Top Law Schools

I take the bar in July and start a clerkship in December. I'd like to have some income during the interim. Doc review doesn't sound like a bad idea. What are the chances an agency or firm in a major market (think NYC) would hire me for temp work if I am pending bar admission? I'm CCN top 1/3 if it matters.

I think LAST tutoring would pay more.

TaipeiMort wrote:I think LAST tutoring would pay more.

I'm not sure I would be able to get consistent hours and it might take awhile to get hooked up with an agency. Maybe I could supplement other income this way. What are the rates like for an independent on Craiglist/bulletin board? $50/hr?

Honestly I would rather do 40 hours of doc review than 10 hours of LSAT tutoring. I would feel horrible taking money from some kid who might not break 160 but end up applying anyway.

Anonymous User wrote:

TaipeiMort wrote:I think LAST tutoring would pay more.

I'm not sure I would be able to get consistent hours and it might take awhile to get hooked up with an agency. Maybe I could supplement other income this way. What are the rates like for an independent on Craiglist/bulletin board? $50/hr?

Honestly I would rather do 40 hours of doc review than 10 hours of LSAT tutoring. I would feel horrible taking money from some kid who might not break 160 but end up applying anyway.

I hate to say this because I am ALL about making money. But sounds like you worked pretty hard got into a great school, worked pretty hard and did well, got a good (I am guessing Fed.) clerkship. Take those couple months and relax bro. I think you can afford it and you wont have many opportunities like this again.

Just my thoughts

AssumptionRequired wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:

TaipeiMort wrote:I think LAST tutoring would pay more.

I'm not sure I would be able to get consistent hours and it might take awhile to get hooked up with an agency. Maybe I could supplement other income this way. What are the rates like for an independent on Craiglist/bulletin board? $50/hr?

Honestly I would rather do 40 hours of doc review than 10 hours of LSAT tutoring. I would feel horrible taking money from some kid who might not break 160 but end up applying anyway.

I hate to say this because I am ALL about making money. But sounds like you worked pretty hard got into a great school, worked pretty hard and did well, got a good (I am guessing Fed.) clerkship. Take those couple months and relax bro. I think you can afford it and you wont have many opportunities like this again.

Just my thoughts

Unfortunately taking a few months off is not really an option- every penny has gone to minimize debt and I barely have enough to make it through the bar. Traveling is out of the question for that same reason. I suppose I could live at home but it is not a great place to be for more than a week or two for a number of personal reasons.

My other option is to try to snag a couple of different part-time jobs at smaller firms that might not pay as much but will pay enough to live and maybe pay the interest on my debt and the min payments until I can get a steady salary/go on LRAP. I asked the school whether they would fund a few months at a gov't org I interned with but they said no. I guess since I am already happily employed they don't see how it will help their numbers.

decent or reputable small firms do not usually take temp workers, do they? (unless you know the partners)
shitlaw firms may taint your resume.

Dunno what doc review pays, but there's quite a bit of money to be made in LSAT tutoring if you can land the work.

I took a year off between college and law school, and I spent part of that time teaching the LSAT. I worked through one well-known prep company in NYC, but the hourly rate honestly wasn't great ($40/hr to teach a course and $50 for private tutoring). But the big advantage there was that you didn't have to hunt for work. They put out notifications for available classes/private students, and it was a first-come-first-serve system.

Before long, though, I wised up and figured I could make substantially more money going freelance. A few craigslist ads later touting my credentials (HYS-bound + 180 LSAT score...no joke) landed me a steady stream of students. At my peak, I was probably meeting with 7-8 students a week, 2 hours per student, at $75/hr. When I started down this route, I only charged $50, but $75 turns out to be a bargain for lots of these people, given that the private companies can charge as much as $150/hr to go through their private tutors. This meant I was earning ~$1K/week for fairly low-impact work...and it was all in cash