CJI Surya Kant said it is worrying that a large number of law graduates are choosing corporate jobs over court practice. He urged students to gain real courtroom experience and contribute to the Bar and Bench.
Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant on Saturday expressed concern over the growing trend of law graduates choosing corporate jobs over court practice, calling the situation “worrisome” for the Indian judiciary.
He was speaking at the 16th convocation ceremony of Gujarat National Law University (GNLU) in Ahmedabad, where he addressed the graduating batch and shared candid advice about the realities of the legal profession.
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Referring to the large number of students moving to corporate law firms, CJI Surya Kant said,
“As (GNLU) Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr S Shanthakumar pointed out, if 93 per cent of you have been hijacked outside the gates of this university by corporate entities, then it increases my worry. Because I presume, as a very selfish head of the Indian judiciary, that the national law schools will produce more and more members of the bar and the bench,”
the CJI said.
The CJI explained that while corporate careers are attractive, the judiciary also needs bright young minds to strengthen the system. As the head of the Indian judiciary, he said he hopes that national law schools will produce more lawyers who choose courtroom practice and later become judges.
Sharing his own early experiences as a young lawyer, CJI Surya Kant spoke about the gap between classroom learning and real court practice.
He said,
“From experience, I remember the early months of practice with clarity that decades have not dulled. There is a particular disorientation in discovering that the law you studied so carefully bears only a partial resemblance to the actual profession,”
CJI Surya Kant said.
He highlighted that law school gives theoretical knowledge, but real practice teaches practical skills that cannot be learned from books.
“The textbooks gave you doctrines. Your seniors now give you deadlines. In moot courts, you are cocooned by your mentor, but in real courtrooms, you argue within constraints you do not choose and may not even agree with. This is not a failure of education. It is simply the friction between learning the map and navigating the territory,”
he added.
According to him, the classroom cannot fully prepare students for the pressures and responsibilities of real legal practice. He said,
“The classroom cannot teach what years of practical experience can. Initial years of practice also teach you things no classroom ever could. You learn to read the mood of a bench before you have spoken even a word. You figure out how to sit with an anxious client and say something useful before you have the answers,”
he said.
CJI Surya Kant further explained that professional maturity comes with experience, especially in handling relationships and setbacks in litigation.
He said,
“You discover how to disagree with a senior without damaging a relationship you will need the very next week, and how to lose a case and still leave your client with the impression that the system, not indifference, hurts them. No curriculum details any of this, and only you can discover where within all of it you truly belong,”
he added.
The Chief Justice also spoke about the importance of understanding one’s strengths in the legal profession. He said that knowing the “game” and playing to one’s strengths is crucial for long-term success.
Drawing an example from cricket and referring to the recent T20 World Cup, he said,
“Some of you might be cricket followers, and if you have been catching the T20 World Cup between hearings, you may have noticed something relevant here. The teams that succeed are not built on the assumption that every player must excel at everything.”
He further added,
“No one expects (batsman) Suryakumar Yadav to bowl the death overs, or (bowler Jasprit) Bumrah to anchor a chase. They are trusted to do precisely what they do best, and the team is built around that clarity,”
he said, adding that the same principle applies to the legal profession.
However, he noted that young lawyers are rarely taught this lesson at the beginning of their careers. He said,
“In the initial years, you are simply expected to keep up. If you observe closely, those you admire did not become distinguished by attempting everything equally,”
the CJI noted.
CJI Surya Kant’s speech focused on encouraging young graduates to think deeply about their career choices and to understand that the real learning in law begins after entering the courtroom. He reminded them that while corporate jobs may offer immediate comfort and structure, the courtroom offers unmatched experience, responsibility and the opportunity to directly serve justice.
Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court Sunita Agrawal was also present at the event.
The address highlighted an important debate within the legal community — whether India’s top law graduates are moving away from litigation and judicial services towards corporate careers, and what that means for the future of the justice delivery system.
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