For the students who wish to join for internship

At a given time up to two students from law colleges affiliated to Savitribai Phule (Pune) University can join me for internship. If you are interested email me your biodata indicating your field of interest and a request through your college. Read on to find out more.

When joining as an intern

Once your internship is accepted, send me an Email with subject line "Non-disclosure Agreement" and text "I, ______ , resident of _____, a student of _____ College affirm that I shall strictly maintain confidentiality of work related communication including identity and personal details of litigants and shall not share any information without your express permission". State your name at the end. The intent is self explanatory. Needless to say, the confidentiality clause does not apply to reported judgments.

Starting at 10:00 am daily, you should put in a minimum of eight hours of work (including breaks and college commitments if any) six days a week. You would be assisting with ongoing cases and join me to court whenever necessary, though you will not be addressing the court. You need to be dressed in formals. COVID-appropriate behavior (CAB) is a must both at office and courts. Currently, double vaccination is necessary.

Respectful behaviour is the need of legal profession. However, respect is a two-way notion to safeguard mutual dignity: It should not be confused with servility. When in disagreement, you should forcefully argue among yourselves and with me.

Communication is crucial for any team work. You should be able to respond to short text messages and acknowledge receipt of emails within two hours. You will need to maintain a dated journal of your daily work. It is customary to make a report at the end of the day on what you did that day. However, you can contact me anytime, preferably before 7:00 pm on any day.

Internship work

My work is mostly confined to courts within Pune district. These cases (case details, history, hearing dates, Roznama, orders passed) are tracked through the mobile app eCourt Services and the District Court website. Consumer cases are tracked through ConfoNet website (cms.nic.in). RERA matters are tracked through MahaRERA website pages. Apart from online services, these sites offer a plethora of information including court procedures, practices and circulars. So start with thoroughly exploring these websites in the given order. You may even download the eCourt Services app to your smart phone.

Knowing how the various courts function is essential before you dive into practical lawyering. So familiarize yourself with hierarchies of civil and criminal courts as also with the police ranks. You should be familiar with the rank insignia. Similarly, you should acquiant yourself with the state and local administration through the websites of State Government and other authorities. Website of the Department of Registration and Stamps (igrmaharashtra.gov.in/), for instance, provides much of the useful information on land revenue matters.

Your work shall include but not limited to assisting the advocate with legal research (meaning finding, studying and summarizing relevant case laws), legal drafting including consumer complaints, preparing notes on arguments, attending client meetings, ADR matters, lectures, online meetings and assisting during court proceedings. You are free to take up any other matter of your interest in consultation with me.

You shall not receive an remuneration (since we are not a firm) but you shall be provided all material and your reasonable work-related travel expenses from office to office may be reimbursed.

Update your journal on day to day basis.

Concluding your internship

Consolidate your work into a report. Show me the draft mid-way of your internship and then at the end of the internship. Obtain certificate. Good luck!