5 ways to deal with burnout

burnout

For the past one year, I haven’t posted anything on this website. I also stopped writing my newsletter and posting on the Instagram page of The Five Things Checklist. It’s because I have been dealing with burnout caused by my intensive involvement with the Blog and social media. I felt an immense pressure to keep writing, creating, posting and fulfilling my commitment, which led to a time when I could do it no more. I was not enjoying the creator process anymore. It felt like a burden, a chore to be finished. I am sure as lawyers, we face such […]

5 lessons on mentorship in a legal career

mentorship

There’s a lot of buzz around the word ‘mentorship’, especially in the legal fraternity. Law students believe that they need mentors to shine in their careers and young lawyers feel that if they don’t have mentors, then they are not going to excel in their careers. Most of us are always looking for that one special mentor who will give us a leg up in our careers. But the truth is mentorship doesn’t happen just like that. Here are five lessons about mentorship that I learnt from my mentors over my legal career of 12 years and legal education of […]

5 tips to excel in your law firm internship – Part 2

law firm internship

This is a guest post written by Ayushi Gupta, a law graduate from Nirma University, Ahmedabad. She has recently started working with a firm in Mumbai. This is the second part of a two-part series on practical and actionable tips on how to excel in a law firm internship. Read part 1 here. In the first part, I talked about some of the ways which could make one stand out in their internship. In this second part, I dig a little deeper into the kind the work that interns do and other soft skills which could help students to make […]

5 reasons why a lawyer makes a very good journalist (Offbeat Career series)

lawyer journalist

I have decided to start a new series on my website – Offbeat Careers – to bring to you information about what alternate, exciting and fulfilling career you can choose post your law degree. This past year 2020 has seen many of us, especially those graduating from law school in 2020 and 2021, grappling with uncertainty on recruitment front. The pandemic and the resultant lockdown has seriously affected global economy, leading to employers freezing new hires and trimming their existing workforce. More and more of us are in the already competitive job market. I would like all the law students […]

5 Ways to Make the Best out of your Law Firm internship (Part 1)

This is a guest post written by Ayushi Gupta, a law graduate from Nirma University, Ahmedabad. She has recently started working with a firm in Mumbai. Before I even begin with how you should make the best out of an internship, it is important to get into the why of it. Majority of students including myself often bag a four-weeks internship which is too short a time to understand the workings of the firm, get to know people and convert it into a fruitful learning experience. This has been a roadblock for me throughout all my internships. Are you someone […]

MentorSpeak #4 with Shailja Singh

Are you still trying to decide between corporate law firm jobs, in-house positions, and independent litigation as career options? Are you trying to figure out that law subject which can be your interest area focus? Are you still trying to choose between corporate law, litigation related laws and so on? Then this episode is for you. There are far more options out there than the traditional subject areas or career paths for a law student. Our guest in this episode of MentorSpeak is a very dear friend of mine from law school – Shailja Singh. Shailja is an international trade […]

5 tips to ace legal writing skills (+ free video)

legal writing

Legal writing skill is the most important tool of the trade for a lawyer or a law student. The ability to write well allows you to communicate your message clearly and effectively. It bridges the gap between what’s on your mind and what you communicate. Therefore, it’s extremely important to master legal writing while you are a law student and continue honing it when you join the profession. Let’s look at what all lawyers need to write and why this skill is important for them. Types of legal writing Regularly, disputes lawyers or in-house counsel need to draft legal pleadings […]

5 Q&A from my law student mentoring session #3

mentoring session

If you are interested, you can find part 1 of this series here and part 2 of the series here. In my third law student mentoring session, I spoke to A, a final year student of a non-NLU with a very impressive CV. In this session, we spoke a lot about being an in-house counsel. A is interning at a company and wants to be an in-house counsel. From skills required to an ideal career path, we covered a broad range of topics. She asked me only three questions, so to remain true to my article heading, I have added […]

5 Q&A from my law student mentoring session #2

law student mentoring

Continuing my series on law student mentoring sessions, here is the second part where I spoke to R, a student of the graduating batch of an NLU with an offer to join a tier 1 law firm. But before we proceed, please read the part 1 of this series here. Ever since I wrote about my initiative to mentor law students on Linkedin on my profile, I have been flooded with DMs asking me to get on a call with them to clear their doubts. To be honest, I was taken aback at the sense of entitlement of these students. […]

5 Q&A from my law student mentoring session #1

law student mentoring

I recently realised that I have gained a considerable number of law student connections on my Linkedin profile due to this blog. It gave me the idea to start what I have always wanted to do – mentoring law students and young lawyers. It’s no secret that every young professional needs a bit of guiding and hand-holding to reach their full potential, However, legal profession is notorious for being quite the unfriendly workplace. Unless you discover a great senior who is willing to help you, it’s “learn on your own” at every sphere – be it litigation, law firm job […]