Diploma in Advanced Supreme Court Practice and Litigation: Drafting, Procedure and Strategy PLUS Comprehensive Training to Crack the Advocate on Record Examination

Wondering How to Master the Advocate-on-Record Exam? Find Your Answers Here!

• I have a practice in the High Court and other forums. I feel like an outsider when I go to the Supreme Court with a matter.
• I think Supreme Court practice requires some superior degree of knowledge and acumen and it is not my cup of tea.
• I look forward to practising in the Supreme Court someday. But I do not know how to do it.
• I practice in another city. I do not know how to start practising in the Supreme Court. I think only Delhi based advocates can do it.
• I am getting a few matters in the Supreme Court, but how do I grow this work further?
• What would it take for me to become an Advocate-on-Record? Do I have to go to Delhi and start figuring this out from scratch?
• How can I prepare for the advocate-on-record exam?
• Am I too old or too young to start practising in the Supreme Court and/or taking the advocate-on-record exam?
• I have clients who have matters in the Supreme Court. I want to clear the advocate-on-record exam so that I can file cases for them.
• I want to step up and build my credibility as a top lawyer in my city and be able to argue state matters before the Supreme Court. I think being an Advocate on Record will help me in standing out in the city.

If these questions come to your mind or resonate with you, you are at the right place.

We have solutions to all these questions. This is India’s one and only course where we train lawyers to develop a Supreme Court practice and also prepare them for the Advocate on Record examination.

You may be a junior advocate wanting to set up a practice in the Supreme Court, or you might be aiming to become an Advocate on Record, or you might be gunning to become a Senior Advocate, practising in the Supreme Court, at some point in your life.

You may be an outstation counsel who gets matters in the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court has space for all of the above.

You have a skillset that is unique to you: maybe you draft well, or maybe you are excellent at argumentation before the court, or you simply know the skill of networking and engaging the best counsel to do the job for you, or you maybe an allrounder!

We have designed a course that gives you an opportunity to develop your own USP with the help of meticulously designed exercises so that you can find your space in this universe. 

Our course will provide you a holistic insight into the Supreme Court practice and train you using a hands-on approach that emulates the training you would otherwise have to receive in a senior’s chamber by apprenticing for years. 

In this course we will hone your research, drafting, and arguing skills specifically for Supreme Court practice. Beside that, we will also guide you on how to deal with day-to-day practical challenges you will face, and how to grow your practice and profile. 

It is important to note that this course exhaustively covers all the four papers of the Advocate-on-Record examination and will provide you with all possible templates and practice sessions with feedback to help you crack the examination. 

You will have weekly mocks, practice tests, and answer solving sessions.

The best part about our course is that you learn it from those who have not only cleared the examination but aced it before you. 

Those appearing for the Advocate-on-Record examination in 2023 can also apply and benefit from this course.

Who should take this course

• Lawyers who want to help other lawyers with Supreme Court cases.
• Lawyers who want to pass the Advocate-on-Record exam and work in the Supreme Court.
• People who want to speak in front of the Supreme Court.
• Lawyers who want to learn the basics of Supreme Court law.
• Lawyers who work for big companies and need to know about Supreme Court cases.
• Lawyers in law firms who deal with disputes and want to learn about Supreme Court cases.
• Lawyers who want to pass the Advocate-on-Record exam and start their own Supreme Court law firm.
• Lawyers who are moving to Delhi or starting their practice in their own state and want to know how the Supreme Court works.
• Law students who want to get a head start in their legal careers by learning about Supreme Court work.

About the Supreme Court Advocate-on-Record Examination & Examination Pattern

• The annual Advocate on Record for the Supreme Court (AOR) examination usually occurs from May to June.
• The examination's strict eligibility criteria, requiring years of experience, result in a success rate of less than 20% for those who attempt it.
• A Board of Examiners, led by Senior Advocates and supervised by a committee of three Supreme Court judges, conducts the examination.
• Unlike many other exams, there is no fixed pattern for the question papers, except for the prescribed syllabus, making thorough preparation essential.
• Attaining the title of Advocate on Record (AOR) is a prestigious achievement for young lawyers practicing before the Supreme Court. It grants the privilege to represent parties before the Supreme Court, placing you among a select group of fewer than 3,000 elite lawyers. Additionally, AORs wield significant influence within the Supreme Court through the Supreme Court Advocate on Record Association.

What to learn before starting your practice at the Supreme Court

• Thorough knowledge of practice and procedure followed in the Supreme Court
• How the Court Registry functions
• Comparative knowledge of the applicability of various jurisdictions
• Different methods of quick and effective research required for Supreme Court litigation
• Sound knowledge of what works and what does not
• Ability to analyze the chances of success and advise clients
• Standards & parameters to draft persuasive petitions/appeals
• Drafting and arguing skills and court craft
• Strategizing and preparing for arguments
• Briefing a Senior Advocate
• Case management and client counselling
• How to go about developing a Supreme Court practice
• Professional conduct, etiquettes & soft skills peculiar to the Supreme Court

Things you would want to learn before attempting the Advocate on Record Examination

• How to fulfil eligibility conditions for Advocate on Record Examination?
• How to approach the examination and balance time between your practice and examination?
• Comparative knowledge of the applicability of various jurisdictions
• Sound knowledge of what works and what does not
• Ability to analyze the past year question papers and do a trend analysis
• Ability to write clear and concise analytical answers
• Supreme Court practice and procedure rules
• Professional conduct, etiquettes & soft skills peculiar to the Supreme Court

What career options will open up for you after this course

• Whether you have an independent practice in any part of India or you are working as a lawyer in the disputes team of a law firm, learning Supreme Court work will be useful for you when it comes to the most important cases of your life.
• You’ll be trained in a manner that you can develop a full-fledged Supreme Court practice. You may be a fresher, working at a law firm, in-house counsel, or practising in the High Court of any State, district courts, or any other forum, it’s never too late nor too early to move your practice to the Supreme Court. Everyone has some opportunity though the scope may vary.
• You’ll be able to advise clients on when and how they can approach the Supreme Court. Thus, you won’t lose your client when they want to file an appeal or an SLP before the Supreme Court or when the other party does it. 
• Think of your best and largest clients - you may be handling their matters regularly. You already have an edge over other counsels. You know the matter inside out and the client trusts you at least to the extent that you know the matter. They would be more comfortable with you than with any other lawyer. Therefore, there’s no reason why you should let this opportunity go by referring them to a ‘Supreme Court lawyer’. That’s because there’s no such thing as a ‘Supreme Court lawyer’. Either there are Advocate-on-record or there are Senior Advocates. Rest of them are just advocates handling Supreme Court matters and you can be one of them. This course will help to bridge the gap and equip you to handle Supreme Court matters all by yourself.
• Supreme Court practice is one of its kind that gives you an opportunity to do what you know the best and delegate the rest of the work if you want. 
• There are lawyers with a practice in a different forum and have some exposure on handling Supreme Court matters. But they do not get to attend and observe the proceedings of the Supreme Court regularly to know what works and what does not. This course helps to bridge the gap for both sets of lawyers by working on all the skills required for a successful practice in the Supreme Court. 
• By the end of the course, you’ll be able to strategize, identify grounds and prepare an effective draft without the need to hire anyone else for drafting. You can also brief senior counsels effectively. The advantage of a practice with different lawyers playing different roles is that you can charge well for the part of the job you do the best. This course helps you identify what you do best and further strengthen it.
• You’ll be conversant with drafting Supreme Court petitions effectively. It means that if you are an in-house counsel, you’ll be able to review drafts prepared by Advocate-on-record for your client/ company effectively and can easily impress people with your knowledge of how things work in the Supreme Court.
• This course will also train you to crack the Advocate-on-Record examination by exhaustively covering all the four papers: Practice & Procedure, Drafting, Advocacy & Professional Ethics and Leading Cases. 
• If you are an Advocate-on-record, you can easily charge 15K just for filing. Experienced AORs charge more. This course equips you to handle all aspects of drafting, filing and arguing matters in the Supreme Court. 
• We’ll also have practice sessions and you’ll get feedback on your answers to question papers of the previous years.You’ll be equipped to handle the filing at the Registry and matters before the Registrar’s court. While many lawyers practising in the Supreme Court for years themselves do not know how matters are filed, it is a basic requirement for an Advocate-on-Record, something that everyone expects you to know the moment you become an Advocate-on-Record. So you’ll not just be prepared to take the Advocate-on-Record examination, you also get trained in doing your job even before becoming an Advocate-on-Record.

Training Methodology

Online 24/7 access

Access study materials via our online portal & via our anroid & iOS apps.

Practical Exercises

Two practical exercises every week, each followed by written feedback.

Live Online Classes

Live online classes based on exercises, allowing questions and feedback.

Convenient Class timings

Classes held after work hours, typically on Sundays or after 8 PM on weekdays.

Live Doubt Clearing

Live doubt clearing for support and one-on-one sessions with mentors.

Potential Employers

• Litigators’ Chambers: Joining established litigators' chambers specializing in Supreme Court practice.
• Disputes Teams of Law Firms and Litigation Firms: Becoming part of the disputes teams within law firms and specialized litigation firms.
• Self-Employment: Starting your own practice as an independent AOR, representing clients in Supreme Court matters.
• Mandates from Government Departments and PSUs: Securing mandates to serve on the panels of various government departments and Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs), handling their legal matters before the Supreme Court.

What kind of recruitment and placement support will I get?

• Unique Training Method: We're the sole organization in India offering comprehensive, exercise-based courses.
• Employer Recognition: Many leading employers, law firms, and companies actively seek our high-performing students.
• Career Opportunities: Success in our courses can lead to job placements, internships, and assessment internships in esteemed law firms, with renowned lawyers, and various companies.
• Empowering Learners: We focus on empowering learners with not just knowledge and skills, but also real-world opportunities.
• Dedicated Support Team: Our dedicated team is here to assist you with placements, internships, and freelance opportunities.
• Proven Success: Between April 2021 and June 2023, we've helped over 21,000 students secure job and internship opportunities.
• Media Recognition: Our achievements have been featured in respected media outlets like The Hindu, Business World, and India Education Diary.
• Impressive Value: Our students have secured over Rs. 2.7 Crore (USD 330,000) worth of work, with records of INR 30 LPA (USD 37,500) domestically and INR 50 LPA (USD 62,500) internationally.
• Comprehensive Support: From day one, our placement team guides you in setting goals, crafting standout CVs, enhancing interview skills, and supporting your critical first month on the job or during an internship.
• Trusted Recruiters: We've built strong collaborations with recruiters who prefer hiring our well-trained students.
• Competitive Edge: Partnering with us gives you an edge in the job market and opens doors to exciting career prospects.

How will you clear my doubts and help me if I am struggling to understand or learn a concept?

• In our live classes, you can ask questions, share your screen, receive personal feedback, and have your doubts cleared.
• If you need more help after getting feedback on an assignment or want career advice, you can schedule a private one-on-one call. Our evaluators and mentors are here to assist you and give you advice that's tailored to your needs.

What is unique about this course

• Focus on experiential learning as opposed to a theoretical approach
• Learn drafting every possible petition, appeal, plaint, counter-affidavit, and applications filed before the Supreme Court using a hands-on approach with the help of exercises specially designed to train and hone your research and drafting skills.
• Master the art of arguing before the Supreme Court with the help of roleplay & simulation exercises.
• Special sessions by designated Advocates on Record and other experts in the field.
• Mock tests and answer writing practice sessions where you get to build analysis and precision writing skills
• Classes exclusively catering to the four different papers that are tested in the Advocate on Record exam.
• This is an intensive course that demands your commitment. Successful completion of required assignments is necessary to earn the certificate. You should plan to invest 4-5 hours per week in skill development, along with attending classes.
• Our expert instructors will lead interactive classes with high-quality discussions. These discussions will not only clarify your doubts during classes but also outside through course groups and email.
• You'll receive personalized attention and coaching from assigned trainers. Additionally, a dedicated course anchor will assist you with submissions, guidance, and any issues you encounter as you progress through the course.
• Expect detailed feedback on your assignments, which will greatly enhance your performance.
• For doubt clarification, you'll have access to mechanisms beyond online classes, like a discussion forum where queries receive responses within 48 hours. A WhatsApp group will connect you with peers, batchmates, the course anchor, evaluator, and LawSikho's support team.
• Throughout the course, you'll develop your writing skills through six assignments. Exceptional pieces may even be published on the iPleaders blog, which attracts over a million monthly visitors. This opportunity can significantly boost your portfolio

Specific Learning Objectives

How to read and analyse an impugned order/judgement

• Learn to identify the operative part of an order/judgement
• Learn to scan through an Impugned Order/judgement toidentify grounds on which an appeal is to be preferred. 
• Learn to identify and distinguish questions of law from questions of facts.
• Learn to identify the research points quickly and to ensure it is exhaustive in nature.
• Understand the factors that determine how you approach a legal issue and where you begin your research.
• Explore various research tools and identify methods to perform quick and effective research
• Learn and practice dealing with upsets and dead ends successfully during research.
• Learn to identify relevant key-words and legal propositions while researching on different online/offline legal databases
• Learn to create a research database that you can use at later points for cases of similar nature.

What to cite? How much to cite?

• Learn to differentiate between ratio decidendi and obiter dicta while reading a judgement and cite settled position of law accordingly.
• Learn methods to speed read a judgement
• Learn to examine the relevance of a judgement, whether wholly or in parts, connecting with or distinguishing from the facts of the present case.
• Develop an understanding of the various stages of litigation leading to the passing of the Impugned Order / Judgement.
• Learn to cull out the 'settled law' relating to an issue and express it effectively in a petition or before a judge so that even when you paraphrase what you have read, the meaning is not lost 
• Learn to use/refer a part of a judgement in the pleadings in a manner that would have the maximum impact, know which part of a judgement to quote, decide on whether to quote or not
• Learn to understand contextual interpretations of judgments delivered by the Supreme Court to avoid using judgments out of context.
• Learn the difference between binding and persuasive judgements

Devising different strategies for different kinds of petitions

• Learn to draft various petitions, appeals, suit,applications, and affidavits of various nature filed before the Supreme Court using hands-on approach 
• Hone drafting skills keeping in mind the following aspects:
  • Maintainability
  • Making the ingredients evident in the course of narrating the facts and stating the grounds
  • Understanding what would constitute material facts for a petition or appeal before the Supreme Court
  • Appreciating the possibility of experimenting with ideas and language

What to plead? How to plead?

• Identifying core questions of law to be set out before the Court
• Devising strategies and preparing a set of grounds that work and those that can be made to work
• How to plead facts and circumstances
• Understand the facts and circumstances under which cases get decided in favour so that you may remember to plead them when they apply to you
• Learn brevity in legal drafting.
• Learn to use judicial interpretation of statutes to formulate your pleadings and contentions for a favourable order

How to prepare for hearings

• Is the way we argue before the Supreme Court any different from other courts? Questions of law vis-a-vis questions of fact
• Learn how to brief a Senior Advocate throughroleplay simulation exercises
• Learn to prepare notes/list of dates for a Senior Advocate or for the purpose of briefing and arguing cases
• Learn how to draft list of dates and events for final hearings
• Learn to differentiate the requirements and prepare for arguments keeping in mind the stage (notice/post-notice/final disposal) and nature (miscellaneous/regular) of hearing
• Understand the factors that determine the content of oral arguments and how much to emphasise on a point. How do you decide at different stages? Again, we’ll do enough simulation exercises for you to get it
• Understand when to stop and why and how to come back to a point at a later stage, if need be 
• Learn how to requisition books and journals for hearing
• Learn to use storytelling as a skill during arguments
• Learn how to prepare for an admission hearing stage for issuance of notice, and how it is different from regular hearings

How to prepare for the Advocate on Record Examination

• Understand and familiarise with the practice and procedure followed by the Supreme Court 
• Understand the nuances of how powers of Supreme Court are derived and used from Constitutional provisions and through judicial interpretations
• Learn how to analyze the leading cases and remember the operative parts from an examination point of view
• Learn how to attempt the paper on professional ethics without personal bias and moral standing 
• Learn how to approach and answer the paper on drafting by practice 
• Practice time management in a handwritten exam 
• Learn how to successfully choose the questions during the exam that are prone to fetch better marks 

Areas in which we will help you to develop knowledge and skills

For Supreme Court Practice

• Applicability of various jurisdictions
• Research
• Drafting petitions persuasively
• Preparing for arguments
• Briefing a Senior
• Arguing effectively
• Court craft
• Practice & Procedure
• Functioning of Registry
• Client and case management
• Professional conduct, etiquettes & soft skills for Supreme Court lawyers
• Practice development

For the Advocates on Record Examination

• Trends analysis of Past Year Paper
• Answer Writing Skills
• Time Management
• How to approach Professional Ethics Paper
• How to approach Leading Cases Paper
• How to approach Practice and Procedure of Paper
• How to approach the Drafting Paper
• How to draw connection between various papers
• How to draw connection between leading cases and practice and procedure paper

Certification

Get Skill India + NSDC certified through the awarding body Medhavi Skills University.

Get certified under the Skill India Mission. Our learners are eligible for NSDC & Skill India certification on course completion through the awarding body Medhavi Skills University.

Sample Certificate

Explore Certification Standards

List of Weekly Exercises

• Use a given judgement in the facts of a problem case
• Read a given High Court Order with the help of questions meant to help you identify the different aspects of an Impugned Order
• Draft Original Suit
• Draft Writ Petition: Civil 
• Draft prayer for seeking mandamus
• Draft Writ Petition: Habeas Corpus
• Draft grounds and prayer for transfer of investigation
• Draft Writ Petition: Criminal
• Draft Writ Petition: Public Interest Litigation
• Draft SLP: Civil
• Draft SLP: Criminal arising from orders of different authorities under various statutes 
• Draft SLP in an arbitration matter
• Draft Appeal: Criminal Appeal under the Supreme Court (Enlargement of Jurisdiction) Act 
• Draft Appeal: Appeal against NCLAT Order 
• Draft Appeal: Appeal against NCDRC Order
• Draft Transfer Petition: Civil 
• Draft Transfer Petition: Criminal
• Draft Contempt Petition: Civil
• Draft Contempt Petition: Criminal
• Draft an Arbitration Petition
• Draft Review Petition
• Draft Curative Petition
• Draft Counter-Affidavit
• Draft Written Statement
• Draft Interlocutory Applications
• Draft Affidavit of Undertaking
• Draft Written Submissions 
• Draft Convenience Note
• Draft Index for a Convenience Volume
• Electronic filing preparation and practice
• Review your existing draft (of any petition) and preemptively address any hurdles or objections that may arise at the time of notice  
• Brainstorming sessions and questions to provoke original ideas for professional ethics and leading cases modules 
• 24 Practice Mocks 
• 24 Full Length Mocks