Law Mantra Journal: Call For Paper

The Law Mantra Law journal (ISSN 2321 – 6417) is a monthly academic journal, published online, that seeks to provide an interactive forum for the publication of articles in the field of Law. Law Mantra is an Online Journal and Web Portal, under the chief patron of Dr. Hon. Justice Malimath, former Chief Justice Karnataka and Kerala High Court, Dr. Prof. Gurjeet Singh, Vice-Chancellor N.L.U.J.A Assam , Prof.(Dr.) FaizanMustaffa, V.C NALSAR Hyderabad, Prof. Shamnad Basheer and other luminaries from the legal fraternity.
The Journal is currently soliciting submissions for Volume 2, Issue 1, which will be published in September 30th 2014. The submission deadline for Volume 2, Issue 1 is September 10th, 2014. We welcome submissions from academicians, practitioners, students, researchers and experts from within the legal community. We have a strong preference for articles that assert and defend a well-reasoned position.
It is aimed at institutionalizing and channelling the analytical and incisive articles of students towards value addition and developing inherent potentials of legal fraternity.

The Themes for Call for Paper is “Intellectual Property Law”
Write us editor@lawmantra.co.in

About The Competition: The competition basically has the purpose to bring out original and concrete views of the mass- to the mass. In an essay, we look forward to a detail analysis of the status quo and putting forward suggestions that would serve as an instrument for change to the problems that persist.
The Paper submitted will be used to create modules for free awareness campaigns.

Theme: “Intellectual Property Law”

The submissions may be in the form of articles, notes, comments, book reviews on the issues raised.
All submissions must be made in accordance with the submission guidelines of the editorial board given below:
We welcome submissions under the following categories, with word limits:

Submission Guidelines:

TYPES OF CONTRIBUTIONS
• Articles are lengthy publications that provide sustained treatment of important topics and ideas in the law.
Word Count – 7000 words (including footnotes).
• Essays are long write-ups and explore new arenas in the field of the topic that the author wishes to deal with.
Word Count – 5000 words (including footnotes).
• Book Reviews tackle new publications or neglected topics in the law. These are relatively short pieces of work that tend to analyse, comment and evaluate any law related book published recently.
Word Count – 1500 words (including footnotes).
• Case/Legislative Comments are short pieces which succinctly tackle interesting issues and puzzles in the law, often a critique on recent judicial pronouncements.
Word Count – 3000 words (including footnotes).

WRITING GUIDELINES:
All Entries must be typewritten in the font Times New Roman, font size 12, 1.5 line spacing and justified alignment.
The Citations must be typewritten in the font Times New Roman, font size 10, 1 line spacing and justified alignment.
Citation style must adhere to one uniform system of citation. References must be footnoted in Blue book 19th edition. All references must be cited in simple text. No formatting is required for the citations.
Submissions received to the Law Mantra Journal reviewed for following reasons
Scope and relevance for article: The article must be based on contemporary legal issues. Content of article must be suitable for readers-Students, Legal Professions, Academicians.
Language and Quality: Language must be formal and clear, adhering the submissions guidelines of journal.
Copyright Violation: To ensure that, the submissions are not in violation of copyrights laws. Authors are required to obtain written permission for the use of any copyrighted material in the manuscript and must communicate the same journal.
PLAGIARISM CHECK:
The authors are required to take special care in citing all the sources that they will refer to in their submissions.
The submission shouldn’t have been published somewhere else or submitted for consideration for publication somewhere else.
All the submissions will be subjected to strict plagiarism checks.
MODE OF SUBMISSION:
Submissions should be in electronic form (.doc, .docx).
The submissions are to be addressed to The Editorial Board, Law Mantra Journal ateditor@lawmantra.co.in .

REGISTRATION DETAILS

Selected full paper should reach the convener, on or before 10th September 2014.

Editors

 Miss Akansha Dubey, LL.M from Cambridge University
 Miss Stuti Sexana, Academic Assistant of I.I.M Bangalore and Ahmadabad
 Mr. Sukdeo Inga Asst. Professor,DES’s Navalmal Firodia Law College, Pune

For more details please contact Shambhavi Mishra @+91 8544202942

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First Impression: How To Write A Cover Letter

Before we deal with any ‘technical details’ or talk about any ‘tip and tricks’, it is very important that you understand the sole purpose of a Cover Letter or for a Resume or a Statement of Purpose for that matter. In all these cases, imagine yourself as a salesman. And you are supposed to be selling the most important and unique you have; you yourself.  When I say sell yourself, I mean sell your skills, your logic, your knowledge and your attitude. Like all other market environments, recruitment also works on more or less the same factors. In a basic market there are two ways to sell a product. Make a product that the customer wants or needs and sell it to them. Or make a product and convince the customer that they need it so that it’s easier to sell it. The second is the more tricky and if done right more rewarding strategy. That’s exactly what IPhone’s did. People didn’t have a need for IPhones before they existed. Apple didn’t just create smartphones, they even created the need for the same. You might be wondering what your Cover Letter has got to do with IPhones. Like customers didn’t know that they wanted an IPhone, potential recruiters don’t know that they want/need you.  That is where your marketing and selling potential comes in.

                                                 

A Cover Letter is generally sent with the Resume or CV. In very simple words it’s your introduction and the first thing anyone reads, before they touch your resume. The say the first impression is the last. While this may not always be true, but they first impression always lasts longer. So you better hope that the first thing a potential employees looks at when you mail them your resume look good enough to hold their attention. And that is why a cover letter is so important. Cause more often than not, a recruiter has already subconsciously judged you based on your cover letter (or sometimes or total lack of it.!!).

There are three essential points that you need to keep in mind while writing a cover letter;

1)      Be creative and original: The cover letter is the face thing a person looks at. Make sure it is atleast original. DO NOT copy of cover letters from tons of online website and post them. Trust me; most recruiters get tons of mails per day. They know which candidate has made a genuine effort. They would not appreciate a copy pasted work.   

2)      Why you: Create the need right away. Generate their curiosity by given an overview of the highlights of your career. It’s a lot like baiting a fish. Again, recruiters get tons of mails, unless they are hooked right, they might not even glance through your resume properly. Let them know that you have something that they need.

3)      Do not write a lot: It’s supposed to be a cover letter, not a life essay. Hence, keep it short and simple. Recruiters always appreciate simple, unique and professional cover letters.

To wrap it up, remember the PSU before writing a cover letter; Professional, Simple and Unique.

These three points would help you make the appropriate cover letter, whether it’s for your internship application or for a job.  

Check out the step by step sample Cover Letter below;

Dear Mr./Ms. Last Name, ( or Dear Sir/Ma’am in case you don’t know their names)

Body of Cover Letter
The body of your cover letter lets the employer know what position you are applying for, why the employer should select you for an interview, and how you will follow-up.

First Paragraph
The first paragraph of your letter should include information on why you are writing. Mention the position you are applying for and where you found the job listing. Include the name of a mutual contact, if you have one.

Middle Paragraph
The next section of your cover letter should describe what you have to offer the employer. Mention specifically how your qualifications match the job you are applying for. Remember, you are interpreting your resume, not repeating it.

Final Paragraph 
Conclude your cover letter by thanking the employer for considering you for the position. Include information on how you will follow-up.

Closing

Respectfully Yours/Sincerely/Regards,

[Also never forget to write an accurate Subject Line. Your Subject Line helps the employer classify our mail even before they open it. A wrong subject line might get your application misplaced irrespective of how good it is.]  

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NATIONAL SLOGAN WRITING COMPETITION ON ‘WOMEN EMPOWERNMENT’, SUBMIT BY 25TH AUGUST, 2014

About Competition:

A nation-wide slogan writing competition on ‘Women Empowerment’ is being organised by the ‘Unmukt Bharat’ and ‘Swami Vivekanand Subharti University’.

The Competition is divided into Groups for Participating Students as follows:

Groups:

Group A: Classes X-XII

Group B: Undergraduate/Postgraduate Students

In this reference all the schools and colleges are requested to encourage their students to take part in this event and contribute in making a gender sensitive society. You are requested to widely disseminate the details of this competition to all the students to get maximum number of students involved with their creative skills.

Guidelines for Submission:

• Participant can send slogan in Hindi/English.
• Slogan should not exceed 50 Words.
• Slogan must adhere to theme of this competition and should give a message to the society.

Important: The entries must reach us before 25th August, 2014 (11:59 P.M.)

Prizes:

Top Entries will be chosen and the authors will be felicitated with Exciting Prizes on the date to be announced on 10thAugust, 2014,  at Campus of Swami Vivekanand Subharti University. All the participants will get Certificates of Participation.

Registration & Slogan Submission:

✎Click Here to Register 

Contact:

Mr. Anuj Kumar

Coordinator,   Unmukt Bharat

First Floor, Asfaq Ullah Block,

Swami Vivekanand Subharti University,

Subharti Puram,

Meerut 250 005 (U.P.)

Contact: +91-9639010553

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How To Crack A Law Firm Interview: Beginners Guide.

What is the objective of a job interview?

The objective of the interviewee is to ‘do well’ and get through – for a job, a post, or perhaps a membership. Now what constitutes ‘doing well’? A lot of time, one gets the feeling that they have done well, only to find out later that they were not selected. At other times, people feel dejected after the interview, only to get a good result afterwards. And then you always find people with lesser qualification getting selected over those having superior academic records or qualification at an interview. Why does this happen? Interview always seem to be a big enigma.

Well, most intelligent people find interviews quite simple to handle. There are a few basic things one need to understand about interviews. There are certain basic rules of meeting other people which applies to interviews as well. Beyond that, there is always a purpose for which you are being interviewed, and you must be a good fit for that purpose.

Let’s Imagine that You want the Job of a Life Guard

Let us presume that you are excellent at swimming, and you are applying for a job that requires a lot of swimming – like that of a life guard. We have already presumed you have the necessary swimming skills for doing that job. Now if you have to appear for an interview to get this job, with many other similarly qualified swimmers, how would you differentiate yourself from the rest? This is the question that almost everyone faces – lawyers, engineers, typists and actors alike.

Apart from basic competence, what else do they look at in an interview? Well, while we can rationally generalize to an extent, it makes sense to narrow down to interviews that law students face for recruitment to law firms.

 

People know that they have to distinguish themselves, but they don’t know How.

That’s why people try to moot, debate, join societies, write articles and so on. They write about all these things in their CV. In their interview, they try to look and sound smart and intelligent. And very often they go wrong. Sometimes they do it right inadvertently. But from what I see, very few try to analyse the process and understand how it all works.

The fitting in and the distinguishing

There are two things that you should do in an interview – show that you fit in, and distinguish yourself. Both at the same time. You have to fit into the role the employer perceives the employee to take, and you must still be different from the rest of the applicants in a positive way.

Is it just academics?

Not really, but usually it is the most important factor as well as far as getting a job in a law firm is concerned. Even in the interview, they try to understand your knowledge of law and problem solving aptitude. In one of my interviews, I was given a problem and asked to solve it in 10 mins. I couldn’t solve it entirely, but I was able to show that I am thinking in the right direction and that I have a good knowledge base and the requisite problem solving skills. The interviewer helped me by giving an important cue and I cracked it. I was selected.

In law firm job interviews for freshers, much of the interview is occupied by questions on law and your academic performance. Expect it. Even if you have not done great academically, you should have a plan of action to prove that you are otherwise good. Lots of people who do not do great academically get through to the best firms that way.

 

What is preparation?

Preparation is simply anticipating questions and preparing the best possible answer. Of course you don’t mug up these answers – but you need to be able to say these things readily with confidence. You can not anticipate all the questions, so take help from your friends, parents, seniors – ask them to go through your CV and ask questions about your academics, extra curriculars, anything in you CV. That way you will find out the most likely talking points in your CV and yourself. Identify the interesting and positive talking points, and drive the interview towards these points. Tempt the interviewer to ask you the question you want to be asked. If you say, I am good at negotiating, the interviewer will ask you 90% of the time to give an example of a realm life negotiation you engaged in. Be prepared with a really good story.

Talking points

While making the CV, make sure to put in a lot of talking points. These are like full toss balls, given knowing that the interviewer will ask predictable questions based on these points. If you don’t want to discuss something in the interview, then be kind to yourself and don’t put it in the CV.

Ensure that the talking points are relevant to the job you are seeking. If you are applying to a firm which mostly does M&A, don’t write or talk about family law and IP law articles and papers you may have written. They just don’t care. They would like to talk about something that you have done which is related to corp law. Stuff the CV with those. And vice versa for an IP law firm.

Also, raise the relevant talking points as you speak during the interview, and wait for the interviewer to catch on to those. You can decide on your best talking points before hand and spring them one by one as opportunity comes.

Be sociable and friendly

Tons of otherwise good people dont get jobs because they fail at this. Remember, you are going to work with clients in a law firm. Can you befriend a client? Can you take a client out on a dinner and convince her that you are a very good friend? If not, no matter how good you are at drafting or research, it will be difficult for a firm to retain you. They look for this quality during the interview. They think in the following lines:

Is this girl going to blend with the other associates or will she turn out to be another bitch?

Is this guy a liar? Or is he really as smart as he says he is?

This guys hands are shaking – is he always this nervous under pressure?

If you come across as a nice person, with a warm nice smile, polite but confident, the law firm already wants you – even if you are not in top half of your class. If you are a topper who comes across as a bookworm, too nervous or too arrogant, you know why you are not getting through to interviews while your peers do it effortlessly. This is why it is important to dress well for the interview, too.

Confidence

Be quietly confident – say what you want to say completely, cogently, in a full voice. There’s no better friend like confidence in an interview. If you appear confident, the interviewer already thinks you are alpha quality, who don’t get nervous even before an interview. They’d think you are one of those people who stroll in, make one feel good, walk out with what they want. Veni vidi vici type people. They think that because unlike so many people you have appeared before them – calm and confident. One of the most effective way of distinguishing yourself.

Observe the interviewer

As you speak, as you hear, make eye contacts as if you are giving them your full attention. Making eye contact also shows your confidence. Of course, don’t stare at them in a way that they think you are a pervert. Similarly, smile at appropriate moments but not in a crazy way so that they’d think you are mad. But most importantly, observing them gives you an idea as to how they are receiving your answers. Do they look happy? Do they look bored? Do they seem to be not understanding what you are saying? Are they not agreeing? If you are observing them properly, you’d know it from their expression and will be able to adjust your answer accordingly. Same for telephone interviews, only then you need to hear the tone of the voice carefully.

Know the need

What are you being hired for? Show that you have the ability to do it. Offer to demonstrate. Volunteer information that will help them in making a judgment. To know the need, you may want to do some research. Talk to seniors who are already in the firm. Those who have left the firm. Those who have relatives working there – in a law school, its not going to be difficult. Google the firm and read on internet.

Managing recommendations

This is extremely important. Law firms ask your seniors who are already there for their opinion about you. Are they going to say good things or bad things? It could be a decisive factor. If you are applying to a firm, is there someone who can give a bad review about you out of enmity? Call him long before the interview/shortlisting – and ask for advice about what to do. Listen with genuine concern, thank him a lot no matter how bad advice he gives and keep the phone down. Its a disarming approach. He’ll now have to be a real asshole to say bad things after you have approached him for help. People hate to admit to themselves that they are assholes. If you don’t approach them, however, they are morally free to give any bad opinion that they may have of you.

Do you have anything to share about the above points? Anything important that you think I missed? Please share them in the comments below!

About the Author:-

Ramanuj Mukherjee, the Co-Founder of iPleaders, is a extensive blogger and a serial entrepreneur. The Founder of multiple blogs including 1sttasteoflaw and SuperLawyer. He is also associated with IDEA among few major organizations.

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