A Day in the Life of Faiz Ayat Ansari, Assistant Professor of Law (Senior Scale) at KIIT School of Law!

This post is part of our ‘A Day in the Life’ segment, where we showcase the lives of legal professionals. The segment aims to help you make inspired and informed career decisions.

Faiz Ayat Ansari is currently serving as an Assistant Professor of Law (Senior Scale) at KIIT School of Law, KIIT Deemed to be University (Institution of Eminence), Bhubaneswar. He is also a PhD Research Scholar at the National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bengaluru.

He is associated as a Researcher and Collaborator with the Mediterranea International Centre for Human Rights Research, Italy, and serves as the Regional Coordinator (Asia) for the International Association of Social Protection. He is a Peer Reviewer for the Journal of Population Ageing (University of Oxford) and the Journal of Victimology and Victim Justice (NLU Delhi).

In addition, he acts as a Distinguished Legal Advisor and Consultant to several institutions, including Bank of Baroda, Micforte Attorneys (Nigeria), and RTIwala and Partner, GUJ·JURIX, a full-service law firm based in Gujarat.

Faiz has been actively engaged in the legal profession for a little over ten years, encompassing teaching, research, consultancy, and advisory roles. His professional journey began in 2015, when he undertook long-duration court internships and research assistance while still in law school.

Can you describe your specific responsibilities in this role?

My responsibilities are delightfully diverse:

• Teaching undergraduate and postgraduate courses (Constitutional Law, Comparative Constitutional Law, Jurisprudence, Affirmative Action & Discriminative Justice, Media Law, etc.) at KIIT School of Law and earlier as Teaching Assistant at NLSIU, Bengaluru and Guest Faculty at NLU, Odisha.
• Guiding LL.M. dissertations and PhD-level research.
• Conducting and publishing research; peer-reviewing for Oxford and NLU Delhi journals.
• Delivering guest lectures/resource person sessions at institutions across the globe (Stanford, Federal District University Centre-Brazil, Tashkent State University of Law, University of Seville, Diplomatic Academy-Moscow, Catholic University of Santos, University of Caxias do Sul, Higher School of the Attorney General’s Office-Brazil, Interdisciplinary School of Fundamental Rights PraeEminentia Iustitia-Peru, etc.).
• Providing legal consultancy to Bank of Baroda, United Nations-related initiatives, GUJ·JURIX, Micforte Attorneys-Nigeria, and RTIwala, and several government and private entities.
• Coordinating international conferences, editing books and journals, developing e-content, and serving on university committees.
• Pursuing my own PhD at NLSIU Bengaluru while balancing everything else.

What is the most important thing you’ve learned since starting in this role?

Balance is not a myth — it is a disciplined rhythm. The most important lesson has been that sustained high performance in teaching, research, consultancy, and personal life is possible only when you respect your body clock, your faith, and your mental peace.

Offering the five daily prayers has been my anchor — it forces me to pause, re-centre, and return to work with renewed clarity and confidence. That 5–10 minute break every few hours is more productive than three extra hours of forced late-night grinding. I am not a big fan of working late night.

What’s the one thing that surprised you about the job when you started?

I won’t really call it a surprise, as it was anticipated. But still, many fresh graduates are often surprised by how much administration and coordination academia actually involves!

Within months of me joining my first workplace in academia, I was coordinating international conferences (Italy 2021, Brazil-Peru 2025 series), editing newsletters, handling NAAC documentation, organising moot courts, developing full e-content modules for four subjects, and simultaneously providing constitutional law inputs to Bank of Baroda and a Gujarat Government-funded medical negligence project at GNLU.

The dynamics were pleasant — it made me a far more rounded professional than I ever imagined.

What does a typical day in your life look like?

A typical weekday of mine is as follows:

• 04:30 – Morning prayer
• 05:30 – 07:00 – Reading
• 07:00 – 07:30 – Warm up, Running
• 07.30- 09:00 – Freshening up, Breakfast, Reaching workplace
• 09:30 – 13:30 – Taking classes and other institutional work
• 13:30 – 14:30 – Lunch
• 14:30 – 18:00 – Administrative work, dissertation guidance, conference calls with international collaborators, PhD and other research work, writing, student counseling, meetings
• 18:00 – 19.00- Reaching home, freshening up, supper, time with family
• 20:00 – 20.15 Consultancy opinions or delivering online guest lectures (Brazil/Spain/Italy time zones usually fall here)
• 20:15 – 20.30 – Last prayer of the day
• 20:30 – 21:30 – Dinner, Family time, cricket commentary (I still follow every ball), other sports
• 22:00 – Sleep

Weekends are reserved for heavier writing blocks, long-form consultancy reports, and catching up on Oxford/NLU Delhi peer-review assignments. The train-commute discipline from my B.A.LL.B. (Hons.) days (https://lawctopus.com/clatalogue/clat-ug/faiz-ayat-ansari-law-school-journey/) (sprinting from campus to catch the 13:45 Swaraj/Sarvoday Express) still lives in me — I am a big fan of punctuality and discipline.

What are the Pros and Cons of your work?

Pros

• Intellectual autonomy and variety — no two days are the same.
• Global exposure — I have spoken at Stanford, Moscow, Seville, and Tashkent.
• Direct impact — whether it is shaping 200+ students in a classroom, influencing a Bank of Baroda policy, or giving legal opinion to GUJ·JURIX on a constitutional, criminal, corporate or intellectual property matter, or helping a Nigerian firm on constitutional issues.
• Flexibility of schedule.

Cons

• The sheer volume — teaching + research + consultancy + peer-reviewing + PhD can feel like juggling five full-time jobs.
• Constant context-switching between Indian, Brazilian, Italian, Nigerian, and international frameworks — mentally taxing but ultimately rewarding.

You frequently review academic journals in India and abroad. What distinguishes a strong academic paper from a merely good one?

A strong paper does four things exceptionally well:

(a) identifies a genuine gap (not just “further research is needed” laziness),
(b) engages in rigorous methodological honesty (doctrinal, comparative, or empirical — whatever it claims, it must deliver),
(c) displays originality of thought rather than originality of topic, and
(d) writes with clarity and elegance — if I have to read a sentence thrice, the paper has already lost.

Bonus points: interdisciplinary depth, policy relevance, and impeccable citations. I reject far more papers for poor language and over-claiming than for weak research.

Many young academics struggle to balance publishing, teaching, and consulting. What framework or habits have helped you sustain productivity across all three?

My productivity framework is built on a few disciplined habits that have evolved over years of juggling teaching, research, consultancy, and my PhD:

• I structure my day around the five daily prayers, which act as natural breaks. These short pauses reset my focus, bring peace of mind, and give me the confidence to tackle the next task with clarity rather than fatigue.
• Every day, I sit down to review and prioritize my upcoming tasks. This helps me map out the schedule so that high-impact work — whether preparing a Constitutional Law lecture, drafting a peer-review report for Oxford or NLU Delhi journals, or writing a consultancy opinion for Bank of Baroda — always gets the prime slots.
• I consciously set tight but realistic internal deadlines for everything. This prevents tasks from dragging on indefinitely and keeps the momentum going without unnecessary delays.
• Daily physical movement is non-negotiable — I sprint 4-5 km most days. Ideas flow far better when the body is active, and it keeps burnout at bay.

Above all, I’ve don’t hesitate to say “no” — politely but firmly — to anything outside my priority. That single habit has probably saved me more energy than any productivity tool ever could.

For law students wanting to enter academia, what skills or experiences should they prioritise early in their careers?

• Be closely involved in at least one subject deeply from early on — mine has always been Constitutional Law (at least since my LL.M. in Constitutional and Administrative Law from GNLU), and it remains my strongest foundation, opening doors to teaching, research, and consultancy even beyond constitutional law, like corporate matters, intellectual property, state sponsored and private projects, etc.
• Publish early and often, even if it starts small — a thoughtful case comment on a reputable blog or student journal counts and builds momentum over time.
• Seek teaching experience wherever possible — whether through TAships (I assisted Dr. Aparna Chandra at NLSIU Bengaluru on Constitutional Law), delivering guest lectures, or coaching moot court teams (I’ve coached winning teams in international competitions).
• Invest in rigorous research methodology — my empirical-doctrinal work on the GNLU-Government of Gujarat medical negligence project taught me more about structured research than any textbook ever could.
• Build an international profile proactively — present papers abroad, initiate collaborations (my ongoing circuit with institutions in Italy, UK, Brazil, Peru, Australia and Spain began with exchange of ideas with reputed law professionals in these jurisdictions since my LL.M. days), and engage globally.
• Develop strong administrative and organizational skills — coordinating international conferences, editing journals and newsletters, or handling university committees. However, you should not merely end up becoming an ‘Event Organiser’ in the garb of a law academician. As Prof. N.L.Mitra often says and I completely agree with him, effective teaching, classroom discussions and research are the most important and non-negotiable attributes required for a law academician. If you are having to resort to means beyond teaching and research to command the respect of the students, you are doing something wrong. Indian legal academia needs to go to the next level globally, and the lead needs to be taken by all the law academicians collectively in this regard.
• Clear UGC NET/SET as early as possible — it removes a major eligibility barrier and gives you freedom to focus on growth.
• Stay humble and endlessly curious — arrogance closes more doors in academia than lack of knowledge ever will.
• Finally, cultivate what I call the “Theory of Irrelevance”: train yourself to quickly identify and ignore opinions, distractions, or negativity that have no real bearing on your goals. Once you internalize this, irrelevant noise fades away, letting you channel energy toward meaningful relationships, opportunities, and personal progress. This mindset has been one of my biggest assets in staying focused and resilient.

Please recommend any books or resources that you think every law student should explore.

Must-reads (beyond bare acts and textbooks):

• Supreme Court & Judicial Process: Aparna Chandra, Sital Kalantry & William H.J. Hubbard – Court on Trial: A Data-Driven Account of the Supreme Court of India (for its empirical insights into judicial functioning)
• Constitutional Law & Federalism: Sujit Choudhry, Madhav Khosla & Pratap Bhanu Mehta (eds.) – The Oxford Handbook of the Indian Constitution (an essential comprehensive reference)
• Power & Constitutional Interpretation: Gautam Bhatia – The Indian Constitution: A Conversation with Power (a fresh lens on centralising tendencies and federal dynamics)
• Historical & Cultural Context: Jawaharlal Nehru – The Discovery of India (to understand the civilisational backdrop of our constitutional journey)
• Career Guidance: Tanuj Kalia – Law as a Career (practical advice for aspiring lawyers navigating entrances, internships, and professional paths)
• Faith & Inspiration (personal recommendation): Safiur Rahman Mubarakpuri – The Sealed Nectar (Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtum) – a profound biography of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) offering timeless lessons in resilience, justice, and leadership

And finally, as I often tell my students: law is as dynamic as a career choice can get, but to truly thrive in it, start by respecting yourself and your own rhythm. Don’t let irrelevant noise or negativity distract you — what I call the “Theory of Irrelevance” (as discussed earlier) has been my quiet strength.

Understand yourself deeply, stay disciplined with your body clock (day for work, night for rest), and keep that childlike curiosity alive. The rest — publications, lectures, consultancy, research — follows naturally when you build on a foundation of inner peace and genuine passion.

Last but definitely not the least, I thank Lawctopus, for interviewing me and helping me reach more students! I have always appreciated the positive role of Lawctopus in a law student’s life in India!

Disclaimer: Interviews published on Lawctopus are not thoroughly edited to retain the voice of the interviewee.