When I was in law school, I knew I would join litigation. But for a very long time, I did not know where to start and under whom. I had done internships under two senior advocates: Mr. Salman Khurshid and Mr. Parag Tripathi (when he was the Additional Solicitor-General). I must say attending proceedings in the Supreme Court was very fascinating. All the interns would keep sitting in the Chief's Court for some reason.

With time, we learned to check the cause list beforehand and ask around to find out if any interesting case was being heard in any other court. I remember listening to Mr. Gopal Subramanium in the judges' appointment case during my internship.

At some point, I realised how difficult it was to stand and argue when a senior advocate was on the other side. It's possible to feel left out during the proceedings when the judge and the senior are having an exchange of views or a joke. That's when I imagined myself standing and arguing against a senior advocate.

It was one of the reasons why I started my career working with an Advocate-on-Record. It gave me the much-needed experience to draft Supreme Court petitions from the scratch and argue cases before different benches of the Supreme Court.

That is the time I also decided to become an AoR myself. It meant I could then not just draft petitions, I could file them too. I would appear in all the cases I file. Nobody can disengage me without my written consent. I have a say in all the matters I file even if another lawyer is involved or a senior advocate is arguing.

There are 15 lakh lawyers in India, but only 2777 Advocates-On-Record in the Supreme Court.

Long Term Benefits of being an Advocate-on-Record

Two sitting judges of the Supreme Court, UU Lalit, Indu Malhotra and Surya Kant, JJ and former judges like Adarsh Kumar Goel, Dalveer Bhandari, Gyan Sudha Mishra, Madan Lokur, JJ were advocates-on-record before being designated as senior advocates and elevated as judges of the highest court of the land.

In each round of designation of senior advocates by the Supreme Court, you'll always find the names of AoRs in the list.

They are treated as a separate category distinct from Advocates during the process of designation.

Mr. Pravin H. Parekh, Ms. Meenakshi Arora, Ms. Vibha Datta Makhija, Mr. Sanjay Hegde, Ms. Aishwarya Bhati (ASG), Mr. Gaurav Bhatia and many others were advocates-on-record before being designated as senior advocates.

Approximately, only 20-30% clear the examination held once in a year.

There is as such no prescribed exhaustive syllabus for the AoR examination. Although there is an exhaustive list of the leading cases, there is only for one paper.

One month before the exam, offline classes are organized near the Supreme Court - but that is a last minute dash.

Further, if you do not practice in the Supreme Court, or work under a senior at the Supreme Court, or you are not based in Delhi, it is not feasible to attend the classes.

Also, it is overwhelming to prepare at the last moment, and it leaves things to chance.

Why we are organizing a free workshop on cracking the Advocate-on-Record Exam

When I attempted the AoR exam myself, it wasn’t an easy journey for me.

I wanted to start preparing for it one year before the exam - most serious candidates think like that. My peers thought so as well.

However, that did not happen for any of us - preparing for an exam after starting work is a different ball game altogether.

In reality, I ended up doing what everyone else does, that is, study only for one month before the exam.

It was a huge struggle - I would go through the questions of the last 10 years and try to figure out if there was a pattern.

For some papers, I did not know if I was preparing it the right way or there could be a better alternative. I spent quite a bit of time and energy to resolve the confusions I had. However, most of them got resolved only after the official classes were conducted. That was exactly one month before the examination.

Although I felt confident about clearing the exam after I appeared for it, I realised that there was scope for me to have done even better.

Also, there were many examinees who found it tough to cover everything in just one month, especially when they had to juggle it with their work commitments.

Perhaps that’s the reason even top National Law School graduates sometimes take multiple attempts to clear the exam.

Some do not clear it at all.

One of the biggest misconceptions is that it is an open book exam.

You only receive ‘headnotes’ for the “leading cases” paper. It makes it even more important to find out what the examiner expects you to write and how to prepare for the paper.

Writing fast to complete the exam in challenge is another challenge, as you cannot type your answers.

Many other aspects need clarification.

We received many queries about the AoR examination during and after our last workshop, so we decided to organize a free 3-hour workshop exclusively on cracking the exam.

Who is it for?

• Young lawyers practising at the Supreme Court, who will attempt the Advocate-on-Record exam
• Young lawyers who have long-term aspirations of becoming Senior Advocates, or to become a Supreme Court judge
• Trial and High Court lawyers who want to build a practice in the Supreme Court or work on Supreme Court matters for their clients
• Lawyers anywhere in India who want to perform drafting work for Supreme Court practitioners on a freelance basis
• Partners of disputes law firms who want to register their firm as an AoR firm
• Law students who want to work with Advocates-on-Record as their juniors and quickly aspire to go independent at the Supreme Court
• Law students who want to intern with Supreme Court lawyers, especially Advocates-on-Record

What you will learn:

• Who is an advocate-on-record? What is the role and responsibility of an advocate-on-record?
• What is the eligibility criteria for writing the exam?
• What is the syllabus of the exam? Which subjects do I need to study to write the exam?
• How much time is needed to prepare for the exam effectively?
• Should I attempt mocks? How can I assess my progress?
• How to go through past years’ question papers and which insights are important?
• How should I prepare for leading cases
• How can I prepare for the professional ethics paper?
• How can I practice improving my writing speed to complete the question paper in time?
• When should I start preparing if I am working as a junior of an AoR or a senior advocate?
• How many times can I appear for the exam? What are the benefits of successfully clearing it in my first attempt?
• What are the benefits of cracking the AoR exam if I don’t practice in Delhi and how can I do it?
• How is having a long-term vision of becoming an AoR beneficial for law students?
• Is there anything you can focus on while you are still in college that would help you clear the exam in future?