In a scenario in which legal education has opened up lucrative job opportunities, law graduates should train in a way to make themselves eligible for new and emerging fields, Mr. Jash Agrawal, an expert on legal education, said on Saturday.

“Law Schools and universities should take the responsibility to train students and prepare them adequately for such opportunities,” Mr. Agrawal, Managing Partner of prominent law firm Wadia Ghandy and Co, said while speaking at the inaugural program of ‘SOA Lex Concilium’, a day long legal conclave organised by SOA National Institute of Law (SNIL), faculty of legal studies of Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan (SOA) here.

Mr. Agrawal said there were around 1700 law schools in the country which produced more than four lakh law graduates every year. “It is not that law graduates should only become lawyers in courts or aspire to become judges because a plethora of new openings awaited those finishing their courses in law schools,” he said.

Each institution imparting legal education should try to equip its students in such manner that they would be able to grab the available opportunities, he said.

Prof. Pradipta Kumar Nanda, Pro-Vice Chancellor of SOA, outlined the courses offered by the university and said 47 per cent of its students and 35 per cent of its faculty members were women which stood out prominently. The university laid much importance on women’s empowerment, he said.

Prof. S.A.K. Azad, Dean of SNIL and Mr. Ripti Ranjan Dash, SOA’s Head, Corporate Relations and Industry Engagement, also spoke.

Mr. Dash said the conclave had been planned to enable the students to learn from eminent personalities from the legal field and law houses and interact with them.

Two panel discussions were part of the conclave. In the first, subjects like future of legal services and career path, civil and commercial litigation and procedural laws, intellectual property disputes and emerging areas for professionals and navigating legal career--law school and beyond, were discussed.

Prof. Prabir Kumar Patnaik, Senior Professor at SNIL and Prof. Chinmoy Kumar Mohapatra, Associate Professor were present. Prof. Jyoti Ranjan Das, Dean (Students’ Welfare), proposed the vote of thanks.

The experts on the panel included Mr. Pramod Abuj, Vice-President, HR, Mindcrest, Mr. Rajnish Kumar Jha, Founding Partner, Actus Legal Associates and Advocates, Ms. Abha Abhay Kashyap, Founder and Managing Partner, Kashyap Partners and Associates LLP, Ms. Yavanika Shah, Practice Development Group, IndusLaw and Mr. Indrajit Mitra, Legal Associate, R.K.Dewan and Co.

The second panel discussion was on preparatory measures for legal industry readiness. The experts who spoke included Mr. Bikash Kumar, Senior Director and Mr. Shahidulla N, Director of Morae Global, Mr. S.V. Abhang, Managing Partner, Lex Credence, Mr. Brajesh Kumar Mandal, Senior Manager, HR, Lashmikumaran and Sridharan and Ms. Santripti Khandai, Patent Associate, LexOrbis.