From Bangalore to Bhopal - campus recruitment takes a hammering at top Indian law firms

It's not just US and UK law students facing a tougher job market. According to this report by Livemint, a Wall Street Journal affiliate, India's top law firms are also drastically scaling back their on-campus recruiting.

Over the past five years, Amarchand Mangaldas Suresh A Shroff & Co, India's leading corporate law firm, hired some 200 graduates from the West Bengal National University of Juridical Science, lecturer and placement adviser Anirban Chakraborty told Livemint. But this year, Amarchand has only hired three. Luthra & Luthra, another major firm that used to heavily recruit at the school has hired none this year. So far, only 36 of 64 students applying for jobs have found them.

At Bhopal's National Law Institute University, only 17 of 35 students have landed a job. And those jobs pay a lot less on average than graduates were offered a year before: 500,000 rupees (£6,790) versus 900,000 rupees (£12,220).

"We are hiring a little less than last year, which is a function of where we see the market headed," said Zia Mody, senior partner of AZB and Partners, which earlier this year announced it was entering a strategic alliance with Clifford Chance. The firm is planning to hire 12 to 15 new graduates this year, all of whom previously interned at the firm.

Some schools have fared better. At National Law University in Jodhpur, 61 out of 73 students have found jobs. Recruitment at Bangalore's National Law School of India University, whose graduates are the most highly sought by corporate firms, begins next month, though a member of the school's recruitments co-ordination committee says students there are "definitely not expecting 100% placements" this year.

In response to the weakening job market, many Indian law students are apparently turning to non-profit jobs, judicial clerkships, and legal process outsourcing positions.

By Anthony Lin in Hong Kong