Call for Papers: 9th RMLNLU Lucknow and Khaitan & Co. Conference & Essay Writing Competition on Labour Laws (Extended Deadline: 17 Oct)

About RMLNLU

RMLNLU was established in 2006 to impart quality legal education to students all over the country and to meet emerging challenges in the field of law. RMLNLU is committed to providing excellent infrastructure to its students and facilitating an environment that advances and disseminates knowledge of the law and legal processes. It aims to develop in students and research scholars, a sense of responsibility to serve the society in the field of law by developing skills in advocacy and legal writing.

About Khaitan & Co.

Founded in 1911, Khaitan & Co is among India’s oldest and most prestigious full-service law firms. It is also one of the largest law firms, with over 600 professionals. The firm has an array of practice areas which include mergers and acquisitions, intellectual property, banking and finance, debt capital markets, dispute resolution, white collar crimes, data privacy and protection, and competition/ anti-trust law. The firm has strong capabilities and deep industry knowledge across all its practice areas.

Over the years, Khaitan & Co has consolidated its position as a leading law firm in the field of employment and labour law. Its Employment, Labour and Benefits practice provides commercially oriented and practical advice on areas and events around business sale and acquisitions, change of ownership, employee benefits including equity based incentive schemes, employment agreements and policies, workplace diversity and discrimination issues.

Additionally, the practice specialises in contract labour and alternate employment arrangements, whistle blower complaints, employee grievance redressal, workforce restructuring, staff re-classification and mobility, workplace health and safety issues as well as immigration advisory. As recognition for the pioneering work of the firm in the field of labour and employment law, recently it was conferred with the IDEX Large Employment Law Firm of the Year award in 2019, the Legal Era Labour & Employment Law Firm of the Year 2020 – 21 award and the In-House Community Firm of the Year award in 2021.

About the Journal Committee

The Committee was constituted with the objective of promoting legal research and writing. Apart from conducting the RMLNLU International Legal Essay Writing Competition every year, the Committee annually publishes two peer reviewed journals – the RMLNLU Law Review and the RMLNLU Journal on CMET (Communication, Media, Entertainment and Technology) Law. Both these journals publish articles, essays, case notes/comments and book reviews from contributors all over the world. The RMLNLU Law Review also runs a blog which provides a platform for people in the field to express their opinions on contemporary legal issues.

About the Opportunity

The Journal Committee (“Committee”) at Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University, Lucknow (“RMLNLU”), in collaboration with Khaitan & Co., is organising the 9th edition of the RMLNLU International Legal Essay Competition (RILEC or "Competition") along with the RMLNLU-Khaitan & Co Conference on Labour Laws.

About the Judges

The panel adjudicating the virtual conference shall be chaired by Mr. Anshul Prakash. Mr. Prakash is a Partner at Khaitan & Co’s Mumbai office and leads the firm’s Employment, Labour and Benefits practice. He advises various prominent domestic and international clients on numerous employment law and related matters concerning workforce management, social security, industrial relations, workplace harassment and discrimination, structuring benefits and incentives, health and safety, internal inquiries and workforce restructuring.

He also leads the firm's thought leadership initiative on advocacy and knowledge sharing in the field of employment and labour law and actively shares his insights through publications, print media and public speaking events. Additionally, Mr. Prakash has been recognized as Top Individual Lawyer (Labour & Employment) by Forbes India Legal Power list 2020-21 besides being recognized as a Top 40 under 40 Best Lawyer by Business World Legal and being honorably ranked and highly recommended by Chambers & Partners Asia Pacific, Legal 500 Asia Pacific and Asia Law profiles (Client Service Excellence).

Theme and sub-themes

This year the Committee is inviting submissions from authors on the topic- “Emerging Challenges in Labour Law”. The list of the indicated sub-themes is given below to aid the participants:

▪ Invisible Labour & Global Labour Law Frameworks

▪ The New Indian Labour Law Codes – the Code on Wages, the Code on Social Security, the Industrial Relations Code and the Occupational, Safety, Health and Working Condition Code.

▪ The Status of Gig Economy Workers in Global Labour Law Frameworks

▪ Accounting for Gender & Vulnerable Communities in the Workplace

▪ Employment Law – Issues & Concerns

Note: The sub-themes are only indicative. Authors are free to deviate and explore other labour law sub-themes of their own choice.

Eligibility

Authors must be pursuing their 5-year integrated LL.B. (Hons.) course/ 3-year LL.B. course from any recognized university in India to be eligible to participate in the Competition.

Structure

▪ All entries will be judged and ranked by Khaitan & Co and the Committee.

▪ The authors of the top three entries will be selected for a virtual conference. In the conference, they would be required to present their papers before a panel of 3 judges from Khaitan & Co.

▪ The participants may adopt any suitable means for presenting the papers including audio-visual aids, such as PowerPoint presentation.

▪ The final rankings of the authors of the top three entries shall be declared on the basis of their paper presentations in the virtual conference.

Cash Prizes:

▪ Winner: Rs. 15,000/-

▪ First Runner-Up: Rs. 10,000/-

▪ Second Runner-Up: 5,000/-

Other entitlements:

▪ The winning team of the Competition will get an opportunity to intern at Khaitan & Co. Khaitan & Co reserves all rights to determine the office, dates and team under which the internship is granted. The authors placed second and third may also be offered internships at Khaitan & Co’s discretion.

▪ The top three entries will receive a ‘Certificate of Merit’ and a ‘Certificate of Presentation’.

▪ The top three entries will get an opportunity to be considered for publication in the next issue of the RMLNLU Law Review Journal & the RMLNLU Law Review Blog.

▪ All participants shall receive a ‘Certificate of Participation’.

Participation Guidelines

▪ Co-authorship of entries (maximum two) among individuals from the same or different institutions is allowed.

▪ Multiple entries for same authors are not allowed.

▪ Entries should be original, unpublished and non-plagiarised.

Submission Guidelines

▪ Word Limit: 4000-5000 words (excluding footnotes).

▪ Individual Attachments: Name; contact details; current academic status (year of study, name of university etc.); undertaking as to guarantee of originality

▪ Font and size for the essay: Times New Roman – 12

▪ Font and size for footnotes: Times New Roman – 10

▪ Paper Size: A 4

▪ Line spacing: 1.5

▪ Margin: 1” from all sides

▪ Alignment: Justified

▪ Citation Style: Footnotes must be properly cited strictly in accordance with the latest OSCOLA (4th edition) format. No endnotes or speaking footnotes (descriptive footnotes) are permitted.

▪ Entries should be emailed to rilec.rmlnlu@gmail.com under the subject title “Entry for 9th RILEC – [Name(s) of Author(s)]” in Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) format.

▪ Any queries relating to the Competition should be addressed to rilec.rmlnlu@gmail.com.

Miscellaneous Rules

▪ The copyright for all entries shall vest with the Committee who herewith reserve the right to modify, postpone or defer the Competition and its adjudication indefinitely as and when exigencies of an unforeseen nature may arise.

▪ Any attempt, direct or indirect, to contact the panel of judges will be met with the immediate disqualification of the relevant entry.

▪ Any indication of the author’s name or university in the entry shall lead to immediate disqualification from the Competition. Details about the author may only be specified in the body of the mail and the name of the author must not be mentioned in the name of the file submitted.

Dates and Deadlines:

▪ Last date for submission of manuscript: Extended Deadline: 17th October 2021, 11:59 PM IST Late entries will not be entertained.

▪ The dates of the virtual conference will be announced soon.

Contact Information

▪ E-Mail ID (for queries): rilec.rmlnlu@gmail.com

▪ Contact Persons:

▪ Aditya Pattanayak: +91 9818849520

▪ Harsh Agarwal: +91 9399831636

▪ Dharmesh Basedia: +91 6370583783

For more details about the Competition, access the brochure from here.

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