Entry Level Qualification 

12

Career Fields 

Legal Services

For Specially Abled 

Career Entrance Exam 

CLAT UG, CLAT PG

About Career 

Maritime Law, also known as Admiralty Law, constitutes the body of Law that governs nautical (marine) issues and private maritime disputes. It incorporates both domestic laws on maritime activities and international laws that regulate and govern the relationships between private parties operating and/or using seagoing/ocean-faring ships or cargo vessels. Maritime Laws cover a broad range of matters including recreational maritime activities (cruising, boating, etc.), working conditions of maritime workers at sea and injuries sustained by them (if any), shipping and trade, and marine environmental issues, among other things.

As a Maritime Lawyer, you will specialize in Maritime Law. You will represent private clients/businesses/corporations in any matter or cases relating to navigable waters, that is, seas, oceans, and other such accessible water bodies. It will be your duty to act in the best interest of your clients as well as to protect and defend their legal rights in a fair and just manner. The responsibilities of a Maritime Lawyer can be classified into two categories -

1. ‘Dry work’ that involves offering advice to clients on charter-parties, insurance policies, and shipbuilding, repair and conversion contracts, and disputes arising from contracts.

2. 'Wet work’ that includes offering advice to clients on their rights and liabilities and conflicts arising from casualties/ship arrests/marine pollution/salvage/accidents.

Apart from this, you may also fight cases in a court of law, negotiate agreements, address and handle complaints/lawsuits against maritime companies about injuries or illnesses endured by their workers. You will also draft/design, interpret, and enforce international legislation that governs various aspects of the marine industry, including the safety of ships/cargo vessels and safety of the water bodies as well.

Key Roles & Responsibilities

1. To bear complete knowledge of the national and international marine laws (including that of all major and minor nations that are actively engaged in maritime trade and other activities.

2. To address and help to solve any threats and problems that disrupt the peace and disbalance the ecosystem of water bodies (waste disposal, oil spill, piracy, etc.)

3. To represent and defend clients in a court of law/government agencies and act in their best interest.

4. To meet and interview clients to understand their case and offer practical advice to them on maritime law and other legal issues associated with their legal case.

5. To interpret maritime laws, rulings, and legal regulations for individual clients or businesses.

6. To draft legal documents, letters and contracts tailored according to the client's needs.

7. To research and gather evidence to formulate a defence strategy for clients.

8. To evaluate key findings and develop strategies and arguments for the presentation of a case.

9. To present evidence to defend clients or prosecute defendants during the litigation process.

10. To analyze the possible outcomes of a case using your legal knowledge and with the help of legal precedents.

11. To correspond with clients and opposing lawyers/solicitors and attend meetings/initiate negotiations with them as and when required.

12. To arrange for and attend future client meetings as and when necessary to discuss the progress of their case and finalise the documentation.

13. To negotiate with clients and other stakeholders involved to accomplish objectives that have been agreed upon.

14. To be involved with the international sale aspect of goods/services, that is, to review the sale contracts of companies/businesses/agencies/institutions conducting trade via water bodies.

15. To study the Constitution and stay updated with statutes, regulations, judicial decisions, and ordinances of both judicial and quasi-judicial bodies.

16. To carefully check the relevancy and accuracy of all legal documentation before using them in a court of law or signing them.

Career Entry Pathway 

Class 10 all subjects as per scheme of studies – Class 11-12 with any subject as per scheme of studies - 5-year integrated Law course (B.A. LLB/B.Com LLB/B.Sc LLB/BBA LLB).

After your Class 10 all subjects as per scheme of studies, you can study Class 11-12 with any subject as per scheme of studies. Then you can opt for a 5-year integrated Law course, that is, B.A. LLB/B.Com LLB/B.Sc LLB/BBA LLB. In India, if you wish to practice Law, you must register with a State Bar Council, and after that, you must appear for and successfully clear the All India Bar Examination (AIBE) conducted by the Bar Council of India.

Class 10 all subjects as per scheme of studies – Class 11-12 with any subject as per scheme of studies - Bachelor’s degree in any subject - LLB.

After your Class 10 all subjects as per scheme of studies, you can study Class 11-12 with any subject as per scheme of studies. Then you can complete your graduation with a Bachelor’s degree in any subject. Following this, you can do a 3-year LLB course. In India, if you wish to practice Law, you must register with a State Bar Council, and after that, you must appear for and successfully clear the All India Bar Examination (AIBE) conducted by the Bar Council of India.

Class 10 all subjects as per scheme of studies – Class 11-12 with any subject as per scheme of studies - 5-year integrated Law course (B.A. LLB/B.Com LLB/B.Sc LLB/BBA LLB) - LLM with specialization in Maritime Law.

After your Class 10 all subjects as per scheme of studies, you can study Class 11-12 with any subject as per scheme of studies. Then you can opt for a 5-year integrated Law course, that is, B.A. LLB/B.Com LLB/B.Sc LLB/BBA LLB. Further, you can do your post graduation in LLM with specialization in Maritime Law. In India, if you wish to practice Law, you must register with a State Bar Council and after that, you must appear for and successfully clear the All India Bar Examination (AIBE) conducted by the Bar Council of India.

Class 10 all subjects as per scheme of studies – Class 11-12 with any subject as per scheme of studies - Bachelor’s degree in any subject - LLB - LLM with specialization in Maritime Law.

After your Class 10 all subjects as per scheme of studies, you can study Class 11-12 with any subject as per scheme of studies. Then you can complete your graduation with a Bachelor’s degree in any subject. Following this, you can do a 3-year LLB course, and further, you can do your post graduation with a 2-year LLM course (with specialization in Maritime Law). In India, if you wish to practice Law, you must register with a State Bar Council and after that, you must appear for and successfully clear the All India Bar Examination (AIBE) conducted by the Bar Council of India.

Required Qualification & Competencies 

You must do an undergraduate degree in Law, either a 5-year B.A./B.Com./B.Sc./B.B.A. LL.B. program or a 3-year LL.B. program (3-year LL.B. can be done after another 3-year graduation degree). Then by the virtue of your experience of working with Maritime Law, you can become a specialised Lawyer in Maritime Law. Or you may opt to study for a Post Graduate degree in Law with specialisation in Maritime Law.

Compentencies Required

Interests

1. Enterprising: You should have interests for Enterprising Occupations. Enterprising occupations involve taking initiatives, initiating actions, and planning to achieve goals, often business goals. These involve gathering resources and leading people to get things done. These require decision making, risk taking and action orientation.

2. Investigative: You should have interests for Investigative Occupations. Investigative occupations involve working with ideas and quite a lot of thinking, often abstract or conceptual thinking. These involve learning about facts and figures; involve use of data analysis, assessment of situations, decision making and problem solving.

Abilities

1. Abstract Reasoning: The ability to understand ideas which are not expressed in words or numbers; the ability to understand concepts which are not clearly expressed verbally or otherwise.

2. Articulation: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.

3. Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules and common logic to specific problems to produce answers that are logical and make sense. For example, understanding the reasons behind an event or a situation using general rules and common logic.

4. Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information from various sources, concepts, and theories to form general rules or conclusions. For example, analysing various events or situations to come out with a set of rules or conclusions.

5. Memorization: The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.

6. Mental Stamina: The ability to sustain the prolonged mental effort.

7. Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.

8. Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.

9. Perceptual Speed: The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.

10. Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.

11. Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a long period of time without being distracted.

12. Speed of Closure: The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.

13. Verbal Reasoning: The ability to think and reason with words; the ability to reason out ideas expressed in words.

14. Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.

15. Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.

Knowledge

1. English Language: Knowledge about English grammar, words, spelling, sentence construction, using English to communicate with others, reading in English, etc.

2. Law: Knowledge of laws, legal codes, legal procedures, regulations, Government orders, etc.

Skills

1. Active Learning: Focused and continuous learning from various sources of information, observation and otherwise for application in getting work done.

2. Active Listening: Giving full attention to what other people are saying, understanding the points being made by others, asking questions, etc.

3. Communication in English: Skills in communicating effectively in writing as well as verbally with others in English language.

4. Critical Thinking: Skills in the analysis of complex situations, using of logic and reasoning to understand the situations and take appropriate actions or make interpretations and inferences.

5. Judgment and Decision Making: Skills in considering the pros and cons of various decision alternatives; considering costs and benefits; taking appropriate and suitable decisions.

6. Negotiation: Skills in bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.

7. Problem Solving: Skills in analysis and understanding of problems, evaluating various options to solve the problems and using the best option to solve the problems.

8. Public Speaking: Talking effectively to a large group of people or an audience or addressing the public at large in different settings such as conferences, seminars, meetings, etc.

9. Reading Comprehension: Skills in understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.

10. Writing: Skills in communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the readers.

Personality

1. You are always or mostly organized in your day-to-day life and activities.

2. You are always or mostly careful about your actions and behaviour.

3. You are always or mostly disciplined in your action and behaviour.

4. You are always calm or generally remain calm in most situations.

5. You can always act independently or could do so in most situations.

6. You are helpful to others sometimes.

7. You don't trust others easily.

8. You are always practical or in most situations.

9. You are always or mostly dependent on others or on set rules and procedures.

Career - Job Opportunities & Profiles 

1. You can begin your career as a Junior to a senior and established Lawyer.

2. You can join as a Junior Lawyer in a Solicitor Firm/Law Firm.

3. You can join as an Associate in a Legal Consulting Firm/Shipping Companies/Petrochemical Companies/Protection & Indemnity clubs/Insurance Companies/Port Authorities/International Maritime Organisations.

4. You can join as a Legal Executive with a public/private sector company.

5. You may work as an in-house Legal Advisor in any other local or international institution/agencies (public or private) that deals with maritime and nautical law.

6. You can also join as a Legal Executive/Associate in Defence Forces or for the state/central government.

In all these positions, you will work as a junior, non-practicing Lawyer, until you clear the All India Bar Examination (AIBE). If you do not clear the AIBE, you cannot represent your client/company/firm in a court of law. An established and practicing Lawyer needs all kinds of relevant legal documents while presenting a case in a court of law. Usually, Junior Lawyers research and prepare the primary documentation for Senior Lawyers.

Apart from the above-mentioned job roles, you can also appear for the State Judicial Services Examination. If you qualify, you will be appointed as a Judicial Magistrate 2nd Class in a District Court.

Work environment

While Maritime Lawyers usually work from their offices, they may be required to work near waterbodies as well, given the nature of their specialization. Like most lawyers, Maritime Lawyers spend a significant amount of their time in legal offices, law libraries, and courtrooms. They may meet with their clients either at their office, or the client’s office/home, in prison, at hospitals, and ports/shipping docks. Hence, travelling is a part of their job. As for working hours, it never goes according to a set routine. Sometimes Maritime Lawyers may spend an entire day at the office, while other times they may have to run around for court hearings/legal proceedings.

Since Maritime Lawyers deal with a sensitive area of specialization, their job can often get stressful.

Career Growth

In the field of Law, once you become a Lawyer, you always become a Lawyer. Your designation doesn’t change; you only gain seniority as the years go by. The only thing that changes is that you become more and more experienced with years of practicing Law.

However, if you join a Solicitor Firm/Law Firm/Legal Consulting Firm/Shipping Companies/Petrochemical Companies/Protection & Indemnity clubs/Insurance Companies/Port Authorities/International Maritime Organisations, you generally begin your career as an Associate. The next step of promotion is to the position of Senior Associate. After this, you get promoted to Counsel/Solicitor, and then to Senior Counsel/Solicitor.

If you enter the State Judicial Services as a Judicial Magistrate 2nd Class in a District Court, you will follow a strict hierarchy. From a Judicial Magistrate 2nd Class, you will get promoted Civil Judge (Junior Division), and then to Civil Judge (Senior Division). After this, you will move up to the rank of an Additional District & Session Judge and further to District & Session Judge. The next level of progression would be to the position of Justice of the High Court and then to Chief Justice of the High Court. The final rung is the Supreme Court of India, where you’ll first become a Justice of the Supreme Court and then to Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

Salary Offered  

1. If you work as a junior to a senior and established Lawyer, you may or may not get a stipend. The stipend amount usually ranges between Rs. 5,000 - 15,000 per month.

2. If you join as a Junior Lawyer in a Solicitor Firm/Law Firm, your average monthly salary will be around Rs. 5,000 - 15,000.

3. As an Associate working in a Legal Consulting Firm/Management Consulting Firm/Financial Consulting Firm/Accounting Firm, you will make around Rs. 35,000 - 1,00,000. High-end salaries are paid to graduates hailing from premier Law Schools.

4. As a Legal Executive in a public/private sector company, you will earn around Rs. 35,000 - 60,000.

5. When you become a practising Lawyer with 8-10 years of experience, your average monthly income may range anywhere between Rs. 50,000 - 4,00,000 or more. After you have gained 15-20 years of experience, you may earn around Rs. 70,000 - 30,00,000 per month. If you work for a small sessions court in a state, your minimum monthly earning will be Rs. 70,000, and if you work for a renowned Law Firm in the country, you can earn as high as Rs. 30,00,000 or maybe more. After 25 years of experience, you can look forward to earning as much as Rs. 1,00,000 - 1,50,000 or more.

6. If you work as a Legal Executive/Associate in Defence Forces or for the state/central government, your starting salary will be around Rs. 65,000 per month, and the highest monthly salary will be Rs. 2,50,000.

7. As for judges, they are paid according to the 7th pay commission. The Chief Justice of India earns Rs. 2,80,000 per month. The other judges of the Supreme Court and Chief Justices of High Courts draw a monthly salary of Rs 2,50,000. Other judges of High Courts get Rs. 2,25,000. While the junior grade District Judges/Civil Judges earn Rs. 1,40,000 per month, senior grade District Judges/Civil Judges get Rs. 2,00,000 per month. Judicial Magistrates can earn anywhere between Rs. 30,000 to 60,000 according to seniority. Apart from their salaries, judges are entitled to numerous perks and allowances.

8. Although the path to becoming an established Lawyer is challenging, the career is highly promising. Once you gain over 25 years of experience in the industry, your scope of earning escalates rapidly. The top Lawyers in India (experts in the field and have won lots of exceptional cases), charge in lakhs for single appearance sessions. So, high salaries are nothing surprising in this field.

Monthly Earnings In Indian Rupee

1. Entry level: 0 - 2 years of work experience 

2. Junior Level: From 1 to 12 years of work experience

3. Mid Level: From 5 to 20+ years of work experience

4. Senior Level: From 10 to 25+ years of work experience (there could be exceptions in some high-end technical, financial, engineering, creative, management, sports, and other careers; also in the near future, people will reach these levels much faster in many careers and in some careers, these levels will have no meaning as those careers will be completely tech skill driven such as even now, there is almost no level in a Cyber Security Expert’s job)

Famous Personalities 

Information not available.

Work Activities 

1. Addressing grievances and resolving conflicts: Handling complaints and grievance to resolve; resolving conflicts among co-workers or others at the workplace or outside in relation to your work.

2. Analysing and interpreting data and information: Analysis of data and information to find facts, trends, reasons behind situations, etc.; interpretation of data to aid in decision making.

3. Assessing and determining compliance with standards, laws, rules and guidelines: Using relevant information, auditing information, processes and systems to determine whether organisations or people are complying with standards, laws, rules and guidelines.

4. Communicating with co-workers and others: Communicating with people in writing, verbally or otherwise inside your workplace and various other people who have professional relationships with your place of work including vendors, government officials, etc. or with people at large.

5. Decision making and problem-solving: Analysis of data and information; evaluation of alternative decisions and results of decisions; taking the right decisions and solving problems.

6. Getting Information and learning: Observing, hearing, reading, using computers, or otherwise obtaining information and learning from it.

7. Inspecting situations, events, and people: Inspecting situations, events and people to understand the reasons and causes for the situation or events to happen; inspecting people to understand reasons behind their behaviour and actions.

8. Negotiating: Negotiating terms, conditions, costs, prices and about other issues.

9. Organizing, planning and prioritizing tasks: Planning and organising tasks in order to achieve work goals; prioritizing tasks to achieve goals and making the best use of the time available.

10.Providing advices and consultation to others: Giving advices or consultation to others about various issues, conceptual matters, know-hows, scientific matters, products or services.

11. Updating and using relevant knowledge: Keeping updated with the latest knowledge relevant to your fields of work and use of the relevant knowledge in getting things done.

12. Using computers for work: Using computers for day-to-day office work; using computer software for various applications in day-to-day professional work; entering data and process information; for writing.