Today, I want to begin with a short personal anecdote.
The first time that I went abroad was in October 2008. It had always been my mother’s dream that I would go abroad. I was in my second year of law school when an opportunity presented itself.
We had submitted a paper to an international conference and were invited to present the paper in person. Abhyuday (Abhyuday Agarwal, COO, LawSikho) and I went to present a paper at the International Astronautical Congress in Glasgow, Scotland.
I was excited and afraid at the same time, because I was not sure how to arrange the money for the trip. I put together INR 60,000, of which INR 41,000 was the return ticket price. Most of this I had earned from freelance work which I did for CLAT coaching.
Just before leaving, I realised this would not be enough. So I borrowed another INR 20,000 from my father.
I knew Scotland would be cold, but I did not have money for a proper jacket. So I borrowed a mountaineering jacket from an uncle. It was oversized, and I looked like a homeless person the entire trip!
I went off to see the country right after I presented the paper, and then went to England, which I thought was absolutely beautiful. To cut a long story short, though, I had no money, and that hurt. I mostly ate the cheapest food I could find, and told myself that when I went back, I would make sure I had money.
My plan was simple. I would get a job with a UK law firm when they come to campus to recruit. At that time, a few students were picked up every year from top NLUs by London law firms.
I knew nothing about Canada then, and would realise more than a decade later that it was an amazing opportunity.
As it should be evident, I was not picked by any London law firm. Why? Simple. I did not prepare myself for this opportunity. While I had the fantasy, I never really worked for it.
Are you in the same boat?
Do you have dreams of an international career or even specifically moving to Canada, but have never worked towards it step by step?
Since we succeeded in building LawSikho, I have found a new way of making my dream come true! We have been making it possible for our learners to have international careers.
Hundreds of our learners are doing remote freelance work and preparing for international bar exams in the UK, USA and Canada to become full-fledged multi-jurisdictional lawyers.
Canada is relatively new territory for us. However, the greatest number of requests we have been getting are for courses that will help people migrate to Canada.
It started with one of our learners, who was a young practitioner in India and wanted to work in Canada. He got a permanent residency (PR) and shifted there. Getting the PR was not difficult. There was a lot of paperwork, but no big deal.
However, after going there, he spent months looking for a job. He had cleared the NCA exam, but not the bar exam.
Living costs in Canada are high. Toronto, which is where most of the opportunities are, is an expensive city – the rent alone is more than INR 1.5 lakh per month for a two-bedroom flat. Add food, travel and bills, and you will easily spend at least INR 3.5-4 lakh per month.
To meet these costs, our learner drove Uber cabs and worked in restaurants. Finally, after six months, he found a job as a paralegal in a real estate law firm, but was released within a week. He simply couldn’t manage to do what was expected.
After this experience, he came back to India. So he cannot live in Canada despite having a PR because he does not have a job, and costs are too high.
There is another Indian lawyer who has had a flourishing criminal litigation practice in Delhi for more than 10 years now, and earns more than INR 3 lakh per month. But he wants to go to Canada in search of brighter opportunities.
There is just one small problem – he does not have the time to study for various exams. Also, he is worried about getting his first break in Canada.
Will he have to get a job? Will he have to start from scratch? How can he earn enough to maintain his existing lifestyle?
What will be your Canada story?
How many of you already have experience here but would like to move?
Recently, a lawyer we worked with shifted to Canada, but we cannot name him without permission. A former legal counsel at Mahindra, he did not even try to get a job in Canada. He simply got a PR, moved there, got a licence to practice, and started his own law firm! He did so well within a year, that the last time I spoke to him he had hired two more lawyers.
He is one of the few people who have migrated successfully. Plenty of Indian lawyers want to practice in Canada. But very few do it well.
Given the huge demand among Indian lawyers who want to explore the Canadian option, our Crack NCA – Canada Examination – Test Prep Course will show how you can become a licensed lawyer in Canada, and we will also showcase how our learners have found remote jobs with Canadian lawyers, law firms and other employers.
We will give you a roadmap so you can find well paid jobs, and migrate to the country of your dreams.
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