Overview

NLSIU Prospectus 2010

Studying at the NLSIU is quite exciting. It facilitates all round personality development. The teaching methods adopted for the degree program are such as to promote multi-disciplinary inquiry and practical appreciation of problems. The method of teaching involves lectures, discussions, case studies, Moot Courts and project work. An innovative feature of the teaching method followed by the NLSIU is the cooperative teaching where two or more teachers jointly offer a course and interact with the students in the same class. This is particularly useful for the multi-disciplinary analysis of socio-legal problems.

There is a high degree of interaction between the students and the teachers in the classroom. This is largely facilitated by the fact that at the commencement of the Trimester, each student is given a set of reading materials containing the course outline, teaching plan, reading lists and a fairly large volume of study materials in respect of each course. They consist of case studies, judicial decisions, articles and excerpts from reports. With this material, the students are expected to come prepared for the classes and actively participate in classroom discussions. Faculty at the Law School is very accessible. With an excellent faculty-student ratio, the Law School provides an exciting opportunity for the students to interact with the teachers and their colleagues.

Beyond exchanges between students and faculty in the classroom, there are more formal means of communication aimed at improving the class experience and student life. At the end of each course, the students are expected to complete an evaluation of the courses undertaken by them in that trimester. The comments in these evaluation forms are taken seriously by students and the faculty. Many professors specifically ask the students they taught to write extensive comments on the teaching, reading materials, availability for consultation, etc., so that they can more accurately identify students' concerns especially in courses that are taught for the first time.

The courses on Clinical Legal Education are taught by integrating classroom teaching with simulation exercises. Efforts are being made to expose students to field and court realities. Project assignment is another component of each course that requires both literature survey and field investigations. These methods help in improving research skills, analytical abilities as well as the communication skills of the students.

Another characteristic feature of the NLSIU is the number of working days it devotes for its teaching programs every year. The trimester system of instruction demands maximum number of working days in each trimester for completing the course requirements. Accordingly, the NLSIU schedule provides for instruction extending to not less than seventy-five (75) days in each trimester including the period for holding examinations. Thus NLSIU has over 225 working days each year devoted for instructional purposes alone.

Graduates from Law School follow a variety of career paths. A number of them choose to go into active 'practice' i.e. litigation at the courts. The Law School alumni may be found at the Supreme Court and most High Courts in the country either in independent practice or working under India 's top lawyers. Others choose to go into law firms. Major law firms in India find a good representation of Law School alumni. Alumni can also be found litigating in the US , UK , Canada and Singapore .

Some students choose to go into companies as legal advisors. A number of graduating students decide to pursue higher studies. Many pursue specialization in a variety of fields including public international law, international trade law and intellectual property laws. Students from the NLSIU have won as many as eleven Rhodes Scholarships for study at Oxford over the last seven years. There are other scholarships that the Law School students claim almost every year, namely, the Radhakrishnan, the Global Hauser fellowship and the British Chevening scholarships. The NLS alumni pursued their higher studies at the Harvard Law School , London School of Economics, Oxford University , Cambridge University , New York University, Columbia University , University of Michigan , the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and several other top American and British Universities .

The Law School tries to address relevant social issues through its courses. The effect of such exposure is reflected in the fact that a sizeable number of students join Non-Governmental Organizations that work in these areas. Alumni from the NLS are also placed in a variety of organizations ranging from public interest groups like the Lawyers Collective and the Alternative Law Forum to specialized agencies like the United Nations High Commission for Refugees and the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative.