There’s confusion among fresh law graduates as to how to go about their careers. Many think that after passing out from one of the law colleges in Delhi, there is no other way but to go solo. You open your own office, wait for clients to appear or build connections to get new cases. In reality, just like any other sector, law too is advancing and becoming corporate and the stigma associated with the law is slowly being eradicated. As India continues to develop, new avenues are opening up for fresh law graduates and you can build your portfolio to walk on one of these many available paths.

Join a top law firm in India

Law firms are no more a thing of the west and there are a considerable number of firms spread across the country. The right job in a top firm can get you a package of twelve lakhs per annum while the minimum offer that you will get will hover in the six lakhs range. If you are pursuing your degree from one of the top law colleges in Delhi like KR Mangalam University, you are already a step ahead in securing a job here. All you need to do is to build your skills to suit the firm’s requirement and you are in.

Khaitan and Co, Talwar Thakore Associates, Trilegal and S&R Associates form the top names in India. There are also other companies like Desai & Diwanji, Luthra & Luthra and JSA. As a fresher, you will have to start as an intern or an associate from where you can slowly rise in the ranks. The best firms deal with almost all aspects of law and it doesn’t matter in which sector you get your major in. You can be a criminal lawyer, a tax lawyer or a corporate lawyer, the opportunities to grow in these firms will be the same for all. Plus, the top law firms take on numerous clients from a wide variety of fields and your area of work will never be restricted to just one niche. You can move horizontally any time if you feel the need of it in future.

Join an in-house team of top companies

Big companies with massive revenues hardly outsource their work to any other firm. They prefer to keep their in-house team of lawyers to get the job done. You can research into these firms, find out who all hires and pitch in with your CV. As the revenue does not depend on the number of clients the company is getting, such jobs are generally more secure than law firms if you are winning your cases. Salary prospects are comparable to any other top law firm and, at times, are higher than the normal depending on how big the company is on the corporate list.

Currently, Reliance Group, Hindustan Unilever and Tata Group are right after there. You can also look into foreign companies operating in India like Hyundai or Vodafone. Even Bajaj and Jindal need to hire lawyers to sort out their corporate and tax matters and prefer to have their own group of lawyers than hiring a firm. The best way to pinpoint a top company is to look at the firm’s stock prices in the market and how it behaved in the recent past. A growing curve is suggestive of a prosperous company and that is where you will want to work in.

Join a growing business or startup

You may have to start slow financially when it comes to startups but the future benefits are unparallel to any other top firm. Due to their budget constraints, startups generally do not go to law firms or afford a big in-house group. You can join in as a consultant or fulltime and help them out while it is still growing. When it steadies in the market and the management recognises your contribution, you will draw a similar amount as any other top lawyer in the country.

Take the Indian cab service company Ola for example. The brand has currently grown substantially that it is launching its services in the UK to take on Uber globally. The same story is applicable to current giants like Flipkart or Naukri. All of them started small to make it big now. Do your research, become a law associate in a growing business and wait patiently for the money to arrive. The right business with the right management does grow to massive heights and being a part all along will pay off.

Choose right and decide now

Pursue your degree only from one of the best law colleges in Delhi and land a job in the right company in these changing times. Time is gone when lawyers had to wait for clients to arrive. Tap into the corporate sector, choose a job that suits you and keep growing to new heights.