Legal Conclave At SOA In Bhubaneswar: Law Students Advised To Explore New Fields

Bhubaneswar: In a scenario in which legal education has opened up lucrative job opportunities, law graduates should train in a way to make themselves eligible for new and emerging fields, said Jash Agrawal, an expert on legal education, on Saturday.

Speaking at the inaugural function of ‘SOA Lex Concilium’, a day long legal conclave organised by SOA National Institute of Law (SNIL), faculty of legal studies of Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan (SOA) in Bhubaneswar, Agrawal, managing partner of law firm Wadia Ghandy and Co, said, “Law schools and universities should take the responsibility to train students and prepare them adequately for such opportunities.”

“There are around 1700 law schools in the country which produce more than four lakh law graduates every year. It is not that law graduates should only become lawyers in courts or aspire to become judges as a plethora of new openings await them,” he added.

Pradipta Kumar Nanda, pro-vice-chancellor of SOA, outlined the courses offered by the university and said 47% of its students and 35% of its faculty members were women. Prof SAK Azad, Dean of SNIL and Ripti Ranjan Dash, SOA’s Head, Corporate Relations and Industry Engagement, also spoke.

Two panel discussions were part of the conclave. In the first, subjects like future of legal services and career path, civil and commercial litigation and procedural laws, intellectual property disputes and emerging areas for professionals and navigating legal career – law school and beyond, were discussed. The second panel discussion was on preparatory measures for legal industry readiness.

Prof Prabir Kumar Patnaik, Senior Professor at SNIL and associate professor Chinmoy Kumar Mohapatra were present at the discussions. Prof Jyoti Ranjan Das, Dean (Students’ Welfare), proposed the vote of thanks.