Do you know how big the international legal services industry is?
According to a report by Research and Markets, the market is expected to grow from USD 713.12 billion in 2021 to USD 998.73 billion in 2026, at a rate of 6.97 percent.
The US alone contributes 56 percent of this volume, with a total market worth of over USD 400 billion.
And yet, even though the top 100 law firms in the US generated a revenue of more than USD 110 billion in 2021, the US legal services market spent almost USD 76 billion on outside legal counsel in 2022, according to Statista.
What about the rest of the English-speaking world?
The market size, measured by revenue, of the legal activities industry in the UK was estimated to be worth GBP 41 billion in 2022.
At the other end of the world, the West Asian economy also bounced back in 2021 after the pandemic, and the UAE alone has implemented 40 new laws as part of its legal reform process.
Overall, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) legal industry, comprising Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE, has become more regulated in a number of jurisdictions, creating a need for more legal professionals.
How does the Indian market compare?
It is not that the Indian legal industry has no opportunities for you. But with 2 million professionals competing for a market worth just about USD 1.5-2 billion, opportunities and high-income openings are bound to be limited.
A big reason for this is that the Indian legal sector is still a very conservative market which has not fully opened up for international lawyers or firms.
Two markets with similar restrictions – the UK and Singapore – are witnessing the benefits of opening their legal services sectors to international participation.
In fact, liberalisation has already pushed Singapore’s legal services market past the USD 2 billion mark, and transformed it into a hub of international arbitration proceedings.
India has similar conditions and restrictions as these two countries did, and until our legal services market reaches that level of globalisation and liberalisation, we will probably not realise its true potential.
Our track record
So we need to also look at the international legal services market until the Indian market is in a position to accommodate all of us.
Which is why we equip our learners to serve a global clientele using their contract drafting skills.
How have they done so far? Let’s take a look at a few examples.
Kriti K. comes from a small town in Jammu and is a 2021 LLB graduate from National Law Institute University. She joined LawSikho in 2021 itself and created her Upwork and Fiverr profiles with help from the placements team.
At the time, she had no idea how to send proposals to prospective clients. However, after attending the first group session conducted by the placements team, she uploaded her first proposal and landed her first contract in February 2022, but lacked the confidence to deliver the work. However, with guidance from her mentors, she was able to make some crucial changes and deliver perfect work for the client.
That first contract proved to be a game-changer for Kriti, as it helped her earn reviews on Upwork. Since then, she has drafted various contracts, including patent licensing agreements, lease agreements, California legal equipment purchase agreements, and contracts for joint equipment purchases, for international clients.
She has already earned over USD 10,000 and is now a top-rated plus freelancer on Upwork, having also worked with several international clients on Fiverr. Kriti has also recently secured a long-term opportunity on Upwork with a law firm based in Chicago, who initially paid her USD 18 per hour, but now pays USD 20 per hour for an average of 20-25 hours a week.
Shagun Rohilla, a recent graduate of Amity University, Noida, had begun freelancing but was struggling to build her profile and secure clients. Her aim was to make a career in remote freelancing and secure international clients, and she was aware it wouldn’t be possible unless she acquired in-demand skills.
After joining LawSikho in December 2022, she was able to turn things around and transform her freelancing career. Attending classes regularly helped her gain overall knowledge of contract drafting, which boosted her confidence.
In mid-January 2023, she began her freelancing journey with the help of our freelance team and began using Upwork, Fiverr, and LinkedIn. She secured various clients through these platforms and worked on several freelance projects in just three months, even getting a repeat client on Fiverr thanks to the quality of her work.
Within three months of joining the course, she had recovered the course expenses, and already earned more than INR 1 lakh. In February, she was even named freelancer of the month, a significant achievement in such a short period.
Shahzaib Rai, who enrolled with us in May 2022, lost his law firm job during the pandemic and decided to upskill himself after attending one of our bootcamps.
As a legal professional, he was already familiar with contract drafting, but our course gave him far deeper insights into drafting work.
This enabled him to improve his freelance profile and secure his first assignment in October 2022. Since then, he has worked with neary 15 international clients from the UAE, US, Australia, Germany etc drafting legal documents, and has earned more than USD 500 on Fiverr alone as a level-one seller.
He has also begun working for a law firm, impressing the interviewers with his contract drafting and reviewing knowledge, for which he credits our course.
Nikhil Kumar S, a third-year student of Heritage Law College, Kolkata, wanted to start a freelance career but was struggling to navigate his career aspirations as he was not taught contract drafting skills.
He was also unsure about how to apply his theoretical knowledge to the professional world, so he checked out our courses and enrolled in a course to learn drafting skills.
At first, he solely focused on learning the core concepts of drafting. Once he was confident in his understanding, he took a one-to-one session with our expert to build his Upwork profile and prepare for the freelance market.
He began freelancing in March 2023 and almost immediately, experienced success beyond his wildest dreams, securing a job with a Canada-based client in just 10 days!
As he worked hard and delivered high-quality results, more offers began pouring in. In less than a month since starting his freelancing journey, Nikhil has completed five jobs and earned around USD 240.
Join the club!
These are just four examples from among hundreds – lawyers, law students, recent graduates, you choose. When you come to the bootcamp, we will give you many more.
Thanks to the growing remote work culture, there is very little reason for companies and firms to not recruit a freelancer in India who does the same work and brings the same talent on board, at a far lower cost.
And learning to draft contracts for international clients is not that difficult.
I could go on posting success stories of our learners here, and you could go on looking at them and wondering what they have that you don’t.
How are they earning in dollars from the comfort of their homes? How are they living the life they want?
Can you do it too? Of course you can!
Just come to our FREE, LIVE, online bootcamp on ‘International opportunities in contract drafting’ from May 6-8, 7.00-10.00 pm IST daily, and we will show you how.
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