We promote Mooting Culture to make students industry ready, says Assistant Professor

In a conversation with Shiksha.com, Assistant Professor-Chettinad Academy of Research and Education Ruchi Sinha talks about the efforts the institute is making to give students a practical exposure in the form of moot court sessions, guest lectures, internships, visits and live cases.

Read the excerpts of the interview below:

Q: What are the three things that your institute is doing that will enable it to differentiate itself from competition?

A: Chettinad School of Law is a Next Generation Clinical Law School. We focus on imparting quality legal education through clinical methods of teaching. Initiatives that differentiate us from competition are

• Experiential learning through industrial visits which includes Courts and Tribunals, Civil Societies and Statutory Commissions, Police Station and NGOs and Prison Visit.
• Academic Planning includes well planned semesters in advance & published including  exact schedule of their internal submissions, mid-terms and presentations for respective subjects.
• Assessment patterns that differ for each subject keeping in mind the needs and demands of the subject.
• New-Age specialisations created keeping in mind the market forces and caters to the future needs of the students studying constitutional law, criminal law, corporate law, intellectual property rights, international economic law and policy, arbitration and human rights.
• Mooting Culture is created specifically for certain subjects as specified in the academic calendar. A National Level Moot Court Competition to mark its presence in the national mooting arena. Students are also sent to various moot court competitions across the country and abroad and also to conferences and winter courses, etc., in and outside the State (including National Law University).

Q: What are the top three initiatives undertaken by you that are helping your students become more industry-ready?

A: Apart from focusing only on curriculum, we also encourage industry involvement in number of ways. These include:  

• Capsule courses by Expat Faculty: Offering regular capsule courses designed to enrich students understanding in various specialised domain of law such as by Jurisprudence and Comparative Constitutional Law expat faculty for a global perspective
• Mandatory Internship Program: Mandatory summer and winter internship every year with a dedicated Internship Protocol that the students have to follow right from their first semester onwards and documented with the help of an internship diary given to the students on the first day of the session.
• An Internship Cell dedicatedly works for providing internship ranging from NGOs, Civil Societies, Trial Courts, High Courts, Supreme Court, Reputed Law Firms and MNCs.
• Continuous Industry-Academia interface:
  1. through visits of former Chief Justices of India, Sri Lanka and Nepal .
  2. Visits of  professors from universities across the globe, Vice Chancellors of National Law Universities , and Principal

Q: What are the key attributes that a student should have in order to qualify for your institution and get top grades in your institution?

A: To qualify for institution, applicant needs to meet basic eligibility criteria. This includes:

• For Undergraduate courses, applicant must have minimum 45 per cent in high school
• For PG Courses, Bachelor’s Degree with minimum of 45 per cent is required
• Valid score in any of Law admission test such as CLAT and LSAT
• Performance in the personal interview
• And, there is no age bar.

And, to get top grades in institute:

• Hard work & dedication is required as we follow continuous assessment system throughout the semester wherein the students are evaluated on different parameters/criteria.
• As per the demand of the subject, they are evaluated on projects, judgment analysis, moot courts, completion of online courses, book reviews, making power point presentations, etc.
• Mid semester examination and the University End Term examination.  This helps the students to self evaluate their progress and strive towards getting better grades.

Q: Which programmes would you say are your best? What is it that helps your institution differentiate itself for this programme?

A: The School of Law offers a blend of both undergraduate and post graduate courses with unique specialisations. Every programme has its unique outcomes and learning which makes it one of its kinds. The specialisations and Honours courses add flair to each programme.

Q: What are you doing to improve campus placements for your current students and alumni? What kind of jobs routinely come to campus? What would you say are the key recruitment trends for your college (observed over the past five years)?

A: Our first batch will be graduating in 2021, so we have no such records to showcase but, having been promoted by a reputed industrial group, good placements are envisaged.