Selvam and Selvam is a firm built on a dynamic team of people who are passionate about Intellectual Property and extremely interested in the work that they do. As a mid-sized firm, the firm is capable enough to handle complex legal problems with individual attention to its clients.
Expanding rapidly, the firm looks for talented people who are ambitious, academically curious, passionate about the law, always willing to roll up their sleeves and work, think out of the box and take pride in protecting the rights of their clients.
Recognising that the growth and quality of work depend on the members of its team, the firm takes pride in taking care of its team members and providing them with a comfortable and open environment to work in. At Selvam and Selvam, we believe in removing the proverbial corporate ladder and instead of working with individuals on specific career paths and areas of growth. More importantly, we understand that people have commitments outside of work and help them in maintaining that ever-important work-life balance.
At Selvam and Selvam you can expect to be paid at par or even higher at times with other mid-sized firms in the city, work 9 to 10 hours a day depending on statutory deadlines and work with a team of like-minded individuals. Selvam and Selvam have a mentorship programme where new associates and interns are partnered with more experienced lawyers so that they can learn and ultimately deal with a range of legal problems on their own.
At Selvam and Selvam, we’re always looking to add talented lawyers to our team.
Professionals
Experienced candidates (preferably 2+ years PQE in an IP-specific role, but we’re also open to reviewing applications from exceptional candidates with at least 12 months PQE) can apply by writing an email to careers at selvams.com
We will review your application and may conduct a telephonic screening interview. Shortlisted candidates will also be required to fill out a questionnaire pertaining to intellectual property questions.
Freshers
For freshers/law students, we understand the importance that internships play in any budding lawyer’s career. Internships with our firm are an integral part of our hiring process – specifically, we only offer assessment internships to final year students only, with the end goal being to allow prospective candidates to secure a permanent position with the firm. During an internship with us, you will gain hands-on experience in understanding the day-to-day responsibilities of a transactional IP attorney.
Our assessment internship programme is structured around transitioning law students into full-time attorneys (with us). While we would love to take on interns on a regular basis, the nature of our work and the available bandwidth constrains us to only accept applications for assessment internships from students in their final year of law school or beyond, with the aim being to allow the candidate to secure a position with the firm and to continue their journey as lawyers with us. We require interns to be able to commit a minimum of two months to the assessment internship.
Skills you will acquire during the internship:
- Filing and prosecuting trademark, copyright, design, and patent applications in India and other jurisdictions.
- Working on domain disputes, contractual issues and negotiations, assisting and directing IP investigations, entertainment and media law, and privacy-related matters.
- Advising some of the world’s biggest brands on IP prosecution and enforcement.
- Unlike many other firms, we don’t compartmentalize our lawyers into different teams – this will give you the opportunity to work on multiple types of IP transactions during your time with us.
What we expect from interns:
- An interest in IP and willingness to learn on the job.
- Curiosity, organizational skills, and am ability to take initiative & ownership.
- Previous internship experience at an IP firm is preferable, but not at all mandatory.
- Keeping abreast of recent developments in IP.
We don’t offer remote internships, so any prospective interns must be willing to relocate to Chennai. We do not cover relocation expenses.
Application Process
- Write an email to careers at selvams.com
- If you’ve been shortlisted, one of our attorneys will contact you for a telephonic interview and to request a writing sample (600-800 words of original content on any IPR-related topic).
- Applicants already based out of Chennai may be asked to come into the office for a personal interview following our review of the writing sample.
Please note that we receive dozens of internship applications every day. It is unfortunately not possible for us to respond to every application.
Stipend
Assessment Interns are paid a stipend of INR 15,000 – 20,000 per month.
What happens if you are selected as an assessment intern:
The assessment internship will be offered on a rolling monthly basis for a maximum of three months, with regular performance reviews to identify strengths and work on areas that need improvement. If your work during the Assessment Internship fits what we’re looking for, we will be able to offer you the position of a Trainee Associate.
Trainee Associate position:
Once selected as a Trainee, your responsibilities will be similar to those of our full-time associates. The Trainee position will continue on a rolling monthly basis for a maximum of three months, with regular performance reviews to identify strengths and work on areas that need improvement.
If your work as a Trainee meets our requirements, we will be pleased to confirm your position as a full-time Junior Associate with the firm. The confirmed position also comes with an appraisal based on our assessment of your performance over your entire time with us.
To know more about the skills you will acquire and the responsibilities you will be given during the assessment internship program, please click here to hear some of our previous interns share their experiences.