You may apply for an attorney position with the firm for being retained as a practicing advocate, if you fulfill any one of the following three criteria:

– You are enrolled with the Bar Council of a state in India; or

– You are eligible to enroll with the Bar Council of a state in India as an advocate, and intend to so enroll and practice as an advocate; or

– You expect to acquire eligibility to enroll with the Bar Council of a state in India as an advocate within the next 12 months and intend then to so enroll and practice as an advocate.

For specific eligibility to different attorney positions, please read the details under ‘Categories of Attorney Positions’ and ‘Designations of Attorney Positions’ below.

There are two categories of Attorney Positions –

(i) Attorney (General IP). 

(ii) Attorney (Patents). Eligibility to apply for Attorney (Patents) position is restricted to those candidates who are either a registered Patent Agent or have a qualifying degree in science to write the Patent Agent exam.

(i) Attorney (Corporate Commercial). 

While applying for a Placement, you need to apply either for Placement as an Attorney (General IP) or for Attorney (Patents) or for Attorney (Corporate Commercial).

Attorney Positions that can be applied for are –

(i) Trainee Associate (if you are in the final year of your law degree program, or  have been in law practice for less than 12 months);

(ii) Associate (if you have been in IP law practice for a minimum of 12 months); and

(iii) Senior Associate Designee (if you have been in IP law practice for a minimum of 36 months with a law firm, of which at least 24 months have been in IP law practice).

You will need to select at least one of these preferences. The application process for higher Attorney Positions is only by invitation. If you are doing a Final Year – General IP Internship, the relevant attorney position to apply for may be that of a Trainee Associate – General IP.

Application & Selection Process

Before filling up the application, you should keep pdf files (max 2MB each) of your best publications (up to 3) ready to upload along with. Placement applications cannot be submitted without uploading at least one publication. Your placement application will be critically assessed on the quality of your legal scholarship evidenced in your publication(s). At this stage you will not require to upload any other documents for submitting your application.

On successfully completing the application and submitting it, you will receive an automated acknowledgement email with an allotted application number.

Once you have submitted your application, you will automatically be considered for all possible Attorney Positions for the next 12 months. Please do not submit a second application for Placement until 12 months from your application. After 12 months, you will need to submit a fresh application for being considered thereafter.

Your application may be shortlisted for further consideration anytime during 12 months from the date of your application. If shortlisted, you will automatically be contacted by email for scheduling an Aptitude Assessment Test (AAT), which will be conducted online. The AAT is likely to comprise questions on analytical reasoning, logical reasoning, and reading comprehension, along with an essay writing.

Depending upon your score in the AAT, if your application is shortlisted for further consideration, you will automatically be contacted by email for scheduling an Interaction Session. The firm may contact your University/Law School for verifying your academic credentials and other information.

After your Interaction Session, if your application is found suitable, you will be contacted by email to provide documents supporting your application and formally complete your application for acceptance.

Before applying, you are strongly encouraged to learn more about the firm’s ethos and culture from this website. If you are confident about the possibility of a good mutual fit, you are strongly encouraged to apply.

Selection Criteria

Placement applications undergo a stagewise cumulative evaluation process – Shortlisting followed by an Aptitude Assessment Test (AAT) followed by an Interaction Session. Candidates who have done a Final Year (Regular) Internship or Final Year (Follow-On) Internship, and have received a recommendation to apply for an attorney position, are also subject to this cumulative evaluation process but they are guaranteed to clear the first stage (shortlisting and administration of AAT) which stage itself maximum number of applicants do not clear.

Chances of being accepted for a placement are significantly higher if you have done an Internship at ALG, whether or not a recommendation was issued. However, we do accept applicants for placement who have not at all interned, or interned only once, or interned in pre-final year without receiving a recommendation or interned in final year without receiving a recommendation. You are encouraged not to be discouraged!

There is never any disadvantage to applying for placement at the earliest possible and this is regardless of the parallel internship track. Accordingly, even if you are slated to undergo an Internship at ALG during your final year, it is advantageous for you to apply for placement in an attorney position (Trainee Associate) as soon as you enter your final year. In such case, however, the decision on your placement application will not be taken until at least completion of your internship.

We receive far too many deserving applications to accommodate but only a few against the limited placement spots we can generate. Simply because of the large number of applications that keep coming in, we are unable to engage individually by email/phone etc. with any of the applicants we do not ourselves shortlist and contact for scheduling an AAT (Aptitude Assessment Test). Unfortunately, most applicants will not hear back from us any further after receiving our acknowledgment-email immediately upon submitting their application. We do not share any updates or otherwise communicate regarding an application except only if we contact a shortlisted applicant at our own initiative. We request not to remind us or follow up on any application. We do not check on an application if such a communication regarding it is nevertheless received. We do not select amongst applicants for placement spot by placement spot nor applicant by applicant. Instead, we continuously evaluate all pending applications to shortlist and select from and try to generate a placement spot for anyone found suitable in our evaluation. This is why an application indicates a 12 month expiry date: it may elicit an email from us anytime until then seeking to move forward with the application. No application is ever rejected.

If like very many others, you don’t hear back from us on your application, we hope you will understand!