India has its own "Harvard", National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bangalore, the country's first NLU and also the holy grail for law hopefuls in the nation. NLSIU was established in 1987 and started a new tradition of legal education by sacrificing the traditional lectures-based courses and adopting an inter-disciplinary and practice-oriented approach.
Whereas Harvard Law School has produced presidents, Nobel laureates, and Supreme Court judges, NLSIU also boasts no less impressive an alum list. Among them are Supreme Court judges and High Court judges, senior counsels, top managing partners of India's top law firms, policy strategists, scholars, and even politicians who determine the fate of the nation.
The Harvard analogy is not so much prestige-oriented—though it would otherwise so appear—it's a reaction to the way NLSIU transformed India's legal world. It set the standard for all other NLUs to keep pace, created a competitive arena with CLAT (Common Law Admission Test), and is still the rank-holders' favorite every year.
With its global alumnus network, pioneering course syllabus, and limitless pursuit of academic excellence, NLSIU has emerged as the epitome of legal education. If the West's apogee of legal education is Harvard Law School, NLSIU Bangalore is unmistakably India's answer—the law school that continues to redefine, shape, and inspire the East's future of law.
