Law Researcher, commonly
referred as “Law Clerk cum Research Assistant” is Judicial Clerkship. It is, as
the name implies, a temporary clerkship position with a judge in a court. It is
a fantastic way to bridge the gap between law school and a job in litigation.
The basis premise of this post of law researcher is to assist the judge in
performing his day-to-day activities in the court. The law researcher’s duties
will include conducting research, writing, and assisting the judge to whom they
are assigned with daily cases. This gives the applicant a useful, hands-on
understanding of how the judges’ mind functions. In essence, it’s a chance to
examine the operation of the bench and bar in more detail.
A Law Researcher’s post is
temporary in nature and often lasts for only one year. The court makes no
guarantees and, in the majority of situations, does not offer any opportunities
for work once the contract’s term has expired.
The selection is made on the
fulfillment of the essential qualifications and other eligibility criteria. The
post law researcher is a full time assignment and purely contractual in
nature.
It is very important to keep in mind that some of the High Court put a restriction on practice for law researchers. For instance the Allahabad High Court provides that “a Law Clerk (Trainee), from the date of termination of his/her engagement as Law Clerk (Trainee) shall not appear in any case handled by the Hon’ble Judge(s) with whom he or she had attached, irrespective whether he/she had or not worked on that case during the period of his engagement.” Similarly, the Supreme Court of India also puts a stipulation that a Law Clerk would not accept any other assignment during their assignment term and they shall not practice as an Advocate in any Court of Law during the course of their employment.
How is it beneficial for students:
A Judicial Clerkship is a very practical and
rewarding learning opportunity, for the following reasons:
Understanding court procedure
from the view point of both Bar and the Bench.
A judicial clerkship
is the best strategy for a recent graduate or final-year law student to learn
about the court process. There are several opportunities for communication with
the prestigious judges. A clerkship at an appellate court, whether High
Court or Supreme Court is more enticing to students who enjoy conducting
research and writing. There is a lot of reading and evaluating to be done
because the cases are appeals. To take full advantage of this opportunity it is
optimal for the law researcher to study the trial court records, brief the
judge on the issues, and draught opinions on his behalf.
Helps in building a reputable
CV
A judicial clerkship
is going to helps one build a respectable CV. Although clerkships are not very
well-liked in India and may not significantly improve your candidature for an
LLM, they are highly valued in nations like the USA. Additionally, a letter of
reference from a Supreme Court or High Court judge would help you out a lot.
Although judges are not required to submit letters of reference for their
clerks, if your work as a law scholar is exceptional, the judge you are working
for could.
To become a better lawyer
One has the option to
collaborate closely with the judge as a law researcher. This gives one a
thorough understanding of how a judge thinks, which can help him become a more
skilled lawyer. A law researcher can quickly expand his knowledge and
competence on a number of legal topics, since a variety of cases are brought
before the courts. Such a hands-on learning opportunity is never offered by law
schools.
The law researcher has
the opportunity to hear the cases in addition to carefully studying them. As a
result, the clerk has the opportunity to observe attentively how top attorneys
practice, how they present their cases before the judge, and how they attack
the opposing counsel’s arguments. A student coming out of law school is sure to
learn a lot by listening to experienced solicitors’ contention.
Networking opportunities
As a law researcher, you
will have many networking opportunities that will be beneficial to your future
career. There is the opportunity to regularly engage with the nation’s best
judges and solicitors and learn from them.
An opportunity to enhance
research skills
A law researcher must
conduct extensive study. This enables rapid acquisition of a wide range of
various subjects. It actually does become easy to read quickly, take succinct
notes, and locate material that initially appears to be elusive.
What to expect from it:
The law researcher is expected to discharge such
duties as are required under directions of the Justice they are attached with.
Basically, the judge to whom they stay linked may request that the law
researcher do search and research on legal issues and principles. The legal
researcher may also be required to be present in Court for the hearing of the
arguments, take notes there, or both. This is in addition to attending the
Chambers of Hon’ble Judges. Assistance with the Judge’s administrative duties,
such as maintaining administrative files, preparing research for academic
papers, keeping track of judgements, the legal issues decided in various
judgements by a Judge, maintaining records of administrative correspondence,
etc., is also desirable.
One’s duties as a law researcher include
conducting research, writing bench memos, drafting papers, etc. Additionally,
the law researcher is expected to carry out administrative duties including
docketing, maintaining the judge’s desk and library, compiling papers, etc.
There is therefore no such thing as a “job description.”
One important
responsibility is to check the Orders and Judgements for typing mistakes before
delivering them to the judges since even a little comma can significantly alter
how the Order or Judgement is interpreted. Second, the law clerk is given a
substantial amount of research to complete. You must possess very good research
and writing abilities, which you can only sharpen as a legal clerk. Thirdly, it
will be necessary to study case files and take notes that succinctly summarise
them.
How
to prepare for the exam? What is the pattern and selection procedure?
For Supreme Court:
Applications
are invited by the Supreme Court of India. Following the invitation to apply,
written exam is the first step in the two-step procedure, which is then
followed by an interview led by a panel of three-judges. Questions about law,
academic performance, and extracurricular activities are posed to the
candidates. The marks a candidate receives in the written examination and the
interview are then used to create a merit list. As a result, the committee will
suggest keeping a sufficient number of them on the list of law clerks, in order
of their merit. The CJI shall approve the formation of a panel in accordance
with the requirements for the assignment session after receiving a
recommendation. The required principle is not actually adhered to in practise.
More law clerks are hired by the Supreme Court registry than are actually
needed. For the appointment of the law clerk, for instance, it recruited more
than 100 candidates for the assignment period 2021–2022.
The phrase “as per the requirement” denotes the
Supreme Court’s need for a certain number of applicants, and as a result, the
judge would be allocated one of the ‘n’ legal clerks. In reality, the legal
clerks who scored well on the screening test are given preference when
assigning judges, but this does not occur.
The
website[i] contains the exam’s
syllabus, which was established by the Honourable Supreme Court. The Indian
Penal Code, Indian Constitution, and procedural laws (both civil and criminal)
are the main topics covered in the syllabus. One should heavily rely on the
basic acts and attempt to evaluate the provisions in terms of their capacity to
raise issues.
The
quality of the exam questions has significantly improved, and a strong
understanding of procedural laws is now required to achieve a high score. A landmark case should be added to the bare
acts, especially for the IPC and Constitution. It’s also crucial to note that,
in contrast to other government tests, this one’s English language component
cannot be taken lightly. The quality of the questions in this area is higher
than the typical level of difficulty found in other exam sections. The Supreme
Court of India Registry administers the test each year at numerous locations
throughout the nation.
Eligibility criteria
The
applicant must have completed a bachelor’s degree in law (including an
integrated degree programme in law) from a school, college, university, or
other institution authorised by Indian law and recognised by the Bar Council of
India in order to be enrolled as an advocate.
Candidates
enrolled in the fifth year of the Five-Year Integrated Law Course are also
allowed to apply, provided they can show documentation of their legal education
at the interview or before beginning their work as a Law Clerk/Research
Assistant.
The
applicant must be familiar with computers, including how to retrieve needed
data through a variety of search engines and procedures, such Manupatra, SCC
Online, LexisNexis, Westlaw, etc.
Age and Nationality
At
the time of the last day for receiving applications, a candidate must be
younger than 18 years old or older than 27 years old. He must be an Indian
national.
Disqualifications
A
candidate cannot be a licenced attorney or employed or appointed on a paid or
honorary basis elsewhere. A candidate shouldn’t have been connected to any
criminal matter, whether they were found guilty or the subject of an ongoing
criminal investigation. The candidate shall make a statement in this regard.
Character
The
candidate must have absolute integrity, honesty and good moral character, for
which he/she will submit the certificate of two responsible persons.
Remuneration
The Law Clerks are given a fixed consolidated
stipend of Rs. 80,000/- per month without any dearness allowances/perquisites.
If the tenure of Law clerk extends after 12 months the remuneration increases
to Rs. 90,000/- Per month for the extended period. (as per revised scheme)
For the High Courts:
In
India, the recruitment in High Court is comparatively easier than the Apex Court.
Most of the High Courts conduct only Personal Interviews in order to fill up
the vacancies. The remuneration is different in different High Courts as per
their schemes of engagement. There is no standard remuneration for all the High
Courts.
Interview-related inquiries: The
judges will first inquire about the intern’s experience while law school.
Judges primarily assess a candidate’s familiarity with the fundamentals of
court procedures and how the court operates. Therefore, if you decide to pursue
a clerkship, your court internship will be quite important. Judges will inquire
about one’s experience with the law during the interview, including questions
regarding criminal law, civil law, arbitration, etc.
Judges
will also inquire about your academic and extracurricular interests if you
apply for a clerkship, thus your court internship will be quite important.
The
law that is discussed during the internship will also be brought up by the
judge. The most crucial component of the clerkship is law; hence one should be
well-versed in it not just from the books but also from a practical standpoint.
Last but not the least, the applicant must be familiar with computers,
including how to retrieve needed data through a variety of search engines and
procedures, such Manupatra, SCC Online, LexisNexis, Westlaw, etc, they may ask
you to research a case law or any topic of their choice. Some of the schemes of
different high court are linked below:
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Law Researcher, commonly referred as “Law Clerk cum Research Assistant” is Judicial Clerkship. It is, as the name implies, a temporary clerkship position with a judge in a court. It is a fantastic way to bridge the gap between law school and a job in litigation. The basis premise of this post of law researcher is to assist the judge in performing his day-to-day activities in the court. The law researcher’s duties will include conducting research, writing, and assisting the judge to whom they are assigned with daily cases. This gives the applicant a useful, hands-on understanding of how the judges’ mind functions. In essence, it’s a chance to examine the operation of the bench and bar in more detail.
A Law Researcher’s post is temporary in nature and often lasts for only one year. The court makes no guarantees and, in the majority of situations, does not offer any opportunities for work once the contract’s term has expired.
The selection is made on the fulfillment of the essential qualifications and other eligibility criteria. The post law researcher is a full time assignment and purely contractual in nature.
It is very important to keep in mind that some of the High Court put a restriction on practice for law researchers. For instance the Allahabad High Court provides that “a Law Clerk (Trainee), from the date of termination of his/her engagement as Law Clerk (Trainee) shall not appear in any case handled by the Hon’ble Judge(s) with whom he or she had attached, irrespective whether he/she had or not worked on that case during the period of his engagement.” Similarly, the Supreme Court of India also puts a stipulation that a Law Clerk would not accept any other assignment during their assignment term and they shall not practice as an Advocate in any Court of Law during the course of their employment.
How is it beneficial for students:
A Judicial Clerkship is a very practical and rewarding learning opportunity, for the following reasons:
A judicial clerkship is the best strategy for a recent graduate or final-year law student to learn about the court process. There are several opportunities for communication with the prestigious judges. A clerkship at an appellate court, whether High Court or Supreme Court is more enticing to students who enjoy conducting research and writing. There is a lot of reading and evaluating to be done because the cases are appeals. To take full advantage of this opportunity it is optimal for the law researcher to study the trial court records, brief the judge on the issues, and draught opinions on his behalf.
A judicial clerkship is going to helps one build a respectable CV. Although clerkships are not very well-liked in India and may not significantly improve your candidature for an LLM, they are highly valued in nations like the USA. Additionally, a letter of reference from a Supreme Court or High Court judge would help you out a lot. Although judges are not required to submit letters of reference for their clerks, if your work as a law scholar is exceptional, the judge you are working for could.
One has the option to collaborate closely with the judge as a law researcher. This gives one a thorough understanding of how a judge thinks, which can help him become a more skilled lawyer. A law researcher can quickly expand his knowledge and competence on a number of legal topics, since a variety of cases are brought before the courts. Such a hands-on learning opportunity is never offered by law schools.
The law researcher has the opportunity to hear the cases in addition to carefully studying them. As a result, the clerk has the opportunity to observe attentively how top attorneys practice, how they present their cases before the judge, and how they attack the opposing counsel’s arguments. A student coming out of law school is sure to learn a lot by listening to experienced solicitors’ contention.
As a law researcher, you will have many networking opportunities that will be beneficial to your future career. There is the opportunity to regularly engage with the nation’s best judges and solicitors and learn from them.
A law researcher must conduct extensive study. This enables rapid acquisition of a wide range of various subjects. It actually does become easy to read quickly, take succinct notes, and locate material that initially appears to be elusive.
What to expect from it:
The law researcher is expected to discharge such duties as are required under directions of the Justice they are attached with. Basically, the judge to whom they stay linked may request that the law researcher do search and research on legal issues and principles. The legal researcher may also be required to be present in Court for the hearing of the arguments, take notes there, or both. This is in addition to attending the Chambers of Hon’ble Judges. Assistance with the Judge’s administrative duties, such as maintaining administrative files, preparing research for academic papers, keeping track of judgements, the legal issues decided in various judgements by a Judge, maintaining records of administrative correspondence, etc., is also desirable.
One’s duties as a law researcher include conducting research, writing bench memos, drafting papers, etc. Additionally, the law researcher is expected to carry out administrative duties including docketing, maintaining the judge’s desk and library, compiling papers, etc. There is therefore no such thing as a “job description.”
One important responsibility is to check the Orders and Judgements for typing mistakes before delivering them to the judges since even a little comma can significantly alter how the Order or Judgement is interpreted. Second, the law clerk is given a substantial amount of research to complete. You must possess very good research and writing abilities, which you can only sharpen as a legal clerk. Thirdly, it will be necessary to study case files and take notes that succinctly summarise them.
How to prepare for the exam? What is the pattern and selection procedure?
For Supreme Court:
Applications are invited by the Supreme Court of India. Following the invitation to apply, written exam is the first step in the two-step procedure, which is then followed by an interview led by a panel of three-judges. Questions about law, academic performance, and extracurricular activities are posed to the candidates. The marks a candidate receives in the written examination and the interview are then used to create a merit list. As a result, the committee will suggest keeping a sufficient number of them on the list of law clerks, in order of their merit. The CJI shall approve the formation of a panel in accordance with the requirements for the assignment session after receiving a recommendation. The required principle is not actually adhered to in practise. More law clerks are hired by the Supreme Court registry than are actually needed. For the appointment of the law clerk, for instance, it recruited more than 100 candidates for the assignment period 2021–2022.
The phrase “as per the requirement” denotes the Supreme Court’s need for a certain number of applicants, and as a result, the judge would be allocated one of the ‘n’ legal clerks. In reality, the legal clerks who scored well on the screening test are given preference when assigning judges, but this does not occur.
The website[i] contains the exam’s syllabus, which was established by the Honourable Supreme Court. The Indian Penal Code, Indian Constitution, and procedural laws (both civil and criminal) are the main topics covered in the syllabus. One should heavily rely on the basic acts and attempt to evaluate the provisions in terms of their capacity to raise issues.
The quality of the exam questions has significantly improved, and a strong understanding of procedural laws is now required to achieve a high score. A landmark case should be added to the bare acts, especially for the IPC and Constitution. It’s also crucial to note that, in contrast to other government tests, this one’s English language component cannot be taken lightly. The quality of the questions in this area is higher than the typical level of difficulty found in other exam sections. The Supreme Court of India Registry administers the test each year at numerous locations throughout the nation.
The applicant must have completed a bachelor’s degree in law (including an integrated degree programme in law) from a school, college, university, or other institution authorised by Indian law and recognised by the Bar Council of India in order to be enrolled as an advocate.
Candidates enrolled in the fifth year of the Five-Year Integrated Law Course are also allowed to apply, provided they can show documentation of their legal education at the interview or before beginning their work as a Law Clerk/Research Assistant.
The applicant must be familiar with computers, including how to retrieve needed data through a variety of search engines and procedures, such Manupatra, SCC Online, LexisNexis, Westlaw, etc.
At the time of the last day for receiving applications, a candidate must be younger than 18 years old or older than 27 years old. He must be an Indian national.
A candidate cannot be a licenced attorney or employed or appointed on a paid or honorary basis elsewhere. A candidate shouldn’t have been connected to any criminal matter, whether they were found guilty or the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation. The candidate shall make a statement in this regard.
The candidate must have absolute integrity, honesty and good moral character, for which he/she will submit the certificate of two responsible persons.
The Law Clerks are given a fixed consolidated stipend of Rs. 80,000/- per month without any dearness allowances/perquisites. If the tenure of Law clerk extends after 12 months the remuneration increases to Rs. 90,000/- Per month for the extended period. (as per revised scheme)
For the High Courts:
In India, the recruitment in High Court is comparatively easier than the Apex Court. Most of the High Courts conduct only Personal Interviews in order to fill up the vacancies. The remuneration is different in different High Courts as per their schemes of engagement. There is no standard remuneration for all the High Courts.
Interview-related inquiries: The judges will first inquire about the intern’s experience while law school. Judges primarily assess a candidate’s familiarity with the fundamentals of court procedures and how the court operates. Therefore, if you decide to pursue a clerkship, your court internship will be quite important. Judges will inquire about one’s experience with the law during the interview, including questions regarding criminal law, civil law, arbitration, etc.
Judges will also inquire about your academic and extracurricular interests if you apply for a clerkship, thus your court internship will be quite important.
The law that is discussed during the internship will also be brought up by the judge. The most crucial component of the clerkship is law; hence one should be well-versed in it not just from the books but also from a practical standpoint. Last but not the least, the applicant must be familiar with computers, including how to retrieve needed data through a variety of search engines and procedures, such Manupatra, SCC Online, LexisNexis, Westlaw, etc, they may ask you to research a case law or any topic of their choice. Some of the schemes of different high court are linked below:
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[i] https://main.sci.gov.in/pdf/other/2019-02-22_1420713261.pdf , https://main.sci.gov.in/pdf/recruitment/09052023_115902.pdf
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As India celebrates 75th Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav and Jurisedge Academy celebrates its 6th anniversary today, we bring 75 path-breaking decisions delivered by the Supreme Court and the High Courts. read more…
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