Where budding lawyers get to learn from legal eagles

In the 25 sessions that they have held, senior lawyers have been called to give a short lecture and share their experience from the courts. The thought behind Hammurabi Tablet is simple — to spread knowledge about new laws, amendments and specialisations.

“Earlier it was only corporate, criminal or civil law, and most of us would venture into one of these. No one ever guided us into the newer streams that we now see coming up,” says Kulkarni. He adds that cases in power, aviation, petroleum and even RERA are picking up pace. A lawyer specialising in his field talks about his cases, gives tips and encourages the forum to pursue newer streams.

The Code of Hammurabi was inscribed in stones for ancient Mesopotamia civilisation to follow. At least two of these specimen are now on display in The Louvre in Paris.

“It is also the beginning of our careers in law. We are at a loss about how to pursue a case and appearances in court are few since we are fresh,” says advocate Mahesh Chitnis (25), who joined a law firm six months ago. So when his college friends formed this group, he decided to attend monthly sessions.

Like him, Malad Kandivali Education Society’s law student Chirag Unadkat has been attending the sessions since a year. “In college, we are not taught how to present ourselves in court. We hardly get a chance to meet senior lawyers and get personal tips from them. Through the forum all that is possible.”

Unadkat, 22, has just cleared his fourth semester. He had encouraged six of his friends to attend these sessions. About 40 students and lawyers attend each session.

Recently, the group invited audiologist Dr Rama Vaidyanathan from Shankar Mahadevan Institute to learn the fine art of being articulate while presenting arguments and ensuring they are loud enough to be heard in crowded courts. “In the lower courts, lawyers don’t get microphones,” smiles co-founder Kulkarni, adding that speaking clearly and loudly is a skill required by many lawyers to handle cases.

The sessions are free for young students and lawyers, and even speakers don’t charge when invited to speak. The group has plans to invite noted lawyer Anil Harish, who specialises in foreign exchange, mergers, acquisitions and corporate law.

From January, Hammurabi Tablet has started one more initiative called ‘i-Enhance’, wherein budding lawyers are given a platform to choose their topics and give presentations on it. According to founder Rahul Mhaskar, who has 22 years of experience in law, the programme is a confidence booster for lawyers. “I worked with a lot of students and young lawyers, and I realised there is need for growth. Delivering a lecture helps them develop skills. We will now expand i-Enhance to law students,” says Mhaskar.