[Paid] Consultant (Senior Legal Fellow) at The Square Circle Clinic, NALSAR University of Law, Nagpur (Rs 63,000-67,000/month)

NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad is seeking to engage, on a contractual basis, one Consultant (Senior Legal Fellow) at its Nagpur office for the Fair Trial Programme of The Square Circle Clinic. This is a full-time position based in Nagpur, and the contract will be for one year initially, extendable on a yearly basis at the discretion of the University.

The Square Circle Clinic is a criminal justice initiative at NALSAR University of Law, with offices in New Delhi, Pune, Nagpur and Hyderabad. It undertakes pro bono criminal defence of prisoners sentenced to death and of undertrials, along with research and public engagement on the death penalty, forensics, criminalisation and punishment, prevention of torture, legal aid, and mental health and criminal justice. The founders, leadership group and full-time staff earlier carried on this work as Project 39A and moved to NALSAR in April 2025.

The Fair Trial Programme is an opportunity for young lawyers and social workers to provide quality legal representation to undertrial prisoners. The Programme works in Nagpur and Pune Central prisons with a group of Fellows, in collaboration with the State Legal Services Authority, towards ensuring fair trial for undertrial prisoners at both pre-trial and trial stages. Its twin goals are to reduce the undertrial population in prisons and to strengthen the legal aid system in Maharashtra. The Programme has offices in Pune and Nagpur.

• Visiting prison with the duty counsels of the DLSA and providing legal counselling to inmates requiring legal aid.
• Coordinating with the DLSA and Prison Department authorities to ensure allocation of DLSA panel advocates for undertrials without legal representation.
• Briefing and assisting the Legal Aid Defence Counsel (LADC) and/or the assigned DLSA panel lawyer during court hearings at the pre-trial and trial stages.
• Regular prison visits to seek instructions from undertrial clients on behalf of the LADC counsels and/or DLSA panel advocates.
• Reviewing documents on record, providing research inputs and devising legal strategy in consultation with the counsel concerned.
• Assisting in drafting legal documents, preparing for recording of evidence and cross-examination, and preparing written arguments for final submissions.
• Following up on ongoing cases, updating clients and family members, and communicating with prison authorities for case-specific information and documents.
• Travelling as required to meet family members and other persons with information relevant to a case.
• Organising and conducting training workshops and conferences, and documentation and reporting as per programmatic needs.

• Registration as a practising advocate (Sanad) with the Bar Council of any State in India.
• Minimum of seven years of experience of criminal law practice at the trial court level.
• Proficiency in reading, writing and speaking Marathi.
• Ability to read, write and speak English.
• Familiarity with the use of MS-Office, emails and the internet.
• Prior work experience with the District Legal Services Authority is desirable.
• The above qualifications may be relaxed in exceptional circumstances.

The compensation will be competitive and commensurate with experience. Fellows will be paid a fellowship amount of INR 63,000 to 67,000 per month. The position is paid under the grants received by The Square Circle Clinic, NALSAR University of Law.

Applications are accepted only through the online application form. Applicants must upload a resume and a statement of purpose of not more than 750 words, explaining their interest in representing prisoners and the contribution they see themselves making through this position. Applications must be submitted no later than 11.00 PM on 30 July 2026.

Based on the online applications, applicants will be shortlisted for an interview and exercises based on an actual criminal law case file. Interview dates will be notified separately to shortlisted candidates. The University reserves the right to add further rounds of selection, to conduct additional interviews, written tests or simulation exercises, or not to fill the position. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted via email; applicants who do not hear back within three weeks after the deadline may assume their application was unsuccessful. NALSAR University of Law is an equal opportunity employer.