Legal Aid Forum

What Legal Aid Forum does

Legal Aid Forum is a legal aid cell established in 2013 within the ICFAI Law School at The ICFAI University, Dehradun — a UGC-recognized private university established under the ICFAI University Act 2003 and sponsored by the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India (ICFAI). The Forum operates from Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India, and functions as a clinical legal education and pro bono service initiative, providing free legal assistance to underserved communities while offering practical training to law students enrolled in ICFAI Law School programs (BBA-LL.B, BA-LL.B, LL.B, and LL.M).

The Forum is structurally embedded in the ICFAI Group ecosystem, which includes five constituent schools — ICFAI Business School, ICFAI Tech School, ICFAI Law School, ICFAI Education School, and ICFAI School of Pharmaceutical Sciences — operating on a 30-acre campus in Selaqui, Dehradun. It benefits from the parent university's regulatory accreditations (UGC, PCI, NCTE, AIU, and Association of Commonwealth Universities UK), infrastructure (central library with 15,000+ books, moot court facilities), and faculty supervision. The parent university maintains regional city offices in Dehradun, Lucknow, and Patna, and has international academic partnerships with universities including Bentley, Hong Kong Polytechnic, Montana State, and University of Nottingham.

Legal Aid Forum is not a revenue-generating commercial entity; it operates as a non-profit academic extension of the law school, financed through the university's institutional framework. Its primary beneficiaries are law students seeking clinical training and community members requiring free legal services. The Forum participates in the university's broader industry interface program, including guest lectures and events such as 'Gender Justice through Advocacy in Modern India' and 'Law in Books Vs Law in Action,' and feeds into the law school's placement pipeline that benefits employers such as Quislex Legal Services Pvt. Ltd.

Name

Legal Aid Forum

Legal name

The ICFAI University, Dehradun

Website

https://iudehradun.edu.in

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Legal Aid Forum is a 2013-established pro bono legal aid cell within ICFAI Law School at ICFAI University Dehradun, India, providing free legal services to underserved communities and clinical training to law students across BBA-LL.B, BA-LL.B, LL.B, and LL.M programs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Higher Education

NAICS

Other Legal Services (54119), Educational Services (611)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111)

akta.pro primary industry

Clinical Legal Education & Legal Aid Clinics (Law School–Run) (EDAHAIAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

Legal Aid & Client Advocacy Services (BPAGAEAM)

Keywords

• Legal aid services
• Legal education programs
• Law school education
• Higher education services
• Professional legal training

Headquarters

HQ city

Dehradun, Uttarakhand

HQ country

India

HQ region

Asia

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Tuition and Program Fees: Revenue generated from UG, PG, and Ph.D programs across Business, Technology, Law, Education, and Pharmaceutical Sciences disciplines. Program fees vary by course and domicile status.
2. Distance Education: Flexible learning programs through Directorate of Distance Education with online student services and semester-based fee payments.
3. Semester Fee Payments: Annual/semester fee collection from enrolled students for on-campus programs including MBA, B.Pharmacy, and professional courses.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Legal Aid Forum is a legal aid initiative embedded within the ICFAI Law School at ICFAI University Dehradun. It supports the law school's academic programs (BBA-LL.B., BA-LL.B., LL.B., LL.M., and Ph.D. in Law) through legal aid clinics, guest lectures on contemporary legal themes, and capacity-building workshops for school teachers. The forum's underlying parent entity delivers on-campus and distance-learning law programs complemented by a placement cell that has placed graduates with recruiters such as Quislex Legal Services.

Product overview

ICFAI University Dehradun is a private university offering a multi-disciplinary educational portfolio through five constituent schools: ICFAI Business School (IBS) for management programs, ICFAI Tech School for engineering and technology programs, ICFAI Law School for legal studies, ICFAI Education School for teacher education, and ICFAI School of Pharmaceutical Sciences for pharmacy programs. The university delivers undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral programs across these schools, supported by a dedicated Centre for AI & ML, research publications (IUD Journal ANTARDRISHTI), and a placement cell achieving 96% student placements. Additionally, the Directorate of Distance Education provides flexible learning options through online student services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• MedXplore: Bi-annual e-newsletter of the ICFAI School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, covering pharmaceutical sciences, healthcare, human physiology, and biomedical sciences.

Products and services

• ICFAI Law School (Integrated & Postgraduate Law Programs) Constituent school offering integrated undergraduate programs (BBA-LL.B. Hons., BA-LL.B. Hons.), LL.B., LL.M. (1-year and 2-year), and Ph.D. programs in Law, designed for students seeking professional legal qualifications.
• Placement Services University placement cell coordinating employer connections, interview scheduling, industrial visits, and summer internship programs; reports a 96% placement rate with an average salary of Rs. 12 LPA, including recruiter Quislex Legal Services hiring law graduates as Legal Executives and Associates.

Quantifiable outcome

• 96% placement rate year after year
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Bentley UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational academic partnership for student and faculty exchange, collaborative research initiatives, and global exposure opportunities.
• Hong Kong Polytechnic University (HKPU)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational academic collaboration for knowledge sharing, research partnerships, and international exposure for students.
• Montana State University (MSU)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational university partnership for academic collaboration and student exchange programs.
• Mahidol University (MUS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational academic partnership for research collaboration and student exchange opportunities.
• Oklahoma State University (OSU)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational university partnership for academic exchange and collaborative research initiatives.
• University of South Alabama (SU)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational academic partnership for student exchange and research collaboration.
• University of MTL (UMT)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational academic collaboration for student and faculty exchange programs.
• University of Dubai (UOD)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational university partnership for academic exchange and knowledge sharing.
• University of Nottingham (UON)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational academic partnership for collaborative research and student exchange opportunities.
• University of South Australia (UOSA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational university partnership for academic collaboration and global exposure.
• University of Texas (UOT)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational academic partnership for research and student exchange initiatives.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Legal Services Clinic, National Law School of India University (NLSIU): NLSIU Bangalore’s legal services clinic is a flagship clinical legal education and pro bono program. Directly comparable in function (law school-run legal aid clinic), with a significantly stronger reputation and case docket.
• NLU Jodhpur Legal Aid Clinic: Clinical legal aid program at National Law University Jodhpur. Comparable in function as a law school-run legal aid clinic with stronger national rankings and Supreme Court exposure than regional counterparts.
• Delhi University Legal Aid Society (DULAS): Clinical legal aid clinic at the Campus Law Centre, Faculty of Law, University of Delhi. Directly comparable as a university-affiliated legal aid clinic serving indigent clients and providing student clinical training.
• NALSAR Legal Aid Society (NASLAS): Operates the legal aid and clinical education initiative at NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad. Directly comparable as a law school–run legal aid clinic offering pro bono representation, legal literacy, and clinical training, but with deeper national brand recognition.
• ILS Law College Legal Aid Cell: Legal aid clinic of the Indian Law Society’s ILS Law College, Pune. Long-running clinical legal education program attached to one of India’s oldest private law colleges, providing a comparable operational model.
• Christ University School of Law Legal Aid Cell: Law school legal aid cell at Christ (Deemed-to-be) University, Bangalore. Comparable private-university clinical legal education and pro bono program targeted at similar student and client populations.
• Symbiosis Law School Legal Aid Cell: Legal aid and clinical education cell at Symbiosis Law School, Pune. Comparable as a private university law school operating a legal aid clinic, with similar tier positioning in India’s private legal education landscape.

Broad incumbents

• National Legal Services Authority (NALSA): Statutory body under the Legal Services Authorities Act 1987 that funds and coordinates legal aid across India. Comparable in mission (legal aid delivery), but operates as a government-mandated umbrella rather than a law school-run clinical program.

Emerging players

• Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy: Independent legal policy and research organization that engages law students and recent graduates in access-to-justice and law reform work. Comparable as an adjacent player in clinical training and access-to-justice programming.
• IDIA (Increasing Diversity by Increasing Access to Legal Education): Non-profit that runs legal literacy, training, and access-to-justice programs with law students. Comparable in mission as a law student–focused access-to-justice initiative, though operating as an independent NGO rather than a university clinic.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/Icfaidistance
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/legal-aid-forum

Compliance6 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Legal Aid Forum