Imbibing A Culture Of Counselling Clients At NCU

Mr. HimangshuRathhee

Assistant Professor, School of Law

The NorthCap University

School of Law, The NorthCap University always encourages the students to develop interviewing, planning and analytical skills in the lawyer-client relationship which is an integral part of the legal profession. The lawyers are assumed to have the listening and questioning skills needed to conduct an effective interview. Regrettably, these aspects have often been overlooked in the curriculum of legal education. The client consultation competition is a means of focusing student’s attention on these skills early in their careers. The main objective is to understand and imbibe in our principles that the “aim of education is the knowledge, not of facts but values”. In realizing the same, the school of law has been organizing Client Consultation Competitions successfully to develop the values and also give the students, experience in the art of understanding and counselling their clients effectively.

The Competition is aimed at promoting greater knowledge and practical skills among student advocates in the preventive law and counselling functions of law practice. It will encourage students in developing interviewing, planning, and analytical skills in the lawyer-client relationship in the law office. Interviewing and advising are a significant part of most lawyers’ work.The Competition provides an opportunity for a valuable educational interchange between students, law faculty and legal practitioners. The Competition simulates a law office consultation in which two law students, acting as lawyers(attorneys/solicitors/legal practitioners), are presented with a client matter. The students conduct an interview with a person playing the role of the client. School of Law, The NorthCap University, Gurugram hitherto has organized five successful editions of the Competition. 

The 5^th Edition of National Client Consultation Competition, 2019 was the latest in the series of the annual event. Hon’ble Mr. Justice B.P Singh, former Judge Supreme Court of India was our Chief Guest of the programme. 31 teams from all over the Country came down to participate in the event. University School of Law and Legal Studies, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University came out as winners.Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University, Lucknow came in the second position. The final round judges were Professor P.S Lathwal, Justice J.C Gupta and Justice S.K. Katriar.

My Journey at NCU: Towards a Meaningful Life

It is often said that the foundation of a building requires maximum investment and minimum compromise with quality. Today, while I enjoy the fruits of achieving big in my profession, I feel proud to recollect the time when my career’s foundation was being laid at NCU. Law as a career was never an option for me until I came across a bunch of students formally dressed up in a Lawyer’s attire having a group discussion on a contemporary issue.

The professionalism showcased by my young fellow mates at that point was such that the very next day I started enquiring about the procedure of migrating from the programme in which I was admitted initially, to the School of Law. Within a week, the quality investments towards time management, knowledge, professionalism, discipline, career building and skill polishing were already in place for us. One of the most innovative endeavors taken by the law faculty at The NorthCap University was to regularly execute out of classroom learning techniques.

As a student, I found this approach quite intellectual and rewarding. Almost every week, Guest Lectures, Moot Courts, Competitions and Seminars were organized, where we had the flavour of not just organizing events but also participating in the same. I bagged five confirmed job opportunities along with the maximum CTC ever received by any NCU alumni, thereby, proving that the foundation of my career couldn’t have been better if the formula of maximum investment and minimum compromise with quality hadn’t been followed so diligently by my alma mater.

The writer is a lawyer practicing in the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India and has recently established his law firm.

Name – Mandeep Kalra

Batch - 2011 to 16

School of Law

NCU Alumnus Pursuing LLM at the University of London

Puranjay Bhatt BBA-LLB (H)
Class of 2017

Coming from a developing city like Raipur, NCU has played a really important role in my overall grooming. Since the inception of my law school days I was encouraged by the Head, School of Law and teachers to participate in events which were of my interest such as quizzes, moots and theatres. It was the result of constant guidance by my supervisors like Prof. Pushpesh Pant, Dr Kanu Priya and other teachers that I by the end of my undergraduate course had a portfolio which would help me get admission at the University of London for my LLM.

I can't thank my alma mater enough as it has helped me in tailoring my career according to the demands of the current global legal field. Recently I got the opportunity to execute the London Coverage of the visit of Hon'ble Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi live from Westminster which was broadcast live on Republic TV Channel.

‘Up We Rise - A Walk for Gender Equality’ Organized by The School of Law, NCU on International Women’s Day

“The story of women’s struggle for equality belongs to no single feminist nor to any one organization but to the collective efforts of all who care about human rights.” Gloria Steinem

The School of Law with the support of the District Legal Services Authority, Gurugram, celebrated the International Women’s Day on 8 March 2018. Empowerment is an important word which we all believe in and the first step in empowerment is taking control of your own health, respecting yourself and understanding and celebrating the value you bring to your family and society. Empowerment is not a gift of society; it is a gift you give yourself.

The theme of the event was ‘Up, we rise - A walk for gender equality’, which drew attention to the many ways that gender equality appears to be slipping, particularly in the area of health, economics, representation and safety. Ms Pritam Rani Siwach, former Captain of the Indian women's hockey team, was the Chief Guest and Mr Mohsen Baharvand, Deputy Secretary General, Asian-African Legal Consultative Organization was the Guest of Honour at the occasion. Col. Bikram Mohanty (Retd.), Registrar, NCU delivering the welcome address said that girls should be educated as “If you educate a man you educate an individual, but if you educate a woman you educate an entire family”. Ms Pritam Rani Siwach motivated the students by talking about her struggles to become a successful sportsperson. 

Mr Mohsen Baharvand explained the importance of the word ‘equality’ in gender related issues focussing on the international perspective. The most awaited part of the programme was the ‘nukkad natak’ which highlighted women centric issues and choreographed by the students of School of Law. A vote of thanks was given by Dr Kanu Priya, Head, SOL followed by the National Anthem. 

To sensitize the local community a march was organized from the University to the Sector 23 Market, Gurugram initiated by Ms Siwach. Students raised awareness about gender equality and women empowerment among the general public through slogans, banners and posters. Issues facing women in the Indian society were highlighted through a skit performed in the market place. Safety measures were maintained during the walk by the Gurugram police and security staff of the University. Pamphlets developed on women empowerment by the National Commission for Women, New Delhi were distributed by the students to the general public. The awareness walk proved to be a great success.

Chief Justice, Third Environment Court, Valdivia, Chile visits School of Law

School of Law, The NorthCap University organised a visit by Dr Micheal Hantke, Chief Justice, Third Environment Court, Valdivia, Chile on 28 March 2017. He was accompanied by Professor Stephen Stec, Professor, Central European University. Justice Micheal Hantke addressed the students on practical issues about the relationship of Justice delivery and economics. He said, “We live in an imperfect world and life is more complex than the theory of economics. Specialised tribunals should focus on merit review of cases rather than judicial review. A judge while delivering Judgements has not only to interpret the law in the right direction but also has to access the impact of the decision.” Justice Hantke discussed real life cases from his bench for proper clarity of situations. He was of the view that a holistic approach is the requirement of the day which is community based judgement. 

NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CRIMINAL JUSTICE ADMINISTRATION IN INDIA: CONTEMPORARY ISSUES AND CHALLENGES ORGANIZED BY SCHOOL OF LAW, THE NORTHCAP UNIVERSITY

There have been series of deliberations among the legal academia and practitioners on the functioning of various agencies involved in the administration of criminal justice in the recent times. There is no denying the fact that such discourses do have a strong impact on the criminal justice process that involve the law enforcement agencies, prosecution, judiciary and corrections. With the advancement of science and technology, every stage of criminal proceeding encounters new challenges which need to be addressed. Access to justice, in general is a major challenge in the contemporary time and the factors responsible for its denial need to be pondered upon for a more accountable system of criminal justice. Taking these facts into consideration, School of Law, the NorthCap University in collaboration with the Indian Bar Association organized a ‘National Conference on Criminal Justice Administration in India: Contemporary Issues & Challenges’ on April 8, 2017. Eminent dignitaries from the legal fraternity such as Justice Vidya Bhushan Gupta, Former Judge, Delhi High Court, Prof. (Dr.) G.S. Bajpai, Registrar, National Law University Delhi, New Delhi and Sh. KTS Tulsi, Senior Advocate, the Supreme Court of India were present during the Inaugural Ceremony to grace the occasion. In his Welcome address, Prof. (Dr.) Prem Vrat, Pro-Chancellor, NCU expressed his pleasure to host the conference on a contemporary theme and stated “a holistic approach is the need of the hour towards facilitation of better criminal justice administration”. One of his suggestions was interlinking of law and technology to facilitate a smoother justice administration. Emphasizing on the importance of the Conference on an area which is highly crucial in today’s time, Mr. KTS Tulsi expressed concerns about the invisibility of the victims and the plight of the poor section in the criminal justice system. He also provided concrete suggestions such as recording of telephone calls in police stations during registration of cases and setting up a separate interrogation room facilitating a fair process. Justice Vidya Bhushan Gupta shared some of his experiences and challenges encountered during the justice delivery process. He referred to some of the crucial provisions of the Criminal law and encouraged the young lawyers to explore the possibility of their effective application in the administration of criminal justice. Justice Gupta also highlighted the plight of the victims in the process. Delivering the keynote address, Prof. (Dr.) G.S. Bajpai, Registrar, National Law University Delhi, emphasized on crucial issues such as access to justice, how the poor class is placed in the system and over-criminalization. He also expressed- “lesser importance has been given on criminal justice, which itself has become a problem rather than a solution”. Addressing the participants from all over the country, who have contributed their research papers on various relevant themes such as cyber-crime investigation, juvenile justice, courts etc, Prof. Bajpai suggested all the researchers from other institutions as well as the NorthCap University to focus on conducting empirical studies to identify the major challenges in the criminal justice system. The Conference had various technical sessions where around one hundred students and professionals from different institutions presented their research papers. The sessions were chaired by eminent academicians. Three research papers were awarded the First, Second and Third Prize in the Conference. The awardees are -

First Prize - Arshia Katyal, USLLS (GGSIPU), & Smrita Sinha, Amity Law School, Delhi

Second Prize - Anusha Arif & Akash Chaudhury, Aligarh Muslim University, U.P.

Third Prize - Jyotsna Arora & Karandeep Singh, USLLS (GGSIPU)

The awards and other certificates were distributed during the Valedictory Session held at the end of the day.

Guest lecture on Introduction to IP Multimedia Systems (IMS)

The Department of EECE organized a guest lecture on ‘Introduction to IP Multimedia Systems’ by Mr Rishi Asnani, Senior Solution Architect, Mobile Core Networks, Ericsson India Pvt. Ltd., on 19 January 2016.MrAsnani has an experience of over 20 years in telecommunications / ICT industry, primarily in the areas of mobile/PSTN/ enterprise network planning, operations, support, performance and training. He has worked with telecom operators and vendors in India and abroad.

The lecture was conducted for ECE 6^thSemester students to introduce the concept of IMS to them. Mr Asnani explained the IP Multimedia Subsystem and IP Multimedia Core Network Subsystem, which is an architectural framework for delivering IP multimedia services. It is a concept for an integrated network of telecommunications carriers that would facilitate the use of IP (Internet Protocol) for packet communications in all known forms over wireless or landline. The students enthusiastically participated in the session and learned a lot from the experience and insights of the speaker.

Delegates of top UK universities visit NCU to interact with Law students

The School of Law organized British Council’s ‘Law Mission’ programme at the University on 18 January 2016 to collaborate on higher studies, student and faculty exchange programmes. The Law Mission is a part of Subject Mission that British Council organizes every year to spread legal knowledge amongst students. In the era of the world becoming a global village, it is pertinent for the students to become aware about the trends and practices in the industry from an international perspective. Under the Law Mission delegates from UK’s leading universities including University of Sussex, Staffordshire University, Nottingham Trent University, University of Exeter and University of Northampton gave lectures to students on contemporary issues which are highly relevant for Law graduates and interacted with the students. Discussions focused on relevant topics of Medical Negligence; International Law; International Competition Law and Contracts law; International Constitutional Law.

NCU students got a chance of attending lectures by legal faculty oftop UK universities and receiving knowledge from eminent international professors. There was a deep appreciation by the students, and issues were discussed in an interactive manner.

NCU’s School of Law proposes to take the meeting forward through agreements with some of the Universities, as suggested by the eminent professors themselves, for student and faculty exchange programmes in a bid to align the Universities’ teaching-learning processes with best global practices.