Ms. Alisha Sharma’s legal journey was a matter of chance. However, this is where she has found herself to be. She discussed her journey and some tips for law students with Desi Kaanoon-
Q. Your journey from engineering to litigation has been an inspiring one. What motivated you to leave a well-paid job and pursue litigation full time?
A. I have a strong belief that “if you won’t stand up for your right then nobody else would”. Having raised as a strong, independent person, with emphasis on family values and more importantly standing for what is right eased me to take the decision. Though that was a challenging decision, but when it comes to family, everything else takes a backseat, be it career, personal life, comfort and what not. I was in the fifth semester of my law degree when I won the case. Experiences make a person, after struggling for justice for seven long years, I realised that there are numerous people waiting and hoping to get justice one day exhausting their fortunes. The majority of litigants come from the strata of society, deprived of education and legal awareness. Many are not much aware about their legal rights, same are misled by the counsels. The purpose of law in society is to preserve the moral sanctity that binds the society. Therefore, I decided to Pursue litigation as a fulltime career with a motive to bring a change at personal level and to be fair to the underprivileged. My family has been my strength through out and have supported me in every decision.
Q. After you decided to switch to law as a career, how was the experience at law school like?
A. My law school experience was overall good, apart from learning from one of the best faculties, I shared the classroom with Professionals viz. IAS, IPS, which was very inspiring and motivating. I developed the habit of legal thinking and reasoning.
Though, initially, there was no intention to pursue to take law as a full-time career as I was working when I had joined evening batch of Law school. case I developed the interest in taking law as career, gradually, while working on the as a career. I would say that Law chose me.
Q. What were the challenges you faced while defending your tenancy case?
A. Coming from a Patriarchal society where women are considered feeble and are supposed to not deal with police and legal matters, it was challenging to claim the ownership rights over our own property built with the hard-earned money of my parents, especially when there was no support; (literally no one supported me in fighting the case). I was in early twenties, enrolled in foundation years of my engineering, when my life turned upside down. After my father’s demise, we had rented one portion of the house to a family for 11 months. We were just recovering from the shock of my father’s untimely demise, when my brother suffered brain injury and was in comatose state. The tenant took advantage of the situation and occupied the whole property illegally considering us as weak landlords. It literally took me 10-11 hours to get the FIR lodged, the police officers at lower level were reluctant to file the FIR as they were in connivence with the lady(tenant) since she had political backing and support from the bad elements of the society. The lady tenant took every advantage of the procedure lapses to evade the due process of law. I used to receive threat calls but I remained strong and kept belief in the judicial process.
Q. What do you think is the fundamental aspect of progressing in the litigation sector as a fresher?
A. For progressing in the field of litigation, especially as a first-generation lawyer, it is very important to establish yourself on the basis knowledge and intelligence. To achieve that goal, it is imperative to work very hard and smart. Like every profession, in the litigation sector, the success is proportional to the efforts one puts in. This profession demands both hard work as well as smart work. Law is all about interpretation, and to excel as a lawyer, one must have an eye for detail, good research and analytical skills. If one is sure about entering the litigation field, then he/ she should start going to the courts, assisting seniors, brushing up their drafting skills and researching skills. The sooner the better, as during this time, they can build a strong network, which can help in getting business and after getting degree and they can start practice with confidence.
Q. Tell us something about your firm-Agastyas Legal Associates LLP.
A. I decided that I need a career where I was more in control over my work environment, Agastyas Legal Associates LLP provide legal services viz. litigation and Advisory related to all matters pertaining to District Courts of Punjab, Haryana, Punjab and Haryana High Court and High Court of Delhi we deal in all kinds of matters viz. all sort of civil matters, criminal, matrimonial, commercial disputes, matters related intellectual property rights and others.
Q. Does your firm hire interns? If yes, what qualities do you seek?
A. We are in process of hiring of hiring interns, because of the pandemic; we have halted the process and currently not hiring interns. In future, we tend to hire interns who have quest for knowledge, good research and drafting skills.
Q. How was the experience working under a senior advocate?
A. I was fortunate enough that my seniors provided me every opportunity to do maximum work. I worked under the guidance of an advocate of Punjab and Haryana High Court on various civil as well as criminal matters and learned the procedural intricacies of legal proceedings. Apart from imparting knowledge, he instilled the foundation of professional ethics I. also, assisted an advocate in Arbitration, matters pertaining mostly to Construction. The golden rule to be remembered is that ‘No one teaches you’, you have to learn on your own. If you have interest in your work then the seniors will surely reciprocate accordingly and will guide properly. At both the places the work environment was encouraging and friendly.
Q. What advice would you like to students considering a switch from engineering to law?
A. No decision is wrong if one takes a conscious decision and is willing to put the efforts required for accomplishing the goal. Amalgamation of Engineering and Law is phenomenal as both the fields are dynamic and vast, and will surely open more doors. Some combinations like civil engineering and Arbitration are unparallel and offer a successful career. The students considering a 360-degree switch from engineering to Law, have to be more cautious and must explore more about the field of law, as certain aspects of this field are completely unfamiliar to an outsider. The struggle of lawyers is really tough, especially those with no legal background, therefore, they have to be very determined and amalgamating both the streams.