Become a Criminal Lawyer.

Lawyers in India practice across three broad streams: (1) corporate / transactional law — M&A, capital markets, banking and finance, private equity, IP, employment, dispute resolution at tier-1 firms like Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas (CAM), AZB & Partners, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas (SAM), Trilegal, Khaitan & Co, Luthra & Luthra, J Sagar Associates (JSA), Nishith Desai Associates, Argus, IndusLaw, Talwar Thakore; (2) litigation — Supreme Court / High Court chambers practice including senior-advocate-led teams (Harish Salve, Mukul Rohatgi, Fali Nariman before him, Kapil Sibal, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Gopal Subramanium, Salman Khurshid, Indira Jaising), High Court trial chambers, district court / sessions court practice; (3) in-house counsel — at Indian corporates (Reliance, Tata Sons, Aditya Birla Group, Infosys, TCS, HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel) and foreign multinationals (Google India, Microsoft India, Amazon India, Goldman Sachs India). The Indian path runs through 5-year integrated B.A.LL.B / B.B.A.LL.B at National Law Universities (NLSIU Bangalore, NALSAR Hyderabad, WBNUJS Kolkata, NLU Delhi, GNLU Gujarat, NLU Jodhpur — collectively the 'NLU' brand), or 3-year LL.B after graduation at Delhi University Faculty of Law, Government Law Colleges (Mumbai, Pune), Jindal Global Law School (private premium), Symbiosis Law School, Christ University Bengaluru, ILS Pune; followed by Bar Council of India enrolment via the All India Bar Examination (AIBE). Pay varies extremely: tier-1 firm fresh NLU graduate starts at ₹17-22L/year all-in (CAM, AZB, SAM, Trilegal, Khaitan); senior associate at 5-7 years ₹40-80L; salaried partner ₹1-3Cr; equity partner ₹2-10Cr+. Senior advocates at the Supreme Court charge ₹10-25L per appearance for the top tier and ₹50L-2Cr+ for marquee constitutional / corporate disputes. Litigation chambers practice early on pays ₹0-3L for the first 3-5 years before income builds.

Civil lawyers in India represent clients in non-criminal disputes before district civil courts, High Courts, consumer fora, RERA authorities, family courts, and the National Company Law Tribunal — covering property, contract, succession, matrimonial, and recovery matters governed by the Code of Civil Procedure 1908 (CPC). The bulk of civil court volume flows through property title disputes, loan-recovery suits, RERA complaints against builders, divorce and maintenance under the Hindu Marriage Act 1955 and Special Marriage Act 1954, succession and probate applications under the Indian Succession Act, and money-recovery suits under Order XXXVII (summary suits). Established independent advocates in tier-1 cities with a strong property or matrimonial client base earn ₹25-80L annually; district court specialists in tier-2 cities stabilise at ₹8-20L after 5-7 years. Entry into civil practice is via LL.B / B.A.LL.B enrolment with a State Bar Council followed by junior work under a senior advocate, and the AIBE from the Bar Council of India.

Corporate lawyers in India practice exclusively in the transactional stream — structuring and executing M&A deals, private equity investments, capital markets transactions (IPOs, QIPs, NCDs under SEBI ICDR), banking and finance documentation (facility agreements, debenture trust deeds, ECB), and day-to-day corporate governance under the Companies Act 2013. Unlike litigators who appear in court, corporate lawyers produce paper: SHA, SPA, DRHP, board resolutions, FEMA compounding applications, and CCI merger-control filings. The primary employers are India's tier-1 law firms — AZB & Partners, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas (CAM), Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas (SAM), Khaitan & Co, JSA, Trilegal, L&L Partners, Nishith Desai Associates, IndusLaw — plus in-house legal teams at Reliance Industries, Tata Sons, TCS, Infosys, HDFC Bank, and Bharti Airtel, and the Big-4 legal arms (KPMG Legal, EY Law, Deloitte Legal). Entry is almost entirely through National Law Universities (NLUs) via CLAT; a US or UK LLM is the accepted credential for international capital markets work.

Intellectual Property lawyers in India draft and prosecute patent applications at the Indian Patent Office (IPO) under the Patents Act 1970 (as amended), file trademark and copyright applications under the Trade Marks Act 1999 and the Copyright Act 1957, and litigate IP disputes before the Delhi, Bombay, Madras, and Calcutta High Courts — IPAB was abolished in 2021 and its jurisdiction merged into the High Courts. The practice cuts across two distinct skill profiles: Patent Attorneys, who typically hold a B.Tech or B.Sc (Engineering) plus an LL.B plus the Patent Agent qualification under the Patents Act (Chapter XXIA), and IP generalists with pure LL.B degrees who handle trademarks, copyrights, designs, and IP licensing. Tier-1 IP firms — Anand & Anand (Noida), K&S Partners (Gurugram), Remfry & Sagar (Gurugram), Lall & Sethi (Delhi), S.S. Rana & Co (Delhi), and the IP teams at CAM and AZB & Partners — are the primary employers, alongside multinational pharma, tech, and FMCG in-house IP teams. PCT international filing, FTO (Freedom to Operate) opinions, technology licensing, and cross-border anti-counterfeiting enforcement are core service lines.

Tax lawyers in India litigate and advise on direct and indirect tax disputes before the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), Customs Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), Authority for Advance Rulings (AAR / Board for Advance Rulings), and the High Courts and Supreme Court — fields where Harish Salve, Arvind Datar, Sohrab Dastur, S. Ganesh, and Tarun Gulati command ₹5–50 Cr per matter and set the standard for advocacy. Unlike Chartered Accountants who file returns and give advisory opinions, or tax auditors who sign Form 3CD, the tax lawyer's core function is courtroom argumentation — drafting grounds of appeal, framing jurisdictional objections, writing writ petitions challenging CBDT circulars, and appearing before tax authorities from the Assessing Officer to the Supreme Court bench. Practice runs across income tax (Sections 9, 40A, 56, 68, 115BB, 153A, 263), GST and legacy indirect taxes (CESTAT appeals, DRC-07/08 SCN responses), transfer pricing litigation (TPO orders to ITAT Special Bench), and international treaty disputes (equalization levy, royalty vs FTS under Section 195, Vodafone-type capital gains re-characterization). Firms defining the field include Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan, Vaish Associates, Nishith Desai Associates, Khaitan & Co tax litigation team, Economic Laws Practice (ELP), and Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas.

Stockbrokers in India are SEBI-registered intermediaries who execute buy/sell orders for equities, derivatives, currency, and commodities on behalf of clients through NSE and BSE. The landscape splits between discount brokers (Zerodha, Groww, Upstox — flat ₹20/trade model, technology-first, self-directed clients) and traditional full-service brokers (ICICI Direct, HDFC Securities, Motilal Oswal, Sharekhan — advisory-led, higher brokerage). Below the registered broker sits the Authorized Person (AP, formerly sub-broker) model — individuals who bring clients and orders to the primary broker and earn a revenue-share of 40-70% brokerage. Entry requires passing NISM Series VIII (Equity Derivatives) and NISM Series I (Currency Derivatives), plus SEBI registration; NISM Series VII (Securities Operations) and NCFM certifications improve scope. F&O trading accounts now require a minimum net-worth declaration and segment-activation per SEBI's 2024 peak-margin rules. Income is commission-based at the AP level and salary-plus-incentive at the sub-broker desk level; institutional dealers at proprietary trading desks earn a base plus P&L share.

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Mutual Fund Distributors (MFDs) in India are AMFI-registered intermediaries who help retail and HNI investors build and manage mutual fund portfolios. The role sits at the intersection of financial advisory, sales, and relationship management. Entry requires clearing the NISM Series V-A Mutual Fund Distributors Certification Examination and obtaining an AMFI Registration Number (ARN). Distributors earn trail commission (typically 0.5-1% annually on AUM) paid by the AMC — not the investor — from the Regular plan's higher Total Expense Ratio (TER). Major AMC partners include HDFC AMC, ICICI Prudential AMC, Nippon India AMC, SBI Mutual Fund, Axis AMC, and Kotak AMC. The Indian MF industry crossed ₹65 lakh crore AUM in 2025, with SIP inflows reaching ₹20,000 crore/month — a massive structural tailwind. The disruptive threat is real: direct plans on Zerodha Coin, Groww, Kuvera, and MFCentral allow investors to bypass distributors and save 0.4-0.8% in TER annually. Successful MFDs compete on advice quality, goal-based financial planning, disciplined SIP pause prevention, and client handholding during market downturns — not on product access.

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Ad Sales Managers sell media inventory — airtime, digital impressions, sponsorships, branded content, and audio spots — to brands and agencies on behalf of publishers and broadcasters. In India the role sits at the revenue front-end of TV broadcasters (Disney Star, Sony LIV, Zee Entertainment, Sun TV), digital publishers (Times Internet, Network18, Inshorts, NDTV.com, HT Digital), OTT platforms (JioCinema, SonyLIV, Zee5, Voot, MX Player), audio publishers (Spotify India, Saavn/JioSaavn, Pocket FM), and print-digital hybrids (TOI, HT Media, India Today Group). The work involves packaging and pitching inventory to media-buying agencies (GroupM, Wavemaker, Mindshare, Madison, Dentsu, Initiative) and direct brand marketing teams, negotiating rates and share-of-voice, building custom sponsorship proposals for marquee properties (IPL, cricket, Bigg Boss, Kaun Banega Crorepati), closing multi-crore annual deals, and managing rate cards, discounts, and post-campaign delivery reports. Entry is usually through a media agency buying desk, a publisher ad-ops role, or an MBA in media/marketing; the career ladder moves from executive to senior manager, national sales head, and VP/Chief Revenue Officer at major publishers.

Senior: ₹55.0L

Real Estate Agents in India help buyers, sellers, landlords, and tenants transact residential, commercial, and land properties. Since the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act 2016, agents must register with their state's RERA authority — making RERA registration the mandatory entry point. The market spans metro brokerage firms (Anarock Property Consultants, PropTiger, NoBroker Pro, Square Yards) and independent brokers operating across MagicBricks, 99acres, Housing.com, and WhatsApp-based networks. Commission is 1-2% of transaction value from seller side (and often another 1% from buyer). Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Pune drive the highest-ticket transactions; tier-2 markets (Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Nagpur, Coimbatore) reward local expertise. NRI buyers constitute a growing segment — FEMA and RBI repatriation rules make NRI transaction expertise a rare premium skill. Entry is low-barrier (RERA registration, no degree required) but income is strictly commission-based, creating a sharp power-law: most new agents earn ₹1-3L in year one while top producers in luxury or commercial segments earn ₹40L-5Cr+.

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TV news anchors in India present live bulletins and prime-time shows across English channels (NDTV 24x7, CNN News18, Times Now), Hindi news channels (Aaj Tak, Zee News, India TV), and regional networks (Sun News, ABP Asmita, ETV Andhra). The job combines real-time news scripting, on-camera delivery, guest management, and social-media amplification — all with BARC TRP ratings as the weekly scorecard. Entry is through journalism degrees (IIMC, ACJ, Jamia, MJMC colleges) plus voice and screen tests; most channels promote from beat reporters or junior anchors. The prime-time 9 PM slot is the industry's most competitive real estate, with anchor contracts and salaries tied directly to show TRP performance.

Senior: N/A