How to get hired
Step one: enrol, then clear the AIBE
To practise as an advocate you enrol with the State Bar Council where you intend to practise, with your LLB degree from a BCI-recognised college, marksheets, ID and the forms the council asks for. In July 2024 the Supreme Court held in Gaurav Kumar v. Union of India that state bar councils may charge only the enrolment fee set in Section 24(1)(f) of the Advocates Act (₹750 for the general category), and in 2025 it warned councils that were still charging more. If a council asks you for large "optional" amounts, you are entitled to refuse.
Then you take the All India Bar Examination (AIBE), conducted by the Bar Council of India. Passing it gets you the Certificate of Practice. The BCI told the Supreme Court in January 2026 that the AIBE will be held at least twice a year and that final-semester students can sit it, subject to clearing their final exams. The pass mark has been 45% for general and OBC candidates and 40% for SC, ST and disabled candidates. It is an open-book multiple-choice paper; recent notices have allowed plain bare acts without notes, but read the notice for your attempt on allindiabarexamination.com before you pack your books.
Route A: litigation under a senior
You join an advocate's chamber or a litigation firm as a junior. You draft plaints, written statements, bail applications and replies, sit in court, take dates and learn procedure. Stipends for juniors are low in most cities and vary hugely by chamber, so ask before you join. The pay comes later, once you have clients of your own; most successful litigators say the first three to five years are lean. Pick a senior whose practice area (civil, criminal, tax, consumer, arbitration) you want, not just a famous name.
Route B: corporate law firms
Large law firms recruit associates mostly from National Law Universities and a few other top colleges, through campus and through internships done in the fourth and fifth year. A pre-placement offer after an internship is the most common way in. Off-campus, a strong internship record, a clean writing sample and a referral help most. Firms test research and drafting: expect a research question or a contract to mark up. Hours are long and billable.
Route C: in-house legal
Banks, NBFCs, insurers, real estate developers, manufacturers and tech companies hire Legal Officers, Legal Executives and Legal Counsel. Lending companies in particular hire lawyers for recovery work under SARFAESI, cheque bounce cases under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, and property title checks; many of these jobs are in branches outside metros and suit people with two or three years of litigation. Corporate legal teams want contract drafting, Companies Act and employment law knowledge.
One thing to know: under Rule 49 of the Bar Council of India Rules, an advocate who becomes a full-time salaried employee cannot practise while in that job and must inform the Bar Council. Your enrolment is not lost; you resume practice if you leave. It matters if you want to appear in court later.
Route D: judiciary
State judicial service exams recruit Civil Judges (Junior Division). In May 2025 the Supreme Court restored a minimum practice requirement for this entry, and the rule has since been revisited in 2026, so the requirement for your state depends on the current court ruling and your state's recruitment notice. Read the notification itself, not a coaching summary.
Documents to keep ready
LLB degree and all marksheets, Bar Council enrolment certificate, AIBE result and Certificate of Practice, ID card issued by the Bar Council, and a one-page list of matters you have assisted on.
What the work is like
Litigation means court mornings, drafting evenings and Saturday conferences, with income that rises slowly and then sharply. Law firm life is billable hours, late nights before closings, and good pay from year one. In-house work is office hours with more predictability, though recovery roles involve travel to courts and tribunals across a region. Moving from in-house back to litigation is harder than the other way round, so decide early whether you want to argue in court.