WHAT IS AN INTERNSHIP?

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An internship is a temporary position with an emphasis on on-the-job training rather than merely
employment, and it can be paid or unpaid. ... To intern means "to pass inside something," and when you
have an internship, it's like you've temporarily gotten permission to be inside a workplace. As a law student
one must necessarily do an internship at some point of their academics. One learns new things even though
they have the idea of that an internship brings to the table. Some of the basic things that you are expected
to perform in a law internship are as follows:-

1. OBSERVE AND LEARN:

The basic and primary activity in an internship is to watch and learn how lawyers operate. The few basic
things that you must learn while in your internship are:

• Time management.
• Forming and following daily and weekly schedules.
• The process of client management.
• Understanding the kind of client that must be represented.
• The process of managing cases.
• Finding out things that affect a case apart from the client.
• The research and collection of resources to represent your client.
• Payment structures and the ways of getting it done.
These are merely a few basic things that you need to learn. There are many more things that you need to
observe and learn. Find out as much information as you can and learn the ways a successful lawyer operates.
You might as well look for the faults and learn from them.

2. RESEARCH:
As a lawyer must be aware of every fact regarding a case he must research well. The extend of research
required per case may differ and sometimes it might take hours of long working hours. This is where you
can help as an intern. The tasks you will be carrying out as part of the research process include reviewing
precedents and past legislation, fact-checking, drafting memos, writing legislation and updating team
members on current events. Following that, the work done must be compiled and presented to your superior
in a properly arranged manner so that they may find out the required information easily. You may be asked
to report your findings in writing where you can show initiative by adding value to each report in ways of
adding your comments on the content by adding practical and analytical reviews, showing good
problemsolving skills, and critical thinking, which are of high value for lawyers. This may also help you
attain recommendations for better jobs in future.

3. PERFORMING COURT ROOM ASSISTANCE:

Moot courts are great in providing real court experience, but they are not as efficient as real courts are.
Performing the role of a court room assistant provides you the opportunity to be a part of a real case in a
court and have a first-hand experience of that it is to be in a real court proceedings. You could also be
tasked to prepare papers and documents for the case. If you intern for a judge you might also be able to
witness the time when the judge calls both the attorneys to approach the bench.

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WHY DO YOU NEED AN
INTERNSHIP?

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 A medical emergency named “COVID 19” shook the entire economy. All businessmen and job holders
have disastrously been affected by the pandemic. Legal interns in law firms are no exceptions. The interns
have either been asked to discontinue or have been instructed to work from home.
Legal interns have a lot of variations regarding departments and with different teams of the firm. They are
segregated based on various parameters for the intern to excel and spread their minds to various topics and
fields. There are several specialized firm for an intern to explore in a law firm.
Just like any other field, law students also want to complete their education with both practical and
theoretical knowledge to start their journey with some experience. While the theoretical knowledge is
gained by educational institutions, students opt to approach legal firms to gain practical experiences in the
form of internships. These internships help the students in developing relevant skills to move forward with
their career successfully.

The skills obtained during internships are:

1. OBSERVATION SKILLS:

The basic reason behind a person opting for internships is to see how lawyers and associates of a firm
operate in real time. They observe and learn ways of managing time, clients and themselves. The practical
experiences are what that differentiates an average lawyer from an excellent one. Things such as dealing
with clients, presenting a case, researching can be easily learned with such experiences.

2. RESEARCH:
Research is the basic thing that a lawyer must associate to and excel in. Research work is also a part of the
curriculum of students in law school. But the research done in schools are not similar to what one needs to
do while working on a case. When they are professionals, their research revolves around a particular case.

3. ORGANISING AND PRIORITISING:

Law firms have a lot of paperwork to deal with. Each and every paperwork is important in a law firm. Thus
the interns are taught the importance of a good organizing system for paper work. It helps them priorities
their work in order of urgency and magnitude of the case. It helps managing the files in a way that they are
easily available whenever needed even after long periods of time.

4. COURT ASSITANT:

One of the most important aspect of internship is that they are made to experience and attend court
proceedings from the first hand. It helps them to get practical experience and also understand how cases are
presented in front of the court. These words are not only limited to courts but may also be extended to
arbitrations and mediations. Though it is not possible in times of a lockdown work from home internships
have a strong reason to be opted for.

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DO LAW FIRMS NEED INTERNS
UNDER THE PRESENT
CIRCUMSTANCES?

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 It is a little more complicated for the students to look for internships during this time of lockdown and this
pandemic situation. More than the internship, it is about the workload on law firms. Since the Indian courts
are being limited to only important hearings, the workload on law firms have significantly dropped. Most
of the cases are being heard on video conferencing or behind closed doors. Since social gatherings are being
avoided due to the pandemic, it has been decided for public welfare that courts should stay shut to avoid
unnecessary gatherings.
The virtual approach is being accepted as the primary mode of hearing cases by lawyers, judges and courts.
This is affecting the prospects of internships of students. Since the courts being shut and hearings
postponed, the firms don’t have much wok.
The interns are mostly hired by firms for two reasons:

1. Putting pressure off the employees shoulder, and in the process,

2. Helping the intern develop skills required to work in a firm.

The absence of an office setting makes the learning process incomplete. The interns and their employees
have communication gaps which is also a big issue. With developing use of technology for legal uses, the
law firms and the interns have an opportunity to rethink their ways of operation and work forward to adjust
with changing times which in turn makes an environment of development for both the firm and the intern.
Their also exists the privacy issue associated with law firms. They do not allow the use of personal devices
for research related to the firms work. Such steps are made to preserve the high level of confidentiality of
the information they hold regarding their clients. Most firms asked their interns to work on computers
installed by the firm in their offices since their privacy is so important. Thus, work from home internships
threaten the privacy of a law firm. In situations like these the offices give their employees laptops encoded
with special codes to maintain their privacy. But it is not possible to give put such devices to interns and
hence the interns are suffering all over the country.
However this is not a problem for many firms in the county as they have allowed their interns to work from
home through their personal devices though privacy remains as important for these offices as they are for
any other.
The difference lies in the mode of operation of these firms. While some firms can afford to provide such
highly advanced software, others might not. The prior makes use of the resources available whereas the
later just can have faith on his employees and interns.

BENEFITS OF LETTING INTERNS WORK FROM HOME:

The most important objective of internships are to help young minds understand what they are going to do
after law school and gain experience of working in a professional setup. Though along with providing the
students with experience, the firms also gains a fair bit of assistance in their work. The pressure on
employees of a law firm is enormous. Everyone has a specified role for a client. Some cases demand high
amount of precision and hours of effort to be put in. thus interns can be nurtured to work from home and
be helpful in easing off some pressure off the employees. As interns cannot be allowed to handle clients
individually, they can be asked to look into the research and paper work. Since the competition amongst
law firms in India is at such heights, most of the firms are at a lookout for potential employees and
internships help them to find the same.

On the other hand, interns aim at broadening the horizons of their knowledge in a law firm and build their
CVs accordingly. Thus if law firms take up the initiative of providing online internships to students in this
time of lockdown, the interns will be capable of using the time at their disposal for better performance and

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learning. On normal days the interns are also busy with their academics and college assignments and hence
cannot completely focus on their internship and now is the right time for them to focus all their time on
skill and efficiency development. It takes constant practice for a person to be a good lawyer and if a student
is not continuously in touch with his subjects, it might just make it difficult for him to instill those skills in
him. Such opportunities from law firms act as great confidence boosters and have a great impact on the
students.

CONCLUSION:

The present situation of the pandemic has posed new challenges that need to be tackled. It takes adversities
for men to start something new and great, and what can be a better time than now. We need to evolve with
the changing time and adapt to the working environment off the future. We can still concentrate on the
positive and make the most out of the opportunity. With regards to law, court proceedings, and law firms,
we need to adapt to the technological way of going forward with things and aim for more technological
developments. The whole situation is now moving forward towards a more technological legal system

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10 TIPS FOR LEGAL INTERNSHIPS IN
2002

StrictlyLegal.in for Law Students

There’s a lot of struggle one has to go through
1. While you’re trying to get Internship as a law student (LLB curriculum necessity)
2. Actual legal Internships that you should do to enhance your knowledge and understanding of the law.

This article will focus on the latter. Since, Indians are very good with the jugaad, I’m sure you’ll find out
ways to intern at your nearest bank or police station for the completion of your LLB degree.

Let us find out how law students can land up in an actual internship where they can learn.

Decide your area of interest

2. Apply to selected firms only
How many places of law internship should you apply?
3. Include your resume with all the legal experiences
4. Be good at writing and publishing legal content
5. Write an excellent Cover Letter
6. Maintain formal communications
7. How to apply for a legal internship?
Online mode:
Offline mode
8. Go Prepared
9. Ask favours for your Legal Internships
10. Sign up at various intern outreach programs

Decide your area of interest

Before you open up your e-mail account and start adding all the random law firm’s email addresses, make
sure you know who you are applying to. If you have an interest in Criminal Law, apply to legal firms that
handle more criminal cases.

The idea is to get the desired exposure in the area of your interest. If your area of interest includes more
than one subject of law, you can take a broad view.

For example: If Amit is a law student who’s looking for law internships, he must first think about his
area of interest. Amit thinks he has an affinity towards corporate law and insolvency laws. Amit should
look out to apply to firms that handle cases related to corporate law and insolvency laws.

He would do so with a simple google search: Corporate law firms near me or Corporate lawyers near
me or law Internship opportunities in Delhi for example.

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Apply to selected firms only
Sending emails are free but this doesn’t mean you’ll start spamming every law firm and advocate’s email
IDs with your law Internship requests. Be selective and try reaching out to a reasonable number of people.

How many places of law internship should you apply?

Well, this depends on a number of factors. Try taking a reasonable start. Say 20 approx.

You should automatically weed yourself out if you think you don’t qualify for a certain legal internship.
For example: If a advocate or a law firm lists out explicitly on their website that they are looking for
students from National Law University or other top colleges, you should not bother them sending your
CVs from a local law school.

This will not only save you a lot of time and energy but will also save you from you demotivation of no-
reply. Its usually management’s decision to select candidates from NLUs and top colleges and when the
HR of the firm recieves resumes of other collges, they automatically dump them.

Include your resume with all the legal experiences

Recruiters always like to take on people that have either immense knowledge and experience or immense
passion for their work. You have to be one of them.

While you’re still at law school, you should try participating in moot court competitions, debates, mock
parliaments, and everything extracurricular that your college hosts. These are the things that add up blank
spaces in your resume or CV.

The more your resume or CV shows that you’re involved with the law, the more likely you’re going to be
selected. This doesn’t require rocket science to understand.

Be good at writing and publishing legal content

Lawyers have to read and write all their life. This is what we all are going to do. Why not practice it from
the very start?

Legal drafting is one of the most important areas of study every law student must concentrate on. Try
adding up your writing experiences on your resume or CV.

Your experiences could be in the form of publications in newspapers or on reputed legal blogs online.
Even if you have to pay to get your article published in a newspaper, do it. This will help you a long way.
Imagine adding WEEKLY COLUMNIST AT THE STATESMAN newspaper on your resume or CV.

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 Write an excellent Cover Letter
After your resume or CV, the cover letter is one important consideration for the recruiter to look at. It tells
them about your actualy outreach abilities.

A cover letter is a document usually sent with your resume or CV to provide additional information on
your knowledge, skills, and experience. The cover letter should provide detailed information on why you
are qualified for the internship you are applying for.

Maintain formal communications

While you write your cover letter or resume or even your email or telephonic outreach, BE FORMAL.

Watch out for your language, don’t try to be a cool lawyer, you would not want to fail miserably. Always
start with a professional outreach design.

Some great example are:

Write Greetings instead of Respected Sir/Madam on your letters, exclude all unnecessary details, and
make your point as soon as possible.
I had seen a law-related movie and they used a phrase: everything should be on a need to know basis i.e
share only as much information as is required.
In other words, keep your letters, emails, and communication short and simple.

How to apply for a legal internship?

The big question that every law student has asked himself at least once.

Here’s a quick guide:

Online mode:
Google your way through the problem. Use the following search terms:

 Legal Internships near me

 law internship in [your loaction] for example, Law internship in Kolkata
 Advocates near me or Lawyers in [your location].
eg: Lawyers in Kolkata
 High court lawyer in [your location]
These search queries will make you land up in a google index of various law firms, advocates, and
lawyers. Go ahead and look for the contact us page or the career page and find their Email ID and send
them an Email with a request for an internship.

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Every time you don’t receive a reply, repeat the process, and keep trying. Emails, Emails, and Emails. I’d
recommend not more than 20 emails for a legal internship at a time though. (remember spams are not
good?)

Offline mode
Offline mode also requires internet connectivity. Just the method of approach is a little different and
works better than the online mode.

Try searching for phone numbers and addresses of the physical location of the place you want yourself to
intern at.

Call them up personally and approach them for an internship. Don’t be shy. It is either going to be
a NO or a YES. Nobody is going to kill you because you proposed to intern with them.
For example: If Amit wants to intern at a corporate law firm in Mumbai he will try getting the phone
numbers and physical addresses of the law firms that take up corporate cases in Mumbai.
I could provide you with a caller script if you’re too nervous. Here’s one for law students like you:

Hello,

I’m Amit Kumar from Bandra west, I’m a law student at Rizwi law college, Bandra. I was
looking to intern at a law firm or with an advocate or lawyer near me. Are you taking interns
right now? Can you help?

If they say, they aren’t any vacancies or they’re not looking to have interns soon. reply them with

Oh, Absolutely. I’ll be looking for opportunities to intern at your firm or with you. Let me
know if you have any future openings.

And hang up. try calling another number.

If this doesn’t work, try reaching out to them at their offices. One option or the other will work. The
secret is to keep on trying.

Go Prepared
Suppose, you did land up on an interview after your email or telephone. What to do next?

First things first, KNOW THE FIRM OR THE LAWYER under whom you are going to intern. If you’re
going for an interview at a law firm, read their website carefully, look at the type of cases and clients they
handle.

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You’ll be shot with rapid fire questions like why do you want to intern at this law firm?

You should be ready with answers like, I’m looking to work here because [x Y z] type of cases are being
handled by the firm, and I have keen interest on these areas. Also, I am a close spectator of the
proocedings of the cases this firm handles.

The [ XYZ] thing on the [XYZ] judgment, I liked it how the petitioner framed the charges.

These are the type of answers that will help you get an internship at top law firms around the nation. So,
research and know everything before you knock the interview door.

Ask favours for your Legal Internships

Suppose, you fail at being selected by any law firm or advocate after trying the above steps. Is the world
of internship over for you? No. Failure is just the beginning.

I’m sure, you are on Facebook, instagram, whatsapp and the other social media channels. Try reaching
out to your friends, siblings and relatives who are lawyers or have lawyers as their friends. Ask favours.
The first Legal Internship is difficult, after that there’s no end. All you need is a chance.

Try reaching out to law firms, advocates, lawyers, law professors on their social media profiles, pages and
linkedin especially.

At this stage, SPAM is all you need. Go guns blazing with your resume.

Sign up at various intern outreach programs

If you STILL cannot get accepted at any law firm or by a lawyer, you need to mend what is wrong in you.
Look for your communications and find out where you are going wrong. There are several free
organizations online that will teach you everything you need to know to get accepted as a legal intern
from scratch. You’re just a google search away.

StrictlyLegal also plans to get in touch with several reputed law firms and lawyers around
the nation and provide a free INTERNSHIP placement for eligible law students. And also
hold webinars and produce video content in the future to supplement the law students with
everything they need to know about legal internships. Don’t forget to join our newsletter with
your email.

Click Here to join our NEWSLETTER

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RESUME ADVICE & FREQUENTLY
ASKED QUESTIONS

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Resume Advice
In most cases, your resume is your first contact with a potential employer. It shows not only your experience
thus far but also your accomplishments. Reflect on your target audience. Are you writing to a law firm,
small nonprofit organization, large government agency, or judge?

Find out as much as you can about the types of projects in which you would be involved if hired. Based on
that information, determine which skills you should highlight. For example, are your writing and research
skills most important, or your communication and negotiation skills? You may choose to have a few
resumes geared toward different types of employers.

Resumes should be concise, accurate, error-free, well organized, clear, easy to read, and visually pleasing.
Keep in mind that the reader of your resume will probably spend no more than 30 seconds reviewing it. To
be effective, it must be brief while still offering enough information to interest the employer. Most law
student resumes should be one page in length. Use a standard font such as Times New Roman, and a font
size of 11 point.

FAQ

Should I include my peTrmanent address on my

resume?
If you are applying for Internships in or near your home state, and your connection to that area is not already
apparent on your resume, you may want to include your permanent address to demonstrate that connection.
Keep in mind, however, If including your permanent address on your resume highlights to employers that
you are from some location other than the location of the Firm/Internship area may not work to your benefit.
In that case, try not to include your permanent address.

Should I play the numbers game and include my

undergraduate and other scores?
In an unscientific survey of employers participating in the an Interview Program, slightly more than half
thought listing undergraduate scores on resumes was “somewhat useful,” a third thought it was “very
important,” and the rest thought it was “irrelevant.” Given this information, you may wish to include your
scores on your resume if it is outstanding or if you need it to counter any irregularities. In that same
survey, the vast majority of employers thought listing scores was “irrelevant,” and a few found it annoying.

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Given this feedback from employers, you most likely will choose not to include your scores on your resume.

Should I list ALL of my scholastic activities? If not,

how do I decide? Is it different for sports, academic
activities, and service?
Generally speaking, you should not list all of your scholastic activities, but should instead select those
activities that best exemplify your skills and interests and the skills and interests that the potential employer
will find useful. Ask yourself these questions: which activities were most important to you? Which activities
took up most of your time?

Were some of the activities “legal” in nature (i.e., Student Judiciary Board)?

Narrow your list of activities by selecting only one of a number of activities that are of the same genre. For
example, if you sang in three different glee clubs, don’t list all three. Include activities that demonstrate
qualities that employers generally seek: leadership, speaking and writing ability, teamwork. For students
applying for public service positions, include all of your service related activities to demonstrate your
commitment to public interest work. With respect to social activities, don’t overdo it.
Students often have concerns about whether to include experiences on their resumes that reflect an
affiliation with a particular political, ethnic, gender, or other similar type of organization. Your affiliation
with certain organizations may help your ability to secure an interview or job with certain employers and
hinder your chances with other employers. It is wise for you to think about this issue and decide for youself.

What about awards and honors?

Sure. When describing your awards and honors (typically undergraduate) it does not help the employer to
know the name of the award without knowing why you won it. So, if the award title does not explain the
award sufficiently, include a very brief description, i.e. “Tommy T. Tomilio Award for best senior paper.”

What if I don't have ANY legal experience?

Don’t worry. Many law students don’t have any legal experience, especially during their first year of law
school. Employers are not looking for law students with impressive pre-law school legal experience. They
are looking for students with common sense and intellectual ability.

Think about what experiences you do have—are you currently involved in a clinic or pro bono project at
the law school? It may be a good idea to list that in your experience section instead of the education section
and then provide a description of the work in which you are involved. With respect to the job experiences

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that you have had, did you develop leadership skills? Analytical ability? Speaking ability? If so, be sure
your descriptions reflect that information.

Source: https://law.yale.edu/ (changes adapted)

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SOME VERBS YOUR RESUME &
COVER LETTER MUST INCLUDE

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 RESUME ACTION VERBS

accomplished improved
achieved initiated
administered instituted
advised instructed
analyzed investigated
arranged led
assessed managed
authored negotiated
compiled organized
conducted performed
constructed planned
coordinated prepared
corresponded presented
counseled produced
created provided
designed recorded
determined represented
developed researched
devised reviewed
directed revised
drafted edited served
established solved
evaluated studied
formed trained
guided updated
wrote
implemented

Source: Yale Law School Career Development Office

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SAMPLE RESUME & COVER LETTER

Source: Harvard & Yale

WARNING!!

DO NOT OUTRIGHT COPY THEM.

READ THESE FORMATS CAREFULLY AND DRAFT YOUR ORIGINAL RESUME & COVER
LETTER.

EMPLOYERS HATE PLAGARISM. COPYING ANYTHING FROM THE INTERNET SHOWS YOU
HAVE NO CAPACITY TO WRITE YOUR OWN.

YOU WOULD NOT WANT YOUR EMPLOYERS TO ASSUME THAT.

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