LAW OPTIONAL – by various rank holders of CSE 2020

 

Hello, everyone!

This Article is a joint effort of various rank holders of CSE 2020 who have cleared the exam with law optional. Considering the limited amount of guidance available regarding this optional and the various myths & perceptions about it in minds of students, we have come up with this initiative. The purpose is not just to clear the basic doubts that one has while choosing or preparing for law optional but to also aid your preparation by sharing with you our personal strategies, lessons learnt from various mistakes during our preparation, and also our notes and test copies.

 

The article was curated with efforts of the below rank-holders in CSE 2020:

• Varuna Agrawal (AIR 38)
• Vasu Jain (AIR 67)
• Aayush Gupta (AIR 74)
• Anmol Mittal (AIR 91)
• Nirja Shah (AIR 213)
• Ishan Gupta (AIR 215)
• Aditya Mahar (AIR 668)

 

1) WHY SHOULD YOU CHOOSE LAW AS AN OPTIONAL?

For law graduates– It is the default choice of subject because of one’s pre-existing solid foundation. Even if one has not studied much in college, one has developed a trained legal mind and a basic understanding of the subjects that will help during preparation.

College notes and PowerPoint slides can be a good and familiar source to study from. Many seniors and batch mates may have specialised in some areas of law and, if they are helpful, one may get latest legal inputs from them. Also, at the interview stage, a good level of understanding of law is expected because of your background (especially if you did the 5 year course). Thus, having law as an optional may be a good way to keep track of legal developments either way.

Varuna Agrawal – “I did not pay much attention to International Law during graduation, but because I had done other subjects well and my mind was trained legally, I could easily finish Malcom Shaw during UPSC preparation.”

 

For non-law graduates- By Ishan Gupta (Mechanical Engineer)

(1) Technical nature: Some people with background in technical fields such as engineering are used to the application of logic, rules and principles. In that sense, Law Optional is the perfect choice as it is highly logical and relatable, and has a specific set of rules. The shift therefore may be quite smooth.

(2) Moderate Size of Syllabus: Other technical subjects like engineering or medical science tend to have very huge syllabi, so students often opt for Humanities optionals. Law Optional in that regard is a good choice as it has a well-defined syllabus, which can be easily covered in one cycle of preparation.

(3) Performance potential: Many a times Medical and Engineering background students outperform their peers from Law-school backgrounds in this optional. And this is completely understandable since UPSC answering style and requirements tend to be very different from the ‘wholesome’ curriculum taught in LLB.

For example, LLB Students have extremely deep understanding of Constitutional law, Criminal law, Contracts, etc. However, they tend to ignore Contemporary Legal Developments, which is 30-40% of Paper 2 these days.

Endnote – One should choose optional solely based on one’s interest so you can devote the required number of hours to study the subject. At the end of the day, educational background matters less than interest. Considering the rest of UPSC preparation is very time consuming and taxing, the optional subject can become one’s breather during the course of preparation. Those who scored very well in law optional were the ones who would never get bored studying it. Thus you may hear that the syllabus is large or that the subject is low scoring, but go with your gut feeling and interest. A law graduate may feel naturally drawn to choosing law, but please analyse yourself and your own interests before choosing even your graduation subject as an optional. Consider UPSC as a chance to learn something new.

 

2) POSITIVES AND NEGATIVES OF LAW OPTIONAL

Positives:

Law as a subject is one which has:

(1) Overlap with other subjects: Many optional subjects offer such advantage, and Law stands out for the huge push it provides to one’s GS2 prep (Polity). E.g.: Question 4 in GS2 2019 exam – It was about legislative list and federal supremacy which can be easily answered with Constitutional Law preparation during Law Optional.

The knowledge is also extremely helpful in GS3, GS4 and Essay as one can quote direct legal provisions, cases and principles. It may also help in GS1 in an unexpected manner – e.g.: Modern Historical development of laws under British is a direct chain culminating in the Constitution, so theoretically quite helpful.

(2) Helps in all 3 stages in more than just a ‘specialised subject-sense’. For prelims, the Constitution and basic political theory directly apply. In Mains, as highlighted above it is helpful for almost all papers. And most importantly in the Interview stage where each issue has a legal perspective, and one which is very often the safe option to go with.

(3) A formalised system of understanding the State and how it functions. This is perhaps more on the larger philosophical side of how having a legal background/grounding can seemingly help in knowing exactly how things function, and why they function as they do etc.

(4) Largely static Syllabus – Static syllabus for 75% of the paper. For many law graduates, landmark cases would remain the same as law school.

(5) Success Ratio-. Additionally, law has the highest success ratios amongst all popular optional subjects. Of course, we cannot conclude whether this is despite, or because of law optional yet some data can help you analyse all options. Find some screens shots from UPSC’s own annual report.

 

 

 

Negatives:

(1) Lack of clarity: No accurate/correct estimation of the ‘depth’ to which one must study the subject, and as a result the feeling of climbing an insurmountable mountain.

(2) Dearth of good test series: Puts you at a disadvantage over other more popular optional subjects as they would have practised more than you.

(3) Overly specialised materials: No concise materials which are created for UPSC. Most coaching institutions notes are not suited for the dynamic nature of law optional.

(4) CLD remain a difficult and vague pointer in the syllabus. Because of its vastness and almost no certain understanding of depth of knowledge required in each topic.

  

3) STRATEGY FOR LAW OPTIONAL

There are different strategies that can be adopted depending upon one’s own level of understanding and personal assessment

A preliminary distinction can be created to distribute the subjects into 2 categories.

(1) Public/State oriented Law

Constitutional Law, International Law, IPC and Crimes squarely fall in this category. These are areas where we think that the relative importance of section numbers + case laws + established author arguments hold a lot of weight. An IPC answer is complete the moment the right section and crucial case and basic analysis is done. As such, the conclusion we are getting at is that there are ‘fewer’ moving parts, albeit they may be ‘deeper’ in their intensity.

 

(2) Private/Mercantile/Purely Civil law

As opposed to those, the subjects in this category are ones where the commentary in the Dukkis along with the bare minimum section number is enough, plus some reference to a new/current event, or to a case/situation which may be relatable.

If one can pepper on top things which made news recently, or issues/examples which very intuitively convey a concept of contract or mercantile law, then it’s a bonus.

Torts is plain and clear Dukki, we feel. This is not to say that these subjects are easy in any sense, if anything we found them to be far tougher, but that is perhaps because there is also generally quite a poor understanding of these subjects across law schools.

CLD is the doozie. There are some which are clearly in the first category, such as RTI + Trial by media, whereas others such as Competition/IPR are squarely in the second category. One can approach it by distinguishing it into these two and then studying these subjects while studying the ‘parent’ subject.

Eg: Trial by Media is an extension of Independence of Judiciary + Privacy rights, and as such flows naturally while studying those. Similarly, in our examination of IPR/Competition law, we felt these could be studied as an extension of/subset of special type of contracts etc. “

 

4) BOOKLIST FOR LAW OPTIONAL

Before beginning any subject, past year question papers need to be analysed to understand the trend of questions and depth of knowledge required in each sub topic. A general booklist is-

• Constitutional Law and Administrative Law- Dukkis.
• International Law- Malcom Shaw or S K Kapoor for topics 1-10; internet research for making notes on topics 11-15
• Law of Crimes- Dukki for topics 1-13, Bare Acts and Internet research for topics 14-16
• Law of Torts- Dukki, For Consumer Protection Act, read the bare act plus latest judgments
• Law of Contracts and Mercantile Law- Dukki for topics 1-10, primers and internet research for topics 11-13
• Contemporary Legal Developments- primers for topics 2-4, internet research and blogs on topics 1, 5-8. For these topics, one needs to focus on two aspects- basic understanding and latest developments that’s why primers are the best source.

In case one doesn’t have good understanding of various concepts/ or is from non-law background, one can consider referring the below:

• Bangia for Torts, Contracts
• KD Gaur for Criminal Law
• International Law- RSIL video series by Ahmer Bilal Soofi

 

The important aspect is that no topic can be left unstudied because of changing trends in recent papers of asking more and more questions on contemporary lines. For every topic, analysis of landmark cases is to be complemented with their recent application.

 

5) HOW TO FOLLOW CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR LAW ?

Important for both Mains and Interview stage. Some methods we used include:

Latest amendments– PRS should be referred when the Parliament is in session laying emphasis on

(1) Reasons/ rationale behind passing various laws and amendments – important for comparison between old and new acts/ bills

(2) List entry they were passed under,

(3) The legislative note appended to the Bill and then

(4) Other laws in the same area which operate can perhaps be looked at.

Cases – One can prepare them by following a legal blog daily as one reads the daily newspaper. It can be done within 10 mins every day. Whichever article corresponds to the syllabus, read it and then make a note/ copy paste the link in your file. That way by the end of your preparation, you would have enough latest updates for almost all subtopics that will compliment your static knowledge gained from dukkis. Revise that file monthly so that you end up remembering the updates so thoroughly that incorporating them in answers come naturally.

You can refer to any blog like LiveLaw, Bar and Bench etc.

 

6) COMMON MISTAKES TO AVOID

(1) Over-emphasis on 2-3 big topics, such as Constitution and IPC, ignoring the rest. As mentioned earlier, UPSC has been moving towards larger portion of neglected topics, such as CLD, Mercantile Law.

(2) Not paying enough heed to Case laws and Articles/ Sections. These are necessary in any law answer, and cannot be emphasised enough.

(3) Answer writing practice without proper guidance/ feedback – this creates an effect of echo-chambers and reduces chances of improvement.

(4) Not referring past year test papers – as we all appreciate, studying in silos does not work.

(5) Not following current developments from legal perspective

 

7) WHETHER COACHING IS REQUIRED OR NOT?

For people from a law background, coaching is not much required because their minds are already legally trained. If you are able to understand the content in books and solve PYQs adequately, you can do well with self-preparation.

For people from non-law background- This is a Common question given the plethora of material available online, and various institutes offering Law optional courses. However our experience suggests that there are very few institutes dedicated specifically to quality Law teaching.

 

Ishan Gupta-

“To set the record straight, I myself have taken Law Coaching from “Nirvana IAS Academy” in Delhi.

I found it extremely useful because of below reasons:

(1) It helps receive all relevant material in a crisp, concise manner. Without this, one can literally find themselves drowning deep in the ocean of content available over-the-counter.

(2) For a student like me with no background in the subject, understanding concepts often requires discussions and debates with a learned person/ peer group. A good Coaching can provide such an environment.

(3) A Good teacher invokes great interest in the subject, which is a pre-requisite in an exam such a CSE, since it takes years at times to clear. I definitely found a great mentor in Karam sir at Nirvana Academy.

(4) Answer writing practice and timely feedback are a hallmark of a good institute. One learns not just from the mentor, but also from mistakes and good points of others. Such a collaborative environment sets the entire group on a high growth path.

Even some of my lawyer friends have found coaching helpful since it helped them not just collate the vast material they have from their graduation days, but also prepare in line with the exact requirements of CSE.

However there do exist some cons of joining coaching in my opinion:

(1) Since travel and classes take up significant time, one needs to manage their time and priorities their studies well. Else, one is often left gasping for air and I have seen some who faced such issues.

(2) Many a times, the environment in a coaching setting may get too burdensome due to cut-throat competition, inefficient and lackadaisical mentoring and out-dated content.

(3) Dearth of good coaching outside Delhi, as per our experience. Many a times, Judiciary focussed-academies enter the UPSC domain, without proper focus. “

Endnote – Coaching is certainly not a pill to all ills. One’s result greatly depends on personal efforts and coaching is only one of the ways to streamline one’s preparation. For people who are still dicey, one suggestion is to read through some portion (apart from constitutional law as that is comparatively easier to understand because of overlap with Polity) and then make a self-assessment about how much you are able to understand it and solve PYQ on that topic.

One needs to carefully assess their own individual requirement, and below points could be considered for the same:

1. Time availability

2. Budget/ finances

3. Level of comfort with the subject

4. Command over answer writing, and need of a feedback group for constant improvement

 

8) NEED OF JOINING A TEST SERIES

For questions practice, before you join a test series we would suggest finishing the past five years’ question (PYQ) papers because that will help you assess which test series is worth spending money on.

Questions related to the static portion are already available online or as compilation in markets. The importance of Test series apart from getting your answers checked is that it will help provide questions related to current developments. And one can practice finishing a full length paper in 3hrs time format.

If one can self-assess the quality of one’s answers, then a test series by coaching is not required.

Before joining please collect market feedback regarding particular institutes.

 

Nirja Shah- took Lawxperts Test Series.

“Found it to be reasonably priced for the quality. Checking is prompt and good. Good way to cover the basic types of questions which may be asked in UPSC too. However, they cannot reach the level of UPSC (most of the GS test series also cannot tbh). Being a relatively small institute, some administrative delays may be observed at times, but overall they are good. “

 

Varuna Agrawal– took Ambition test series for her 2nd mains in CSE-2020

2 positive points about it:

(1) Their questions were framed as per UPSC CSE standards.

(2) Their model answers were comprehensive.

However, 2 negatives:

(1) Questions were limited to certain topics, not covering the syllabus comprehensively

(2) The feedback after paper checking was not detailed/ comprehensive.

 

9) MODEL ANSWER WRITING STRUCTURE

1. Introduction mentioning Article/Section related to the particular topic or a landmark case law in that field.

2. Body Content needs to have both case laws and sections/articles as the question demands.

3. Conclusion should have some recent development about that topic or a landmark decision.

Attached test copies can widen this understanding based upon requisite demand of every question.

Reference Test Copies: Please refer the below URL

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1iixZAjrIaByeYfi8ye00nwvrVk3Z3a6b?usp=sharing

 

10) PERSONAL SNIPPETS – WHAT WORKED FOR US?

Ishan Gupta

(1) Good mentor at the coaching institute, who provided personal attention and honed every students’ skills based on their shortcomings. I received special guidance related to my answer writing, legal vocabulary and overall expression.

(2) Cryptic excel-notes for case laws, which I used for learning these by heart. Snippets from them are given below for your reference:

Constitutional Law-

 

 

Contracts Law-

 

 

I did this exercise for each topic of paper-1 and paper-2, and I highly recommend this strategy.

(3) Answer writing practice under the guidance of the coaching institute. I relied on a single institute and found it enough for my prep. I have seen people subscribe to multiple institutes and then losing the trick.

 

Nirja Shah

Summarized the entire syllabus into flashcards on the Anki desktop application, which allowed me to memorize the entire syllabus multiple times

 

 

Varuna Agrawal

(1) Analysing PYQs before starting any topic.

(2) While doing GS preparation post prelims exam, I practised 5 questions daily, so that I remain in touch with the optional. I wrote answers to these questions in pointer format covering only requisite case-laws and sections. So by the end of 1 month, I had completed almost the entire syllabus in QnA format. In the process, I also ended up compiling the entire syllabus in crisp notes of case laws and sections.

(3) Special focus on Current developments related to all the topics.

(4) Having a wonderful senior (Adv. Varun Tripathi) who guided me throughout the preparation.

 

Aayush Gupta

1) Extra short notes for revision- Really helpful.

2) Multiple revisions.

3) Practicing answer writing – both test series and previous year papers.

4) Use Dukkis judiciously- they are very helpful in certain subjects.

5) Not ignoring CLD- the topic is a bit vast but has been increasing in importance since past few years.

6) Supplementing static part with current developments.

7) Lastly enjoying the process. Reading the optional was my favourite part of the Mains preparation

 

Anmol Mittal

Distinguishing the subjects into 2 categories: Public/ State Oriented Law and Private/ Mercantile/ Purely Civil Law (described above under the heading “Strategy”)

 

Vasu Jain

Referring to online sources such as RSIL video series by Ahmer Bilal Soofi for International Law

 

11) ADDITIONAL LINKS TO GET IN TOUCH WITH US

 

LAW OPTIONAL – by various rank holders of CSE 2020 [ CLICK HERE ]