Top Engineering Colleges of 2011

Shreya Atrey of the Class of 2011 won the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship to pursue a Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL) at Oxford University-the fourth student in nine years at NALSAR to bag the coveted fellowship. Aditya Singh, another fresh graduate, will be joining the Yale Law School for a masters programme on a generous scholarship, making him the only Indian in the class this year.

Also from the same class, with no work experience, Raadhika Gupta has been chosen by Harvard Law School for the masters programme (LL.M), while Abhishek Chopra was awarded the Young India Fellowship (only 50 are chosen nationwide in a year) to pursue higher studies at the University of Pennsylvania. Several others from NALSAR are joining corporate law firms in India and abroad, adding to the appeal of the institution.

Little wonder then that the National Academy of Legal Studies and Research University of Law (NALSAR), Hyderabad, a relatively new institution, has topped the rankings for law colleges this year for the second time- the first was in 2008-displacing the National Law School of India University, Bangalore.

The 50-acre NALSAR campus, from where the ninth batch graduates this year, attracts bright youngsters from across the country for its excellent infrastructure and academic environment.

It provides a platform for greater synergy between students, the creme de la creme of the lawyer community and select judges on campus. The big names visiting campus include M.N. Rao, former chief justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court; J. Chelameswar, chief justice of the Kerala High Court; N.R. Madhava Menon, founder head of NLSIU, Bangalore; Alan Meisel and David Barnard of the University of Pittsburgh, US; and U.C. Banerjee, former judge of the Supreme Court.

Vice-Chancellor Veer Singh draws them in in an attempt to keep courses relevant and students aware of the country's dynamic legal structure and its impact on international laws. "Our teaching style is interactive and the students get the highest level of professional exposure thanks to internships with international and national law firms, the courts, senior lawyers and NGOs," says Singh.

"Our aim is to prepare lawyers who are technically sound, professionally competent and socially relevant." Retired Supreme Court judge Jagannadha Rao is an honorary professor and expert in comparative constitutional law.

Some NALSAR faculty also work as consultants in the drafting of laws. Its Centre for Disability Studies headed by Amita Dhanda is a legal consultant to the committee set up by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment of the Government of India for drafting a law on the rights of people with disabilities. For final year students, or those who have just graduated, it has been a learning experience as they have contributed to the drafting process of a bill.

NALSAR students also participate in international conferences besides publishing three journals every year. Around 10 of them spend a semester at foreign universities under the student exchange programme. The destinations include Griffith University, Australia; University of Western Ontario, Canada; Santa Clara University, US; University of Illinois College of Law, US; University of Lucerne, Switzerland; Singapore Management University, Singapore. With a 25-member teaching faculty, 400 students in the five-year BA LL.B (Honours) course and 100 pursuing the graduate programme, NALSAR has a healthy teacher-student ratio of 1:20.

Besides extensive Internet access, a rich library, opportunities to participate in enriching moot court competitions across the country and meet a large number of legal luminaries, the students also participate in intensive 16-week internships during two breaks from class schedules in a year. NALSAR excels over other law schools in moot court competitions, which are competitive and very academically rigorous. For the past two years, NALSAR has finished in first place with National University of Juridical Sciences (NUJS), Kolkata, and NLSIU finishing in second and third places, according to law website LegallyIndia.

Impressed, Law Commission Vice-Chairman K.T.S. Tulsi has donated Rs 25 lakh to institute an annual National Moot at NALSAR while another Supreme Court lawyer, K.K.Venugopal, partially funds the participation of the NALSAR team at international moot competitions, besides conferences at NALSAR.

To enable students to stay abreast of the latest trends and interact with subject specialists and experts, NALSAR has ventured into frontier areas of law and management introducing courses in cyber legislation, intellectual property rights, insurance and banking laws, civil aviation management, realty sector, law and administration, aerospace studies and research.

It has also a number of advanced centres for higher studies and research in SAARC policy and laws, disability studies, aerospace research, international humanitarian law, environmental law, cyber law, media laws and intellectual property rights.

It has introduced a two-year master's course in law of financial services and capital markets in collaboration with the Institute of Insurance and Risk Management, Hyderabad, and a one-year post-graduate diploma in aviation law and air transport management in collaboration with the Institute of Applied Aviation Management, Kozhikode, in Sharjah in the UAE. Singh says the course is to be made available in Hong Kong or Singapore later this year.

NALSAR is collaborating with the National Academy of Construction, Hyderabad, to offer a one-year diploma course in law of contract administration and real estate management and a one-year post-graduate diploma course in law of infrastructure and disaster management.

"Real estate is the largest employer after agriculture in the country," points out Singh.

WORLD CLASS FROM THE WORD GO
Established as a fully residential institution by the Andhra Pradesh government in 1998, the NALSAR University of Law, with Professor Ranbir Singh as founder vice chancellor, is a pioneering law school. The Class of 2011 just completed the flagship five-year BALL.B (Hons) course this year.With just 80 students a year and several professors living on campus, learning is more meaningful. NALSAR offers courses in a wide range of areas including laws governing financial services, capital markets, transport management, contract administration and real estate management.

NALSAR plays host to the Global Internet and Governance Advocacy (GIGA) project of the Department of Information Technology for research, training and education in Internet Governance. "We were chosen over the IIMs and IITs because of our inherent strengths as a forward-looking institution," says Singh. Under the Rs 2.21 crore project, awarded to NALSAR by the Department of Information Technology in March, the law school will host the server and other core facilities. In addition, NALSAR has been assigned the task of management and operation of Legal Information Institute of India-the largest free-access legal information portal in the country.

Singh is strict about students' conduct on campus with respect to timings and punishment. "Last year, we had to rusticate a student who with the help of conniving employees got hold of an exam question paper in advance," he says. "Their primary purpose here is to study and we are prepared to do all that we can, resources permitting, to enrich it." "Never has a student's genuine need to represent the university, like in moot court competitions, debates or conferences been turned down. If there is one single factor responsible for keeping NALSAR going, it is its vibrant and diverse student organisation- always on their toes throughout their law school lives and beyond," says Singh.