LEGAL DRAFTING
Legal drafting is an important skill for lawyers - it involves learning how to draft various kinds of petitions to be filed in court, drafting contracts for clients, preparation of legal opinions or ‘legal memos’ (not moot court memos). These skills enable a lawyer to perform different kinds of billable work for clients and provide them value.
Although at SDCL we Focusses on different areas of law, ranging from criminal litigation, civil litigation, contract drafting, business laws for in-house counsels, arbitration, NCLT Litigation, M&A, etc., Legal drafting is crucial for any lawyer to perform client work effectively. As you gain more expertise, you may realize that drafting skills for different forums and different areas of law will differ.
For example, petitions before a criminal court will be different from petitions before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) or from arbitration petitions. Similarly, a shareholders agreement will be very different from an employment agreement.
However, basic legal drafting skills and practice is crucial for performing any kind of client work. When one starts learning, it is important to have a broad foundation. At this stage, it does not matter if you are not sure about which area of law you want to focus on and specialize in.