Mentoring Law Interns: Tips To Make Law Internships Beneficial For Law Students

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

1. Structured Assignments Enhance Skills: Law interns should receive tailored tasks (e.g.,case brief preparation, legal research, drafting) based on their skillset to build practical expertise essential for future advocacy and client representation.
2. Mandatory Court Exposure: Interns must attend court proceedings, document observations, and submit reports to both their supervising office and Bar Associations to deepen procedural understanding and professional conduct.
3. Bar Association Involvement: High Court Bar Associations should institutionalize rules for internships, ensuring standardized mentorship, skill development, and accountability in preparing interns for ethical legal practice.
4. Interactive Peer Learning: Regular sessions among interns foster communication skills,knowledge sharing, and argumentation techniques, critical for building a confident and collaborative legal identity.
5. Internships as Career Foundations: Effective mentorship programs during internships are pivotal in shaping interns into competent advocates, breaking professional barriers,and elevating the overall standards of the legal profession.

INTRODUCTION:

Law interns as the terms suggest, are in simple terms “The class of Law Students who get shortlisted for participating in internship program by interning with chamber, independent counsel, law firm, etc.” Law interns join internship programs with the aim and aspirations to learn the advocacy, procedure, process, system, and working of Legal Practice, which after their enrolment with respective Learned Bar Association will perform a vital role in retaining litigants responding to their queries and doubts by giving legal opinions, advising the litigant appropriately and pragmatically, learning and upskilling intricacies and complexities of practicing law profession, representation, conduct and behaviour while appearing before various Courts and forums.

ASSIGNMENTS DURING INTERNSHIPS SHOULD BE GIVEN TO INTERNS WHICH CAN FURNISH THEIR SKILLS AND POTENTIAL:

Interns come with a lot of expectations and aspirations of learning the profession of law which can help them in building their practice and also in gaining assurance and confidence to advise litigants in securing relief for them, through retaining the experience of internship and through attending various courts and forums as it promulgates serious implications in practicing law profession. Therefore, assignments provided to law interns will have a huge effect on pursuing practice and dealing with representing clients in terms of advising them, preparing legal briefs for them, and addressing arguments during court proceedings. Law interns have wider responsibility for the chambers etc., who select them to intern and mentor, hitherto the assignments including but not limited to preparation of case briefs, making notes of case briefs for arguments, research work, drafting, or briefing should be given to them depending on their skill set. Further,assignments if provided accordingly as above discussed will be a broad guiding mentor program for the interns which is much required for them to become competent law professionals.

Assignments, if started to provide them as per evaluating their capability and eligibility can prove to be a turning point in their career as well as re-building the bar at a much-unexpected level and will also help them in breaking the false ceiling.

Bar Associations of High Courts shall take steps in contributing to pass rules for improving the skills of interns. Interns are provided opportunities to observe and attend court proceedings which is a part of their mentoring program by the office under whom they are interning which is an immense benefit and one of the main parts of internship tenure. Further, the Bar Associations of the High Court being statutory authority must frame rules for interns that can assuredly pursue a pivotal role in carrying forwarding of the law profession in a responsible, Bonafide, and obligatory manner, pertaining to:

1. Implementing it mandatory to attend court proceedings and maintain a report of daily learning from court proceedings, which they noticed and observed and shall submit to their office within which they had interned, the office shall submit the same to the concerned Bar Associations of High Court. This aligns with Section 24(1)(e) of the Advocates Act, 19611,which emphasizes practical training for law graduates.
2. Try and understand the jurisdiction and nomenclature of cases filed by attending registry and understanding the working, thereafter submit a report and repeat the procedure as explained in the above point;
3. Also observe the functioning of High Court or various other forums must be a part of the internship programme for attaining experience which could be applied while they get enrolled at respective and commence their independent practice;

INTERNS INTERNING MUST BE HAVING INTERACTIVE SESSION WITH OTHER INTERNS DURING VISIT TO DIFFERENT COURTS:

In the profession of law communication skills which attains a vital role in becoming a competent and intellectual advocate. Therefore, interacting with other interns during the internship tenure could help them enhance their argument skills which is one of the main characteristics for forming an identity of a well-addressed advocate and for pursuing a well-established practice. The interactive sessions being a part of the mentoring program will be a step for sharing insights into law, recent changes made in law, gaining knowledge in law, and the best possible advice in law that could be provided to the indigent client while pursuing practice, etc.Further, the interactive can prove to be a broad optimistic process that could lead the interns to pursue a very enhanced and logical practice after their completion of the law program and enrolment in their respective bar associations.

CONCLUSION:

Law interns are an essential part of the legal fraternity as they will practice law and will be upcoming advocates and bar members in the future. Therefore, the internship program acts as a mentorship program with the aim and aspirations to learn the advocacy, procedure, and process is a pertinent step to make their practice enhance and progress. Law interns have wider responsibility for the chambers etc., as they will be dedicating a broad guiding mentor program for the interns in the development of their practice in the future once they get enrolment in the respective bar association, their career as well as re-building the bar and will also help them in breaking the false ceiling.

Bar Associations of High Courts shall take steps in contributing to pass rules for improving the skills of interns. Further, the Bar Associations of the High Court being statutory authority must frame rules for interns that can assurely pursue a pivotal role in mentoring the interns, Further pursuing making the interns into a well-established advocate having settled practice. The interactive session could also be one of the best possible frameworks for pursuing a well-progressive law practice. The measures discussed herein through this article can be gainful and can contribute to a wider accomplishment for the interns in pursuit of the legal profession and seeking the best possible outcome for the client after becoming an advocate.

FAQ SECTION:

1) What is the primary goal of a law internship?
ANS) The primary goal of a law internship is to provide law students with practical exposure to the legal profession. This includes learning advocacy, court procedures, legal processes, and the workings of legal practice. Internships aim to prepare interns for future roles as advocates by equipping them with the skills needed to advise clients, prepare legal briefs, and represent clients in court.

2) What types of assignments should be given to law interns?
ANS) Assignments should be tailored to the intern’s skillset and may include preparing case briefs, conducting legal research, drafting documents, and making notes for arguments. These tasks help interns develop practical skills and confidence, which are essential for their future legal practice.

3) Why is attending court proceedings important for law interns?
ANS) Attending court proceedings is crucial for interns to observe and understand the practical
aspects of legal practice, including court etiquette, case handling, and argument presentation. It
also helps them gain insights into the jurisdiction and functioning of courts, which is vital for
their professional development.

4) What role should Bar Associations play in mentoring law interns?
ANS) Bar Associations should establish rules and frameworks to standardize internship programs. This includes making it mandatory for interns to attend court proceedings, submit daily learning reports, and participate in interactive sessions. These measures ensure that interns receive structured mentorship and develop the necessary skills to become competent legal professionals.

5) How do interactive sessions benefit law interns?
ANS) Interactive sessions among interns help improve communication and argumentation skills,which are critical for a successful legal career. These sessions allow interns to share insights,discuss recent legal developments, and learn from each other’s experiences, fostering a collaborative and intellectually stimulating environment.