Emerging careers after law

A page on Public Policy, like never before

The "Emerging careers after law" session revolved around fellowships and public policies owing to the expertise of

1. Ankita Talukdar, a Justice Leila Seth Fellow at iProbono and

2. Meemansha Agarwal, a tech policy and legal affairs associate at the office of Dr. Amar Patnaik (Former MP, Rajya Sabha) and an associate at Spectra Law.

What do they do?

Meemansha is a legal affairs associate at the office of an MP. Her work is mainly research, drafting speeches, collaborating with thinktanks, preparing questions for parliament, conducting round table conferences for government stakeholders and other parties to interact, business development, etc. She gets to wear a lot of hats.

Ankita is a Justice Leila Seth fellow and is working with litigation, providing legal support to NGOs and other partners by connecting them with other advocates, organising training sessions with stakeholders, providing the government with recommendations. She has more control over her hours (though working overtime is still an occurrence when necessary).

More on fellowships

Application process:

1. Know what you are looking for.

2. Look at the structure of the fellowship and see if it curates what you are looking for.

3. Each fellowship looks for different things.

For example, there are 3 rounds for Justice Leila Fellowship:

- Submitting a video CV
- Interview: the key is to be honest with what you’re looking for
- Present a children’s rights project idea

Networking:

90% of the recruitment in policy space is based on networking.
Find people with Linkedin with the intent of learning from their experiences, not to ask for favours.
Personalise the note you write to connect on LinkedIn.
If you are "Easy Applying" on LinkedIn, send an Email along with your profile as well.
Do not go for training sessions or fellowships that ask you to pay.
Look into alumni of other colleges, see their careers and try connecting with the ones you want guidance from.

How to look for opportunities to work with MPs:

WhatsApp groups such as Public Policy India (https://chat.whatsapp.com/ImzyhhjHqUk8Nq9APMsSYM) and Impetus update opportunities regularly.
Parties and MPs usually recruit interns one month before parliamentary sessions, that would be the ideal time to apply for.

Skills every fellow needs:

Good at communication
Impeccable research skills
Knowing current issues and politics behind the issue about the field you’re working on
Do not be rigid about your principles - look from the position of all stakeholders
Try to be less idealistic and more apolitical
Managing expectations
Be aware of the surroundings: Follow people on Twitter, LinkedIn, read think tank reports, etc.

Intern under these places to see if you like the work:

1. Offices of Members of Parliament
2. Research clinics of Law Schools
3. Teaching assistants to Professors

In case you are passionate about Child rights:

1. NGOs
2. Ministries and Commissions
3. ChildLine
4. Juvenile Justice wards
5. Independent Lawyers who are on the Legal Aid Panels

6. Some popular options are: Enfold, Rathi, HRLN, Maljit, Prerna

In case you are passionate about Tech Policy:

1. Think tanks such as Dialogue, Vidhi, ORF, SCR
2. Digital rights defenders organisations such as the SFLC
3. Policy team of firms such as SAM and Ikigai Law
4. Consulting firms that research and help clients with compliances, licensing, etc such as Quantum Hub, Chase India
5. Organisations by law school alumni such as Evam Law