Extracurricular Activities as a part of the Law School Curriculum.

As per a recent trend among the various legal recruiters, supply is exceeding the demand and it has become extremely difficult for the recruiters to pick and choose top quality law students. Moot courts, internships and publications as everyone think are one of the benchmarks to check the capability of a law student. But now that every single person is running behind these certificates to decorate their Resumes in the best possible way, they need a bit more than this. Something that makes them stands apart from the crowd, something that draws a line between the better and the best. This is where Extra Curricular Activities play its part. While in a law school, GPA is an essential factor but that only makes one a bookworm. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. You don’t want to be dull, do you?

The one basic aim with which a law student enrolls into a law college these days is to make his/ her CV the most brightest of all. Unless obviously, he/she does have a strong legal background and would not care for the world to make the best of the 5 years that they are enrolled for. Extra Curricular Activities (ECA) portrays the leadership and other skills one has. Recruiters can very well check the level of legal knowledge from the other aspects of the CV such as moots and internships but these skills which they are looking for can only be delivered by an ECA. Every CV tells a story. But in case of a law student these days, to make that story appreciable is what everyone is running for. That extra masala which earns you an appreciation award is your EC skills.

Unlike internships, where references play a vital role and it is easy to mint certificates, even if one is dumb in what he does, ECA requires actual talent and skills to earn a certificate.

There is also a wrong notion that ECA in the law schools should be only related to law. Well, NO. That’s what ECA is all about. It is Extracurricular and not Curricular.

EC Activities like MUN competitions gives you negotiation and diplomatic skills which is super important for a law curriculum as well as a law student. Activities like an editor at some web portal will increase the research and writing abilities of a law student which he needs the most. Another advantage of having an ECA is that you can meet and associate with new people, after all legal profession itself is all about meeting your prospective clients and associating with them. Also, what if your ECA may altogether change your profession? Say for example if you are good at street plays, you might just have a chance to become an actor as well and who knows maybe end up as a top paid star. Gerard Butler too was a law grad but look at him now. People drool over him. Just saying!

These days’ law schools have such a strict schedule that students only compete and survive in the college and not live and enjoy which makes it a bound duty for a law school to introduce ECA as a part of their curriculum. College life is supposed to be fun. ECA is fun and will gel up the students together at college to have a great time.

Juggling between Curriculum and Extra Curriculum is the skill people out there are looking for. So just before you think your moots and internships in big shot firms might just work for you, also give ECA a shot.

Imagine the situation of a Law grad who while filling his application to get recruited realizes that the entire column of Extra Curricular Activities is left blank not because he forgot to fill it but because he does not have any such activity experience and at the end loses the much earned opportunity. This if happens is Sad.

So why take chance? Streamline your talent towards an ECA and work to grab every opportunity. For the students currently enrolled in a law school with no EC experiences, start thinking upon this right away because later when it dawns upon you one day, it would have been too late.

Law school limits one to only his/her college or working atmosphere but an extra circular activity will open up a wide platform for a law student to portray his/her skills. The present curriculum in law schools have made students claustrophobic  as apart from GPA’s , Moots, Internships and Publications, there is nothing much to look forward to. Rather the curriculum should include ECA which will help a student reach out to new horizons that they he/she has never experienced.

Always remember, you are judged by the skills that you possess and not just by mere interpretation of a few Latin terms, though that in itself is a skill.

About the Lawyer:

Nikhil Nair is a current student of VIPS, New Delhi.

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