Law Mantra Call For Interviews & Campus Correspondents.

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,  Hon. Justice N.C Sil former Judge Kolkata High Court ,Dr. Prof. Gurjeet Singh, Vice-Chancellor N.L.U.J.A Assam , Prof.(Dr.) Faizan Mustaffa, V.C NALSAR Hyderabad, and other luminaries from the legal fraternity. Law Mantra is running for the purpose of enhancing legal academics and legal awareness in the society and in the practice of the same.  Law mantra also has an ISSN (2321-6417) journal which tries to disseminate knowledge and research in various aspects of law. This website offers legal professional and legal
aspirants to bring forward their views and ideas through high level of research and get acknowledged in front of masses. This also includes blog writing, Articles, essay, case notes and others literary works.

Job Description: Interviewer

1. Interviewer

Responsibilities: - Contact person for Interview.Ask questions in accordance with instructions to obtain various specified information, such as person's name, address, age, religious preference, and state of residency. Identify and resolve inconsistencies in interviewees' responses by means of appropriate questioning and/or explanation. Contact individuals to be interviewed.

Requirements: - Outstanding command of the English language. Excellent written and oral communication skills.Strong strategic thinker. Experience in organising events, possessing an ability to head a team of young people and managing the day to day affairs of the Organization.

Qualifications:- Students Pursuing B.A LL.B or LL.B


Campus Ambassador

We are pleased to announce the position of Campus Ambassadors for our web portal Law Mantra for the session 2014-15.

Responsibilities:

As a lead information provider, your responsibilities would mainly include informing us about any conference, seminar, workshop in your college or any other college. It would be appreciated if such information is provided to us at the earliest occasion and on priority basis. As Campus Ambassadors, you are expected to maintain a certain degree of confidentiality about the work delegated to you.

Work Description:

Online work (from home) around 10 hour a week.

Qualifications:

Students Pursuing B.A LL.B or LL.B

Selection Process:

 Resume

 Interview through Google talk or Skype/ Telephone.

Work Description:

 Online work (from home) around an hour every day.

Benefits and Remuneration:

 Work Experience certificate

 Commission depends on work

 Free courses information’s.

 Letter of recommendation.

 Free Publication in Law Mantra Monthly Journal with I.S.S.N

How to Apply

 Send your detailed CV at aditya@lawmantra.co.in

 Position will be contractual basis and person appointed can be removed from the post

without any notice if work found unsatisfactory.

 Last Date to Apply: 15th November, 2014.

 For more details please contact us at +918255090897

 More details check HERE 

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In Between Black & White- Conversation With Rohan Mukherjee, Founder & CEO of Grayscale Legal.

For the Sake of Argument caught up with Rohan Mukherjee, Founder& CEO of Grayscale Legal, Legal Assistant & Researchers.


Rohan, a 4th year student of NLU-O, when he is not busy running Greyscale Legal, is busy helping Law Students all over India fight against oppressive management policies with the help of GrayCheck.!

Q) While For the Sake of Argument congratulates you for Grayscale Legal, the obvious question that arises is from where did you get this idea?

Rohan (R):- Complete survival instinct. I knew that simply my CV won’t get me anywhere – lectures, moots and the likes that usually drive law students didn’t work for me. All of them seemed extremely hypothetical, and lacked the urgency and application of mind that I desired. So that served as an inspiration, and then when we started off, we focused on the aspect of ‘earning your own contacts’ because someone had to call a spade a spade – contacts and outreach help take you places in this profession. Here, we are not your relatives, or your uncle’s colleague’s friend – you earn your own contacts as a result of the work you do for professionals. Simple as that. 

Q) Why choose the name "Grayscale"?

R) Grayscale, because the law is concerned with the black and white - and as we provide quasi-legal services, we toggle between the black and white - between 'grayscale'.

Q) Were people around you initially inclined to support you idea or were you constantly met with pessimist?

R) Didn’t face any pessimism, to be honest. Students and professionals were encouraging – I’m sure that I would have gone ahead even if they weren’t actually. But there was some constructive feedback naturally, which helped me set the whole thing up – and then learning along the way worked out. Still failing and learning at each little step.

Q) Tell us something about GrayCheck.

R) GrayCheck serves as a platform for students to provide evidence against any arbitrary action taken by the administration of their institutes. GrayCheck, powered by Grayscale Legal, facilitates an anonymous voice to take the administration to task – sometimes by legal means and sometimes via media. We don’t just spout everything on a public platform as and when the complaint comes in – a lot of internal research is done and the claims are weighed as well.

Q) What prompted you to come up with GreyCheck? Any personal incident?

R) Well, yeah. I’m still a student, so I know first-hand how things are around us. Also when I visit other colleges, the practice and overall dissatisfaction is apparent, and not without just cause. I had resources within my reach in terms of lawyers who are clients of Grayscale Legal, so lifting this off seemed definitely possible.

Q) What steps does Grey Check take to maintain the identity of the 'whistle blower' secret?

R) Apart from the usual submission platform where after browsing to webmail.grayscale.org.in, logging in with the username checker@grayscale.org.in and password c#eckerR876; we have an anonymous live chat service is present which is monitored by some of our volunteers, and online meetings are scheduled by using a code-name that the grievant chooses for himself/herself. All details are available under the Law Students tab on our website.

Q) When a post has to be backed by evidence, official letters, mails, notices or events, college authorities can easily figure out from the online platform the student behind this? How far it would be anonymous then?

R) Not exactly. We make sure that all sent items are deleted immediately if the sender has not done so himself. Plus, these communications are usually general in nature – that is, addressed to not just an individual but the entire or a sect of the student body. 

Q) What is the guarantee that the college authorities would actually take the action in good stride and not otherwise and would stop perpetuating the act in question? Infact it is very likely that instead of bearing good results these may worsen the things or compound the grievance?

R) We don’t expect any authority to willingly step down and make amends – and naturally I can’t guarantee anything right now and here. But we’ll try till all our resources and methods are exhausted. You have to understand that authorities turning vindictive implies that we pose some form of threat to them, and if that’s the case, GrayCheck has tasted a little victory. 

Q) What is being planned next for Grayscale Legal?

R) We are changing our research and legal assistance model to some extent. Also, we aim to focus on providing legal advice and counsel to laymen and point them to the right lawyer if need arises. All this shall be done for a fee of Rs. 700 per week – so a student can be engaged by any person for that amount to take care of his/her legal problem. Steps are being taken to hold the relationship between the student and the professional more formal and concrete.  

Q) Your proudest moment till date?

R) There have been a few high moments within a year – but I’d have to say that when a few clients, being lawyers, show personal interest in working with some of our associates by their own initiative – and trust me, today if these associates graduate and give these clients a call, they’ll be pulled into their offices without any hesitation. That’s essentially what I set out to achieve – and it is a high to realize that sometimes.

Q) Anything else you may want to add for the sake of law students everywhere who may be oppressed but without a voice?

R) Everyone has a voice. Some haven’t developed strong opinions on issues yet, and others are set in their roles as passive observers – staring and mocking the passersby. I understand where both of them come from – but you have to let it all go. All your focus today is to mould yourself into an excellent student – think about it, after 5 years or less, where will your student-hood take you? So, learn to look and focus on the larger picture – focus completely on what you want for yourself for the rest of your life, and start towards that one target from now. Everything you think, do, write, read and say must take you a step further towards that goal. It’s not that complicated a process, really.



For The Sake of Argument would like to thank Rohan for his time.  Visit their FB page HERE

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The InfoMission Project- Cause Ignorance Is No Excuse.

Finally our team catches up with Harshavardhan Ganesan, Mooter, Munner, Theater Artist and the Founder of The InfoMission Project.

Q) Tell us something about yourself.?

           Alright, well my name is Harshavardhan Ganesan and I am a 4th year law student at ILS Law college, Pune. I am generally quite social and am a self-confessed event-aholic. Meaning I need to continuously do something or the other! It doesn’t necessarily have to be work related, but just has to be some activity!


Q) Tell us something about TIP.?
    
       TIP ( The Infomission Project) is an organisation started by myself along with a couple of friends. We are as of now a portal to spread awareness and ideas on matters of urgent importance. We have been trying to spread basic knowledge about day-to-day events to different people across the country, including RTI Act, traffic laws, Aadhar card rules etc.

3) When did this idea occur to you.?

     This originally occurred to me in November 2012, after a Parliamentary debate in Nalsar, Hyderabad. I was thinking about how there are so many rules and laws that even we as educated individuals are not aware about, how will illiterate people be aware of the same? I mean sure, ignorance of law is no excuse, but surely not having access to a portal to understand it is an excuse.

4) Were people initially convinced when you pitched this idea to them.?

      I have to admit it took a bit of effort, and it still is taking a bit of effort. I think people just feel that changing anything in this country, is a bit of a tough ask. I always tell my ‘cynics’ ( if I can give our organisation so much importance) that it never hurts to try. I mean our post on the new auto meter rules in Chennai went pretty viral! We had over 15,000 page views on that one, and people wrote in about how helpful the entire info-graphic was. So it is things like that, that pushes us on.

5) What plans do you have for TIP.? What is its future.?

     I will be the first to admit, that we have not achieved all that we have wanted to when TIP was first inaugurated. We had a labour-shortage so posts started become to infrequent. We have slowly started kickstarting things again, albeit slowly. So I think my first aim for TIP would be to get back into the groove of constant information feeding, after which, I think we need to move away from merely social media and target schools for various workshops and seminars. That is definitely on the cards.

6) How do you manage everything with college, mun, moot, TIP.?


      Funnily enough, I still don’t think I am doing as much as I should, and think I should do much more! It is all about passion at the end of the day, and that is what keeps me going, it gives me a lovely sense of intellectual stimulation that few other activities do! I think my personal motto while dealing with so many different activities, is that have no expectations from anyone but yourself, and make sure that you achieve those expectations. I usually come down on myself quite hard for not being able to meet my own high expectations, my psychologist friends say that is quite harmful to my personality! However, when I do achieve the standards set by myself for myself, there is no greater sense of happiness. So to answer your question in a nut-shell, by being a very strict taskmaster!

7) Tell us something about your experience with Moot Courts till date.?


       Well, have done 3 moot courts till date at a national level, and multiple moots within college. Am currently working on a moot court in Vienna in April! Mooting has been a passion right from the first year for me, because it is the lawyer’s ‘practical’ activity. The case laws and citations are our apparatus and the court room is our lab! That apart, I think that the concept of researching on a particular factual situation and pitting your mind against the judge’s, is an amazing activity. I honestly believe that tips in moots are a little redundant, because at the end of the day, each mooter has his/her own style and method of research as well, for example at a recent qualifying moot court competition in college, I went in with just a fact sheet and the bare text of the act, to test myself, if I could convince the judge with logic and voila it worked! However, I would definitely not recommend such tactics to novice mooters! The most tip I learnt through mooting is that we all need to learn to judge the judge. By which I mean, underplay or overplay your arguments in order to please the judge.


8) How long have you been doing MUNs.?


      I have been doing MUNs, since I was in 10th standard I think, and have done about 18 MUNs since then. MUN-ing has always been a very important passion for me, and I have loved every bit of it!

9) Tell us something about your experience as the Judge for ICC at CBIT MUN '13.?


      Oh CBIT MUN 2013 was amazing! Definitely one of the best MUN conferences I had been to. It made me get out of my self-imposed MUN retirement. I think it was a very different experience from the other councils I had been in, simply because as a judge, I had to take on a much more active role as compared to other EB roles and members. In fact it was necessary for me to know more than the counsels who argued before me, therefore I needed to brush up a lot on the Rome statute and other international instruments. It was a lovely experience and I can speak for everyone else in my court that we had a wonderful time!

10) What are your future plans after law.?


        I have multiple paths before me, but have no idea which one to finally take!

Quoting Robert Frost,
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
I hope that will make all the difference!

Special Thanks To Harshavardhan for his precious time.

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CLAT JUNCTION:- Pre-school to Law School.

Interview with Amey Pandey, Co-Founder of CLAT Junction.

Q) How did the idea initially come up? When was it (year)? How many people were initially involved?

Ans : The idea came up in 2011 around the month of October while I was preparing for my CLAT examinations. It was only after I got exhausted visiting a number of different sites and still not getting the required study material in an organized manner. That was the evening when along with my two friends (Takshendra Sharma and Bansi Bishnoi) decided to have our own online portal which would be much more organized and user friendly. I wanted it to be an easily accessible Portal for the tech-savvy generation that we belong to. On 11th of November 2011, CLAT junction was launched and it entered the virtual world of Learning.

Q) Were people around initially convinced about the idea?

Ans. Frankly, I didn’t share the idea of CLAT junction with anyone else than my two friends who are also the co-founders of CLAT junction. So, I didn’t really had to convince many people but yes, convincing them was not that difficult as they were also preparing for CLAT with me and  hence, crippling with the same problems as me. There was only one question that was going through our minds was “How are we going to do this?” Having your own website might sound big and exciting but there’s actually a lot of responsibility that comes along. People are going to visit your website and there are a number of students who are going to follow it, the onus is on you to provide appropriate and up to the mark contents for them.

Q) How was the name CLAT Junction selected?

Ans. I wanted name to be such that would strike the CLAt aspirants so that they can remember and connect easily. After rejecting a number of names I along with the two co-founders decided to call it CLAT “JUNCTION”. Junction means the place where two or more things came together and I wanted CLAT junction to be one such platform for the students. So, that’s how the name got selected.

Q) How was the initial capital raised? What were the other financial difficulties?

Ans.  Initially, I got an aid from my father and I owe him my heartiest gratitude for being there for me. Having he not helped me at that time; I could not have made it. Once it was established I tried to keep it pocket friendly both for me and for its users. Therefore, there’s no Capital investment involved in it nor we want to generate Profit out of it. The sole purpose of CLAT junction is helping CLAT aspirants as far as possible.

Q) What were the primary problems faced while starting?

Ans. There were innumerous problems that I had to face initially right from designing a website to its advertisements. Being a student, i had no idea of designing a website which took a lot of time and patience. I also had a bit of doubt as to why people are going to follow this website in front of the well-designed websites run by professionals that already existed in the market. That moment I had just one hope that “My work will speak for itself” not the advertisements as I had no Capital to invest for advertisement of the website. I also lack marketing skills which is a very important tool for a website to reach a wider audience.

Q) How were outsiders approached?

Ans. Due to lack of advertisement skills and means to do the same, I faced hindrances for reaching the desired number of people initially. As far as approaching outsiders is concerned, social media played an significant role. Being a part of this tech-savvy generation and CLAT junction being a virtual classroom for the aspirants I decided to use Facebook and other social networking sites as an instrument where I could advertise and target maximum people for free.

Q) Current Problems?

Ans. I want the enthusiasm of learning to be kept alive in every Law aspirant and that they should get optimum benefit out of CLAT junction at a nominal price. Although I have succeeded in my mission to a large extent but it has not been accomplished yet. I want to reach to a much wider population of those aspiring for Legal profession in India. There are no such difficulties that I am currently facing but yes; CLAT junction has to go a long way.

Q) Any tips for future law students?

Ans. “There’s nothing that you should fear when you have your knowledge with you.”

Q) Which direction do you see yourself heading now?

Ans. I feel proud today when i see back to how it all started. The response that I have got over the couple of years is a warming experience for me. The faith that people have showed in CLAT junction is unbelievable and I really want to maintain it in future. It has grown bigger over the years and I expect a lot more now.  I want CLAT junction to turn into a bigger family. But With every step of success comes much more responsibilities which I shall strive to discharge honestly.

Q) Any tips for future start-ups?

Ans. “When you work honestly with honest intentions and approach, there’s nothing that can hinder your success.”

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Vakilsearch- Legal Is Now Simple.!

Hrishikesh Datar, an Alumni of NLSIU Bangalore and the Co-Founder of Vakilsearch, the fastest growing legal service portal, spares some of his precious time to talk about how a vision and a strong core group helped him make what would soon be India's best legal service portal.







Q) How did you come up with the idea of something like Vakilsearch?

Hrishikesh- I was in IIM Bangalore, making a presentation, when the seed of the idea struck me. The idea is a work in progress, so in many ways it is still evolving.

Q) Were people initially supportive of your idea?

Hrishikesh- There are always people who are not convinced to begin with, and even lose hope mid-way. I have been lucky in finding a strong core of people who stuck by me and believed in our vision, more or less throughout.

Q) How did you approach people with this idea initially?

Hrishikesh – my first colleague met me through an online entrepreneur’s forum. We then approached friends and business associates to bring more people into the team.

Q) What were the initially setbacks?

Hrishikesh- There was a lot of problems in the beginning, for a year and a half. We began growing in the first half of last year, with the launch of new products.

Q) What would you say was the turning point for Vakilsearch?

Hrishikesh- It would be sometime around February or March, 2012. We started quite a few new services. From there onwards it’s been incredible.

Q) Not all start ups take flight. There is always a risk. A lot of them give up. What would you say was the difference maker for you?

Hrishikesh- I had very good co-founders. A good co-founder is willing to let you take initiatives. You need to stick to it and believe in yourself. Many start-ups fail because they give up hope.

Q) How was the initially investment raised?

We followed the lean startup model from day one, and there has not been any institutional investment in the company.

Q) How many people are involved directly or indirectly with Vakilsearch currently?

We directly employ 25 people and have almost 40 lawyers indirectly affiliated to us.

Q) What about the future plans?

Currently the only future plan we have is for growth. We want to be Asia’s largest online legal service, and hopefully the largest in the world eventually.

Q) Any tips of budding entrepreneurs?

Hrishikesh- I think the best advice would be to not have a Plan B. If you have a backup plan you may not give your hundred percent to your Plan A. You have to cut off your Plan B and put your entire attention on Plan A.

Q) What was your proudest moment with Vakilsearch till date?

Hrishikesh- I think the proudest moment is yet to come. But it does feel good going to the office and seeing the team at work.

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A Click Into The Future.

        For The Sake Of Argument catches up with Tejaswini Ranjan, Co- Founder of Click Internship, as she opens up about what makes Click Internship click.

Q) How did the idea initially come up? When was it (year)? How many people were initially involved?

-The idea is very simple, to create the largest website for legal internships in India. It came up in 2013. Initially, five people were involved; four founding members (Anuj Tiwari, Gaurav Singh, Shambhavi Mishra and Tejaswini Ranjan) and the mentor. Niteesh Kumar Upadhyay mentored us all through the process.

Q) Why name it Click Internship?

- Click indicates connection, and the website is all about internships. We found both the words fitting together exclusively. Click Internship is appealing too.

Q) Were people around initially convinced about the idea?

- Yes. (The secret for our energy.) People around have been supportive all-round the process. Our mentor (founder of knowledge steez) channeled us all through the process and helped us to advance the team and the website.

Q) There are already a few sites which deal with the same topic. Do you see them as competition or collaborators?

- Evidently, the other sites are competitors to Click Internship.

 Q) What were the primary problems faced while starting?

- College schedule was the leading problem we were facing at the primary stage. We are still facing it.

Q) Any advertisement problems?

- Facebook has been the chief mode of advertisement for us. We are looking for other options too.

 Q) How do you balance college and your passion?

- A balance has to be maintained. We had this in our mind while we were working on this endeavor.  Till now, we have efficaciously done our work in our best effort.

Q) Current Problems?

- Academic schedule is a problem. But, now the Click Internship team has been developed. We have prepared a proper circulation regarding the work to be done by our team members.

Q) Where do you see yourself one year from now?

-Click internship targets to be recognized the major legal internship site in India. The acknowledgement is aimed both in terms of number and worth.

Q) Is Click Internship going to be a specialist internship site or are there plans to diverse in the future?

-Click Internship is going to be a specialist legal internships site. We don’t have any divergent and deviating plans, as of now. 

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Chasing Dreams- The Knowledge Steez Story.

Read About Niteesh Kumar Upadhyay as he talks about his brainchild, The Knowledge Streez from the time he was a Law Student, to becoming a professor of CNLU and his future plans.

Q) How did the idea initially come up? When was it (year)? How many people were initially involved?

-While I was pursuing B.A.LLB (2005-2010), I was always eager to participate in conferences and call for papers; and looked for different internship opportunities. But, information about these was rarely available on Internet, and looking into newspapers and associated sources was a tough task. This ticked in me the idea of knowledge steez, which I actually started to help students like me. Knowledge steez was started in the February,2012.. Initially, it was started by me but later on, Vivek Kumar Verma gave a depth to its working. 

Q) Were people around initially convinced about the idea?

-Not really. Some people claimed knowledge steez to be the carbon copy of other websites which are already accessible to law students. But the USP of knowledge steez is the frequency of its posts and the simplicity of the website. We have tried to keep the website very user friendly.

Q) How was the initial capital raised? What were the other financial difficulties?

-The initial captial was raised from FPF (Family Provident Fund…lol). Furthermore, opening and running knowledge steez has not cost us much.

Q) Where did the idea for the name come from?

-Earlier, the name of knowledge steez was knowledge mafia. I altered the name on the advice of one of my teachers at NUJS, Kolkata. He suggested me to keep something simple and professional. Working upon the same, I landed up with the name knowledge steez (steez means something unique).

Q) What were the primary problems faced while starting?

-Primarily, hectic academic schedule, finding resources and person who can upload such resources, were the problems I was through. But, now with Vivek’s support, I am able to carry out my work at ease. I pay my sincere thanks to him.

Q) How were outsiders approached/ advertisement problems?

-Most importantly, knowledge steez functions for the benefit of law students. It is a non- profit organization; hence, any kind of advertisement is not appreciated. Expectantly, anything as such won’t be entertained in future, too.

Q) Current Problems?

-No problems ….lol

Q) Which direction do you see it heading now/future plans?

-I have always tried looking for means to eliminate the problems of the legal community. Keep supporting students of legal fraternity, and helping them attain success in their lives; is my sole motto. With our strategies placed, we have made the target to achieve of 1 lakh visits per month.

Q) How did you decide to start 'Click Internship'?

- Click Internship is a platform for Law students to check internships that are available and choose those internships that suit their purpose and convenience. It is a great effort by my students from CNLU, Patna. As projected, within a year Click Internship will be the largest source of internship database for law students in India.

Q) Any tips for future start-ups?

-We have plans to start a website related to scholarships and fellowships for law students of India. The same will be executed soon.

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From Dorm To Destiny- The Lawctopus Story.

 

Read Tanuj Kalia's journey from winning Legally India's "Best Blogger" competition with the LegalPoet, to starting Lawctopus and guiding it to become India's most popular website for law students, as we talk about his and Lawctopus's past, present and the future.





Sourya (S): How did the idea initially come up? When was it(year)? How many people were initially involved?

Tanuj (T): Scene 1:
From my 2nd year in law school, I was freelancing for LegallyIndia.com, which is now India’s leading online portal for the legal community.
Legally India also launched a blogging competition around then, where my blogavatar LegalPoet won the ‘Best Blogger’ award of Rs. 35,000! That felt rich.
Being a law student, I was slightly disappointed that Legally India did not publish more content related to law schools or for law students. That irritated me.
Scene 2:
Then in 3rd year Chicken Pox struck me. It was ugly, put me in bed for long with nothing to do. An idle mind is a devil’s workshop!
I had an, "Aha.!" moment! A website for law students!
I remembered how LST’s (a pre-law coaching company) lawstudent.in used to be a great resource. (It’s not working for now I think).
I also knew how an Orkut community called ‘legal internships’ contained useful insights on legal internships: how to apply, what sort of work one can expect, stipend etc.
Scene 3:
The idea took concrete shape during the bed-rest.

I jotted down ideas on the back of a book (Rabindranath Tagore’s biography published by NBT): what all will the website contain, team etc.
When I came back to college, I (very excitedly) pitched this idea to my friends. Some were interested, some were not. And we launched from, as the fashion goes, NUJS’ dorm room.

(S): Were people around initially convinced about the idea?

(T): No. Some were.
But I did send a 20 page document to the people who are now the co-founders.   

(S): How was the initial capital raised? What were the other financial difficulties?

(T): Finances have never been a problem. Starting a website doesn't require any money really.

(S): What were the primary problems faced while starting?

(T): None of us can be called a 'tech guy', so we did face a problem on that front (includes design).

(S): How were outsiders approached/ advertisement problems?

(T): We didn't start with the idea of making money so we never thought of not getting advertisers as a problem.
The best way to approach a potential advertiser is to do it via a contact who might know that advertiser. For example, I get in touch with people who've interned at a particular organisation to connect me with the boss.

Q) Current Problems?

(T): Current problem: whether to keep Lawctopus as a pure content website or whether to introduce other features (career counselling wing, for example).
Also, on a personal note, whether to go into a completely entrepreneurial terrain or not.

Q) Which direction do you see it heading now/future plans?

(T): Future plan is simple: more content, better content, diverse content. That seems simple and benevolent.
However, in case we decide to move to other things, we'll be heading towards more kickass things.

Q) Do you see other start-ups as your followers or competition?

(T): Project Cloud is one venture which I am fond of. I see them as a competitor. Others (and one doesn't need to look far) are copytitors.

Q) Any tips for future start-ups?

(T): Tips:

1. If you have an idea; do some basic research and then start (START). Start it off as an experiment.
2. Read on the subject: Seth Godin, for example.
3. Persistence pays. You don't launch a popular website, you build one.
4. Have fun along the way. Don't be too serious about the money, the idea or the future. Otherwise, you'll die very young.

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iPleaders- A Dream To Make Access To Justice Cheaper.

iPleaders consists of a team of lawyers hell-bent on figuring out ways to make law more accessible. While the lack of access to affordable and timely legal support cuts across all sectors, classes and people in India, where it is missed most, surprisingly, are business situations. The concept of business lawyers is still nascent in this country, and while there are world class law firms catering to top-of-the-market clients like investment banks, PE or VC funds, financial powerhouses and multi-national corporations – there are very few, if at all workable, options for the common businessman, the SME manager or the startup founder. iPleaders began in 2010 to address this market with the help of technology and education. The following is an interview with one of the founders of iPleaders, Mr. Ramanuj Mukherjee.


Q) How did the idea initially come up? When was it(year)? How many people were initially involved?

The idea certainly did not come up at once. We were doing various things – we wanted to make a difference through our work, and we wanted to do practical things while we were in college. We felt that learning things by reading books and sitting in classroom is not enough. We started helping entrepreneurs with legal work when we were in college – sometimes even for free. They were also eager to get some good legal help – and they often found dealing with lawyers very difficult otherwise.
There was a point of time when I was wondering how we can get more legal work – because sometimes people would say that we are too young and would not take us seriously. I thought of two ways to build credibility without having to wait to grow old – one was to write a book, and the other was to teach law to the entrepreneurs. As I kept helping them with various work, I would get the strong feeling that they could learn some law and apply those in their business on a regular basis. This was vindicated when I met some veteran businessmen who knew law in and out anyway. They did not have systematic understanding, but they would know the rules that apply to the industry in which they work very well.
Over time, we decided to start a course to teach law to businessmen, entrepreneurs and innovators. We felt that access to good and affordable legal resources is a major barrier in India when it comes to entrepreneurship. Providing legal service was possible – but that would not scale beyond a point and would not change the situation much. Teaching law on the other hand, although a very new proposition – had the promise of having a bigger reach. So we decided to start a legal education company. This was formally done in 2012 though we started the groundwork much earlier.
It soon became very obvious that legal education is not only absent for businessmen willing to learn it systematically, but not even to law students who are dedicating half a decade of their life to the law schools and colleges. Hence, we extended our first practical business law course to entrepreneurs as well as law students and lawyers.


Q) Were people around initially convinced about the idea?

To be honest, most people around us thought we are crazy. Even if they appreciated the spirit of entrepreneurship, they didn't believe that we could make any money by teaching law. My father still insists that we should start doing legal work rather than this education nonsense :)
When they would hear about iPleaders, many people thought that we are planning to run a non-profit business. Some just told us that the idea is not going to work, because serious businessmen would not want to learn law when they can just hire lawyers. We heard many objections, but we had solid faith in our idea and kept working on it.
Most importantly, however, we are most grateful to the teachers in NUJS such as Vice Chancellor M. P. Singh and Prof. Shamnad Basheer who were convinced about the course. They were wonderfully encouraging, and helped us to build the course. Now we can proudly say that NUJS runs its most popular and most profitable distance course with iPleaders despite having several such other business law courses.


Q) How was the initial capital raised? What were the other financial difficulties?

There was no initial capital. We needed money to survive – and we had some minimal savings from our previous job at Trilegal. We worked from home and did some consulting work or freelance writing to pay the bills when absolutely necessary. Since then the internally generated revenue has helped us to finance our expansionary activity. We may raise some capital by the end of year as our business model becomes more mature.


Q) What were the primary problems faced while starting?

We did not face any major problems. The beginning phase was very long – and the biggest danger was perhaps that the core team will fall apart and choose different careers. We always had other tempting options. Quitting a well paying job is also a major decision to make.


Q) How were outsiders approached/ advertisement problems?

We used social media very effectively. We also used our networks in the law schools and entrepreneurship circle to spread the news.

Q) Current Problems?

The biggest problem is to find the right people to work with us. The best people in law schools want to work in a law firm. Their idea of an alternative career is litigation. It is very difficult to find quality people who are interested to work in a startup like ours. Also hiring freshers is a major challenge because they are often not trained professionals and lack the work ethics and maturity needed to work at a startup. While those who are burnt out by working in a law firm for a while make better hires, they are at the moment too expensive for us to hire. Finding the right people to hire has been our biggest challenge.


Q) Which direction do you see it heading now/future plans?

We want to build innovative and useful courses around law and career development. We are looking at a rapid growth over the next three years.


Q) Any tips for future start-ups?

Start small – and learn the business first. Learn the game. Build the right skills over years before jumping into the business – or just jump in and learn. Do not sit on the fences. Get started. Expose yourself to real work. Get your hands dirty, burn your fingers, and always learn.

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