It’s not just the premier engineering and management institutes which are smiling this placement season. Law colleges across the country have also seen good placements, in addition to salary hike of anywhere between 20 and 30 per cent. Law schools say, apart from the usual law firms, many other companies have also recruited from campuses this year.
At the Government Law College (GLC), Mumbai, 120 students of a 240 batch size have been placed. The institute says most of the students who sought placements have found one. The institute say many students do not appear for placements as they have their family practices to get back to or articleship to attend. Students enrolled in three year law programme go for articleship in the second or third year, and students who have enrolled for a five year law programme go for articleship in the fourth year.
Companies that recruited from GLC include AZB & Partners, Amarchand Mangaldas, Khaitan & Co, Desai & Diwanji Tata Group of Companies, Colgate Palmolive and LIC Housing, etc. A total of 65 companies came for placements and offered annual salaries of anywhere between Rs 500,000 and Rs 14,50,000. Last year, the range was between Rs 5,00,000 and Rs 12,00,000.
“We tweaked our placement policy and decided to hold it twice this year against only once earlier. So, we held it once in September 2011 and again this January. This ensured a good mix of companies on campus,” said Shruti Rajgarhia, general secretary, placement committee, GLC. Students have been picked up for profiles in litigation and corporate.
At Symbiosis Law School, Pune, the situation is much better than the school anticipated. “Initially, we felt that we would have to face the pressure of recession in December, but companies have been continuously flowing in to recruit. IDBI Bank, for example, has come in after a long time,” said Sonal Jain, placement assistant.
Of a batch of 200 students, 150 students have opted for placements at the school. The average student salary here ranges between Rs 3,00,000 and Rs 14,00,000 annually.
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Several companies, including big corporates and financial institutions, have visited the campus this year. Placements at the campus began last July and will go on till end of next month. Jain added that students who do not want to go for litigation usually opt for placements and it varies from year to year.
At National Law School University of India (NLSUI), Bangalore, only six students are left to be placed from a batch size of 65. “All top law firms came to our campus. We also contacted a lot of companies which, though were reluctant initially, did visit our campus,” said Deepija Kinhal, a student of NLSUI. Rs 12 lakh has been the highest offer at the campus so far.
At Campus Law Centre, Delhi University, it was a good mix of companies ranging from the public sector to private sector which picked up students. Several media firms, NGOs and individual litigators also visited the campus placements.
A placement head of a law school said that though they expected the situation to be like 2008-9 recession, placements have picked up pace in 2012.
Kamala Sankaran, Convenor, Placement Assistance Cell and professor at the campus law centre in DU is of the view that the bulk recruiters, that is the LPOs would be visiting the campus in March. Their placement season concludes on April 15.
Salaries for students ranges between Rs 6,00,000 and Rs 12,00,000 in case of a corporate profile. Already 10 per cent of the students have been placed. Of the 400 students here, two third students have opted for placements. "Usually, this is the case, since some of them opt for judiciary exams and other competitive exams and focus on them," said Sankaran.
A placement head of a law school added that though they expected the situation to be like the 2008-9 recession, placements have picked up pace in 2012 and will be even better in the next two months. "The law firms are continuing to recruit. There is no slowdown in this space," said the placement head.