As the 2024 academic year concludes, law graduates are stepping into a job market where their skills are more coveted than ever. Law firms across India have ramped up their hiring efforts, offering higher salaries to attract fresh talent needed to navigate the complexities of a fast-growing corporate landscape.
The fight for talent
Top law firms have been increasing both intake and salaries to prepare for the surge in legal services. Cyril Shroff, managing partner at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, pointed out that while his firm trimmed fresher salaries, they still hired 170 graduates this year to build a strong foundation for future market demand.
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“With the expected growth in India Inc., the demand for legal professionals is poised to grow commensurately,” said Shweta Shroff Chopra, partner and member of the management board at Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas. The firm, which has hired 10% more freshers this year, is offering a median salary of ₹20 lakh.
While Shroff Chopra did not disclose last year’s starting salaries, she confirmed that this year’s offers are higher.
Neha Gianchand, chief marketing officer at Trilegal, which recruited 123 freshers, emphasized that the growing demand for legal services has contributed to maintaining higher retainer levels for freshers.
Corporate law firms have offered salaries in the range of ₹18-22 lakh this year for hires from top-rated National Law Universities, according to Manoj Kumar Singh, placement director, National Law University Jodhpur (NLUJ).
“All law firms are offering approximately ₹200,000-300,000 more to freshers this year, compared with their offers last year. They are also hiring more people now. A majority of those who apply for campus placements in NLUJ are placed in the country’s top law firms,” Singh told Mint in a telephonic conversation.
Of the 120 students in NLUJ’s 2024 batch, around 70 enrolled for placements, and 60 were successfully placed, Singh said.
Looking ahead to the 2025 batch, which has the same number of students, 44 have already received job offers, even though the placement process has only just begun and will continue throughout the year, he said. Most of these students have secured positions as associates in law firms or as in-house counsel in corporates and NGOs.
The competition for top-notch legal talent is fierce, with tier-1 firms not only vying against each other but also facing challenges from foreign law firms and corporates that are strengthening their in-house legal teams.
“We also compete with foreign firms who find great talent in India and take them abroad, as also with companies who are beefing up their in-house legal functions,” Amar Sinhji, executive director of human resources, Khaitan and Co, told Mint.
Economic growth and legal demand
India’s booming economy is creating a ripple effect across the legal industry. As per data from the corporate affairs ministry, 185,312 new companies were registered in FY24, a 51% increase from FY19’s 123,938 registrations. Simultaneously, corporate insolvencies approved under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code more than tripled, rising from 75 in FY19 to 269 in FY24, according to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI).
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These figures underscore the growing need for legal expertise as businesses navigate an increasingly complex market environment.
“With the global economy on a downturn, India, with its growing geopolitical importance and growth story, is in a rather nice spot. There is increased domestic demand which is spurring activity for professionals like us. Despite global uncertainties, we continue to grow year-on-year, and exceeding expectations,” said Rabindra Jhunjhunwala, senior partner at Khaitan & Co. The firm, which hired 76 freshers this year, up from 72 last year, sees rising transactions and restructuring activities as clear indicators of an impending surge in demand for legal services.
In May, the Bar Council of India (BCI), the nation’s regulator for legal education, directed all law institutions to incorporate novel domains such as arbitration, mediation, cyber laws, and forensic laws into their syllabi.
These emerging areas of law are rapidly gaining traction among law firms, creating a burgeoning market for new lawyers, according to placement coordinators.
Three of the nation’s top five law schools have seen an increase in the number of students placed from the 2021 batch to the 2023 batch. Simultaneously, two of these institutions also reported a surge in median salaries, according to data from the National Institutional Ranking Framework.
“We have seen an increase in both the number of hires by law firms and the salaries offered this year. Newer avenues of law, like cyber laws and arbitration, have also opened up more job opportunities for students,” said Ratna Sahasrabuddhe, assistant coordinator of the Placement Cell at ILS Law College. “This year, we’ve also observed an uptick in corporate hiring, particularly as companies expand their in-house legal teams. As the economy grows, we are becoming a more litigious and aware society,” added Sahasrabuddhe, who has nearly a decade of experience in law school placements.
A numbers game
Despite the growing demand for legal services, the number of law graduates in India far exceeds the available positions at top-tier firms. This fierce competition has led to a significant increase in the number of law graduates who end up in lower-paying roles or even struggling to find employment at all.
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In FY22, over 134,000 students graduated with a bachelor’s degree in law, a 21% increase from an estimated 110,000 who graduated in FY21, according to data compiled by Mint from the education ministry’s All India Survey of Higher Education report
Over 100,000 students appear for the All India Bar Exam each year, but only a fraction secure positions at leading law firms or corporates. The majority find themselves in lower-paying roles, such as junior litigators in local courts.
Salaries for junior litigators typically range from ₹15,000 to ₹25,000 a month, depending on the location of the practice, according to students.
“About half of my college enrolled in the placement process, which can get you jobs in law firms or corporations. Of these, only a third secured jobs from my batch,” said Keyur Jaju, a 2024 graduate from ILS Law College who landed a position at a top-tier law firm.
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For others, Jaju said, the career paths include pursuing judiciary roles, further education, or joining family-run practices. “I was a first-generation lawyer, so I had to try for the higher-paying law firm job. The rest start practising litigation, most commonly.”
