Five-year integrated law. Interned with a sessions court judge in year three and at a corporate firm in year four. The two experiences planted a seed I would harvest later.

Family expectations around prestige and salary. The corporate track was the default; the question was whether I had the courage to deviate.

Law school teaches you to read. Practice teaches you to think.

Constitutional law, contracts, moots, legal research, internships at courts

First three years at a top-tier firm. M&A, capital markets, the late-night call from a partner who needed pages by 6am.

Billable hour culture. Watching partners I respected miss their children's milestones.

Big-law is a craft school for documentation discipline. Use it for two to four years; do not let it shape your whole identity.

M&A, due diligence, contract drafting, partner management, client communication

Took a 60% salary cut to join a small public interest firm focused on environmental and labour cases.

Smaller team, fewer resources, larger emotional load. Some cases took five years to move an inch.

Justice work is slow on purpose. The systems that protect the powerless are also the systems that move slowest.

Litigation, environmental law, NGO collaboration, pro bono, fundraising for legal aid

Now leading a small team on PIL cases. Travel, court days, late nights at the photocopier — different from big-law in style, identical in stakes.

Sustaining hope. Watching peers from law school buy houses while I built a career on principle.

Public interest law is a long-distance run. Pace beats sprint in this race.

Do not enter public interest law as your first job. Earn money first; then choose mission with savings as a cushion.

Lead counsel, policy advocacy, mentoring junior lawyers, media engagement