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About two weeks into my 1l SA, midmarket office. I'm paid biweekly so I thought I would be getting paid this Friday, but for whatever reason the first payment date is three weeks into it, on the 3rd. I have basically 0 dollars for next week and need to pay bills/rent/food, should I ask for an advance or is that bad form? I think the managing partner has to approve it or something.

can't borrow from a friend or something?

Anonymous User wrote:can't borrow from a friend or something?

I guess I could try my parents but I'd really rather not do that

Anonymous User wrote:About two weeks into my 1l SA, midmarket office. I'm paid biweekly so I thought I would be getting paid this Friday, but for whatever reason the first payment date is three weeks into it, on the 3rd. I have basically 0 dollars for next week and need to pay bills/rent/food, should I ask for an advance or is that bad form? I think the managing partner has to approve it or something.

Do not ask for an advance.

Can you put stuff on a credit card and just pay it off when you get paid next week?

Yeah don't ask for an advance. I would use, in this order, credit card, parents/friends, law school journal (if that's an option), and law school/university itself (I assume most schools have an "emergency" loan option) as a source of funds.

Even if you don't have a credit card now, you could easily apply today and get one by June 1st (3rd) to do rent.

emkay625 wrote:Can you put stuff on a credit card and just pay it off when you get paid next week?

A lot of places don't let you put rent on a credit card or have a non-trivial surcharge for doing so.

You get a 21 day grace period after the bill is due to pay off a credit card in full before the interest hits. I'd strongly recommend that over an advance.

As to the rent issue, you make enough as an SA and future associate that the admittedly non-trivial amount is worth it to avoid asking for an advance.

don't apartments usually allow you to pay rent by 5th of the month and not charge a late fee? if you get paid June 3rd then pay rent on 3rd, otherwise get a 0% introductory interest rate card to pay for food etc.

I knew an SA a few years back in Las Vegas. On his first pay day he took his entire first pay check (it wasn't quite as big as you NYC, DC, LA guys) and played it all on a single hand of black jack. He won!
It was awesome! We partied on the winnings all night. I think all of the winnings were spent in one single night, especially since he went back to a hotel room with a "casino girl" at the end of the night.
However, he was still able to pay his rent, internet, and phone bill all on time!

If your LL is not a conglomerate (Related, Thor, etc.), ask him/her if you can get an extension. They usually won't care so long as they get paid eventually.

FYI, many residential leases in NYC have per-day late fees.

Also, most firms/companies don't operate on a pay schedule. So for me, I got paid for weeks 1 + 2 two Fridays after that pay period. So essentially, I didn't get my first paycheck for a month. But keep in mind, you'll get another paycheck or two after your summer internship is completed.

OP, whenever I was in a weird gap with my post 9/11 gi bill stipend and rent, I'd call the rental office/landlord and tell them what's going on, and when they could expect payment. They never had a problem with it, even though they could have charged me a late fee (never did). Doesn't hurt to ask.

edit: beaten to it!

thanks guys I'll talk to the landlord

h2go wrote:

emkay625 wrote:Can you put stuff on a credit card and just pay it off when you get paid next week?

A lot of places don't let you put rent on a credit card or have a non-trivial surcharge for doing so.

worst case scenario cash advance from credit card, high interest rate but shouldn't be a big deal for just a couple weeks

Not OP, but curious why advance is so frowned upon?

Anonymous User wrote:Not OP, but curious why advance is so frowned upon?

Yeah same question - my firm actually gave us forms to ask for an advance and it seemed totally fine. Especially because we're not being paid until about 4 weeks in.

I asked for an advance and got one from my firm. I hadn't already started working though.

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sublime wrote:There is a difference between a firm offering an advance, and you asking for one.

Not OP. Can you explain the difference?

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