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I will be starting law school in the fall. The way I currently understand it, you can get the max amount of federal loans (subsidized and unsubsidized) and then get GradPLUS loans up to the cost of attendance. Why would someone need to take out a private loan? I have heard that some people may take out these loans to pay for their expenses during the summer, but wouldn't one be able to save up enough money working part time or just being really frugal with loan money? Also, I am reading GradPLUS loans are fixed at 8.5%. Isn't that really really high? Thanks.

Yes, GradPlus loans are fixed at 8.5%, and Stafford loans are fixed for Grad students at 6.8%. While the rate could be higher for GradPlus than a private loan, private loan rates aren't fixed so they can adjust at any time. I believe people would take out private loans to cover costs on top of what the school has as the cost of living. I don't think people take out private loans as much as they did before GradPlus loans became available.

Private loans are also limited by cost of attendance.

As far as why someone would take them out it is either because they'd rather take a lower adjustable interest rate than a higher fixed one or b/c they don't qualify for GradPlus for some reason.