Professor Neelakanta Ramakrishna Madhava Menon, widely considered to be the father of modern legal education in India, passed away on 7 May at the age of 84 following a battle with liver cancer.
Among Dr Menon’s significant contributions to the legal profession is the founding of the National Law School of India University (NLSIU) in Bengaluru in 1986. He transformed the way legal education was carried out in the country with the introduction of the five-year integrated LLB programme. This allowed the university to create better training for the country’s future lawyers, judges and teachers. He served the NLSIU as its founding vice-chancellor for 12 years.
