Journey of a Legal Stalwart; Manju Bhuteria, Advocate, Calcutta High Court
The interviewer, Ruchi Bhattar, is a 4th year of B.A.L.L.B at the Department of Law, University of Calcutta. She is currently interning with LatestLaws.com.
1. What motivated you to choose law, and how was law school for you?
- I was married much before I had joined the Law College. My husband was the one who encouraged me to pursue and practice law. Law School has changed over the years. I was a student of the Department of Law, Hazra Campus. At that time, the curriculum and the mode of teaching and examinations were different. Internships were not mandatory. For enrolment with the Bar Council of India as an Advocate, one had to undergo training for a year under a Practicing Advocate and submit the diary to the Bar Council.
2. How do you think that the Law School education has changed since then?
- The education system in general has changed including the law schools. There are semesters now. The students are required to intern during vacations which gives them practical exposure. They get to experience how the law firms function, how cases are filed etc.. The law students who intern under Counsel and attend chambers get a glimpse of how the counsel prepare for cases and argue in court. There is a vast difference in how law was taught then and now.
3. How has your professional journey as an advocate been in Calcutta?
- Kolkata has always been kind to lawyers as there is something for everyone who wishes to practice law here. Everybody gets a chance to show their best self. However, there are hardships akin to any other profession but there are Seniors here who act as mentors to juniors, teach them and support them. No doubt the journey is a difficult one with a lot of hard work and perseverance, but it is all worth it. The late hours spent getting ready for the matter, the conferences, drafting, and putting in the effort always pay off. Along with hard work, patience and consistency are other virtues required in order to flourish in this field.
4. How has the profession changed over the years; what got better and worse?
- The profession has certainly evolved over the years. At that time, we did not have ready access to internet and search engines as now and our research would comprise of reading of books and looking for cases manually. There were no “keywords” or “citations” being a click away. This meant that we would read commentaries and look for cases and proceed with the research manually by reading each and every case even remotely related to the proposition. This would be time-consuming but would help enhance our legal knowledge. This indeed helped in our drafting and oratory skills. This helped in prompt thinking at the time of making submissions to questions raised by the Court. Now with all the aid which the students and the lawyers have, research has become much faster.
5. The underlying principles and values that you preach & apply for excelling in the professional life?
- For any career it is the same, hard work, consistency and patience. It is important to be honest and disciplined with your work. Focus and determination take you a long way. The application of mind, drafting and court craft, all these are skills that one acquires while practicing. All of these are only possible if one is focused and determined to be better and improve every day.
6. What is it about law and its practice that keeps you motivated to keep working?
- Litigation in itself is very exciting. It keeps you on your feet. Never a dull moment. With the changing laws, you get to learn something new every day. The most important aspect of any profession is to have passion towards whatever you aim to pursue.
7. How do you think that Technology is affecting Litigation/Law Firms?
- Technology after COVID has become a part of our daily lives, including the profession. Hybrid mode of hearing being one of the many changes that has been brought about by the technology, has helped the legal profession vastly. You have advocates appearing from all over India, thanks to the virtual mode providing exposure to the lawyers all around. This saves a lot of time and resources in one way. One of the other changes that has been brought about is the filing of the cases electronically (E-filing), which is necessary for the environment. Eventually, all filings will become paperless in the future. These are some of the positive and much-needed changes Technology has brought to the profession.
8. A word of advice for young students and practitioners who are looking forward to join this field?
For the young students and practitioners all I have to say is Choose Law for the right reasons. Bring the change that you seek. Litigation sure can get exhausting, competitive and can devour a lot of your time. It may be demanding too much with little returns initially, but if you have the discipline to commit to it, along with the satisfaction of achieving justice for your clients, this field has a lot of success and recognition to offer as well.
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