Law Jobs update by Akinchan Aggarwal, Advocate — B.A. (Hons.), LL.B. (Gold Medalist), LL.M. (Disputes Resolution), UGC-NET, Ph.D. (Pursuing)
Ernst & Young (EY) has opened applications for the position of Senior Consultant — Forensics within its National — ASU — Forensics — Investigations & Compliance practice at Mumbai. The role is open to candidates holding an LL.B. or CS qualification with at least 4 years of experience as a compliance professional.
This is a rare opening in the sense that matters to law graduates: it is one of the few Big Four roles where a law degree is listed as a primary qualification rather than a "preferred" add-on. If you have spent four or more years in compliance, internal audit support, regulatory advisory or investigations, this sits squarely within reach.
Why This Role Exists
EY's Forensic & Integrity Services practice — housed under the Assurance Service Unit (ASU) — handles fraud investigations, whistleblower and hotline reviews, anti-bribery and anti-corruption (ABAC) compliance, regulatory investigations, and dispute support work for corporate clients. As Indian regulators have sharpened enforcement under the Companies Act, 2013, SEBI regulations, the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 and FCPA/UK Bribery Act exposure for Indian subsidiaries of foreign parents, demand for investigators who can read both a ledger and a statute has grown steadily.
That is the gap this position is designed to fill. The employer is not looking for a litigator. It is looking for someone who can trace an irregularity through financial and operational data, understand the compliance framework it breached, and write it up in a form that survives scrutiny.
Key Details at a Glance
| Particulars | Details |
|---|---|
| Organisation | Ernst & Young (EY) |
| Post | Senior Consultant — Forensics |
| Service Line | National — ASU — Forensics — Investigations & Compliance |
| Location | Mumbai, Maharashtra — 400028 |
| Requisition ID | 1727965 |
| Qualification | LL.B. or CS (Company Secretary) |
| Experience | Minimum 4+ years as a compliance professional |
| Number of Vacancies | Not specified in the notification |
| Remuneration | Not disclosed — as per EY's internal bands for the Senior Consultant grade |
| Age Limit | No age limit prescribed |
| Nature of Engagement | Full-time employment |
| Mode of Application | Online, through the EY careers portal |
| Date Posted | 18 August 2026 |
| Last Date | No closing date announced — applications appear to be accepted on a rolling basis until the position is filled |
What the Work Actually Involves
Stripped of consulting vocabulary, the notification asks for five capabilities:
- Supporting forensic investigations and compliance reviews within complex business environments — meaning multi-entity groups, multiple jurisdictions, and stakeholders who are not always cooperative.
- Analysing financial and operational data to identify anomalies, irregularities and control gaps. You will be working with transaction data, vendor masters, expense claims and approval trails, not just documents.
- Applying investigative techniques to assist in fraud detection, fact-finding and dispute analysis.
- Working knowledge of compliance frameworks, internal controls and the regulatory requirements relevant to forensic engagements.
- Preparing structured documentation — evidence summaries, analytical outputs and reports that support the investigation's findings and can withstand challenge.
That last point deserves emphasis. In forensic work, the report is the deliverable. It may be read by an audit committee, a regulator, opposing counsel, or eventually a court. Drafting discipline is not a soft skill here — it is the core of the job, and it is precisely where law graduates tend to have an edge over purely finance-trained peers.
Eligibility — Read This Before Applying
You need an LL.B. or a CS qualification, and at least four years of experience as a compliance professional. The experience requirement is not decorative — this is a lateral hire at the Senior Consultant grade, not an entry-level opening.
Experience that will typically be counted as relevant:
- In-house compliance, secretarial or risk roles in a listed or large private company
- Internal audit, SOX or internal financial controls (IFC) testing
- Regulatory advisory practice — SEBI, RBI, Companies Act, FEMA, PMLA
- Prior forensic, anti-fraud or investigations experience at another consulting firm
- Whistleblower and ethics-hotline case management
Experience that is less likely to carry weight on its own: pure litigation practice, conveyancing, or general corporate documentation work without a compliance or controls dimension. If your background is litigation, consider whether any of your matters involved regulatory investigation, forensic audit reports or economic offences — and lead with those on your CV.
Skills and Attributes EY Says It Is Looking For
- Ability to work collaboratively across multiple client departments — forensic work cuts across finance, HR, IT and legal, often simultaneously
- A practical approach to solving complex problems, delivering insightful and workable solutions rather than theoretical ones
- Agility, curiosity, adaptability and creativity — the firm's stated cultural markers
- Comfort with ambiguity and incomplete information, which is the normal condition of an investigation at its outset
How to Apply
- Visit the official EY job posting for Requisition ID 1727965: Senior Consultant — Forensics, Mumbai (careers.ey.com)
- Alternatively, search the role on the EY careers portal: EY Online Application Portal
- Create or log in to your candidate profile, upload an updated CV, and complete the application form.
- Tailor your CV to the five capability areas listed above. Generic "compliance" descriptions are filtered out quickly at this grade; quantify what you reviewed, investigated or remediated.
Note: EY does not charge any fee at any stage of its recruitment process. Applications are accepted only through the official careers portal. Treat any communication demanding payment, or any offer letter received from a non-EY domain, as fraudulent.
An Honest Assessment
What's Good
- A law degree is an accepted primary qualification, not a substitute for a CA. That is genuinely uncommon in Big Four forensic hiring.
- Forensics is among the more resilient consulting practices — investigations and regulatory work tend to hold up even when transaction advisory slows.
- Skills built here (fraud investigation, ABAC compliance, evidence handling) transfer well to in-house compliance leadership roles, and increasingly to independent forensic practice.
- Mumbai posting means proximity to SEBI, RBI and the bulk of India's listed-company client base.
What to Weigh
- No salary disclosed. Negotiate on the basis of your current CTC and market benchmarks for Senior Consultant at a Big Four firm; do not anchor low.
- Travel and hours. Investigation work is deadline-driven and often on client premises. Fieldwork at short notice is routine.
- This is a consulting role, not a legal role. You will not be advising on law or appearing anywhere. If your goal is courtroom practice, this is a lateral move away from it.
- Data skills matter. If you are uncomfortable with Excel at an advanced level, or with reviewing large transaction datasets, factor in the learning curve.
Who Should Apply
Company secretaries and law graduates with four to eight years in compliance, internal audit or regulatory advisory who want to move into investigations; in-house compliance managers seeking exposure across industries; and anyone already doing forensic work at a smaller firm looking to move up to a Big Four platform.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a fresh law graduate apply for this EY Senior Consultant post?
No. The notification requires a minimum of 4+ years of experience as a compliance professional. Fresh graduates should look instead at EY's Analyst or Consultant-level openings, which are advertised separately on the same portal.
Is a CA qualification required?
No. The stated qualification is CS or LL.B. A CA is not listed as a requirement for this particular role, though comfort with financial data is expected.
What is the last date to apply?
No closing date has been announced. Big Four postings of this kind generally remain open until a suitable candidate is selected, so early application is advisable.
What is the salary for a Senior Consultant at EY?
EY has not disclosed the compensation for this role. Pay at the Senior Consultant grade is determined by the firm's internal bands and varies with the candidate's experience, qualification and existing compensation. Candidates should raise this during the HR discussion stage.
Is the role based only in Mumbai?
The posting specifies Mumbai (400028) as the location. Client-site travel across India should be expected as part of the role.
Conclusion
For law graduates who chose compliance over litigation and have sometimes wondered whether that closed doors, this posting is a useful counter-example. Forensic investigation is one of the few commercial practice areas where legal training is treated as an asset in its own right — the ability to construct a defensible record, to understand what a regulator will ask, and to write findings that hold up under challenge is not something a finance qualification supplies on its own.
Four years of compliance experience and an LL.B. or CS is the entire gate. If you clear it, the application takes twenty minutes.
Disclaimer: This post is published for information purposes only. Lawizard is not affiliated with Ernst & Young in any manner and is not involved in the recruitment process. Details have been compiled from the official EY careers portal and publicly reported sources as available on the date of publication, and are subject to change without notice. Candidates are strongly advised to verify all particulars — including eligibility, location, remuneration and the closing date — from the official notification before applying. Lawizard does not charge any fee for job updates, and no employer should be paid any amount at any stage of a genuine recruitment process.
