Reclaiming the Soul of Legal Education: A Case for Litigation-Centred Training

🎓 Crisis in Contemporary Legal Education

• Legal education today, especially in private law colleges, is drifting away from its foundational purpose

• Increasing commercialisation of academia

• Strong influence of:

  • Corporate houses

  • Market-driven metrics

• Result: Law graduates are almost exclusively oriented towards corporate roles

Corporate law is legitimate—but its disproportionate dominance has come at a heavy cost.

⚠️ The Cost of Corporate-First Orientation

• Erosion of:

  • Litigation skills

  • Professional confidence

  • Public-service orientation of the profession

• Weakens:

  • Individual lawyers

  • The legal system itself

• Law is reduced from a profession of justice to a market commodity

⚖️ Litigation: The Heart of the Legal Profession

• Litigation is not just one career option

• It is the crucible where:

  • Legal reasoning is forged

  • Advocacy skills are sharpened

  • Ethical judgment develops

  • Professional independence emerges

Courtroom Training Builds:

• Ability to think on one’s feet

• Persuasive argumentation

• Dynamic interpretation of law

• Fearless representation of clients and causes

These are not optional skills — they are the backbone of legal excellence.

🏛️ Historical Reality of Legal Success

• Most:

  • Corporate lawyers

  • Judges

  • Policymakers

  • Legal scholars

• Began their careers in litigation

• Litigation grounding later enabled them to:

  • Handle complex corporate, constitutional, and international matters

  • Exercise authority with confidence

📉 Marginalisation of Litigation Training

• Private law colleges often:

  • Portray litigation as:

    • Risky

    • Slow

    • Financially unrewarding

  • Promote corporate firms as the only success path

Result:

• Graduates lack:

  • Drafting confidence

  • Courtroom familiarity

  • Advocacy skills

  • Procedural understanding

They are trained for documentation and compliance, not independent legal practice.

🧾 Corporate Houses: The Reality Behind the Illusion

• Many graduates enter corporate roles as:

  • Functionaries, not professionals

  • Document vetters and instruction-followers

• Characteristics:

  • Limited responsibility

  • Minimal decision-making

  • Stagnant professional growth

Contrary to popular belief:

• Salaries are often modest

• Recognition is limited

• Long-term mobility is restricted

🚀 Litigators Who Transition to Corporate Law

• Highly sought after

• Bring:

  • Deep understanding of law in action

  • Strategic thinking

  • Negotiation skills

  • Professional authority

Outcomes:

• Higher remuneration

• Leadership positions

• Greater respect

This exposes the fallacy of the corporate-first training model.

🏢 Why Private Law Colleges Persist

The Politics of Placement

• Placement statistics = key marketing tool

• Corporate jobs:

  • Quantifiable

  • Marketable

  • Attractive to parents and rankings

Litigation:

• Long gestation period

• No immediate income

• Difficult to package into brochures

➡️ Institutions prioritise branding over long-term student interest

📢 Reduction of Legal Education

• Law colleges become:

  • Placement agencies

  • PR-driven institutions

• Instead of:

  • Centres of professional formation

  • Ethical and intellectual training

Litigation success becomes invisible; corporate placement becomes spectacle.

🔧 The Way Forward: Structural Reform

What Must Change

• Litigation must be:

  • Encouraged

  • Normalised

  • Celebrated

Concrete Measures:

• Stronger focus on:

  • Clinical courses

  • Trial advocacy

  • Drafting and pleadings

  • Moot courts

  • Court internships

• Active faculty mentorship for litigation aspirants

• Alternative success metrics recognising:

  • Litigation careers

  • Judicial services

  • Public interest law

  • Independent practice

⚖️ Restoring the True Purpose of Legal Education

• Law exists to serve:

  • Justice

  • Society

  • Rule of law

• Not merely:

  • Corporate balance sheets

Reclaiming litigation is not nostalgia—it is a strategic investment in the future.

🏁 Conclusion

• Without litigation-centred training:

  • Lawyers lose confidence

  • Courts lose capable advocates

  • Society loses justice

• Restoring litigation to the core ensures:

  • Independent thinking

  • Ethical strength

  • A living, dynamic, socially responsive legal system