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August 21, 2021

Comment: Is The Future Of IP-Law Internships Virtual?

Author: Intern - Anjuri Saxena

The COVID-19 pandemic has transgressed the boundaries of our usual norms. The whole world has made a shift towards the virtual environment in multifarious aspects. The pandemic ruled out the physical mode of working and even traditional brick-mortar offices adapted to the virtual working model.

The legal industry also saw a revamp in its working, legal chambers, firms and most importantly, courts started operating in a virtual model. Consequently, the concept of virtual internships also started budding since the importance of internships is insurmountable in the life of a law student. Internships provide hands-on experience of working in the legal field, thus, becoming essential for a law student whose only experience with law has been the course books.

In some aspects, virtual internships stand to be a much better option for law students and there are multifarious reasons for it. A law student can pursue a virtual internship all year round; there lies no barrier of time or place. These internships can be carried on while one is attending university as well since there is no requirement of physical attendance in neither the universities nor the law firms/offices. Furthermore, there lies not much expense which is to be expounded in virtual internships as they can be carried out from the comforts of ones’ home. Moreover, this puts a lot of students on an equal footing since not many can bear the cost of living in metro cities, where mostly all IP firms are situated. Due to the virtual environment, students have also been able to intern at foreign firms, thus expanding their knowledge about different jurisdictions of the world, without having to bear the expenses of being there.

Virtual internships have become more fruitful, especially in the IP field since the prosecution/transactional work mostly remained unfazed by the pandemic, as it was already being carried out seamlessly via the internet. With courts working virtually as well, even the litigation of IP matters has shifted to the online mode. This has become more beneficial for law students since they can hear IP matters during their internships, no matter where they are and without any hassle which one would face while being in the courts.

Though many are eager to shift back to the offline mode of working, virtual internships in the IP field should stay even beyond the pandemic. Virtual internships offer more opportunities, especially in the prosecution of IP matters and provide the flexibility to learn and enhance one’s skills all year-round.

Disclaimer: Views, opinions, interpretations are solely those of the author, not of the firm (ALG India Law Offices LLP) nor reflective thereof. Author submissions are not checked for plagiarism or any other aspect before being posted.

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