National Law School of India University, NLSIU

The first National Law University to be established in 1988 in India to pioneer legal education reforms in India was NLSIU. The university leads the field of legal education in India for over thirty years now. It has been leading the rankings in the National Institutional Ranking Framework over 2018, 2019 and 2020.

Through a notification under the National Law School of India University Act (Karnataka Act 22 of 1986), NLSIU came into being. The culminated efforts by the Bar Council of India, the Judiciary, the Karnataka Bar Council, the Government of Karnataka and the Bangalore University to get legal education and research in India reformed resulted in the establishment of this center of excellence.

The Chief Justice of India is the Chancellor of the University, the Chairman of the Bar Council of India the Chairman of General Council, the prestige and stature lent to the reputation of the School is unmatchable in the history of legal education in the country. The complete administrative and academic autonomy conferred by the Karnataka Act facilitates complete innovation and experimentation with the education system seeking unparalleled excellence.

It offers B.A., LL.B.(Hons.), a 5-year integrated course, LL.M. in Business Laws and Human Rights Laws, Master’s and Integrated Programmes in Public Policy, an M.Phil and few online and hybrid programs in the distance education format. The school has exchange programmes with York University, Canada, Osgoode Hall Law School, Buceuius Law School, Germany and National University of Singapore. Many pass-outs go on to pursue further studies in prestigious universities like Harvard, Oxford, Yale, Cambridge, Columbia, Michigan and other Universities abroad on prestigious scholarships like Rhodes and INLAKS.

Many research projects that are funded by the Government of Karnataka, the Govt. of India, the UGC, the Department of Women and Child Development, the World Bank, the UN Agencies, HIVOS, etc. are undertaken by the Law School. This strengthens the research and teaching at the school.

Many go on to join the practice of law in the country at various levels such as the Supreme Court, the High Courts and the trial courts. Some choose to set up independent law practices or in partnership with other alumni of the Law School.Some join the academics, teaching in the same or other reputed universities. Some have joined the judiciary and very few have joined the Civil Services.

Recruiters come from diverse backgrounds seeking the best law graduates in the country. Some of them are:

Arundhati Katju who litigated the Section 377 case, the 2G spectrum corruption case, Jessica Lal murder case amongst others obtained her B.A. LL.B. degree from NLSIU, Bengaluru in 2005. MenakaGuruswamy, a senior advocate at the Supreme Court of India, who also played an important role in the fight for the decriminalization of homosexuality, who has also advised UNDF and UNICEF, New York, a Rhodes and Gammon fellow, graduated with a B.A.LL.B.(Hons.) from NLSIU in 1997. K.Vijay Kumar, the IPS officer who led the Special Task Force of Tamil Nadu during operation Cocoon in 2004 that got Veerappan dead has a Master’s in Business Law from the Law School. PadmapriyaJanakiraman, the Indian film actress and model holds a PG Diploma in Environmental Law from NLSIU, Bangalore. Dr. Ananda Mohan Bhattarai, a justice of the Supreme Court of Nepal completed his J.S.D. from the Law School in 2000.