Law Internship in Delhi: Courts, Firms and Chambers

Delhi has more legal work in one city than anywhere else in India, which is both the reason to intern here and the reason students waste the opportunity. The Supreme Court, the Delhi High Court, seven district court complexes and most national tribunals all sit within the capital. If you apply without deciding what you want to see, you will end up somewhere at random.

Decide first what kind of lawyer you are curious about, then pick the forum, then pick the chamber.

What sits in Delhi

The Supreme Court of India. Chambers that practise here are built around a weekly rhythm: miscellaneous days for fresh matters, regular hearing days for admitted ones. An intern at a Supreme Court chamber spends a great deal of time on special leave petitions, which is a specific skill, because an SLP has to persuade a court to take the case at all before it argues the case is right.

Delhi High Court. A very broad docket covering writ, commercial, intellectual property, company and criminal work. If you want to see commercial litigation and intellectual property disputes at a high level, this is the forum in India where you are likeliest to see them.

Seven district court complexes. Tis Hazari, which opened in 1958, Patiala House near India Gate from 1977, Karkardooma near Anand Vihar from 1993, Rohini from 2005, Dwarka from 2008, Saket at Pushp Vihar from 2010, and Rouse Avenue near ITO from 2019. Between them they house eleven district courts. Rouse Avenue is worth knowing about because it hears a significant share of the cases involving public servants and central agencies.

The tribunals. Delhi is where most national tribunals sit: the Principal Bench of the National Company Law Tribunal, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal, the Principal Bench of the National Green Tribunal, three Debts Recovery Tribunals, and the Principal Bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal at R.K. Puram. If you want regulatory or company work, a tribunal internship in Delhi shows you more in four weeks than a general chamber would.

The four routes in

1. Counsel chambers

A chamber attached to a senior advocate or a busy arguing counsel. You will research points, prepare briefs, note down what happened in court, and occasionally draft. Competition is heavy, applications are usually by email, and the single best way in is a referral from someone who has already interned there.

2. Law firms

Large firms run structured internship programmes with defined application windows, often six months or more in advance, and most now recruit through their own careers portals rather than by email. Smaller and boutique firms are more approachable and frequently give better work. Firm internships lean towards research memos, due diligence and drafting rather than court.

3. Tribunals and regulators

These are the openings students overlook. Tribunals and regulatory bodies in Delhi sometimes run internship or research assistant schemes, usually advertised on their own websites. The work is reading and writing rather than court craft, and it suits anyone aiming at policy, competition, company or environmental practice.

4. Policy and non profit organisations

Delhi has a concentration of legal research and advocacy organisations working on criminal justice, constitutional law, environment and digital rights. Bar Council of India Rule 25 expressly allows internships with non governmental organisations, so these count towards your requirement.

Writing the application

Delhi chambers receive a great many internship emails and open very few of them properly. Three things separate the ones that get answered.

• A reason tied to that chamber. Name a matter they argued, or an area they are known for, and say why it interests you. Two sentences is enough. Generic praise reads as a template, because it is one.
• Exact dates. “May 2027” is not a date. “4 to 29 May 2027” is. Chambers plan around hearings, and an intern who does not know their own dates is extra work.
• A short writing sample. One case comment, 800 to 1,000 words, on a judgment from the past year. This is the single most effective attachment, and almost nobody sends one.

Keep the email under 150 words. Attach the CV as a PDF named with your own name, not “CV final 2 updated”.

When to apply

Counsel chambers: six to eight weeks ahead, so March for May, October for December. Law firms: often six months or more ahead, and you must check each firm’s own window because they differ. Tribunals and organisations: watch their websites, since schemes open at irregular times.

What a Delhi internship is actually like

Longer days than you expect, and a great deal of waiting. Courts in Delhi run on lists that move unpredictably, so you may sit for three hours for a matter that is adjourned in ninety seconds. That waiting is not wasted if you listen to the matters before yours.

Expect to be asked for a research note on a point of law with a short deadline. Do it properly: find the leading judgment, read it rather than its headnote, check whether it has been followed or distinguished since, and set out the position in half a page. A clear half page is worth more than five pages of extracts.

A warning about collecting internships

Students in Delhi often accumulate many short internships and learn little from any of them. Four weeks in one chamber where you were trusted with real work beats six places where you watched. When an interviewer asks what you did, you want to be able to describe one matter properly rather than list six names.

Remember also that Rule 25 caps any single internship at four continuous weeks in a year, and requires at least one internship with trial and appellate advocates. A Delhi district court chamber satisfies the second requirement in a way that a corporate firm does not.

On stipends

Practice varies enormously. Many litigation internships in Delhi are unpaid, law firm internships more often carry a stipend, and tribunal schemes differ. There is no standard rate, so do not rely on figures you read on student forums. Ask after you have an offer.