Table of Contents
Judiciary and litigation are the two oldest careers in the field of law. But the question arises which road to choose? Which road will lead to success? As every coin has two sides, every career option comes with it pros and cons.
Judiciary as a Career
The job of a judge is a respectable one in the society, with its perks and job stability it attracts thousands of law graduates. But with all the luxuries comes the responsibility too. Judiciary being the pillar of democracy has to be unbiased and open to new changes in the society, thus being a judge is not a piece of cake it requires independent diligence and application of mind. A judge cannot be biased or dishonest.
The Indian judiciary has opened the doors to young graduates who can get into judiciary just after their college by taking lower judiciary exams. Apart from this a lawyer wanting to become a high court judge can also after 10 years of practice take Higher judiciary exams.
But there are some drawbacks to this, career growth in lower court judges is minimal and the probability of a lower court judge to be promoted to higher judiciary is of thin paper. It is also not easy to qualify the judiciary examination, the exam is held state-wise every year and sometimes few states even do not release vacancies for the said year thus putting the aspirants in a static position.
Litigation as a Career
Now coming to the profession of Litigation, it is one of the most pursued careers by many law graduates. The work of a lawyer too involves a lot of hardwork and researching and oratory skills which will help his/her client to win the case. A lawyer is expected to be spontaneous and fully informed. Law is a vast field of law and that is the beauty of it, making a lawyer to continuously grow and practice in numerous areas of law. This profession gives the liberty to speak up for justice but also involves huge responsibility with dealing with client’s cases.
But the competition in the field is very high which sometimes makes it difficult for young lawyers to stabilize their career. The career of a client majorly depends on his/her clientele, but it becomes a huge task for a young lawyer to attract clients.
There is neither any financial stability as it would depend on the work the lawyer has, thus making lawyers struggle for years before establishing their names. It could also involve some risk as a lawyer deals with people coming from every part of this society.
Therefore no profession is perfect or risk free, each one comes with its perks and disadvantages. Both judiciary and litigation can be fruitful for a person determined to become successful in the respective professions. It is up to us how we mould the challenges into opportunities.
The Overlap of Judiciary and Litigation
Although not a very common phenomenon, some professionals in the field of law get a chance to be a part of the Indian judiciary. Lawyers are enrolled in the Bar council of India. Some successful lawyers, after having attained a lot of experience in the field and very high pay scale, can be directly elevated to the collegium of the Supreme Court or to a panel of High Court Judges by the decision of the officers in the judiciary. Sometimes this phenomenon is considered to be detrimental to the entire profession, as those who have spent a lot of the years in the judiciary in the lower district courts, do not get a chance of promotion because the vacancies get filled up by those who were directly promoted from the position of a lawyer to a judge. It requires a lawyer to be extraordinarily inefficient and excellent for this phenomenon to happen.
Speaking about female aspirants, only one female lawyer, Justice Indu Malhotra had been elevated from the level of a lawyer to that of A Supreme Court judge. On the other hand also, only one female candidate, Justice Fathima Beevi had been elevated to the level of a Supreme Court judge after her career had started as a judge in district and high courts. Another highly detrimental feature of this system is that the collegium of the supreme court need not mention the reason aur grounds of promotion when they elevate a candidate from the position of a lawyer or a judge. Sometimes it can be simple discretion or a product of nepotism. Although it might be wrong to sound discouraging for female candidates who are aspiring for the Judiciary and want to become a Supreme Court judge someday, the probability of reaching such a level is evident from the facts mentioned.
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By: Debarati Pal
