| Answer: Cyber law has recently come up as a specialised field for lawyers and is also a field in which netizens can be monitored, as it affects and governs their rights. Digital signatures and e-contracts are fast replacing conventional methods of transacting business. Cyber laws are laws relating to data protection, cyber crimes, e-governance, intellectual property and digital signature.
Some of the services provided by cyber lawyers include:
- software licensing and sub-licensing,
- copyright protection and infringement,
- franchising and distribution agreements,
- trade mark registration, protection and infringement,
- partnering, joint venture and joint development agreements,
- drafting shareholders’ agreements, special resolutions and other corporate matters,
- brand and image rights protection,
- data protection and privacy law issues,
- guidance on confidential information.
Cyber lawyers assist the police in cyber crime investigation. Cyber crime investigation involves the collection, analysis and investigation of digital evidence and cyber trails. This digital evidence and cyber trail may be found on computer hard disks, cell phones, CDs, DVDs, floppies, computer networks, the Internet, etc.
Cyber lawyers are required to educate netizens and e-traders on the various laws and acts passed by a country to govern the cyber world as well as punishments for the violation of those laws.
Cyber lawyers can work independently as consultants or in legal consulting and arbitration firms for providing assistance to advocates in cases related to cyber crimes. They can also work with large corporates or companies, which largely depend on the Internet for commercial activities, to keep a watch on any possible infringement.
As Internet-based applications in government departments, banks, telemarketing and online stock trading is growing, responsibilities of cyber lawyers are bound to increase in proportion. Career prospects are bright for these professionals due to the limited availability of trained and educated experts on the subject.
With adequate experience as a cyber lawyer, you can provide the best techno-legal remedies to your clients, represent multi-million dollar cases before a court of law or adjudicating officers, provide expert opinion in cyber crime cases in court, draft e-commercial contracts, agreements, disclaimers and establish security policies for clients, independently conduct cyber crime investigations for corporate organisations and conduct cyber-legal audits.
In legal process outsourcing (LPO), the work done is mostly of a secretarial nature and includes patent drafting, legal research, contract review and monitoring. It’s an emerging field and not many legal firms in India have experimented with it so far.
If you are academically inclined, you can opt for higher studies in law and join academics.
The scope for cyber law professionals is great. However, you need to market yourself and your law degree to reap the benefits.
If you want to take up technical job rather than a legal job, you must look for companies who either provide the Network/Cyber Security Audit services or hire in-house experts who can help strengthen the Cyber Security structure of the organization to prevent any information leaks and keep the data safe and secure.
All the best
CareerAge Counselor |
