Nehan Sethi remembers her experience of interning as a student with a private firm where she learnt first-hand what working in the male-dominated legal sector is like.
A mix-up at the workplace had led to two senior partners, a man and a woman, being rebuked by their senior. However, the woman partner was berated more and Sethi believes it was because of her gender.
“Although both were getting scolded, it seemed to be more focused on the woman partner. The boss even implied that it [the error] must have happened due to her having to look after her child even though both the partners had children of the same age.”
The incident was a major catalyst in Sethi’s decision to set up a platform to build a community for women lawyers. Sethi graduated from Symbiosis Law School, Pune, in March 2020, just as the COVID-19 pandemic started sweeping through the country.
However, the health crisis, uncertainty, and disruption brought on by the pandemic opened new possibilities for Sethi’s passion project, Her Forum.
In July 2020, just after she started working at a law firm in Pune, Sethi set up Her Forum, her effort to build a community for women in the male-dominated legal sector. Now, along with five other women lawyers, she has built a vibrant community for women lawyers online.
Her Forum is an online platform that shares success stories of women in the sector, conducts interviews of senior women lawyers, and encourages networking among women lawyers, both current and future ones.
“The idea was to essentially create a platform that connects women by setting up various events and forming a community that highlights success stories to increase the recognition for women in the sector, to encourage networking among them, and to provide peer support,” said Sethi.
The forum also publishes opinion pieces and analyses by law students on laws and judgments related to women.
Continue reading your story on the app
Continue reading your story in the magazine
Interns Are Often Considered ‘Free Labour'
A student who interned with a law-firm during the pandemic writes about working long hours without a stipend and what they learned from mistakes.
THE LLM PROBLEM
In January, the Bar Council of India issued a notification putting an end to the one-year LLM programme, leaving students and teachers perplexed.
‘WE MIGHT TAKE A CLUSTER UNIVERSITY APPROACH'
The National Law School of India University (NLSIU) Bengaluru doesn’t need a change in law or court cases to become more diverse, said Vice Chancellor, Sudhir Krishnaswamy. He spoke to Careers360 about how NLSIU, caught in a court case related to reservation of 25% seats for Karnataka students, is working on a system to make it more diverse; expanding to accommodate more students and courses; exploring collaborations with other state universities; and planning to raise funds from alumni.
NOT CROSSING THE BAR
There are dozens of career avenues beyond litigation that do not require a law graduate to qualify the bar exam. Many do not qualify the exam and many choose not to write it.
THE DOMICILE DEBATE
Over the past few years, most states have introduced domicile quotas of varying sizes in NLUs. Students, alumni and former administrators continue to oppose this policy.
SISTERHOOD OF LAWYERS
A forum for women lawyers started by a Symbiosis Law School graduate is helping students and graduates find their feet in the profession.
OUTSIDE THE LAW
India’s premier law schools, the National Law Universities, are discussing ways to implement the new National Education Policy. They will need more of everything – funds, infrastructure, teachers.
LAW OF ANOTHER LAND
The largest number of foreign universities whose law degrees the Bar Council of India recognises is in the United Kingdom. What can you do with a foreign degree in law?
GAINING A PRACTICAL APPROACH
Online courses train lawyers in newer branches of law, help students gain practical experience and keep other professionals updated on the regulations that govern their sectors.
COVERING NEW TERRAIN
Law schools offer a range of short-term diploma courses for both lawyers, other working professionals and students. Several cover emerging areas of concern such as bioterrorism, GIS and remote-sensing.
TIME TO BE PREPARED AND MOTIVATED!
“Life should never get you down whether there’s a lockdown or not. Now, maintain safe social distancing, together we can be all-conquering. Let’s stay together by being apart. This one is straight from the heart” says, my friend Mr Karl Mascarenhas who heads DIVA Pageant Studio in Pune.
Interview: Puneet Pal
The Current Rising Yields Present An Opportunity For Retail Investors
Corruption in BEST tender processing, says former corporator
Former corporator of the Congress party, and opposition leader in the BMC, Ravi Raja has written to the general manager of the BEST Undertaking and alleged corruption in the tender process for procuring 1,400 electric buses on a rental basis.
IMD: Pre-monsoon rain in parts of Maha from May 20
The India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) latest extended range forecast issued on Thursday raised hopes for pre-monsoon showers to finally begin in parts of Maharashtra from around May 20.
ELECTRIFYING MOVEMENT
We take Tata Motors' two very potent electric vehicles and try to make a change in two of our friends' lives
The Susegad life
Goa continues to reign as one of the preferred destinations for travel
INDIA HOSPITALITY COLLECTIVE
USP of top Indian hotels and why we love them
VOLKSWAGEN STARTS PRODUCTION OF GERMAN-ENGINEERED NEW VIRTUS
Volkswagen Passenger Cars India announces the start of production of its striking, exhilarating and German-engineered New Virtus.
Biological Eeyes 1bndoses of non-Covid jabs in 5 yrs
Hyderabad-based Biological E is eyeing a capacity to produce 1 billion nonCovid vaccines per annum in the next five years, and aims to be the largest vaccine maker in India by volume.
Why are EV makers recalling some of their electric scooters?
OLA ELECTRIC has said it is recalling more than 1,400 of its electric scooters in the wake of dozens of incidents of electric two wheelers catching fire, in which at least four people have been killed so far.