An Interview with Sourabh Ubale (Assistant Professor of Law)

1. Sir, please introduce yourself to our readers.

I am Sourabh Ubale from Shirur (District – Pune; Maharashtra). I am passionate about Academics & Research and presently, serving as an Assistant Professor with NET-JRF at Marathwada Mitra Mandal’s Shankarrao Chavan Law College, Pune affiliated to Savitribai Phule Pune University and accredited with Grade A by NAAC. I am pursuing my Ph.D in Law from the Department of Law, the University of Mumbai on Jurisprudence through Kautilya’s Arthashastra. I completed BSL LL.B & LL.M (International Law) from Savitribai Phule Pune University. And also hold various diplomas from various universities. I represented India in various events, to name a few, The Hague Academy, Xiamen Academy, UNESCO, Asian Development Bank Regional Capacity Development Programme, etc. I also have published several research papers and articles in International and National Journals, Conference Proceedings as well as Chapters in Books & Monographs and working as the editor of several journals and books (rest you can refer to my website: www.sourabhubale.weebly.com).

2. What inspired you to choose law as your career?

I decided that I will be going for Law in my Class VII and I was the only one then who wanted to pursue Law and Neither the Medicine and nor the engineering. The first inspiration behind choosing Law as a career is none other than my father Adv. Vasant and My elder sister Adv. Dhanashri though I’ve opted for teaching instead of litigation. From my childhood, I am having a keen interest in teaching, public speaking and research. And I groomed myself by participating in competitions of such nature. My second inspiration is myself. My achievements inspired me to beat my previous performance and my failure inspired me to convert all my hurdles into opportunities. And my third inspiration is each individual which I met personally and virtually because I believe that every creature on the Earth possesses some qualities and we can learn from each one of them. This also gives us the societal understanding and inspires us to work for society. Thus I think all of us shall have three inspirations irrespective of the field – one is your family, second is you yourself and third every creature on the Earth.

3. Tell us a bit about your study time during college life.

I was very regular student to the law school classes because I wanted to finish studying those subjects during college hours only so I could give remaining time to Co-curricular & Extracurricular activities. This habit helped me in achieving more laurels, pursuing various diplomas and courses, building a good CV, inculcating innumerable skills and learning different languages. And thus at the end of law school, I was totally ready to jump into any field without wasting the time for learning skills as I already made good use of time during college life. This habit helped me tremendously in the examination without pressure, tension-free results and more importantly in improving long term memory and retention.

4. What areas of law fascinated you the most?

In fact, law is the career where you name your interest or subject and you have a number of career options. In my case, Jurisprudence is the area that fascinates me the most and followed by Research Methodology and International Law.

5. Do you think that Mooting, Publication and Internship are important in law student’s life?

Yes, they’re extremely important subject to some conditions.

Mooting is important as it enhances skills in law, legal drafting, logical reasoning, etc. It is the connecting link between your law school studies and actual litigation. I usually ask students to participate in a minimum of 1 Class, 1 State and 1 National moot for getting enough experience. The publication is essential as it enriches the reading, analysis and research abilities. Students can start with blogs in first & second year and then can go for research papers, monographs, etc. Internship aids in developing capacity in various fields and one can pick it according to his interest. Choosing wisely the internship opportunity is the key for self-development.

6. Did you ever had an internship experience during your college and how much internship is important for a law student?

Yes, I had one in Civil with Adv Karkande, one in Criminal with Adv Milind Pawar and one with National Human Rights Commission. In vacations, I used to attend my father’s office. If you see my internship experiences, they are not much but they cover most of the fields in law and that helped me to enhance my capabilities in several subject matter. No doubt internships are important but it totally depends upon the student how he/she takes it. Just to earn a certificate shall not be the purpose of it. Online internships can be utilized to improve drafting skills.

7. What should be the prime concern of a law student?

Sam Walter Foss rightly said, “Bring me men to match my mountains, bring me men to match my plains, Men with empires in their purpose, and new eras in their brains.” And this is how the New Normal can be defined. The Prime Concern of a law student shall never be the marks and CGPA but is shall be the self-development and personal branding. In the ‘market’ no one is going to ask your law school performance but the performance post law school. Knowledge gaining and skill development shall be prior to any other thing. Apart from that you live your life with full enthusiasm because these days will remain in the memories only. Be a traveler and not a tourist in the journey of life.

8. The best experience and success habit you would like to share with law students to encourage them.

Three things – As referred above, do not waste your time of law school studies, you always have ample of time in your hand, so make good use of it through time management. Secondly, knock each door; you never know which one will get opened. And thirdly observe and learn from everything and everyone.

9. What Would Be Your Parting Message to Our Readers Who Are Primarily Law Students and Young Lawyers?

I must say that tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today. No one has done it so you do it. Why I cannot do that thus learn it and do it. I am doing this so think on improvements and new ways to do that. I always tell my students, no question in your mind shall remain unanswered at the end of the day, so either you find answers with help of your teachers or through the internet or if not, then ask to your conscious mind and try to answer logically. In life no answers are wrong, I believe, you just need right justification.