Introduction
I’m Aravind Prakash, a penultimate year law student at the School of Legal Studies, Cochin University of Science and Technology. I applied for the internship by mailing my resume and Cover Letter to the hiring committee of the Hammurabi and Solomon Partners, New Delhi. After a week, I received an email from the HR Desk of the firm regarding the confirmation of my internship.
About the Firm
Hammurabi & Solomon Partners was founded in early 2001 under the strong leadership of Dr. Manoj Kumar and is ranked among the top 15 law firms in India. The firm has been marked by stellar growth and recognition over the past 2 decades with over 16 partners handpicked from the top of their fields. Paving our way into the Indian legal landscape the firm believes in providing complete client satisfaction with a result-driven approach. The firm has its head office in Delhi and liaison offices in Mumbai, Patna, Bengaluru, and Gurugram.
Address:-405A & 405B, Rectangle One – 4th Floor, District Centre, Sector 6, Pushp Vihar, New Delhi, Delhi 110017.
Duration of internship:- 01st of May 2022 to 25th of June 2022 (8 weeks)
Work Culture, Induction & Infrastructure
I was working as a Virtual intern for the first 15 days of my internship. When I joined the firm physically on the 16th of May, HR introduced me to my assigned team members of Corporate litigation and gave me a laptop with the latest and updated research tools on it (SCC Online, Manupatra, Westlaw etc.)
The firm is equipped with all the amenities that are necessary to work in a legal firm and that one could dream of. The firm also has an ample library containing various commentaries on almost all acts, journals and bare acts etc. One good thing about the firm, they treat interns as their employees. Everyone at the firm, be it the managing partner or the partners, senior associates, or the paralegals are very approachable. I could approach them at all times for any kind of help or guidance. The firm is also quite strict about the working environment concerning the tasks and research assigned to the interns and the submission deadline for the same, which in a corporate sector is much required. The team I was working with consisted of Team-Head Partner Mr Shantanu Malik sir, Senior Associate Mr Jaskaran Sir, Associate Ms Yashodhara Ma’am and paralegal Mr Arunish Singh. The working culture and the environment were pretty good and at the same time flooded with work. The office working time starts from 10:00 am to 07:00 pm and can stay late as you require. Every odd Saturday we work and that too in a work-from-home mode.
Major Involvements
Working with the corporate litigation team of the firm, my major involvements/ worked under the following assignments:-
- Researched various provisions of Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996.
- Researched various provisions of the Employee Provident Funds & Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952.
- Assisted in drafting various Due-Diligence Reports and has scrutinized title deeds, revenue records and other relevant documents.
- Research on the inability to register sales deeds on the part of builder/developer and the consequences thereof under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016.
- Research on the defences available for the unauthorised playing of music under the Copyright Act 1957.
- Researched on distinctiveness and descriptiveness of a trademark the extent of monopoly exists in an entire class of goods or services under Trademark Act 1999.
- Researched on Amazon-Future dispute and prepared a detailed note in relation to the present insolvency proceedings against Future Retail Limited.
- Researched the provisions under Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016 and the initiation of the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process by an Operational Creditor.
- Researched on provisions relating to Charges under the Companies Act and Relevant Rules made thereunder.
- Researched on taxation policy of Smokeless Tobacco in India under Pre-GST and Post-GST regimes and proofread White Paper on Taxing Smokeless Tobacco Products in India.
- Researched on various other propositions and compiled authorities on various other legal issues.
Accommodation, Commutation and Stipend
I took a paying guest accommodation near the office. My major commutation source was Rapido or sometimes I walk after work. After completing the internship I received a decent stipend. The firm offers a stipend to all the interns based on their performance during the internship period.
Feedback
Working with a law firm like Hammurabi & Solomon Partners has gained me a new sense of professionalism and a settled view of what it meant to be in the corporate world. I also gained a better understanding of the corporate litigation industry, made a new network, and gained a few new references for the future. I have zero regrets about choosing this firm for my summer internship and it was a total eye-opener for me. The part of interning with this firm is that every work allotted to me was scrutinised and given honest feedback from my superiors, which helped me in rectifying my mistakes. The firm was very welcoming in adding new suggestions to each task and appreciated new ideas from the interns as well. I’m pretty much confident that this kind of experience allows you to decide what career path a law student wants to take and provides the tools to be successful in future careers and other endeavours.
I would advise everyone to take the opportunity and do an internship to get a flavor of corporate work culture.
For internship applications:- https://www.hammurabisolomon.in/contact
