Manipal Law School director: ‘Our LLM courses focus on data privacy, IT laws and other emerging areas’

NEW DELHI: Sarasu Esther Thomas, director of Manipal Law School since October 2024, advocates for recognising and supporting teachers who engage in legal aid work. During an interview, she stressed on the importance of systemic changes to enhance the effectiveness of legal aid centres and highlighted Manipal Law School's initiatives in this domain. Edited excerpts:

What motivated you to join Manipal after being at National Law School of India University (NLSIU Bengaluru) for so long?
There were several reasons. Manipal is a growing institution and they are keen to develop their law programme. Unlike NLSIU, which is solely focused on law, Manipal offers a multidisciplinary environment with institutions like the Manipal Institute of Technology, the TAPMI Management Institute, and the Srishti Manipal School of Design.

This broader ecosystem allows for collaboration across disciplines. For instance, at the master’s level, faculty from engineering and management schools teach law students, creating a richer learning experience. This kind of exposure is essential because today’s legal education cannot be confined to a single domain — it needs to be multidisciplinary to meet students' diverse aspirations.

Also, Manipal has over 200 partnerships with universities worldwide, offering students opportunities to study abroad or explore other fields. It felt like the right place to contribute at this stage of my career and build something new from the ground.

What are your plans for Manipal Law School?

We aim to establish a world-class curriculum, supported by highly-qualified teachers, including those with experience at top institutions like Cambridge and Columbia, who do work around AI and European law.

The focus is on enhancing the quality of education, offering immersive internships and improving placement opportunities through skill-building programmes like CV writing and interview preparation.

For the upcoming year, the theme is industry-academia connect, where the school plans to involve practitioners in teaching, foster collaborations with the legal industry for joint research and ensure practical exposure for students in every subject area.

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Manipal is a private institution. Does this impact access for students?

Public institutions do have some advantages, especially in terms of affordability. However, private institutions like Manipal also provide support through scholarships based on merit and sometimes need. Manipal helps students access loans for costs not covered by scholarships. While there might be financial barriers, these systems ensure deserving students still have opportunities to join.

Both NLSIU and Manipal are multidisciplinary. How do they compare?

NLSIU is multidisciplinary to a limited extent, with its focus primarily on law and public policy. Manipal, on the other hand, has a truly multidisciplinary setup with schools of liberal arts, commerce, engineering, health sciences, and design, among others.

At Manipal, institutional collaboration happens within the campus, allowing students to interact and work with peers from different fields. This level of interaction and collaboration isn’t as extensive at NLSIU.

You’re deeply involved in legal research. Which areas do you feel need exploring?

One major area is technology and law. Technology evolves much faster than laws, leaving gaps in areas like data privacy, artificial intelligence, and IT laws. These require close partnerships between academia and industry.

At Manipal, our LLM programmes focus on such emerging areas. For instance, we have an LLM in data privacy and IT laws, where cutting-edge subjects are taught, and faculty-led research centres work on these topics.

Another critical area is incarceration. Many people in Indian prisons shouldn’t be there, and this injustice needs deeper research. Gender issues and climate change also require sustained attention. These are areas we hope to address through research at Manipal.

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You mentioned that you are in the process of developing a legal aid centre. Could you elaborate?

Yes, we are in our third year now, and we’ve started building a legal aid centre. We are currently working on tying up with lawyers and other forums to run it. We already have some committed teachers, but we’re hoping to hire experienced faculty, particularly in crypto law, who can link the clinic with live cases.

A Supreme Court centre survey recently found that 60% of legal aid centres in law schools have never assisted a lawyer. Your take?

I don’t think that’s true for us. We’ve already started working with lawyers. The challenge is that because teachers are not allowed to practice, we need committed lawyers. Moreover, clinical courses aren’t always given credit in every law school.

For legal aid, we need specific teachers who will have time to run clinics and work with lawyers, and we plan to give them less teaching load.

First, teachers need to be given time and credit for doing legal aid work. Second, tying up with organisations that work with prisons can be beneficial. Third, law schools must allocate funds for this. Law schools need to see the value in it — not only for society, but as practical learning for students.

Could you describe the admission process at Manipal?

Currently, Manipal doesn’t have a separate entrance exam. Our admissions are primarily based on interviews. Students who meet the qualifying criteria are interviewed. While having a good score on exams like CLAT or LSAT is an advantage, we also accept students who haven’t taken these exams. The interview is key.

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How would you describe the difference between students in five-year BA LLB and three-year LLB programmes ?

BA-LLB students are generally younger and come from similar academic backgrounds (science, commerce, or arts), while those in the three-year LLB course come from a wider range of backgrounds, including engineering, architecture, medical sciences, and other fields. They also come with different experiences — some have just completed an undergraduate degree, while others have work experience. This makes the LLB programme more diverse. As a result, internships and career interests vary significantly across these two groups.

Mental health is a growing issue in educational institutions. How does Manipal address this?

Mental health is not just a problem in law schools, but across educational institutions. The pressure starts early, from the Class 10 board exams till competitive exams like CLAT. By the time students come to law school, they’re already stressed.

At Manipal, we believe academic rigour doesn’t have to mean stressing students. We have a robust support system in place, including a health centre and a team of 10 student counselors. Given that Manipal is known for its health services, both physical and mental health are well-managed on our campus.