Legal practice mandate before entering judiciary to boost online coaching firms

Mint

28-05-2025

Online coaching service providers are expecting a rise in student enrollments after the Supreme Court (SC) on 20 May mandated a minimum practice of 3 years as an advocate to enter the judicial services, making it difficult for law graduates to balance in-person classes with their practice at the Bar.
Earlier, fresh law graduates could appear for judicial services exams, conducted by every state as per the vacancies in their district and taluka courts.
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Ramanuj Mukherjee, founder of Lawsikho, an online judiciary coaching services provider, said, 'I believe that many people who would have otherwise opted for physical coaching, for which you often have to move to specific places in specific cities, will now prefer online coaching due to flexibility since they need to prepare while also practising in court simultaneously."
LawSikho is a part of the National Stock Exchange (NSE)-listed edtech company Addictive Learning Technology Ltd.
The flexibility that comes with online coaching is likely to be the driver of such growth, according to Sammanika Rawat, founder, Your Legal Career Coach (YLCC), which provides tailored career guidance for law graduates.
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'With a mandatory 3-year wait, students would be expected to start judiciary prep along with their work, hence the demand for more flexible, that is, online formats would increase," said Rawat. 'This would increase learning opportunities for Tier 2 and Tier 3 city students who couldn't afford shifting to Delhi or other prime locations for coaching," she said.
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Physicswallah, which has over 60,000 judiciary aspirants enrolled currently, said that a shift to online coaching is almost inevitable after the SC mandate.
"A shift towards online coaching is quite likely. With the new requirement that candidates must practise law for three years before attempting the judiciary exam, many aspirants won't have the time or energy to attend full-day physical classes," said Manish Dwivedi, deputy general manager for judiciary and public service commission at the Noida-based edtech company, said.
The 20 May ruling by a three-judge bench of chief justice of India B.R. Gavai, and justices Augustine George Masih and K. Vinod Chandran said that "This Court observed that the recruitment of 'raw graduates" as Judicial Officers without any training or background of lawyering has not proved to be a successful experiment." The court directed all states to prescribe a minimum of three years' practice as a lawyer as an essential qualification for appointment as a Judicial Officer at the lowest rung.
The top court's judgement in the case of All India Judges Association and Others v. Union of India and Others is the latest in a string of litigations since 1989, which have called for judicial reforms in the country. The Supreme court had, in 2002, removed the criteria for a three-year practice at the Bar before appearing for judicial services examinations.
But due to complaints from various High Courts regarding lack of maturity in handling cases, as well as constant complaints from litigators about procedural challenges, the bench reinstated the minimum work experience requirement.
Senior advocate Geeta Luthra told Mint the judgement was a positive move towards strengthening the functioning of courts. 'If they (law graduates) practise for three years, they will be more trained than just training to become a judicial officer. The maturity of experience is something that goes towards making a good judicial officer. It stands them in good stead," she said.
Now, the demand for online judiciary coaching is also likely to rise, as such trends are similarly followed across professional disciplines when examinations are delayed, said Narayanan Ramaswamy, national leader— education and skill development, government and public services, KPMG India.
'Any delay, be it months or years, in any examination, will push more aspirants towards online coaching services. Students flock towards such services for last-minute prep, or simply to make use of valuable time. The same is likely to happen for judiciary coaching services, in the wake of the Supreme Court's mandate of a three-year-long working period," he said.
Flexibility is a key reason why students prefer online coaching services over traditional means, according to an analysis of India's edtech sector by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and Grant Thornton Bharat (GTB) in January 2025. According to the report, 59% of students said their primary reason for choosing online education and coaching over in-person learning was flexibility in learning schedules and pace.
This development also comes at a time when one in every five edtech users is using online coaching services for test preparations for jobs or professional services, according to the IAMAI-GTB report.
Law graduates who wish to join the judicial service attempt several state examinations. That is because appointment of judges in India's lower judiciary is the mandate of every state government and its High Court.
Every year, states may conduct exams for the positions of civil judge—junior division, or judicial magistrate second class, as per the vacancy in the lower courts. According to a Rajya Sabha disclosure in August 2024, there were more than 5,200 vacancies in India's lower judiciary.
'Students who were planning to appear for judiciary exams immediately after graduations are facing uncertainty due to the judgement, as they are unsure whether to continue preparing for the same," said Shivika Jain, a Delhi-based law graduate who was preparing for the judiciary entrance exams, but chose legal practice after the judgement.
'There are some very common challenges that judiciary aspirants face, and language is a major one. Since most exams are conducted by state governments, the examiners expect candidates to have fluency in a local language," said Jain. 'While fluency in Hindi can help a candidate's chances in some northern states, the same is not true for southern states, where each state has a unique native language," she added.
Online preparation is likely to help aspirants who wish to appear for exams in multiple states, said Mukherjee of LawSikho, as the judiciary exam in each state also focuses on state-specific laws. 'You can prepare for multiple states —we cover all states and encourage our learners to pick up up to 5-6 states, while physical coaching usually focuses on one or two states," said Mukherjee.
But businesses will have to cater to the needs of judiciary aspirants at a time when they will be short of preparation time. 'Businesses will find it difficult to keep the students motivated in online or remote set-up for longer durations," said Rawat of YLCC. Working professionals would not be able to make enough time for classes on weekdays or for day-time classes, which is likely to make judiciary coaching service providers offer early morning, late night, or weekend batch classes, she added.
'The traditional three-year or five-year law student community which formed the major buyer base for judiciary coaching will shift their focus on CV building and internships. The three years' timeline is a very long window to influence the decision making of the candidates. Businesses will frequently struggle with change in mindsets of the candidates leading to higher dropouts," Rawat said.