LL.B course or Bachelor of Law programme is a three-year graduate law degree. It is also termed as Bachelor of Legislative Law in some institutions. However, graduate students can also take up this course in the form of an integrated law course of the duration of five years. A regular, three-year programme is divided into six semesters in most law schools. The course does not demand students to have previous knowledge in a specific field to be pursued. It is designed for all those who want to gain the knowledge of laws prevailing in the country, as well as the implications and applications of those laws in various domains.
Law is a prestigious area that offers a wide scope to students who pursue an LL.B course or higher education in a specialised law field. The Bar Council of India (BCI) regulates the law education in India. While law education is being imparted since 1987 in the country, it has expanded to such an extent that there are now 16 National Law Universities and more than 100 law schools present in India. Students in this course study about all aspects of the law that range from labour and family laws to constitutional and criminal laws.
The LL.B course also offers the knowledge of Civil Procedure Code, legal writing, arbitration, conciliation, dispute resolution, public interest advocacy and even paralegal services. Students learn to apply their knowledge through practical training programmes and moot courts under the law course. Their in-depth knowledge of all domains of law helps them take up a variety of job options in the public, as well as private sector. However, most of the law students prefer to be advocates with law firms or start their own legal practice.
Hundreds of public, private and semi-government institutions offer the LL.B course in India. These institutions usually offer the three-year LL.B programme through full-time, part-time, or distance learning or correspondence mode of study. However, most students pursue a full-time course that opens several high-profile avenues for them. The course fee may also vary in all institutions, and it usually goes from less than INR 1 lakh to more than INR 5 lakhs.
While several universities and law schools offer the LL.B course, students may consider their personal and professional goals for selecting the best institution and mode of study to pursue this course. Following are some of the renowned law schools offering LL.B programmes:
Faculty of Law, University of Delhi, New Delhi
Gujarat National Law University, Gandhinagar
Faculty of Law, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi
National Law School of India University, Bengaluru
Government Law College, Mumbai
National Academy of Legal Studies and Research, Hyderabad
Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Rohilkhand University, Bareilly
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar College of Law, Visakhapatnam
The Tamil Nadu Dr. Ambedkar Law University, Chennai
West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata
Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Patiala
Department of Law, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra
By pursuing a specialised LL.B course in any legal domain, students can develop themselves into fine lawyers or attorneys who can start their own practice in their specialisation areas. They can also work in private or public sectors as advocates. Many lawyers enter government jobs that require legal expertise in different areas. Additionally, LL.B students can gain experience in their specialisation field and become judges in several courts. In fact, they can work in varied employment areas that include business houses, law firms, judiciary, banks, newspapers or news channels, and even educational institutions as law instructors.
After completing the LL.B course in particular specialisations, students can explore career options in their domains. For instance, a corporate lawyer can join a manufacturing firm and a tax lawyer can join a sales tax or excise department, while an environmental lawyer can associate with an environmental agency. After LL.B, students can also check out jobs like those of a notary, sub-magistrate, oath commissioner, trustee, legal analyst, legal advisor or consultant, and district and sessions judge.
The degree in law not only offers a career or job option to a student but also empowers them with a tool to fight injustice and inequality often seen in the society or community at all levels. To gain more expertise in a specific legal domain, students can go for higher education in law. They can pursue the LL.M and PhD courses in their specialised fields. This will give them more prestigious and better work opportunities.
In every law school, the basic criterion for candidates to seek admission in an LL.B course is to possess a graduation degree in any stream from a recognised university. Candidates should also have a minimum of 40% marks in the qualifying exam, which is of graduation for entering a regular LL.B programme. However, this criterion may vary from one law school to another. The criterion of minimum marks percentage may also vary for different candidate categories as per the reservation system. There is no age-related criterion. Further, candidates are offered admission in some institutions based on their merit.
However, most of the law schools or universities give admission based on the entrance exam conducted by the specific university or joint bodies. For instance, some colleges may consider students’ performance in CLAT (Common Law Entrance Test) conducted by National Law Universities and others may consider their performance in LSAT (Law School Admission Test) that is a globalised test. Similarly, some states also conduct entrance exams for admission in the law courses in those states. Thus, it is critical for students to check every single eligibility criterion of a particular institution before applying for admission in its LL.B course.
Students pursuing the LL.B course have several areas in which they can specialise. Law has a variety of branches that offer interesting career options for students. They can specialise in a particular domain and become lawyers in that area. Following are some of the specialisations that LL.B offers:
While it is an interesting area of specialisation in the LL.B course, it is also challenging for students. Students learn about the practical aspects of criminal law while understanding to build their cases. By pursuing a specialised course in criminal law, students are enabled to investigate and interrogate people involved in unique criminal cases. They are able to interrogate witnesses and accused as well as make their cases strong based on a variety of tests, forensic evidence and cross-examination of people involved in cases. After completing their LL.B, criminal lawyers can start their own practice or work as defence lawyers or public prosecutors.
It is the most common specialisation for students to take up in the LL.B course. A majority of court cases are related to civil law. Matters under this legal domain may relate to property disputes, guardianship, marriage issues, breach of contracts and wills, and fundamental rights. The specialised course in civil law teaches students about every aspect of civil rights, as well as private rights of individuals. After completing a specialised course in civil law, students can become attorneys who deal with people’s legal problems at a personal level. Civil attorneys also have a good earning potential in their profession.
It is a comparatively new specialisation in the LL.B course. With newer techniques of committing crimes using technology in the cyber world, the need for cyber law experts has also been increasing. While the cyber law is not a commonly found specialisation in law schools, it has come into existence with good career opportunities. It is especially in demand in the IT firms. The course in cyber law makes students aware of several information laws and handling the cases of crime in this domain.
Students interested in handling the labour disputes of manufacturing and business firms benefit by this specialisation of labour law offered under the LL.B course. They can learn about all prevailing laws for working labour, as well as company management nationally and internationally. Students doing this course can turn into legal experts who can deal with a variety of issues that arise in firms with regard to the regulation of labour and entertaining their rights, and between labour unions and management. Labour law experts can find interesting positions in the labour departments of industries and corporate legal units. They can also work in law firms and as judiciary in labour courts or run their own practice in this domain.
It may also be termed as intellectual and patent law in some law courses. This specialisation under the LL.B course is concerned with the protection of indigenous products of some countries or businesses through the laws concerning patents and intellectual property. Students in this specialised course not only learn about the enforcement of copyrights but also about patent and trademark laws. Professional lawyers who complete this course can deal with national and international clients that may have patent rights issues. Their clients can be individual inventors, businesses and even government bodies.
It is also known as the regulatory law. This LL.B course specialisation deals with the rules and regulations of government units. The administrative law may handle issues of social security, tax, immigration, international trade, etc. It was basically designed to prevent the monopoly of bureaucracy so individual and community rights may be protected. By pursuing a specialisation in administrative law, students get able to deal with issues related to government agency rules, legal codes, and government regulations and precedents. Whether administrative attorneys work individually or as a part of an admin law firm, they earn quite well.
Companies in the corporate sector face legal disputes on a frequent basis. Thus, this domain of corporate law is a specialisation in demand among those students who want to attain high-paying jobs as corporate lawyers after course completion. After pursuing this specialised LL.B course, students are able to represent companies in varied legal disputes. They can also examine the contracts their companies sign, as well as their privileges and ordinances. The specialised course in corporate law turns students into proficient attorneys who can be legal advisors to various firms in the corporate or business sector.
The environment is something of global concern, now that there are several environmental issues that the world has been fighting against. From global warming to protection of natural resources, everything involves legal issues that lawyers specialising in environmental law can handle. This specialisation of the LL.B course educates students on various environmental policies and treaties, together with environmental causes of concern. Students who are passionate about such concerns may specialise in environmental law so they can pursue legal practice in this area.
The LL.B course in tax law helps students in understanding the entire taxation structure applicable to individuals and businesses in the country. Students can learn about all kinds of taxes, including estate tax and franchise tax. They also learn about the ways to tackle a variety of tax-related issues, such as those of inheritance and corporate tax complications. Students specialising in this field can become attorneys in the corporate sector or can also become tax advisors to individual and corporate clients.
The LL.B course specialisation of international law makes students learn about those fundamental legal precedents that are followed by nations and states strictly. Such precedents set the ground for international relations and community relations. International law encompasses not only the public international law, but it also concerns the private international law and supranational law. Professionals in this domain can fight cases related to the violation of international trade laws, arrests of personnel in foreign countries, etc. They can also become mediators for international agencies that operate on a global platform. Thus, it is a highly reputed profession to be an international law expert.