More than three quarters of a century ago, many eminent lawyers and visionaries from the North Karnataka region, who also happened to be leading lights in the Freedom Struggle, looked far ahead and decided that making legal education accessible to citizens of North Karnataka was a worthy goal, whatever the difficulty. Thus seven eminent lawyers  – N. S. Shrikhande, V.A. Naik, V. D. Belvi, B. N. Datar, S. N. Angadi. R. Kotbagi, D. S. Paramaj came together to form Karnatak Law Society in 1939 in Belagavi. Shrimant Raja Lakhamgouda Sirdesai of Vantmuri trusted these Founder Members to be true to their vision and a Promissory Note totaling Rs. 1 Lakh was executed by him to support the application for opening a new Law College. Many of these founder members, and other legal scholars from this region volunteered to teach at this College despite lucrative practice, and extensive personal and social commitments. Belagavi thus became a renowned education centre for Law education. Students from Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Maharashtra took admission and proved to be active in social, political and judicial fields.

The first batch of Raja Lakhamgouda College started operating in 1939, graduated in 1941. Since then, more than 7500 students have passed through the hallowed portals of this esteemed institution. A few notables among the many luminaries that this college has produced include – Shri. E. S. Venkataramiah, Former Chief Justice of India, Shri. S. Rajendra Babu, Former Chief Justice of India & Chairman, National Human Rights Commission, .and Shri. K. K. Venugopal, Present Attorney General of India.

Today, Karnatak Law Society (KLS) has the distinction of running schools, and colleges in the fields of Law, Commerce, Engineering and Management Education and all its Institutions have earned reputation of being as leading institutions in Karnataka.