LSAT India – Admission Test for Law Courses in India

In America entrance test for law schools is conducted by the “Law School of Admission Council” and is now introduced in our country also to conduct the common entrance test for law college admissions in India. The “Law School of Admission Test-India” (LSAT-India) is now conducting this entrance test. Based on the scores in this test, one can get admission in the bachelor’s and postgraduate courses of law colleges in our country. Right now 20 top institutions like IIT Kharagpur, Jindal Law School and UPES have recognized LSAT score as a basis for offering admission in their institutions.

The top law universities in our country are conducting CLAT as entrance test for admissions. But those colleges which are not affiliated to these law universities are considering LSAT India score for admissions into their colleges. However the LSAT conducted in America and Canada doesn’t have any resemblance to LSAT India test conducted for Indian law schools. Only admission into Indian law colleges is possible through this LSAT India entrance test. Based on this test one can get admissions into programs like ……

Five years integrated BA-LLB
Three years LLB course
Two years LL.M program

Entrance format
LSAT-India paper is a pencil based test. The entrance exam is conducted for 2 hours 35 minutes (including 15 minutes leisure). There shall be objective questions with multiple choice answers. There will be total four sections, where two sections shall have logical reasoning questions and the other sections comprises analytical reasoning and comprehension questions. Time for each section is 35 minutes and there shall be 15 minutes leisure before attempting the 2 and 3 sections.

There is no negative marking in the entrance test and scores in the test are used for initial screening of candidates by the institutions. The admission shall be granted based on the other required qualifications for the courses offered by the institutions. The admission process can be checked out from the websites of those institutions.

Registration procedure
One should only register online for the LSAT India test. Those who have registered online can download the free practice test from the website.
Authorized book for LSAT India test is “The official LSAT-India Handbook (Published by Law School Admission Council). 

Employment Opportunities with Law Courses

Law as a career – Introduction

Law Practice Employment News

Law has turned out into one of those professions that command respect and status in the society along with good earning potential depending on one’s ability. As lawyers and judges are working in law enforcement which is one of the most important pillars for a democratic country, they have a respectable position in the common man‘s view. As society is becoming more and more complex with globalization and liberalization of policies, the profession of law is also molding to meet the international standards and legal issues.

Right now there are 5 lakh lawyers in India and every year 15 thousand new lawyers are entering into this field increasing the number of lawyers in the country. Advocates are playing a vital role on behalf of the society in fighting for the constitutional and judiciary rights of the Indian citizens offering their valuable services to the people. Those who have done a degree in law course and others, who have relevant exposure in the same field, have plenty of job opportunities in both private and public sectors in India. However, the choice of whether to take up a job or do their own Legal practice depends on the individual interest of the person.


Job opportunities with LAW Degrees

Legal practitioners/ lawyers/ legal advisors
Lawyers can offer their assistance in legal matters to the corporate sectors, companies, individuals or even to families seeking their legal advice. They can also work as trustees to the trust boards, law journalists or even as company secretaries. By doing additional courses related to law, job opportunities would become multifold for the lawyers. So those who wish to become an advocate or have a career in the legal field should mandatorily have a law degree in our country. Moreover those who would like to practice as lawyers should get themselves registered in the central or state bar council of India according to the 1961 advocates act. They should also become eligible by passing out in the bar council of India entrance test that has been introduced recently else they couldn’t register their names as lawyers in the bar council. In which ever court one wish to practice as a lawyer, they should apply in a specified format for admission to that specific state’s bar council.

Government services
Those lawyers who have relevant qualifications shall be taken for the national legal services in different government posts. They shall also be taken as legal advisors for the government’s legal related service requirements. Based on the ability of the candidates they may also be taken as secretaries for the Indian government. Eligible lawyers may also be appointed as legislative councils in the legislative departments related for the official languages like Hindi and other recognized local languages. In the state level too, these positions are filled with officers who are experts in the law subject. However the qualifications required for this position may change from state to state. Advocates and legal advisors are also considered for their legal services in different ministries both in the central and state governments. The posts in those ministries are filled through the UPSC or state public service commission exams. Those who have a degree in law are only considered for these posts besides having a prior degree in arts,

In Science, commerce and other fields
Posts for law commission members, government advocates, public prosecutors, solicitors, attorney general, advocate general, income tax, sales tax and excise department shall all be filled based on the rules and vacancies when they occur. Fresh graduates in law shall usually be considered for the posts of non-gazetted assistants just like the assistants in the government secretariat. They may also be appointed as commissioned officers in the legal branch of Indian army, navy or air force.They can conduct courts for enquiry and have the right to punish those who have not obliged the rules or law.

Judiciary

Judiciary
Posts such as magistrate / munsif or sub-judge like lower grade positions in the judiciary are filled through the public service commission or under the supervision of the high court. Candidates applying for these positions should have a law degree along with any other degree in commerce/ arts or science etc. The age limit to apply for these positions is 35 years and for some candidates who come under special category have a relaxation in the age limit. These officers also have an opportunity to get promotion as district or session court judges and based on their qualification and ability they may also be promoted as Supreme Court or high court judges. Usually in the past those who have been practicing as lawyers used to be appointed as the district and sessions judges, but now many states are conducting entrance exam through state commissions or high courts to select the candidates for the above specified positions.

Teaching Field for LAW Graduates
Those who have good qualifications like LL.M or PhD in law courses can work as faculty in the law universities or institutions that give training to the law students. As private institutions are increasing in this stream there are more opportunities for the visiting professors. Universities are giving more priority to professors who are having good reputation in the teaching field.

Those who have a good grip on legal courses and law subject along with a flavor in writing articles can actually show their talent in writing academic books, editing, publishing law papers or even reviewing law related legal issues.

Legal Outsourcing
If the firms offering legal services are availing the same law services from other firms it is known as legal outsourcing. If the firm is seeking legal services from other countries it is then called as off shoring and our country has bright future in offering these legal outsourcing services by the year 2015 with more than 75 thousand employee services required for this sector as per the research studies. As of now India has not fully optimized job opportunities in the legal outsourcing sector as there are right now just 12 thousand employees offering their services in this sector. The drawback of our country in this sector is due to poor reputation in offering data security and also rules like Indian lawyers need to qualify in the foreign bar exam to work in the legal outsourcing sector.

Income and Earning
The income in this field depends on the sector chosen by the law graduates. Those who are working in government organizations or in government recognized organizations the remunerations shall be according to the pay scales of the government. After the 6th pay commission being approved by the government those working as government employees are entitled to earn income from 20 thousand to 1 lakh rupees per month based on their job and work. Right now multinational companies and other legal related institutions are conducting campus selections to tap talented candidates and are offering salary packages of three to four lakh rupees per annum to the selected candidates. At the same time those who have started their own private practice may initial have to struggle but later on can make good money once they get good reputation in the industry.

Details of the LLB Courses
Those who wish to study law course should first have a degree in any stream and then can join in the three years LL.B (bachelor of law) or else after intermediate (10+2) can join in the five years BA, LL.B honors course.
Usually based on the marks in degree one can get admission into LL.B course, but some universities and national law schools are conducting entrance exam for admissions into their institutions. Apart from LL.B many universities and institutions are also offering various other diploma courses related to the law field.

In BA, LL.B (honors) there shall be practical training on court rules, court legal issues, seminars, meetings on law related subjects and other programs as part of course.

PG course LL.B (Master of Law) is offered with a 2 years’ time duration. Those who have done LL.B degree are eligible to do the LL.B post graduation course. Those who have done their PG in LL.B can still do their PhD LL.D in the law course.

Common Law Admission Test (CLAT)
According to the market demand for lawyers the requirement of new universities along with the traditional universities is increasing to bring out more experts in the legal field. Based on this there are 11 national law universities which have been started across the country. To join in these organizations to pursue law courses students all over India need to write entrance exams for each national law university till 2007 facing lot of troubles and inconvenience. By understanding this inconvenience faced by the students, 7 national law universities have decided to conduct a common entrance test for admissions into their universities. As a result CLAT (common law admission test) has been conducted in 2008 and as it has become successful, four more national law universities have also come under the CLAT entrance examination for admission process into their universities.

Why Some Candidates Fail in Competitive Exams?

Why Some Candidates Fail in Competitive Exams?

Some candidates attend too many competitive exams, and practice a lot but fail every time to achieve a rank with minute difference. Why? Where is the fault? How to prepare for the exam? If these are your questions, then you should understand that “competitive exams are different from the regular exams”. It is what experts say and one should follow some special techniques to become successful in those exams.

Studying up to degree and writing exams is quite different compared to the exam pattern and getting marks in the competitive exams.

There is a lot of difference between the study and exams for degree and that for writing the competitive exams. Academic exams are just for a qualification whereas the later is for getting a job. This is what the candidates should have clarity when they are preparing for competitive exams.

Academic Examinations

In degree there are important and not so important topics in the subject for preparing to the exams and one can also get pass marks though they avoid studying some chapters. But competitive exams are entirely different.

Competitive Examinations

Here there is nothing like important or not so important. One has to study the total syllabus as mentioned for the exam. Not only that but one also has to read other books and topics related to the subject. The questions in competitive exams are also different and not in the regular pattern. They give more importance to test the candidate’s analysis skills and understanding of the subject basics.

Two types of Competitive exams

There are two types in the competitive exams:

  • Descriptive exam
  • Objective exam
  • Descriptive Type Examinations 

    In some descriptive competitive exams there is also a word limit for the descriptive questions. They may ask to write the answers within 200 words, 300 words or not more than 150 words. It means that the answer should be written briefly and with clarity. So instead of writing off everything one knew about the question, candidate should know how much to write and what important information to be covered in the answer. However the answer can be written with a grace of 10 words more or less than the specified word count and they shall not cut the marks for that.


    Those who write down all answers within in the stipulated time period in competitive exams shall always be ahead of others. So there is no point in writing off lot of information for some questions and not finding time for the other questions.

    There shall be good result if one can manage their time to write down all answers for the given questions. One shouldn’t also show more interest on writing answers for some questions and neglect the others. In competitive exams there is nothing like some questions may carry more marks or attempting some questions may only get few marks, as all questions have equal importance in allocation of marks. It is also not important as what has been written but how the answer is presented.

    In descriptive type exam, those who have the habit of writing fast can attempt all questions and shall also be able to write additional information related to the given topics in the question. So it is important to practice fast writing and one should test their writing skills by setting time limit and practice accordingly to increase their speed writing skills.

    Things to be remembered for Descriptive Type Competitive Exams

    While writing answers to the given questions, one should remember these things in exam whether attempting in English or the local language.There should be clarity in the answersThe answers should be specificThere should not be any spelling or grammatical mistakesThere should not be any spelling mistakes in the heading or names mentioned. Mistakes in the running matter are of not much concern.

    Understanding and concentrationThere is always a question that “Is coaching required for competitive exams? “

    No, coaching is not mandatory for everyone. There is no need of coaching for those who prepare strictly with dedication and commitment for the exam and those who have the potential to prepare on their own.For becoming successful in competitive exams it is important to have an understanding and concentration on the relevant subjects. This is possible with coaching. Mainly one can mentally become prepared for writing the exam. There is scope to compare our potential with others to know where we stand in preparation and how to improve our skills to be in the competition.

    Those who need coaching should focus on these issues:

    Coaching centerFacultyPrevious history
    There are so many coaching centers in every street. Some are started as soon as exam notifications are released. Some are always there offering their coaching and some are there to just cheat the candidates.Who is the faculty? What are their qualifications? Is everyone mentioned by the institute come for coaching or else just their names are being used for marketing purpose? What are their previous results? Are they just limited to advertising? Are they real? Is the material old one or updated with the latest topics.

    Is study material enough?

    Study material is very important for competitive exams. The coaching centers shall provide the material but that is not just enough. One should also read standard books covering the syllabus. Books published by local language academy, local university and national book trust should be read. Though there are so many books available in the market to prepare for competitive exams, one should take the help of experts in those subjects to choose the books.

    However one cannot rely fully on the study material. It is not that how much material has been gathered but what is necessary and based on the time how much one can write from it. One should also check whether information in the books is updated or not. Some may publish the books with the same old matter and may just change the cover to give a new feel. So, one should be careful while choosing their study material for that particular competitive exam.

    If we are looking at the local language- it is better to write the answers for descriptive questions in the usage language- it means like in the newspapers. There is no need of writing any poetry. We can write in the language that we speak. However using idioms makes the language more effective. There is no rule that one shall get good rank if they write only in the English language. There are so many candidates who have written competitive exams in local languages and have got top ranks in the all India level. 

    Objective Type Competitive Exams

    While answering objective type question paper one should be more careful as losing one mark may actually affect the rank and reduce the chances of getting a job. So every bit question is important.

    Questions given in this pattern are like this:

    Some questions are easy and simple.
    Some are tough.
    Some are misguiding to make mistakes.
    Where is United Nations organization located?
    Before United Nations organization which organization used to be there?
    Who is not the president of United Nations?

    Syllabus and exam pattern for Competitive exams

    Those who are preparing for competitive exams should first find out

    Syllabus
    Examination pattern
    Gather old question papers and check out the details
    Speak to those who have attended for the exam and have got ranks / it is better to follow seniors advice and guidance.

    It is also very important as to how you start the answer. Based on the first paragraph the examiner evaluates the candidate’s potential. As answer shall be the same for the same question it is hence important as to how one presents the answer. That means:

    Has the answer been started in a regular manner?
    Has it been in a started in a great way?
    Is there creativity in the answer?
    Has important information been covered?
    Is the answer elaborated unnecessarily without matter? Etc.

    Those going for competitive exams shouldn’t waste their time. Spending time for attending marriages, functions, and time pass outings should be stopped immediately. Those who remember that “no pains no gains in life” shall be able to enjoy the ultimate success.

    Inferiority complex or superiority complex is not going to help one in any way. One should have belief in their own potential and ability to achieve the rank in competitive exams. 

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