research. It should be congruent with the data analysis and try to relate it with the research questions you have raised. Also in short try to discuss the impact of your research readers are generally inquisitive about the scope.

6. References/ Tentative Bibliography list all the references cited in the proposal and some more sources that you plan to use in the paper or project.

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5. Dealing with First Year Law Subjects


-AditiChoudhary

First year in law school accompanies many complexities regarding the different subjects taught, and how to tackle them. Here is a brief guideline regarding different subjects which are generally taught in the first year of law school.

Contract This was the subject that was on my nerves the whole first year, and has the maximum interest as well as tension inducing tendency! But it is not at all tough when you know the right way to handle it.

For contracts, cases are the most important and resourceful study material you can get. So read full judgements of the prescribed cases. Usually the number of cases prescribed in this subject is quite high, so do not leave pending work and prepare the cases as they are discussed in class. Cases should be studied with a detail oriented approach, focusing on the minute technicalities in the reasoning.

Make briefs! They are a great resource when it comes to the exam time as you cant read the full judgements at that time and reading just the commentaries would make your efforts of reading the cases seem futile. So, make case briefs as u prepare the cases for class, and add to

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them the important points raised in class by fellow students and teachers. If making briefs feels tiresome or time consuming, at least the important points can be marked in the case itself.

Commentaries cannot be solely relied upon if you want to do well in contracts. However, they may be referred to connect the abstract concepts and clarify doubts. Books like Avtar Singh, Pollock and Mulla, Ansons, Chitty, Trietel, etc can be referred to in this regard.

Torts Torts deals with basic civil liability cases, and is a relatively easy subject. It doesnt require you to dissect cases with every minute detail as to the reasoning. Rather, its enough to know the basic facts and ratio of the cases to apply in problem based questions.

Legal Briefs can be done away with in this case. Although it is recommended to read full cases in torts, which by the way are quite interesting, you may rely on commentaries in case of shortage of time.

You may begin with books like RatanlalDhirajlal and progress to books like Winfield and Streets.

IPC

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IPC or The Indian Penal Code marks the beginning of the study of criminal law. Its is quite an interesting subject, with cases based on real life fact situations you can actually connect to. Facts in this subject cannot be ignored and gain a lot of importance while analysing, interpreting and analysing law.

Reasoning matters as well. Focus on technicalities like difference between culpable homicide and murder, theft-robbery-dacoity, etc. and try to analyse how law has progressed in a particular area.

Reading full judgements are a must since you need to know the factual technicalities. The books that can help in these subjects are the ones authored by K.D. Gaur, Pillai etc. Books by foreign authors may also be referred to enhance your knowledge in specific important areas and grab some extra marks.

Family Law Family law is another subject which you can relate to practical situations. It is not much technical and involves cases of marriage, divorce, succession and wills.

In cases of succession, some numerical problems to determine the share of some persons according to a given situation may be asked. So it is preferable to practice the

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application of principles of succession on such problems. Focus on categories like gender, religion, age, etc. to determine which principles to apply. Make charts to clearly understand family trees and devolving interests.

Historical perspectives and the customary laws of religion do not carry much weightage in examinations. So do not spend too much time on such aspects. Instead, focus on present position of law, the changing positions with respect to legislations as well as case precedents, and its application.

Focus on principles determining sapinda relationship, half blood, full blood, and uterine blood relationships. These create initial confusions but are important as they aid a lot in determining validity of marriages and divorce. Also try and compare provisions of different personal laws on a common topic.

Personal laws are amended quite often. Keep track of the latest amendments refer books accordingly. Some books that can be referred are Kusum and ParasDiwan for marriage and divorce, PoonamPradhaanSaxena for succession and wills.

Property Law

Property Law is more of a technical subject. Generally it is lined up for second or third year. But in some law schools it is taught as early as first year. Property law is much about principles

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governing sale, mortgages, etc. Focus on distinguishing the different transactions talked about in the subject.

The bare act plays an important role in this subject. Focus on the provisions and their applications very-very carefully. Cases don not need to be studied in that much detail if you are thorough with the provisions. Knowing the basic facts and ratio is enough

Do focus on minute technicalities and make charts of devolving property interests to solve problems efficiently and avoid confusion.

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6. Mooting: The Buzz Word


6.1 To Moot or Not to Moot

I always thought that people attach undue importance to mooting in law schools. It's a very interesting activity, a great learning opportunity and potentially a lot of fun. However, I always failed to understand why a lot of people make it sound like as if it is a matter of life and death, why mooters miss meals and stop bathing during internal selections and why they are treated like royalty by some people. I have heard even some seniors well placed in good law firms sound nostalgic and sad about how they could have excelled in mooting and how due to unavoidable turns of destiny their mooting potentials could not fructify.

All the hue and cry over mooting seems hilarious to me at times. I want to discuss in this post some of my experiences and shortcuts I successfully exploited while mooting, but I would like all the potential mooters reading this to see mooting for what it really is, and not as a hallowed activity that one must undertake to join the ranks of law school studs; mooting is certainly not a do or die situation in which any trick can be justifiably deployed for the slightest advantage over others, neither is it to be pursued at the cost of health, mental stability and other important things in life (read CGPA).

Why would one want to moot?

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I would try to jot down all the reasons I can think of. Firstly, it's a great co-curricular activity for would be lawyers no matter whether you want to join litigation or something else. You learn basic skills like drafting, researching, preparing a speech, working in a team. It is also an opportunity to learn to be competitive while being fair to your competitors. This is a first lesson in the balancing act that a lawyer so often does in professional life.

The other great thing about mooting is networking. Not only professional networking, but mooting exposes you to a lot of interesting people from other law schools, students and faculty, and going to a good moot essentially means you can see some good people in action and pick up essential traits and skills. You also make contacts that can help you later on in your career or something else. I know people who have got married after meeting in a moot. If you go to a moot and meet no one interesting at all, you are missing the entire point.

My personal favourite reason for mooting is travelling. Not only do you get to travel, mooting is a whole new way of travelling. Firstly, you travel with a team who are either your friends, or more usually a few people you have to work with because they also qualified for the team. Travelling with people you barely know can always throw up a lot of surprises. Many of these surprises are often pleasant. Secondly, it is highly likely that someone will sponsor your expenses partly or fully when you are travelling for a moot.

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What are the bad things about mooting? The worst thing is that people tend to get neurotic about it. Social prestige, recognition, even the reason for existence for some people - everything tends to get inextricably linked to mooting. People consider themselves as failures after a loss, or a disastrous internal round. I have seen people go into clinical depression because they could not submit a memo as a result of a sudden laptop crash (ever-unpredictable Windows happened to me too) or some other problem. Secondly, it throws a lot of people off their real targets. Why are you in law school? Not just to get into the university moot team or even to win an national or international moot. Even if you get all the mooting success you want, it's not going to automatically take care of other things like job, academic success or contentment in life for that matter. Accolades will dry up and wither away, then it is you and your career, which is not helped by mooting much if you have been ignoring the rest. Get the balance right and know one thing straight mooting is just another activity out of the many activities you can pursue to develop your skills.

Anyone with average research skills and decent speaking ability is going to do well as long as they hit the right notes in the problem it is not rocket science and does not require inborn talent. The skills that are required are often simplistic and always acquirable. Many people will tell you otherwise and glorify the great mooters as geniuses, but my experience says otherwise. There is pretty much a formula people follow year after year to get this success. This formula varies from place to place, from moot to moot. First you need to know what are the parameters by which you will be judged in the moot. This is unlikely to be written anywhere, and if it is written in the

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scoresheet, don't go by it. You need to talk to those who have done well in that moot before to figure this out. Therefore, knowing seniors well will help.

And there is a lot of luck involved anyone who has mooted seriously will vouch for this. One bad judge, one bad day, one careless organiser can make a lot of difference.

Do recruiters care about mooting?

The general answer is no. If you have 3 out of 10 CGPA, your mooting track record is not something that is going to save you. If you have done well in academics and other things, mooting can be used to show what an all rounder/ smooth operator you are that you could handle so many activities successfully.

That said, there are instances when mooting can be decisive. It is not unusual to make a solid contact during a moot or to impress a partner of a law firm so much that he writes a recommendation for you. However, this doesn't happen every day and it will be best not to bank on something like that! Of course, these days the ranks of new age law firms are filling up fast with ex-mooters.

Once while interning in a law firm, I was called by the partner who had newly joined to firm to his chamber. During the conversation, he asked me if I have ever mooted. It turned out that he was a champion mooter himself and a mooter would easily strike a chord with him. So ask me again, do recruiters care about mooting? Not really, not much.
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I was sort of averse to mooting for a long time till my 4th year in fact. I had represented my University in a moot after winning a challenger in my 2nd year, but what I saw in the moot made me more averse to mooting. The judges (mostly High Court lawyers) had come without even reading the problem, and it being a problem based on technology, they did not have much clue about the relevant law either. It was not about winning the case with legal arguments any more, but a question of which team can enact a court room drama better. Arguments went for a toss and it was suddenly all about mannerisms. One would get away with speaking wrong law and citing fake authorities. Someone even cited Google.com as an authority and won the court.

It is not that all moots are like this. Also, with some planning and smart strategy, you can nullify these inefficiencies too. Nevertheless, it is important to not chose one of these bad moots, be careful about where you are going. Not all moots are worth your time.

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6.2 Mooting tips

Work out the Jurisdiction Jurisdiction is what determines whether a court will hear the case on merits or not. If a court does not have jurisdiction over a matter, they will throw out the case and tell the petitioner to go to the right court or tribunal which has jurisdiction. For this purpose, you need to be able to clearly answer these questions:

Which court/tribunal are you appearing before (the moot court problem should clearly mention that)? Under what law does it have jurisdiction over the matter? Can jurisdiction be challenged on some grounds? Is it appellate or original jurisdiction?

Identify the issues from the problem It is unlikely that a moot problem will not identify the issues for you. The most common practice is to identify 3-4 issues that you are supposed to argue on. All major moots like Vis or Jessup, and even major Indian moots do that. However, it is possible that some moot problem did not do so. If that is the case, you have to identify the issues. Be careful there - think of the points of conflict of interest between the parties and decide on issues based on that. Jurisdiction must be established first before you can argue case of merits, and even in memo you must argue on jurisdiction unless issues are specified by the problem and jurisdiction is not one of the issues,

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which is again, not heard of. Similarly, Quantification of damages/ extent of sanction is often a major issue.

Read the facts and argue from both sides You need to know the facts backwards, and you should be able to use the fact to your advantage. Be clear about what facts helps your case and which ones are against you. When there is no law to argue in your favor on a point, or if there is a clear judgment against you, you get down to wrestle over facts and show that the specific case which appear to be against you actually does not cover the fact scenario in hand.

Know the arguments and counterarguments You need to be acutely aware of each argument, both of the legal and factual kind, from either side no matter which side you are going to argue from. After that, you have to prepare a response to those arguments. Knowing the first level of arguments is just the beginning, you can not do well unless you go into the next level - counter-arguments. It is your ability to engage in logical arguments and counterarguments (with judges in most cases), especially when it comes to a moot in India, is what wins you great scores. You need to engage in arguments and counterarguments, I repeat, logically, calmly, and politely. Counterarguments are not to be presented in a belligerent manner, but more in form of answer, as if you are trying to satisfy the curiosity of the judge.

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Preparing for this is very important - you can not engage a judge in this way unless you are truly confident, and confidence comes in large measures from knowledge and understanding, apart from self esteem.

Pay attention to details in the memo, make it look great Memorial is a written version of the arguments. It will have common sections such as a statement of jurisdiction, statement of facts, summary of arguments, pleadings and authorities, and of course, not to forget the prayers. A good memo writer must have tremendous attention to details - such as formatting, definitions, list of abbreviations and glossary, proper formulation of headings and sub-headings, flow of arguments and use of authority, adequate and uniform footnoting. Content, of course, is important, but not as important as how the memo looks and feels when someone tries to glance through. Yes, most judges tend to glance through the memos and mark you on basis of that. Therefore, the task is to make a beautiful and professional looking memo that seems to be well researched - from the number of footnotes, structure of arguments and coverage of issues. Look at some good memos before you start writing on your own - they are available on the official sites of moots like Jessup and Vis (Vienna and Hong Kong). Just look up the best memos of the yesteryears.

You need not write every argument you may take up during oral rounds in the memo itself especially counterarguments, i.e.arguments used to answer questions. Just try to ensure you are

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not missing any major argument or an authority in the memo. If you do, you can still use them up in the oral rounds.

One more time, how the memo looks matters a lot.

Speaking - how to handle oral rounds This is the most important part. If you do this well, you may get away with many mistakes everywhere else. If you don't do this very well, mooting would not be as much fun. Do not think whether you are a good speaker or not. Some people may have been born to be effortlessly good speakers, but there are the rest of us who can match them if we learn the basics. Here are some things on which no one will tell you to work on, but you need to.

1. Tone of your voice - Try speaking out loudly imagining that the room is full of people. You need to be heard by everyone. Are you speaking in your most impressive tone? Try a few different tones. WHich one sounds best to you? Take suggestions from friends too, if needed. Practice speaking in that tone as you speak to people. Yes, this will help you in the moot, and help a lot more in your life generally.

2. Mannerisms - most people put on distracting mannerisms while they try to give public speeches. Verbal mannerisms.Body language.Distracting fidgeting. These can take away a lot

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from your speaking. Get yourself filmed. Analyze your mannerisms. Ask others for their opinion. Then go watch "Thank You for Smoking" or "Scent of a Woman". See the mannerisms everyone loves. Copy if you can - hopefully over time you'll develop your own endearing mannerisms.

3. Dont drag, don't be monotonous, engage - Its a fatal mistake to be monotonous. You'll turn off the judges. They will get so bored that they will not even hear the brilliant arguments you have come up with. They will be so disinterested that they will not ask you questions except as a matter of routine maybe. If you don't want that - try and make sure you have life in your voice, energy in how you carry yourself as you proceed through arguments, and never drag. Condense your arguments. State and argument, see what can be asked by a judge based on what you just stated, and then think if you can say it in a way to preempt that question altogether, of course without launching in a long rant but by being economical with words.

4. Use examples, analogies and common sense. Without these, law is dry and arguing is boring. Use the liveliest examples and your effort in making the courtroom experience more enjoyable for you and for the judges will be rewarded.

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7. Managing life in law school


7.1 Dont be a nobody in law school- pursue your passion
-Srishti A. Shrivastava

What do you think life in law school is all about?

Well, in general terms, its about submitting the projects just a minute before the deadline, slogging before exams, parties on weekend, moots and debates, committees and fun!

However, according to my perception, law schools offer you many more opportunities.

Lawschool gives you the chance to do what you want to do. Now the question arises "What" to do and "How" to do!?Answering the first question first, when it comes to "What" to do. You need to think over what you want to do and identify your area of interest. Come up with ideas; know what your talent is or what you want to do. In case when you want to do something and don't know how to do, don't give up, you can always learn.

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The next question is how to do it. Well, this is a bit more difficult, coming up with an idea is easier but to know how to execute it is a problem. For instance, you want to write about provisions of law, for that you can start a blog, or a site or a wiki. Which one is the best option, what will be the success rate, how feasible is the option. Many a times these questions only stops us from doing things.

When it comes to execution, firstly, talk to people/ seniors who are in the field you want to go in to. Try to do a primary research on internet. Discuss with friends. Then you can get going, but remember, be confident about what you are doing and give your best.

So, to wrap it up, all I would like to say is that don't waste you time, and remain just a nobody among everybody. Pursue your passion, give shape to your ideas and utilize the opportunities that law schools offer you!

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7.2 Tackle life in law school


-Srishti A. Shrivastava

Cut Throat Competition- You find yourself unable to deal with. National Law Schools has the pride of possessing the finest breed of student. The competition out there always keeps you on the edge. You always find yourself to be a part of rat race but unfortunately there is no finish line. People use all kind of tactics to get their things done. Being CT i.e. cut throat is the word we use in NUJS to describe this competition. It becomes hard to deal with such competition; it sometimes leads to feeling of rejection and exclusion. You will find the whole process of sending CVs for selection to committees, interviews a bit blurred at times. To be politically incorrect it can be said that there are biases at work. However, there might be a possibility that its you who need to improve on yourself, may be you lack confidence; you are shy and hesitant to get going. Then you obviously need to make yourself better to get through things.

How to Deal with it?

Be a CT, its the arena of competition, who has stopped you from working for your own good. Work hard, work to ace through things. It is said, When you are in Roam do as the Romans do! If there are biases, (a senior told me) get yourself on the positive side of the bias. Interact with seniors (they are the one who head these committees and make selections for moot and debate!); pass them a broad smile when you come across them in corridors and campus.
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It is also possible that you need to improve your efficiency level to get through things and you need to work harder to be a good Mooter- Debater- Speaker. Work smart, take help from seniors, take their suggestion, ask them how to do things, how to respond in committee interviews, how to moot. Seniors dont mind helping. Learn how to approach people. And there is always some scope of improving yourself!

You dont want to Moot, Debate, Be in CommitteesHowever, yousee that everyone is there! It might happen that you dont consider mooting as your cup of tea, you dont want to be part of all these committees, which just looks good on your CV but does nothing great in reality. However, it seems to you that you dont have a choice. In law school every Tom, Dick and Harry moots. All your friends are in some committee or other. You find yourself completely messed up and perplexed in such situations.

How to Deal with it?

Why to care about what others do. You have got your own ideas and field of interest. There is no point in being part of a herd. Be yourself. You may have different field of interest. You need not ace in these fields only. I know a senior of mine who is a great Rapper, another who is a

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photographer. You might be having some interest or other, pursue your interest (If you dont know your interest, find one!) Go for publication, write articles. Dance, Sing, do something! Or, be a part of the crowd, you may want to do it as everyone does it. Moot unhappily, go for debates, work as hard as an ass, you might win some prize or other, be a part of some committee, doesnt matter what committee it is! Its all your choice!

You find it hard to Balance between studies and co-curricular activities Once you get into a law school, you will find yourself burdened with cases to read, presentations to make, Sections to remember, Articles to through, Projects- Assignment, insanely loaded with work! You dont want to lose on studies and you also want to be a part of college activities but you dont know how to balance between co-curricular activities and studies. You cant row two boats together.

How to Deal with it? Well, its not about rowing two boats together. Its all about how you balance things. Instead of brooding about your work, learn how to balance it.

Divideyourtimebetweenthingsyouaresupposedtodo.

For instance, if a professor is teaching nicely, listen to him or her, chances are high that you will understand everything, and it wont be a tough task to read everything just before exams. Know your professors. There are few professors who expect you to read their subject on daily basis, do

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that! It wont make more than an hour or two. The time left after paying some attention to your studies, you can obviously engage yourself in co-curricular activities and other work.

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7.3 Dealing with law school- Fuck it


-Srishti A. Shrivastava

Life in general and law school in specific has got many complications, study, career, family, friends, priorities, preferences, uncertainties etc. etc. The best way to handle it is to "fuck it"!

You say Fuck it because,

You have your goals set. You dont need to listen to comments/ criticism and unwanted advice when you are certain and definite about what you are doing. You cant let others belief tamper your path. Then, just say fuck it and proceed towards your goal.

You are tired of rumors, gossips, stories, drama, CTness around you. You feel emotional blackmailing by near ones is getting more like Saas- Bahu serials. You just want to get out of these but you are messed up in the rigmarole. Then, just say fuck it and dont bother.

You are stressed out about your work, uncertain about how it will go and its outcome. You are unhappy about various predicaments in your life; whether you will get a job, what if you dont get one; what if your relationship does not last etc. etc. Then, just say fuck it to the outcome and do your work.
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You are really confused about what you want to do and you dont want to, whether to please a friend by going for a night out or please the family by staying back, whether to intern under a Supreme Court lawyer or a firm, whether to lie to your best friend or to your girl friend etc. etc. Then just say fuck it and do what you feel like doing at instant.

As I read in abook, fuckit is essentially a modern version of Hindu concept of Nirvana i.e. a state of freedom from all suffering, when you stop bothering about things and do your own job; you are in peace with mind and soul. So, just say Fuck it! and live your life.

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7.4 Networking in law school


-Srishti A. Shrivastava

But i don't have any contacts! This is the biggest complaint to be heard in law school. Some people have this mythical 'contacts', usually through dad or family friends, and there are the other people who are not from such impressive backgrounds and claim to be suffering unfairly because of this lack of 'contacts'.

I always laughed at these people. There are two rules I have learnt about networking Firstly, there is nothing unfair about knowing people and having a relationship in which they feel glad or obliged to help you. That sort of position comes from hard work and ability to generate value. Secondly, you can have your own network (which the uninitiated calls 'contacts') even if your dad or uncle does not. Your own contacts are always better than your dad's contacts.

Good networking skill is a prerequisite of professional success. Without it, your professional life will never have the midas touch! In this post I will discuss the ways in which you can develop some basic networking skills.

Whom to meet?

The first thing before you start off networking is to know with what sort of people you want to network. Set out your goal for the next three years with regard to what you want to be and what

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you want to achieve, and approach people who can help you in reaching that position. Make a list of people you want to meet.

Homework before meeting

Before you meet someone, do a bit of home work; make sure that you have looked through the persons Linkedin, Facebook profile. If you have got some common friends, then dont forget to collect a bit of information about the likes and dislikes of person you are going to meet. People generally appreciate the fact that you know more than their name and designation. This acts as a first step for winning people over.

Reach out at personal level

However, just reaching out to people is not enough. Your long contact list on phone or facebook friend list is not the true reflector of the number of friends you are having. Your friends are those you can turn up to in times of need. Networking should be more about making friends. When you meet a person, dont start selling yourself immediately but create a relationship based on trust and confidence. If you have taken out some time to meet a person you want to network with, give her your undivided attention. Establish a connection by sharing common interests, hobby, and experiences.

Follow Up

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To make lasting contacts you need to follow up with people you meet or else you will lose touch. According to Keith Ferrazi, follow up is the hammer and nails of your networking tool kit. How do you follow up? Once you have met the person, drop a mail, dont forget to mention some relevant part of the conversation that you had, send thank you note to express gratitude for taking out the time for the meeting if that is appropriate, otherwise send a mail telling them how happy you felt when you met. Never let your network forget you. The most successful guys don't only develop a good network, they also know how to remain on the top of everyones mind. If you come across information that you think maybe useful to anyone in your network, take a moment to send it across.

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7.5 Learn to seek help in law school

I meet both kinds of people. I have probably belonged to both classes of people at different points of my life, and maybe you did, too.

The first type will never ask for help - they think it is a sign of weakness, equivalent of stooping before someone for profit. Some of them are just afraid of rejection; others find a sense of dignity in silent suffering.

There was this junior of mine in college. She was a great friend (until it lasted) - we'll hang out after dinner and talk about our lives and dreams. She would sometimes talk about things that she is working on, and my incessant questioning will reveal some points where she could do with some help. If I ever suggested that she should seek help from someone who has already done what she is trying to do - she'd reject it outright. Why would that guy help me? He worked hard for his success - what right do I have to bypass the tough ride? Isn't that a shortcut? Why will I go with bowed head and ask for something he can easily refuse?

There was an instance where she got into trouble with a student committee - I volunteered to offer help, and she refused. Taking help was an immoral conduct as far as she was concerned.

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There is the other extreme too - people who thrive on favours and think it is their birthright that everyone will help them through everything. If they are refused the help they sought, often asked for in an improper manner - they will be shocked and feel that they have been denied something that was owed to them.

Apart from these two types of help-rejecting and help-seeking extremists, there are the people who know when, what and how of seeking help. I have come to believe that it is an essential life skill.

Morality of asking for help

Is asking for help a shortcut? It is in a way. No one can help taking that shortcut. Everyone would start in stone age if they had to start everything from scratch. Some help is institutionalized, you get them without asking. help when you are unwell, help when you are emotionally down, help when you lost your wallet on the way or people standing up for your rights and dignity in ways you don't not even come to know. Helping and seeking help is a way that allows us to prevent reinventing the wheel. It also allows a person who is capable of doing something very easily to do it easily, so that the time you would have wasted at it fiddling around is saved and you have the theoretical possibility of using it in a better way. Help keeps the world going - its the grease that keeps the wheels moving when friction could stop it. If no one would ask or give help, life would suck.

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Little known things about help

It is very important to know a few things about help: Everyone can help - from the most successful person to someone who has been a complete failure so far.

Most people would like to help, but the number of willing people is usually higher amongst the successful people.

No matter how self-made a man or woman is, it is common that he or she has been helped along the way on critical junctures at some point. They remember it. They want to contribute and make a difference to others.

Almost all human beings have a desire to touch other people's lives in a positive way.

Everyone wants to help if they can do so easily. The potter may help you to mend your broken dish, but if you want him to come and deliver it to your house after repairing, you are asking him to do the job of a courier. A potter is not a courier.

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People who can help you the most are the very successful ones. The powerful, the famous, the rich, the wizards. They like to help, but they are busy, and in all probability always approached for help. You need to respect their time, privacy, feelings and state of mind. You need to be crystal clear about what you want and how they can help you, and you must not waste their time at any point.

The fact that someone is rich, powerful, famous or beautiful is not a reason to not approach them for help.

People who refuse a help that they have no reason to refuse are called assholes. People know that, and they do not think they are bad guys. Don't give them reasons to not help, and they will feel compelled to help.

Do you want God to help you? Give mortals a chance.

No one can help you, save God himself perhaps, if:

a.

You don't know yourself what help you are looking for. Be precise and upfront about what will help you and what could 'they' about that.

b.

You ask for help in a manner that cost of helping is too high for them. If you are asking someone for help - make it easy for them to provide the help.

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c.

You are trying to trick them into helping you. People help you out of generosity and positive state of mind. Rig it and you lose.

The three golden rules of seeking help.

Just to recap: 1. If you know what help you need, and who can give it, then reach out and seek it. 2. Make it easy for the person to help you, as much as you can. 3. Don't be stupid, or disrespectful (of a person and his time), or too needy. Reasonableness is the key.

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7.6 How to hack your exam


-Srishti A. Shrivastava You may mug up all the cases and read up the entire Bare Act, you may slog throughout the semester and stay awake in all the classes, however, the grades you get depends just on what you write in your answer sheet. While what you write in your exam is not only determined by what you know but how you write.

In this post, influenced by my legal writing class, I will give some gyaan about how to write an answer to a problem based question in law school exam.

Identify the Issues

The first step that is involved in answering the question is identifying the issues involved in the problem. Start your answer with identifying the relevant issue.

After you identify the issues, write down the precise solution, a reader would not like to wait till the end to know the answer or solution.

Once you state the solution, you need to give the reason behind it, the rule or law that leads to such conclusion. For instance, if the question asks you that whether a contract between X and Y which involves transfer of some property by X to Y without any consideration is valid or not and
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you give the answer is negative, you need to provide the reason that is the law or the rule behind it.

Reasoning

After you state the law, it is important to mention the application of rule/law, how is the law applied to your case. This is the most abused section in which people generally end up writing case summary of similar cases.

However, the right approach is to identify two or three cases that justify your stance, analyse them along with the facts of your case to justify the application of the law you have stated to be applicable in the present case. It is advisable to mention only the relevant facts of the problem in hand.

Along with the application of rule, you can also give your own arguments regarding how you reached that solution.

Application and Argument

The application and argument part is the meat of your solution where you not only justify your stance but also analyze the case law from your view point that gives uniqueness to your answer

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Itmight also please your teacher as they also seek something more than mere reiteration of the Sections of the Act and name of the cases.

Followed by the application of the rule, comes the last part of the answer that is the conclusion, where you sum up of the issues, rule you applied to each of them and the application of rule. The conclusion is supposed to provide quick summary and give a cogent, clear and concise reflection of what you want to convey.

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8. Insiders Story 8.1 Diary of law school fresher


-RishikaLekhadia

Law school was a dream come true for meCollege for me meant going all the way to the other end of the country and hence this was no less than an adventureSo, all excited about joining a law school, I reached my college.

First day @law school

Starting from the first day of law school, I dressed up in this new attire and was all set for college when few of my batchmates told us that we are supposed to wear Kurtis because some seniors said so. Now I had not really moved in the hostel and as a matter of fact only bought a couple of shirts and one nighty kurti, without an option, I changed into that Kurti. Needless to say, I did not look anywhere closer to what I expected to look on the first day at college.

Overcoming the disappointment, I headed to the class. The classes, though were introductory one, first of all introduced us to the high expectations of teachers followed by introduction to the
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entire India as I realised that I have classmates from almost every state of the country and the classroom truly felt like a melting pot of various states and gave a glimpse of what INDIA looks like! Each of my class mate had a peculiar accent and some had truly americanised (or thats what they thought they had) accent and they kept on talking instantaneously. I was baffled by the plethora of knowledge (and blabbering of the same!) around me, looking at people who were I thought much more talented and accomplished, jolted the equilibrium of my worldI was no longer in the centre of the stage and that affected my self esteem. This was the beginning of me hibernating into my little shyness nest/ cloak.

Positive Interaction @law school

Life in law school, is certainly not limited to ones own batch or classes for that matter, knowing the seniors is a major thing for getting the tips for studies or for partying, and the process of knowing the seniors start with positive interaction!

I was never really ragged or had much of positive interaction sessions, mainly because I was always on my bed buried in my laptop for the most part and plus even when we were told that there are positive interaction sessions going on, I would positively exclude myself from going there.

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Later on I realized, that the thing with these sessions is that you get to know your seniors in a fun way and so it breaks the ice barriers between you and them and plus they also tell you about places to hang out, places to go to and stuff like that which helps you to get acquainted with the totally new city you are in. As a whole, short positive interactions are a good way to know people who have been in this place for a longer time and few minutes of dil se talk makes them very approachable!

Studies @law school

The toughest part about college was getting into the MODE of studying all over again! Generally, you have this cool perception of college which is everything apart from books, so when I had to open books and read cases, things didnt seem that fun! Frankly I did not really take studying seriously for the first few day of the college as I was under this euphoric illusion from various novels that I had read about college life. However, I woke up to rigorous schedule of law school and the fact that I have no option but to study, when the first tutorial problem was out, I was all excited to make a mark for myself and literally xeroxed the topic from ALL the books I could find in the library that had the given topic..The sad irony is I only read 2 of my xeroxed readings!! I remember the first time I got into sync with law school culture, it was the last night of my first tutorial submission wherein we had to write 1500 words by next day noon and I had not even written 15 words at 11 the previous night.. (a typical motif of law school!) I put up my first all nighter then and by 6 next morning, I was almost done and then I come to mess to have some tea and I see half my classmates sitting there and that's when I realised, its not

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only me who was burning the mid night oils but everyone else, well, nobody is any different I realized!

Committees and facing realities @law school

In first year you feel that law school is all about committees that does everything possible in law school. So, getting into any of these committee is a matter of great prestige and not getting into one acts as a plain set back.

There was a long string of orientations of various committees and organisations and all the first years enthusiastically attended all of them The first society where we had to apply for and I remember there were 42 people who had applied for 4 seats. And ya I was not selected there which also added to me being even more shy than what I already was!!

After that came the application for the law journal but the thing was I had no clue on what legal research is and how to footnote and by the end of first month we were traumatized by the wonder word plagiarism and so we were scared of writing anything with the fear that that might have been plagiarizedand so even though I had high aspirations of writing something very innovative and getting into the law journal team, I could not gather enough energy to get my lazy bum off my bed and go to library to work for the same..and then with each passing failing effort of getting into a committee, my efforts (if any!) got reduced and then ultimately I developed that attitude of dude, i dont give a damn!

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This is the time when my long period of piggismstarted..I slept like a pig which translates into sleeping at any odd hour of the day and being wide awake till 6 in the morning, ate like a pig that is memorizing the mess menu more thoroughly than anything else and making sure you are also well versed with menus of all nearby eateries and acting like a pig which was reading every non academic book that you get hold of and watching endless number of movies...and this was the time when I found friends who shared the same passions as mine and life seemed like a synonymous of complete bliss...

As they say every good things in life come to an end, so did my period of happiness...The cloud of blissfulness broke down the day I got my first tutorial result and then I realized that I have scored less than 50% in it and that i will need at least 50% marks in that subject to pass..That opened up my eyes and transported me back to the reality. I remembered the day we had our orientation and VC had told that you will need 50% in each subject to pass and if you manage to score above 75% in a subject, you will have E i.e. 7 point, I was like dude, can law school get easier than this? In school life I have never scored below 90% and so this is such an easy task but it took me a long long time to realize that passing itself was a Herculean task here.

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8.2 Diary of a law school fresher- II


-RishikaLekhadia

Law school life is all about knowing and discovering ones self. You come to know who you really are and in the process you actually change from what you really wereYou come in contact with some of the smartest brains in the country and you feel, dude, this is the kind of place I always wanted to be in..There is a challenge at every step here, from the sweet victory at being able to get the hot water early in the morning to making sure that you manage to grab the last piece of kabab before it runs out of the dinner table at 8:10 p.m (when dinner starts at 8pm)everywhere you will find smart and capable people and AZB,Khaitan, Trilegal, Amarchand are some of the buzzwords that you will end up hearing in every conversation!

Its not funny when after a few months in law school you realise that you have become much more confident, you talk law in every day conversation with your medical college friends and when your younger brother wants to borrow your stuff back home, you tell him that unless he returns it to you in time, you will sue him for the breach of contract although you very well know that since there was no legal intention, there was no contract!!

Transition @ law school

When you go home, the first thing you yourself will notice is that every sentence of yours starts with a F*** word and then its hard for you to use a decent language lest you end up abusing on

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the dinner table. Your parents who were, well not very happy that their bright daughter did not end up being a bright doctor but choose to take the road less traveled and try her luck at law suddenly start admiring you and your decision, as they have, in those few months, when you were in law school, researched from every possible source about the bright future that lays ahead of you and boasts to every friend that they meet about the pay package that you are normally expected to get (only you know that those pay packages are reserved by the class toppers and you are not even sure whether you will pass or not!)..but then you enjoy the fame and attention that you have been missing back in college!!

Hostel life @ law school

The best part about the law school is the residential campus..you get to know your friends in and out because you are with them 24x7.. you sleep together, wake each other up, take care of tipsy sloshed friends, nurse them in their sickness and this takes the word friendship to a different level as you know every individual in and out and first, their differences irritate you but then later you start accepting the fact that you are different but you accept the differences and try and after a while you start embracing them!

Everyone in this place strongly believes in something and their belief is not just based on hearsay or familial value imposition but on deep thorough research..every talk, even the most seemingly non sense talk will teach you something important..there is a treasure of knowledge behind every individual here and when you see some of the seniors who are so accomplished, its

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just awe strucking to realize that they are living at the same place, eating the same food and actually in under the same roof as you and so you just by the virtue of being so close to them get the inspiring feeling..

Invisible pressure monster @ law school There have been times when you feel like breaking the shackles of this place and go and live in a care free world but that kind of world doesnt exist the moment you step into the law school.. you will seem superficially all chilled out and relaxed but at the back of your mind, you would be thinking of the latest case that you have read or about somethingthere is an invisible pressure here that bogs you down all the time and no matter how much you try to fight this force, it slowly and steadily engulfs you in it..the primary reason is you see people actually knowing way more and people working harder then youaccepted that there are some very inherently smart people around you but still you always want to be there on the top and as you live with all these extremely smart and hardworking people all the TIME, you start to feel pressured about various deadlines which is good in a way as you are always on your toes but then again it can be a cause of depression of you are not used to handling so much of pressure all the time.

But law school also develops your stamina! You will never think that you can read and understand 60 cases in a night and apply all of them in the exam next day..you learn how to do the smart work and after slogging for the entire semester before the end sem you always swear to yourself that from next semester, I will diligently work hard and then you realise repeating the same piggy lazy schedule in the next semester!! And this cycle continues!

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Friends @ law school

As a residential student, you pretty much know everything about everyone in your batch and even the seniors because you are living with the same bunch of people continuously and so you know stuff about people and then get chance to talk to them and then you realise that the things that you have heard about the people and the way the person actually is, are two different thingsand then you feel bad about prematurely judging the person..but then as they say, its a part and parcel of law school life!

Also the way people behave with different people is peculiar and ya I had read and heard from a lot of people that the friends that you make in the first semester will go away with the end of semester and I would always think (after I made very good friends) that ya that was all hoax and I have found some of the best people I could find (which I still believe!) and so that will never happen in my case but sadly, the hoax turned put to be the very reality of my life and it was sad and is sometimes depressing to think that the people you would be conjoined twins with in the first semester, you dont even smile at or even acknowledge their presence when they are next to you in the second semester and it is weird but also kind of obvious after some time and then retrospectively you realize that your priorities were very different and both of you were trying very hard to fit into each others shoes but then after a point when you both gave up, the artificial relationship that you have starts to wear off and then you see how you two would have reacted

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had you not asked to be friends or were just two people who met on the flight..and then things actually becomes more clear..

Lesson#1 of Law School- Its okay to lose your virginity but not okay to lose your individuality!!

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8.3 Sail like Sindbad- through the law school


-Srishti A. Shrivastava

I got out of my hostel room at 4 in the morning. I had not slept yet, and I like the soothing breeze and sound of chirping birds that comes from my window early in the morning which turns into a hustle- bustle in the later part of the morning.

My friends have left almost no stone unturned in trying to teach me how harmful it is to stay awake till that late. However, at the end it zeroes down to your choice, this is the first thing that law school and hostel provides you with, liberty and independence to make your own choices which obviously comes with its own responsibilities.

Coming back to the scene from where I started, when I stepped out of my room to fill water in my empty bottle and looked around for my slipper, I found that one of them was missing. That was ridiculous, loss of a pair of slipper is understandable, but one slipper, who on earth will bother to take it!! With this thought in my mind, I started the hunt for my slippers, inside the room, in the alcove I live in, in the corridor but alas my slipper seemed to have deserted me. Glumly, without my slipper, I went bare feet and came back after filling water, wondering over the next course of action - should I borrow a pair from someone, or should I go and buy a new one. Oh! the unnecessary hassle I will incur in

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going all the way to buy a slipper in my not-a-moment-to-die-schedule. It seemed to be the saddest thing to happen to me. Loss of my slipper!

The case of lost slipper: How is it relevant?

The story of my lost slipper just provided you a scoop of things that matter when you are in law school, in hostel. The frivolous thing you never bothered about at home seems to add to the mountain of things you need to do. From buying toothpaste to the servicing of your laptop, its you who is responsible for doing all of this. From getting your clothes washed, to washing your own dishes, you are left absolutely on your own.

This independence permeates into academics as well, from worrying about projects, moots, conferences, committees, there is a hell lot of things to do and its just you who is responsible for all of it, amongst your caring, weird friends; Cut Throat, arrogant batch mates; cranky, roommate; bitchy neighbour; cocky seniors; wicked faculty. (Okay, I am not saying that you will find only bad people around you, I bet you will be able to find a good number of awesome people as well!).

In this sea of star fishes, whales, sharks, crocodiles and what not, you need to do the finding Nemo act. However, it will be only you who will be searching for yourself. Find an identity for yourself, a mission to accomplish before you lose yourself completely and before you are declared as a lost case.

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Small, trivial things constitute your life in law school, adding the fun, tension, glumness, happiness quotient to it, the unwarranted special mess food can bring a big smile in your face, while the discovery of the case of a lost slipper can send you into panic and depression. Sail through it, though there will be troughs and crests, but remember not to get drowned, at the end you will reach the shore, and your journey will better than that of Sindbad!

How do you make the smooth sail possible: dont focus on the slipper

The only way to survive in multitudes of things happening around you, some of which you do not control and do not want - is to focus on your goals. Dont worry about the trivial - dont break your head over things not in your control. Work on the bigger picture - if you can achieve the biggest goals in your life, the small things are bound to fall in place. But do you have the bigger goals worthy of pursuing? Captain of a ship who doesnt know where he should go with the ship is unlikely to have a great voyage. Decide on your goals early in law school, you are free to change them later - but through all the madness, one way to cut through and do really well is to have a mission to accomplish.

Take away: identify your goal and be sincere about it - life will take you where you want to go. Focus on the bigger picture, not the slipper and the mess food.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Sincere thanks to JishnuSanyal, Jenisha Parikh, PreetaDhar and RishikaLekhadia for their posts on Handling Ragging, How to do Research, How to Write Projects and Diary of a Lawschool Fresher respectively. And a very special thanks to Donnie Ashok for all his help.

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