(Left) Retired Justice of Patna High Court Ghanshyam Prasad addresses the news meet in Patna on Sunday. Picture by Jai Prakash

Youths aspiring to make it to law institutes could have a better chance from this year as a group of retired judges of the high court and district courts, retired magistrates and academics has come forward to help them.

The legal experts have formed a school, Institute of Legal Studies, which will coach students who want to crack the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) as well as entrance tests for other premier law colleges. A brainchild of Justice (retired) Ghanshyam Prasad of Patna High Court, Institute of Legal Studies will guide students interested to pursue law.

The institute is likely to start its first batch from July. Though it has not finalised the number of students it would coach, around 25 per cent would get free admission. The authorities said although students would be coached for only three months, the institute would provide free advice round the year.

Retired district judge K.P. Verma said: “Class XII passouts can take admission at the institute. This is the first institute in Bihar where retired judges from the high court and district courts have come forward to train and coach students to crack law entrance examinations.”

Addressing a press conference on Sunday, Justice Prasad said: “Law schools are witnessing a surge in applications on an yearly basis. They are fast becoming a sure-shot path to success.’

Justice Prasad added that law has been a favourite for many, even in the pre-Independence era when stalwarts of the freedom movement, including Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Rajendra Prasad and BR Ambedkar, were lawyers.

The interest in the profession went down after Independence as students started to opt for engineering and medical, said Justice Prasad. He added: “With the introduction of five-year integrated courses by national law universities and various law colleges, students are once again interested in the discipline.”

Aparajita Krishna, a teacher at Patna Women’s College, said: “The Institute of Legal Studies would not only focus on students who wish to crack the CLAT but also entrance tests to other premier law institutes like National Law University, Delhi and National Law University, Orissa.”

Krishna added that the primary objective of law school education was to make a person an analytical thinker and excellent communicator with knowledge that spanned various areas of expertise.

The authorities said the newly formed institute would also advise its students on the various career avenues they can take with a legal education in the bag.