Salary of a Lawyer in India: Corporate Lawyer Vs. Litigation Lawyer
Confused about choosing a career as a litigator or corporate lawyer? Want to know which career option can provide you with a higher income & better growth opportunities? Learn the difference between the salaries of a corporate lawyer and a litigation lawyer in India in this article.
Corporate Lawyer vs Litigation Lawyer: Which Profession has a Higher Income?
Law is one of the most promising career fields for professionals in India. This field also provides professionals with attractive earning opportunities. However, the income or salary that you earn as a law professional depends on the law domain in which you work. There are two main domains of law in India, namely, Corporate Law and Litigation, in which people work in modern times. Salaries in these two law fields are different. If you are also planning to choose one of the two law fields and want to become a litigation lawyer or corporate lawyer, you must know the difference between the salaries of these two types of lawyers and achieve financial success from these career options. This article will explain the difference between the salaries of a corporate lawyer and a litigation lawyer and how to achieve financial success as a lawyer.
- Litigation Lawyers Vs. Corporate Lawyers
- Factors Affecting the Salary of Litigation Lawyers and Corporate Lawyers
- Salary of Litigation Lawyers in India
- Skills Required to become a Litigation Lawyer
- Skills Required to become a Corporate Lawyer
Litigation Lawyers Vs. Corporate Lawyers
Before selecting your career as a litigation lawyer or corporate lawyer based on the salary in these fields, you must know the difference between the two professions. Check out the difference between a corporate lawyer and a litigation lawyer and their roles and responsibilities in India.
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Corporate Lawyer |
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Factors Affecting the Salary of Litigation Lawyers and Corporate Lawyers
If you want to earn a handsome salary as a litigation lawyer or corporate lawyer, you must know the factors that can affect your salary. These factors have been listed as follows:
- Skills as a lawyer
- College or university from which you earned your law degree
- Work experience
- City in which you work or practice law
- Forum for which you work (District Court, High Court or Supreme Court)
- Your success rate as a lawyer
- Industry or law domain for which you work
Salary of Litigation Lawyers in India
The salary of a litigation lawyer or advocate in India with experience of 7–10 years ranges from INR 8–10 Lakh to INR 12–15 Lakh per annum.
On the contrary, the salary of a fresher litigation lawyer working as a junior under a senior lawyer is very low. It ranges from INR 200 to INR 700 per appearance or hearing. This is because, as a litigation lawyer, you need very high credibility to deal with various legal issues, and this credibility comes from experience. Thus, in the long run, when you gain significant experience and expertise as a litigation lawyer, you can earn INR 25–30 Lakh per appearance. Senior Counsel, such as Ram Jethmalani (Harshad Metha’s advocate for Scam 1992) and Harish Salve (the advocate of renowned companies, including Reliance Industries, Tata Group, and ITC Limited), earn this much money per appearance in the litigation profession.
Where to Work as a Litigation Lawyer in India
Litigation lawyers can work as individual advocates or as junior lawyers under a senior lawyer. They also work as legal consultants. Apart from these job roles mentioned, the following institutions provide job opportunities to litigation lawyers:
- AZB & Partners
- DSK Legal
- Khaitan & Co
- Bharucha & Partners
- IndusLaw
- JSA Law
- Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas
- Dhir & Dhir Associates
- Link Legal
- Phoenix Legal
Earning Scope in Litigation
Earning a huge income as a litigation lawyer in the initial years of your career is a hard nut to crack. You need to be exceptionally skilled and experienced to make a desirable amount of money as a litigation lawyer. You cannot avoid the fact that growth in litigation because of new lawyers or advocates faces difficulties in establishing clientele because of a lack of guidance.
Skills Required to become a Litigation Lawyer
Students aspiring to create their career as a Litigation Lawyer must ensure to incorporate the following skills in their day to day practice and try to hone this in their internships to flourish in their career:
- Case Research and Analysis
- Drafting Pleading
- Courtroom Skills
- Case Research and Analysis
Where to work as a Corporate Lawyer in India?
As a corporate law professional in India, you can take a role as junior associate in any of the legal firms or other corporate firms. Experienced and fresher corporate lawyers in the country can apply for jobs at the following corporate law firms:
- Trilegal India
- DSK Legal
- Anand & Anand
- J Sagar And Associates (JSA)
- Vaish Associates
- AZB & Partners
- Phoenix Legal
- Vaish Associatea
- S&R Associates
- Desai & Dewanji
- Talwar Thakore and Associates
- Cyril Amarchand Mangladas
- Touchstone Partners
- Laksmikumaran & Sridharan
Earning Scope in Corporate Law
With an increase in industrialization and business activities in India, demands for corporate law services in India increase among corporate organisations. The increased demands for corporate law services have also increased the scope of earning in corporate law in India. Thus, corporate law provides attractive opportunities to make money in India.
Skills Required to become a Corporate Lawyer
To become a corporate lawyer, students must incorporate the following skills in their daily practice and try to hone it during the internship programs to increase their chances of bagging a highly paid and rewarding career:
- Knowledge of Corporate Law
- Contract Drafting & Reviewing
- Due Diligence
- Knowledge of Regulatory Compliance