In conversation with Raunaq Kakkar, Founder-Director, Lawpreneurz.
1. How has lawpreneurz helped benefit not just law students but also practicing lawyers, law firms & budding entrepreneurs?
While Lawpreneurz was started with an objective to impart quality education to law students across India, the goal has been to educate masses about law and how the Indian Legal System can become your unexpected friend.
Through our robust course material and with the facility of connecting individuals to experts from different areas of law, we have been able to help layman know the law for whom it was created in the first place. For practicing lawyers and law firms, we have provided a platform for them to not only connect with individuals who need them but also provide a networking platform for them to connect with their peers across the country and also to guide and mentor young students who would one day walk in their shoes. For entrepreneurs, and around 2-3% of our subscribers happen to be individuals who are not from the legal background but knowledge of law is imperative for the functioning of their business, have found our course design to be of great help and their video testimonials on our platform is proof of the same.
2. The wide range of courses offered & its benefits provided to the students
When we started Lawpreneurz in 2017 and went live with our operations in 2018, we started with the objective of helping law students studying in different law colleges in India (1300plus to be exact), understand their law subjects better because there was a lack of quality education. What began as video lectures and notes for 5 subjects, it quickly rose to live classes, solved Q&A, 1-1 Skype sessions with a total of 16 subjects available on the platform. The biggest advantage a platform like Lawpreneurz holds is enabling students sitting anywhere in the country, learn at the click of a button. For students studying in states where they do not have access to quality instructors, to provide them an opportunity to study from the best. Being a democracy which swears by ‘for the people’, Lawpreneurz is democratizing legal education by making it available for all students in India. Two years into serving students in law colleges, we have now branched into preparing students in schools who wish to pursue law and help them secure admission in their dream law school by providing comprehensive video lectures, notes, weekly mocks, live classes and personalized 1-1 classes for students and parents to ensure they get into the right school. Beginning 2021, we plan to start Judiciary to solve another problem area and are optimistic that our new service will be welcomed with open arms.
3. Law is dynamic in nature and as a law student or law professional how imperative it is to stay updated at all times?
While India is not the only democracy in the world, we, the citizens of India can be proud of the fact that we have the longest written constitution in the world with 448 articles in 25 parts and 12 schedules. If you ask any student of law, the one thing that remains common is not only their love for the subject but the fact that understanding and implementing that knowledge in the practical sense while fascinating, is no cakewalk. As regular citizens, we often hear of amendments and new judgments being passed which affect the masses at large whether its homosexuality, triple talaq to name a few but for law professionals, there is something new happening every second. Not only do they have to be subject matter experts when learning but once they are in the court of law, to be updated with everything that is happening around them, to be mindful of the tiniest details for them to succeed in this profession. India is only second in terms of the number of advocates in the world and with an audience that big, with every advocate stepping out of every possible corner in the court, the only way to excel is to be updated. Fortunately, with the advent of technology, it has become easier for law professionals to stay updated whether its information about a case or even filing their clients documents.
From where I see it, law is one field where nothing remains constant. One may become a lawyer after clearing their college exams but a true professional, remains a student of law for life.
4. How law provides us a platform to secure our overall protection and safeguard our rights against any kind of abuse?
Why do we have a legal system in place? Why is there a need to have one? The answer is simple. Being a democratic country, a nation which allows every citizen fundamental rights which are common yet unique in nature, what does one do when these rights are violated not just by a fellow citizen but in exceptional cases, by the government as well? When we talk about abuse, the first thought that comes to mind is the damage that can be done to the body but if we look closely, it’s often abuse done to the mind that in turn affects the body. While we see and hear about bodily abuse such as murder, rape, kidnapping to name a few but even incidents such as extortion which plays more with the persons mind than it does with the body, is a form of abuse. To tackle with such abuses, we need and have a legal system in place. Now one may question our legal system from what we have seen that justice is delayed but even then we have faith in the system because it’s here to protect us. Whether we look at the case of Jessica Lal where justice though delayed, was served. Or the Nirbhaya case. A more recent example of mental abuse being the suicide of a Bollywood actor that took the nation by storm. The fact that even though it was an alleged case of suicide, the legal system still sought out to seek the truth shows that law is here to safeguard and protect its citizens from any kind of abuse. When the makers of our constitution were drafting the same, not only did they provide us with rights but also remedies in case such.
