Internship Experience at Callidus Advocates, Consultants & Notary, Dubai
Georgina Pereira, a third-year law student from Symbiosis Law School, Pune shares her internship experience at Callidus Advocates, Consultants & Notary, Dubai. Organization and Location Callidus Legal presently has its corporate office at Cochin, with branch offices in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Dubai and Singapore. Duration of Internship 1st May 2017 to 1st June 2017. Office and Team… Read More »
Georgina Pereira, a third-year law student from Symbiosis Law School, Pune shares her internship experience at Callidus Advocates, Consultants & Notary, Dubai.
Organization and Location
Callidus Legal presently has its corporate office at Cochin, with branch offices in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Dubai and Singapore.
Duration of Internship
1st May 2017 to 1st June 2017.
Office and Team
Callidus has multiple branch offices around India and two that are internationally placed, i.e. at Dubai and Singapore. I interned at the Dubai branch office for the entire month of May 2017. Most of the work I pursued was provided by Adv. Pavithra Viswanath, an associate partner at Callidus Legal, Dubai. Furthermore, I reported to Senior Adv. Chetan Khajuria for legal briefs and additional work.
Application Procedure
The Callidus website provides an internship application that may be downloaded, filled out and subsequently submitted to the Managing Partner, Adv. Joy Thattil via the email address joy@calliduscmc.com.
If considered for an internship, Adv. Joy will revert back with necessary details to get you in touch with the HR department of the branch office of your choosing.
First Impressions
The Callidus Dubai office is located in the Business Avenue Building on Port Saeed Road. On reaching the premises, I was informed that regular work timings are essentially 9 AM to 5 PM, much like a regular consulting firm. I was then introduced to Adv. Chetan Khajuria, the Senior Advocate at Callidus who showed me around the office and allowed me to introduce myself to the other associates.
The interns present were placed in the conference room, surrounded by most associates on the same table so as to easily engage in conversations and clear any queries that may arise. On regular occasions and when major cases were being tackled, the managing partner, Adv. Joy Thattil would be in the office as well.
Projects Undertaken
While Callidus Legal has established its dominance in Corporate and maritime communities across the globe, Callidus specializes in shipping, corporate and commercial laws, tax matters and general laws. As a consequence of the same, I was introduced to work that varied largely and was spread across diverse fields of law.
Some of the work I was immediately asked to execute was to redraft an existing agency agreement for vetting while advising if the same safeguards our client’s interests. Further, I was provided with bills of lading and cargo underwriter survey reports for various cases. With regard to the same, I had to compare and contrast survey reports of our clients and the opposing parties and additionally advise on how much of the cargo is damaged in each container with possible legal solutions.
My field of work also involved drafting notices to debtors before court claims on behalf of our clients regarding outstanding amounts that are owed to our client. This was most visible in cases of negligence, cheating and violation of trade practices. Further, I drafted legal replies to be issued to parties for their default in payment as per the MOU signed by our clients while countering their reasons for stopping the payment. Other notices that I worked on included drafting legal notices to customers because of bounced cheques experienced by our clients.
A major case that I was allowed to work on individually included a rented warehouse that had to be vacated by our clients for breach of contract. The landlord of the warehouse required the clients to vacate and pay 3 months gross rent but refused to accept this as a notice period for the same. I was asked to advise the clients and draft all required legal documents to guarantee a notice period which required a thorough reading of the contract and RERA to settle the dispute amicably.
Additionally, I was given the work of proofreading and transcribing multiple legal documents including master professional services agreements, notices and other official papers.
Work Environment
The work atmosphere at Callidus Legal was incredibly positive throughout my entire internship experience. The associates I personally worked with and the other associates at the office were friendly, very helpful and most notably, approachable. Due to the engaging nature of the associates, there wasn’t a specific vertical hierarchy that was followed in the office.
All the interns, junior and senior associates were placed horizontally on the field and as a result of the same, the interns received substantial work and were treated at par with the associates. This significantly enhanced the level of commitment and effort put in by interns at the office.
Main Takeaway
Although the provided internship was an unpaid experience, the knowledge and exposure gained through the work provided were beyond incredible. Through the entire period of my internship, there was a genuine form of evolution that I experienced. My level of understanding and familiarity with the law was greatly heightened and there was a definite arch of improvement by the time I was done with the internship.
It was truly motivating to be able to work alongside associates and eventually gain the knowledge to work on cases alone. The level of trust and belief placed in the interns made it a heart-warming experience, while the firm ensured that we put in our absolute best foot forward.
