Top Law Schools

I graduated last winter, and since then I have been studying for and took the LSAT, did some traveling and stayed with friends in NYC & Philly for a month, volunteered at local nonprofit, and have been working off the books at a restaurant owned by my family. Do I put this work on my resume as current employment? If I leave it off, then it looks like I have been doing absolutely nothing for a year except volunteering at one local nonprofit. I am applying to T14 schools only. I have the numbers, but this past year looks really bad on my resume..

I am also concerned about the fact that I am working off the books...how does that work for C&f review when I am up for the bar later on? I don't have set hours or salary, parents give me an allowance, I just put in the hours every week because it is a family business and I treat it as my own.

Also, how bad does one full year of just "Volunteer at X" look on the resume? (For T14 schools)

I don't know if the bar would have a way of finding out that you've been working "off the books," but it sounds to me like it would pose a C&F issue if they did. Your best bet would probably be to work at your family's restaurant as a regular employee who pays taxes, that way you can list your employment on your resume and not be freaking out three years from now that the bar will find out that you didn't pay taxes on your income for a year. You could also speak to an attorney about this and get a professional opinion (I'm not a C&F expert, so who knows, an attorney might give you different advice).

Too late for that. I am applying to law schools now...

Checking with a lawyer is probably your best course of action. But I'm inclined to think that since it's a family business, C&F wouldn't come down hard on you.

Put it down. You'll have to put it down as an employer on C&F anyway. They'll just call the company, dba your mom, and confirm your employment. They won't ask, nor care, about the tax implications.

you'll make a great lawyer.

The experience in scamming the IRS will be invaluable.

Just list it elsewhere as something you've been doing. "Assisting with the family business".
It's not like that's a bad thing. The economy is tough and businesses are doing what they can to keep afloat. If you're dedicating your time helping your family's business, you're sacrificing other things you could be doing for the well being of your family. There's no shame in that, and I don't think adcomms actively seek ways to scrutinize what you've been doing with your time.

Plus, it's just an allowance right? You're not an employee. You're still a dependent and you'd be receiving the same allowance whether you're working there or not.