A Few Subjects that Indian Law Universities should teach at the Undergraduate level but don’t

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A FEW SUBJECTS THAT INDIAN LAW UNIVERSITIES SHOULD TEACH AT THE UNDERGRADUATE LEVEL BUT DON’T
Suman Kumari, 1st Year, Indore Institute of Law, Madhya Pradesh

Editorial Note: In this blog, the author speaks about some of the subjects which need to be taught in Indian law universities in light of the demands of a professional career in law.

Every time we think of law as a career, we tend to think of law universities, which are essentially single discipline universities which offer degrees at various levels of study to aspirants. The curriculum in such universities includes all the law subjects that are deemed to be necessary to become a lawyer, ranging from Contract law to Torts.

Even though at a preliminary level, it may appear that the subjects taught at the undergraduate level are adequate for legal training, it is argued that there are some key subjects which are still missing from the list of courses, which can potentially affect the formation of responsible agents future of country i.e. lawyers with good communication skills, analytical skills, research skills, people skills and creativity. These are after all, some of the characteristics which every lawyer should possess. However, upon analysis of the list of subjects generally offered at the undergraduate level in law courses in Indian universities, it appears that the subjects which can potentially help students to be good lawyers are missing.

It is argued that since one of the important qualities any lawyer should possess is good communication skills, universities should add Public Speaking as one of their subjects taught at universities. This will help students to avoid nervousness while putting across their points and curb ‘stage fright’ which is common among several new law graduates.

Further, in the words of James Caballero, “I advise my students to listen carefully the moment they decide to take no more math courses. They might be able to hear the sound of closing doors.”1 It is thus, another major subjects missing in law universities. After all, without Mathematics, could we imagine to exist in this universe devoid of any knowledge of numbers? It is argued that the general perspective that mathematics need not be learnt by lawyers leaves many unanswered questions behind, such as how will a lawyer who is not acquainted with numbers be good with dealing with legal issues involving complicated finances or whether a lawyer with little knowledge of mathematics will be able to decipher the economic motivations of lawmakers.

In addition to this, two of the most basic and important subjects that are avoided in Indian law universities are Analytical Reasoning and Logical Reasoning. It is argued that knowledge of these subjects is crucial since all lawyers should be analytical in their approach and strictly logical while attempting to resolve the complicated issues that their clients are embroiled in. 

In this context, it is important to note that the future demands the best version of every person for their betterment. However, if Indian law universities miss out on imparting lessons in these essential subjects to their students, how can we expect the students to be the best at their work?  Becoming a lawyer is not an easy task. In fact, it takes a lot of time, effort and intelligence choices to kick start a career in law. In this process, law universities plays a pivotal role and so if these universities miss out on subjects that should be taught at the undergraduate level, the future of budding lawyers will have to bear the consequences.

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1. James Caballero, Everybody a mathematician?, (Fall 1989), CAIP Quarterly Volume 2 Issue 2, page 2.

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