Relevance of (paid) legal courses alongside your law school curriculum! Today, let's delve into the relevance of pursuing third-party legal courses alongside your law school curriculum. As I've mentioned before and will reiterate, acquiring additional knowledge is never harmful, especially considering that the existing law school curriculum, approved by the Bar Council of India, remains quite traditional and conventional. It hasn't kept pace with the advancements and developments in the legal profession over the past decades. Pursuing additional courses opens doors to exploring areas of law that unfortunately aren't covered in the traditional law school curriculum. As a lawyer, dealing with various laws is a must, and not having learned about specific areas at law school can not be an excuse. A background in such topics beforehand can undoubtedly give you an edge and also help you identify areas of interest that you might never have discovered otherwise. Now, let's address whether one should chase exorbitantly high-charged paid courses. If you have extra time and are comfortably able to afford them, exploring such courses can be an option worth considering. However, if time and financial constraints are factors for you, I strongly advise against running behind them. Rest assured, your career will not hinge on these paid courses. A flourishing career can still be built with a law degree alone, coupled with valuable internships. In today's information-rich era, a vast array of knowledge is available on the internet. Relying on paid courses solely due to a perceived lack of information is merely an excuse. Instead, focus on the quality of internships you pursue; they provide invaluable hands-on experience and practical understanding, far more impactful than theoretical knowledge alone. To illustrate the practical value of internships, let's imagine two scenarios: one student pursues a three-month course in M&A, while the other engages in a three-month high-quality internship in M&A. The latter will likely gain a much better practical understanding of M&A than the former. This insight comes from my first-hand experience, as I recently interviewed a candidate who had taken an elaborate and fancy course on contract drafting. While the candidate beautifully explained the theoretical definition of Representations and Warranties, the candidate had no answer when asked about the fundamental R&Ws to use in a specific scenario. In conclusion, the primary focus should be on securing meaningful internships. Only after engaging in good-quality internships should you consider pursuing additional courses, if time and financial resources allow. Next Saturday I will be writing on the impact of the 'Non-NLU' tag on your job applications. Feel free to click the bell icon on my profile to receive notifications whenever I publish new content. #LawSchool #LegalCourses #LawStudents #LawFirm #LawFirmofIndia #CorporateLawFirm #GurcaranandCo