Justice BV Nagarathna's Advise To Young Lawyers: Train With A Senior Before Starting Independent Practise

Supreme Court judge Justice BV Nagarathna today took exception to young lawyers, who are starting out in their careers, building independent offices without working under a senior lawyer and learning the skills of the trade.

"Today youngsters are straightaway starting their own office without any training. That is not good at all. Unless you train with a senior, you will not know the real skills of advocacy", Justice Nagarathna observed today in court as they heard submissions from a young counsel appearing before the supreme court.

While underscoring the nature of young lawyers as being ambitious, the judge has cautioned how soft skills are equally important and cannot be developed without a senior's guidance.

"We know youngsters are ambitious..but you have to train with a senior..soft skills have to be developed with a senior..they will tell you when to speak and not to speak...if not with a senior be in court and observe..when we were young, we used to sit and observe tough judges and chief justices..to learn how we should adapt and speak," Justice Nagarathna observed.

After the case was disposed of, Justice Nagarathna in a personal discussion with Justice AG Masih, sharing the bench with her said, "This is the problem..they start an office spend ten lakhs..but do not know..".

It is also the duty of the seniors to make sure the juniors learn, the bench added. 

Just today, another bench of the Supreme Court led by Justice PS Narasimha cautioned a young female lawyer against converting newspaper reports or policy issues into PILs without considering their broader implications. Justice Narasimha added, “Filing cases before a court, as a lawyer, is a very big responsibility on your part. It is not a routine matter that you read something in the paper, convert that into a PIL and file.”

He further cautioned the petitioner against filing such a petition merely on the basis of material reported in the media. Justice Narasimha said, “You should think about it before you do this next time. Being a lawyer is a great responsibility on your shoulders.”

The Judge further told the young lawyer that even if someone approached her with such an issue, she should first consider whether filing a PIL was appropriate. Justice Narasimha advised, “Even if somebody asks you, you must advise them that it cannot be appropriate. But in this case, you yourself have converted it into a PIL.”

The petition sought a mandamus directing the Centre, the National Medical Commission (NMC), the Medical Assessment and Rating Board and the Post Graduate Medical Education Board to undertake a fresh, objective, evidence-based and time-bound reconsideration of the maximum retirement age of medical teachers. It sought consideration of an increase from the existing age of 70 years to 75 years, or such other age as may be considered appropriate.