How to Become a Supreme Court Lawyer
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Lately, I have come across the query - "How does one become a Supreme Court Lawyer?".

The Bar Council of India (BCI) has come out with a new Certificate of Practice and Renewal Rules, 2014 that prohibit an advocate from starting to practice in the Supreme Court unless they have practiced for

• at least two years in a trial court and
• three years in a high court in India.

In light of these new rules from now, the certificate of practice needs to be renewed every five years. This is to be done by filing an application with the relevant state bar council six months in advance from the date of expiry of the certificate.

According to a recent report in the Economic Times, the reasons for the new certificate of practice rules state "There is an urgent need for laying down some conditions for practicing law in different courts so as to give due weightage and credence to experience. Before an advocate could practice law in higher courts, there is a need that he is exposed to real court experience in lower courts/trial courts. This will help in integrating the whole judicial system from the perspective of the bar".

Currently, all categories of advocates are allowed to appear before the Supreme Court. However, only Supreme Court Advocates On Record (AOR) are eligible to appear, act and plead for a litigant before this court. An AOR is an advocate who has cleared the Supreme Court AOR exam. Note that to be eligible to attempt AOR, an advocate needs to have practiced in the chambers of a Supreme Court AOR for at least five years.

In 2013, Supreme Court had banned the advocates enrolled for less than one year from appearing before the Supreme Court.

The newly issued rule will help fresher advocates in learning the ropes from the lower and high court and will make them understand courts functioning.

About the blogger: Shruti is a Consultant at Opasis.com. She can be reached at info@opasis.com

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About the Author : Shruti Singh is a consultant at opasis.com. She can be reached at info@opasis.com

Keywords : Supreme Court, Lawyer, Bar Council