Internship Experience at SVS Attorneys, New Delhi: Provides an Internship Toolkit, Handsome Stipend, Supportive Associates

Name of the Student

Prakruthi N.

College and Year of Study

MNLU Mumbai, 4th year.

Name and Address of the Organization

SVS Attorneys, Delhi.

Mode of Internship

HYBRID: Physical and Virtual (30-30 days each, Total 60 days).

Duration of Internship

December 2, 2023 – 10th March 2023 (Including Leaves).

How did you Apply?

I sent an email with my CV and Cover Letter to the email address office@svsattorneys.com & srg@svsattorneys.com and got confirmation shortly. I was asked to schedule a telephonic conversation with Siddharth Sir’s Associate Mr. Shivam Baghel, to understand the working modalities of the firm.

I was informed at the time of joining itself that the working hours will be till 8.30 – 9 PM and that there shall be no holidays in the office, 24*7 is the work culture. A detailed internship toolkit was sent to me a few days before my internship began and I was categorically told to read it thoroughly prior to joining. There is a specific format for carrying out and submitting tasks assigned at the office which was detailed and explained in this toolkit. Further, some general office guidelines were also sent to me.

First-Day Formalities, Infrastructure, First Impression

Since I began my internship virtually for the first 30 days, I was quite anxious and felt isolated from the rest of the office (which was working physically, and offline). However, to my surprise, all the associates and my fellow co-interns were extremely supportive and helpful.

At first, I found it hard to adjust to the office since there is a very specific system in place for every task to be carried out. However, after a week, once I got accustomed to the working environment, and I found the office to be very organized, planned and orderly which actually made performing the various tasks assigned to me easier.

All instructions are given by Sir through voice clips only so they can be revisited any time a doubt comes up.  There’s an unwritten rule in the office that you have to interact and work through audio clips only and calls should be arranged with Siddharth Sir only when absolutely necessary. A practice which is quite uncommon in offices, designed to save time for everybody working.

The office is located in a prime area near Bengali Market, behind the Supreme Court of India where I enjoyed exploring different cuisines in various north-south Indian eating joints (subject to getting breaks from a hectic working schedule). It is also conveniently within walking distance from the Mandi House metro station.

Sir is extremely particular about office hygiene, cleanliness, and orderliness due to which the whole office remained always well maintained with positive vibes that helps you focus on work. In fact, I’ve witnessed my co-interns be reprimanded by Office manager Ranjit Ji for littering on his interns desk and not maintaining cleanliness. There is a separate special corner for sitting of interns working physically, with all necessary arrangements. It’s partitioned from the associates section.

Main Tasks

During my internship, I had the opportunity to work on a number of cases. I was mostly assigned research work, and I had the opportunity to research on various subjects including Property Laws, PMLA, Succession Laws, Criminal Laws, Constitutional Law and many more.  I myself drafted & finalised SLPs, WPs and replies under Sir’s guidance & even reprimands. I also had to opportunity to attend proceedings at the Supreme Court, Delhi High Court and various important Tribunals.

During this internship, I learnt a lot about the fundamentals of drafting, efficient legal research and gained a sound understanding of the functioning of Courts, the kind of practical knowledge I had not learned from any of my previous internships. On many Mondays / Fridays, we had over 7-8 matters listed at the Supreme Court on the same day and I had to work till late night on the previous day. On the day itself, I learnt a lot about time management by witnessing Sir attend all the cases himself and multitasking in various Courts, Tribunals simultaneously.

I also worked on a number of academic Articles which required me to carry out extensive research in Constitutional matters, SEBI and PMLA to be released on SCC Online Blog. It was an extremely academically enriching experience and strengthened my fundamentals in Constitutional Law as I was working directly under Sir for the same.

Work Environment

I was told by some seniors in my university that this internship is very tasking, arduous and demanding. The work load, work hours and lack of breaks made it impossible for some of them to finish their internship period, and thus i was desisted for undertaking it. However, I went ahead only to test my limits and be a better professional who can handle high workload efficiently and effectively. I was however able to successfully test myself, after lots of intermediate impulsive decisions of quitting in between owing to excessive work pressure. 

The strict vigil over performance on an hourly basis of each task assigned and adherence to deadlines is sacrosanct. Associates consistently monitor your work progress, the quality of your output, and may even provide reminders if they observe any lapses in the completion of that assignment. The office places a strong emphasis on punctuality, precision, timelines and accountability, leaving little room for mistakes or improper conduct by interns. Interns who couldn’t cope up were asked straightaway to discontinue or were not paid any stipends by the office after completion of internships when they faltered.

There is a 2-tier system of scrutiny in place at this office. During my first 7 days of assessment, an associate would check the work done by me and then after that Siddharth Sir would check the same. The office is completely paperless and all work is submitted through google docs / pdf softwares. Checking is done in real time to ensure that interns know the mistakes they’re making and learn from the same. Sir can be strict and also harsh at times when errors are detected despite instructions. From being reprimanded to being suspended, one can expect strict actions if work is being done casually or without attention to minute details. My internship was suspended twice requiring me to learn the skills of online working properly before going ahead with drafting tasks. It was that impulsive moment when I decided to quit, but then realised that it’s all in larger interests to make me perfect. 

The paper-less feature of the office also helped me learn a lot about various softwares and features I hadn’t been ever exposed to before.

I witnessed a few interns joining the office, but being unable to cope with the hectic environment and therefore leaving within their 2-3 days, which included mostly from premier law schools. The timings of the office are very strict and all interns are expected to be here by 10 AM and stay till 8.30 – 9:00PM which could extend to 9:30-10:00 PM (for males) as well. I was once given a half day leave for coming to work 45 minutes late. You are allowed one lunch break for 30 minutes everyday and you are expected to be in your seats for the rest of the day. There is complete CCTV surveillance in office premises and if you are found using your phone, social media, chatting around or simply missing from your seat for extended periods of time, you will be checked instantly by the Office Managers and asked to leave post 1 or 2 warnings.

Good Things

The office inculcates a sense of professionalism and the ability to work efficiently for long hours. In the first few days, I was under the impression that the office environment is very strict and harsh. However, very soon I realized that Siddharth Sir is only strict because he wants to push his interns to be the best version of themselves. In reality, he cares deeply about everyone who works in his office. When I was sick, not only did he immediately agree to give me a day’s leave, but he himself suggested that I take two more days off, noticing that I was still sick, and not return to work until I was fully recovered.

One day, I mentioned to him in passing that I had a masala dosa from a restaurant in the Bengali Market and I liked it. That day itself, he took me for dinner with fellow interns in a reputed South Indian restaurant in CP. Never did he make feel that on a personal level there was a dislike for my work, but used to be strict during office hours.

I have learnt to be organised, disciplined and diligent during the days I have spent here. Talk minimal, work maximum is the mantra i learnt here. Siddharth Sir himself asked all the interns to be precise and succinct whilst interacting and not waste time in gossiping with him. There’s a timeline for which every intern was interacting with him and within that 2-5 mins timeline interns were required to brief everything precisely without any lengthy storytelling. I initially found it to be very very rude and impolite, however later I realised how every minute of your time is very precious, when you are travelling to the top slot.

Bad Things

As a person who stayed in Delhi for the first time, I was very disappointed that I didn’t get the time to explore the city due to the hectic schedule at work. However, Sir was very liberal with granting me leaves when I was sick so I could rest during those hard times.

I also felt bad to discover that there were no weekend holidays, however serious committed co-interns like Uddaish Pallya had told me the first day that what the internship calls for and how challenging it is. 30 mins lunchtime, restrictions on whats app – social media usage in office, strict stonely rigid adherence to office timings are few things that impelled me time and again to quit the internship, however I saw that Siddharth Sir was himself no better. He used to work from 7.30 AM to 1.00 PM at night -15-16 hours a day most often at the age of 42-43 motivated all of us to adopt the same workaholic culture in us.

Stipend

I was unexpectedly transferred a generous stipend of Rs. 20,000 after 15 days of completing my 2 months internship. However, some of my co-interns were not even offered anything as the stipend is determined based purely on the performance of the interns. 

Anything Else?

I found myself a much matured professional after undertaking this internship. Especially, I authored the one of its own kind unique compilation of 75 landmark constitutional law judgements of the Supreme Court with Siddharth Sir.

I studied over 2500 pages with him to help him in writing a 230 -page 3 series online article published on SCC blog. Last part  this tri series even carried my name as a co author to my pleasant surprise, when Sir had never committed priorly doing so to me. I saw my name on the SCC Blog when the article was published and released as a co-author. This was sweet acknowledgement of my hard work, constant reprimands whilst working and impulsive decisions of quitting mid way.

In short, life isn’t easy in this world nor should we aspire or try for making it one. The sweetener of life lies in hard tremendous labour, industry, ‘when you treat work as workship.’  

Contact Details

If you would like to know more about the internship and the firm, you can reach out to me at prakruthi.n@mnlumumbai.edu.in

Click here to apply for the role of Senior Associate & Associate at SVS Attorneys.

Source: Lawctopus