Top Law Schools

Hi
For those already in law school, what do you do for money? Is everybody living on student loans or do you guys have paying jobs while you go to class?

This question is overly broad. Most students use loans to cover cost of living and cost of tuition, fees, etc., but some can get by without it for multiple reasons (rich family, personal savings, full scholarship, etc.).

As for "paying jobs," 1Ls are limited to jobs of 20 hours/week max (and some schools restrict that number even further) by the ABA.

There isn't a single answer to "how do law students live financially?" What are your specific circumstances?

UVA2B wrote: As for "paying jobs," 1Ls are limited to jobs of 20 hours/week max (and some schools restrict that number even further) by the ABA.

ABA no longer requires this in its accreditation standards: https://www.americanbar.org/groups/lega ... tions.html

"Standard 304(f), which restricted student employment to 20 hours per week, was eliminated in 2014. ABA-approved law schools may continue to retain a student employment rule even though it is no longer required by the Standards."

Still not able to figure out how any school actually enforces this and to what extent they do (and why they ever would). I had classmates who worked during 1L (and were full-time students) and definitely did more than 20 hours.

mcmand wrote:

UVA2B wrote: As for "paying jobs," 1Ls are limited to jobs of 20 hours/week max (and some schools restrict that number even further) by the ABA.

ABA no longer requires this in its accreditation standards: https://www.americanbar.org/groups/lega ... tions.html

"Standard 304(f), which restricted student employment to 20 hours per week, was eliminated in 2014. ABA-approved law schools may continue to retain a student employment rule even though it is no longer required by the Standards."

Still not able to figure out how any school actually enforces this and to what extent they do (and why they ever would). I had classmates who worked during 1L (and were full-time students) and definitely did more than 20 hours.

I always forget they repealed that rule. Thanks for the backup.

i knew a couple people who bounced or bartended through law school but i wouldn't recommend it.

mcmand wrote:

UVA2B wrote: As for "paying jobs," 1Ls are limited to jobs of 20 hours/week max (and some schools restrict that number even further) by the ABA.

ABA no longer requires this in its accreditation standards: https://www.americanbar.org/groups/lega ... tions.html

"Standard 304(f), which restricted student employment to 20 hours per week, was eliminated in 2014. ABA-approved law schools may continue to retain a student employment rule even though it is no longer required by the Standards."

Still not able to figure out how any school actually enforces this and to what extent they do (and why they ever would). I had classmates who worked during 1L (and were full-time students) and definitely did more than 20 hours.

Eh, if you’re a full-time program I can see restricting the hours students work during 1L given the learning curve and importance of grades. I agree that in practice it’s almost impossible to enforce (except maybe for school-administered employment), but given how often people here advise others not to work during 1L, I don’t think the restriction is nonsensical.

Thank you for responding.

I bounced for a bit, But getting home at 3am on a school night sucked. For this year and last year I've been able to do seasonal tax work during the spring semester even with 17 hour semester schedules.

Many people tutor LSAT in law school.

I did an evening law program while fully employed. I would not recommend it because a lot of my evening classmates didn't work, which put me at a disadvantage grade-wise.

I clerked for a judge for 2 years. Didn't make much. 575$ every 2 weeks.

Agent007 wrote:I did an evening law program while fully employed. I would not recommend it because a lot of my evening classmates didn't work, which put me at a disadvantage grade-wise.

Cosigned. In retrospect, I'd have been better off working 25-30 hours/week and going to school full-time.