How to Get a Law Internship in India: A Step-by-Step Guide for Law Students
Almost every Indian law student's first real exposure to practice comes through internships — with a litigation chamber, a law firm, an NGO, a company legal department, or a judge (through judicial clerkships). Unlike many other fields, internships in law are often less about a formal recruitment pipeline and more about direct outreach, referrals, and persistence. This guide walks through the practical mechanics: where to look, how to apply, and what to do once you're in.
Types of internships available
Broadly, four tracks: litigation (working directly with a practising advocate, attending court, drafting), law firm/corporate (transactional work — contracts, due diligence, compliance, usually at bigger firms in metro cities), in-house/company legal teams, and judicial clerkships (assisting a judge with research and drafting, usually for a longer, more competitive term). Many students try more than one track across their five years to figure out what actually fits before making a final career choice — internships are as much about testing fit as building a resume.
Where to actually find openings
Litigation internships rarely go through a formal portal — the standard approach is emailing advocates directly (find their chamber address/email via bar association listings or a referral from a senior/professor), attaching a CV and a short, specific note about why their practice area interests you. Law firm internships are more likely to have a formal internship page or HR email listed on the firm's website — apply well ahead of the semester, since larger firms often fill slots 2-3 months in advance. NGOs and legal aid organisations often list openings on their own websites or through law school placement cells. Most law schools also maintain an internship committee or WhatsApp/mailing groups where seniors share verified openings.
What a strong application actually looks like
Keep the CV to one page, lead with any moot court, publication, or research assistantship experience, and — most importantly — personalise the covering email. A generic "I am interested in interning with your esteemed organisation" sent to fifty recipients gets ignored; a short note referencing a specific case the advocate argued, or a specific practice area of the firm, gets read. For litigation internships specifically, following up with a polite call a few days after emailing meaningfully increases response rates, since inboxes get missed easily.
What to do once you're in
Show up prepared, ask before you assume, and treat every drafting task — even a routine vakalatnama or a case-status note — as something to get exactly right, not just complete. Keeping a structured case tracker of the matters you observe (court, stage, next date) is a habit that pays off later when you start managing your own case load; a simple tool for this is worth building the habit around early rather than relying on memory or scattered notes.
Timing across your law degree
Most students start with shorter, exploratory internships in the first two years, then move to longer, more focused stints (a full semester or summer) closer to graduation once they've narrowed down litigation vs. corporate vs. another track. Internship diaries — a mandatory requirement at many law schools — are also a genuinely useful record to keep even where not required, since they help when writing your first job applications.
Frequently asked
- Do litigation internships pay a stipend?
- Often little to none, especially with individual advocates in smaller cities — the value is the exposure and mentorship, not pay. Larger chambers and law firms are more likely to pay a stipend. See our internship stipend guide for typical ranges by city and firm type.
- How early should I start applying for a summer internship?
- For law firms, 2-3 months ahead is common since larger firms fill slots early. For individual litigation chambers, even a few weeks' notice can work, but earlier is always safer.
- Is a judicial clerkship better than a law firm internship?
- Neither is objectively better — they build different skills. A clerkship sharpens legal research and writing from the bench's perspective; a firm internship builds transactional/drafting exposure. Choose based on which career path you're leaning toward.
Reference only — not legal advice. Verify with the official bare act and consult an advocate.
DharaSetu Pro
Everything a working lawyer needs, one plan
Bail drafts, notices, case tracking, IPC/BNS lookups — all in DharaSetu Pro.
See plans & pricing