Abiha Zaidi

Thought bubble of a hustling litigator navigating her way through the corridors of power.

"Arbitration is the future,” the retired judge (HMJ) declares. The future, apparently, involves a lot of expensive conferences in five-star hotels, and panelists who agree on everything. The actual practitioners are probably at home, actually arbitrating.

Somewhere between the phenyl fumes and the finish line, this circus made perfect sense. The law was never about logic anyway.

A lawyer's ode to Lin-Manuel Miranda's 'My Shot'

We're all trapped here. In this beautiful, broken system. The seniors who won't retire. The juniors who can’t rise. The litigants who can't wait. The judges who can't keep up.

Have our courtrooms become reality TV? A bad one at that? Only text, no context.

How do you know a lawyer treks? Well, she will tell you!

Let's not get negative this new year. The lawyers will travel. The juniors will stay back. The files will wait. Justice takes its annual breath—shallow, insincere, and expected by everyone.

They regulate the commanding heights of the economy. Yet, nobody knows their name. They have made their peace with this, mostly.

Lost submissions and a preparation in vain – just another Tuesday where ‘final’ arguments are not so final.

I am encouraging my young niece to take up law these days. I tell her change is coming and the future is women. Maybe through this piece I can also be a little honest and warn her.

Between urgent briefs and empty corridors, India’s young lawyers learn the cost of ambition showing up every day – bruised, hopeful, and calling survival a career.