Supplementing Income as an Attorney Forum

[JD_Unit]

Hi everyone --

I'm a second year associate making a decent living at my firm (roughly $90k per year -- not biglaw numbers, but not starving either). In an effort to pay down my remaining loan balance as quickly as possible, I'd like to supplement my income if at all possible. I realize moonlighting/taking on legal matters outside my firm is probably a bad idea and likely out of the question. With that constraint, what are some other ways to supplement my income as an attorney? Has anyone had any relevant experience? Any insight would be helpful. Thanks!

[star fox]

Well if you have the time probably the same way anyone else does. Perform odd jobs for people, drive Uber, rent out your place on AirBnB.

[First Offense]

Uber, board dogs, airbnb.

[dood]

day trading options. but check your firms policy on this first.

[I'm_All_In]

As stated in a prior post, make sure you're not violating your employer's policies. But here are a few things I've seen other attorneys do to "moonlight" -

(1) Grading the Bar Exam - either for the state or for a specific bar prep program (you'd grade student's practice exams and provide feedback).
(2) Teaching the LSAT - if you did well on the exam or come from a good law school, you can always work for a company.
(3) SATs - I taught the SATs before law school. How much a commercial company is willing to pay depends on if you can teach the Math and Verbal sections as well. But I only taught reading comprehension (RC) because the RC sections and question stems/distractors from the SATs and LSATs are very similar, and the former is easier because it tells you exactly where to look in the reading passage. If you can do the LSAT RC, you can quickly learn to teach the SAT RC. If you're good, funny and the students like you, you can quickly gain a solid reputation.
(4) Adjunct at a local community college/university - based on your experience, maybe you could teach "Criminal Justice" or "Political Science - American Courts" to college students. Just don't violate any school policies and hopefully they will ask you to return every year.

[First Offense]

day trading options. but check your firms policy on this first.

Can't speak for all firms, but at my firm that's an explicit no no.

[Voyager]

Hi everyone --

I'm a second year associate making a decent living at my firm (roughly $90k per year -- not biglaw numbers, but not starving either). In an effort to pay down my remaining loan balance as quickly as possible, I'd like to supplement my income if at all possible. I realize moonlighting/taking on legal matters outside my firm is probably a bad idea and likely out of the question. With that constraint, what are some other ways to supplement my income as an attorney? Has anyone had any relevant experience? Any insight would be helpful. Thanks!

Depressing. OP landed a pretty good post law school gig for sure. Probably performed well in law school. Certainly landed a better gig than most new law school grads

Even so, still having difficulty with law school loans

Man, law school is such a horrible idea...

I suggest tutoring LSAT if you have the LSAT score to justify doing so. Super flexible hours for a pretty good hourly rate ($30-$50/hour... can get up to $100+ if in Manhattan with top credentials/at top tutoring shop like Manhattan LSAT)

[s1m4]

Hi everyone --

I'm a second year associate making a decent living at my firm (roughly $90k per year -- not biglaw numbers, but not starving either). In an effort to pay down my remaining loan balance as quickly as possible, I'd like to supplement my income if at all possible. I realize moonlighting/taking on legal matters outside my firm is probably a bad idea and likely out of the question. With that constraint, what are some other ways to supplement my income as an attorney? Has anyone had any relevant experience? Any insight would be helpful. Thanks!

Depressing. OP landed a pretty good post law school gig for sure. Probably performed well in law school. Certainly landed a better gig than most new law school grads

Even so, still having difficulty with law school loans

Man, law school is such a horrible idea...

I suggest tutoring LSAT if you have the LSAT score to justify doing so. Super flexible hours for a pretty good hourly rate ($30-$50/hour... can get up to $100+ if in Manhattan with top credentials/at top tutoring shop like Manhattan LSAT)

Don't be negative nancy - a lot of people supplement good full-time jobs to make extra income to buy a house quicker etc.

[Voyager]

Hi everyone --

I'm a second year associate making a decent living at my firm (roughly $90k per year -- not biglaw numbers, but not starving either). In an effort to pay down my remaining loan balance as quickly as possible, I'd like to supplement my income if at all possible. I realize moonlighting/taking on legal matters outside my firm is probably a bad idea and likely out of the question. With that constraint, what are some other ways to supplement my income as an attorney? Has anyone had any relevant experience? Any insight would be helpful. Thanks!

Depressing. OP landed a pretty good post law school gig for sure. Probably performed well in law school. Certainly landed a better gig than most new law school grads

Even so, still having difficulty with law school loans

Man, law school is such a horrible idea...

I suggest tutoring LSAT if you have the LSAT score to justify doing so. Super flexible hours for a pretty good hourly rate ($30-$50/hour... can get up to $100+ if in Manhattan with top credentials/at top tutoring shop like Manhattan LSAT)

Don't be negative nancy - a lot of people supplement good full-time jobs to make extra income to buy a house quicker etc.

HA! Oh, sure... but those people didn't lose ~$250k (3 years tuition @$40k/year + 3 years of lost wages @say, $40k/year) for the privilege!

And never mind that those "second jobs" are not normally being taken by salaried people with 50+ hour work weeks. Usually that is done on top of standard 40 hour a week hourly jobs.

Scary post, friends. Here we have someone with no kidding a top half- maybe even top third- outcome for all law school grads who is thinking about a second job.

I hope any prospective law students are reading the legal employment forum..

[1styearlateral]

Hi everyone --

I'm a second year associate making a decent living at my firm (roughly $90k per year -- not biglaw numbers, but not starving either). In an effort to pay down my remaining loan balance as quickly as possible, I'd like to supplement my income if at all possible. I realize moonlighting/taking on legal matters outside my firm is probably a bad idea and likely out of the question. With that constraint, what are some other ways to supplement my income as an attorney? Has anyone had any relevant experience? Any insight would be helpful. Thanks!

Depressing. OP landed a pretty good post law school gig for sure. Probably performed well in law school. Certainly landed a better gig than most new law school grads

Even so, still having difficulty with law school loans

Man, law school is such a horrible idea...

I suggest tutoring LSAT if you have the LSAT score to justify doing so. Super flexible hours for a pretty good hourly rate ($30-$50/hour... can get up to $100+ if in Manhattan with top credentials/at top tutoring shop like Manhattan LSAT)

Don't be negative nancy - a lot of people supplement good full-time jobs to make extra income to buy a house quicker etc.

HA! Oh, sure... but those people didn't lose ~$250k (3 years tuition @$40k/year + 3 years of lost wages @say, $40k/year) for the privilege!

And never mind that those "second jobs" are not normally being taken by salaried people with 50+ hour work weeks. Usually that is done on top of standard 40 hour a week hourly jobs.

Scary post, friends. Here we have someone with no kidding a top half- maybe even top third- outcome for all law school grads who is thinking about a second job.

I hope any prospective law students are reading the legal employment forum..

Yeah, you're not wrong but I don't think OP's situation is normal. I'm pretty much in the same boat as OP, maybe even less loans because T100 plus cheap secondary market SOL, but I don't seek additional income after my ~60 hour workweek. I would definitely love the extra cash but I enjoy my free time too much. Maybe OP just wants extra cash (although I don't see the advantage because more $ means higher PAYE payment).

[star fox]

Hi everyone --

I'm a second year associate making a decent living at my firm (roughly $90k per year -- not biglaw numbers, but not starving either). In an effort to pay down my remaining loan balance as quickly as possible, I'd like to supplement my income if at all possible. I realize moonlighting/taking on legal matters outside my firm is probably a bad idea and likely out of the question. With that constraint, what are some other ways to supplement my income as an attorney? Has anyone had any relevant experience? Any insight would be helpful. Thanks!

Depressing. OP landed a pretty good post law school gig for sure. Probably performed well in law school. Certainly landed a better gig than most new law school grads

Even so, still having difficulty with law school loans

Man, law school is such a horrible idea...

I suggest tutoring LSAT if you have the LSAT score to justify doing so. Super flexible hours for a pretty good hourly rate ($30-$50/hour... can get up to $100+ if in Manhattan with top credentials/at top tutoring shop like Manhattan LSAT)

Don't be negative nancy - a lot of people supplement good full-time jobs to make extra income to buy a house quicker etc.

HA! Oh, sure... but those people didn't lose ~$250k (3 years tuition @$40k/year + 3 years of lost wages @say, $40k/year) for the privilege!

And never mind that those "second jobs" are not normally being taken by salaried people with 50+ hour work weeks. Usually that is done on top of standard 40 hour a week hourly jobs.

Scary post, friends. Here we have someone with no kidding a top half- maybe even top third- outcome for all law school grads who is thinking about a second job.

I hope any prospective law students are reading the legal employment forum..

On the other hand, you get lent money on an unsecured basis to live on for three years without having to work, which is pretty sweet.

[abl]

Hi everyone --

I'm a second year associate making a decent living at my firm (roughly $90k per year -- not biglaw numbers, but not starving either). In an effort to pay down my remaining loan balance as quickly as possible, I'd like to supplement my income if at all possible. I realize moonlighting/taking on legal matters outside my firm is probably a bad idea and likely out of the question. With that constraint, what are some other ways to supplement my income as an attorney? Has anyone had any relevant experience? Any insight would be helpful. Thanks!

Depressing. OP landed a pretty good post law school gig for sure. Probably performed well in law school. Certainly landed a better gig than most new law school grads

Even so, still having difficulty with law school loans

Man, law school is such a horrible idea...

I suggest tutoring LSAT if you have the LSAT score to justify doing so. Super flexible hours for a pretty good hourly rate ($30-$50/hour... can get up to $100+ if in Manhattan with top credentials/at top tutoring shop like Manhattan LSAT)

Trying to pay down a loan balance ASAP ≠ "still having difficulty with law school loans." The OP sounds like she's doing just fine, financially.

[A. Nony Mouse]

Re: adjuncting at the college level - if it's not for a law school adjuncting tends to be a lot of work for shit money.

[barkschool]

Re: adjuncting at the college level - if it's not for a law school adjuncting tends to be a lot of work for shit money.

What kinda work does adjuncting entail?

[Anonymous User]

Hi everyone --

I'm a second year associate making a decent living at my firm (roughly $90k per year -- not biglaw numbers, but not starving either). In an effort to pay down my remaining loan balance as quickly as possible, I'd like to supplement my income if at all possible. I realize moonlighting/taking on legal matters outside my firm is probably a bad idea and likely out of the question. With that constraint, what are some other ways to supplement my income as an attorney? Has anyone had any relevant experience? Any insight would be helpful. Thanks!

Depressing. OP landed a pretty good post law school gig for sure. Probably performed well in law school. Certainly landed a better gig than most new law school grads

Even so, still having difficulty with law school loans

Man, law school is such a horrible idea...

I suggest tutoring LSAT if you have the LSAT score to justify doing so. Super flexible hours for a pretty good hourly rate ($30-$50/hour... can get up to $100+ if in Manhattan with top credentials/at top tutoring shop like Manhattan LSAT)

This is dumb logic. Sure, for a lot of reasons law school sucks. But the guy is making 90k doing law and just wants to pay his loans quicker than the 10-year plan requires. His situation does not sound depressing at all. Clearly, he has enough time/energy to do moonlighting, so he is not working big law hours. And if he is not moonlighting, that means he is making 90k a year and has free time at nights where he 'could' be moonlighting.

[A. Nony Mouse]

Re: adjuncting at the college level - if it's not for a law school adjuncting tends to be a lot of work for shit money.

What kinda work does adjuncting entail?

Teaching a course (or some number of courses) part-time, not part of the tenure-track. Adjuncts tend to get to teach the courses that a department's tenure-track faculty don't want to teach (often big, intro, survey classes that students take to fulfill requirements and don't really want to be in), often at unappealing times (because the tenure-track faculty don't want to work at those times). You have to design/prep the course, get up in front of a lot of students and fill 50-75 minutes 3x a week, deal with students, and of course, grade assignments (and most undergrad courses are not going to follow the law school model of having one exam at the end). Schools often offer you about $2-3000 to do this. (I was offered $1200 to teach a 75-person Western Civ class a few years ago - the rate may have gone up some but probably not much.)

It's not so bad if you've taught for a long time and have classes/lectures in the bag and ready to go, but prepping material from scratch for a new course is a TON of work (and of course if you're conscientious you want to update your classes each year to keep them current). Grading can kill you. And people who've never taught underestimate the misery of trying to teach students who are seriously underprepared, don't want to be there, or both (there is only so much that even the most talented teachers can do about either of those). If you don't really need the money and really love teaching, it might be worth it. My perspective comes from knowing too many people trying to get a permanent job in academia cobbling together different adjunct gigs to make a living, which is a miserable situation to be in.

[Voyager]

Hi everyone --

I'm a second year associate making a decent living at my firm (roughly $90k per year -- not biglaw numbers, but not starving either). In an effort to pay down my remaining loan balance as quickly as possible, I'd like to supplement my income if at all possible. I realize moonlighting/taking on legal matters outside my firm is probably a bad idea and likely out of the question. With that constraint, what are some other ways to supplement my income as an attorney? Has anyone had any relevant experience? Any insight would be helpful. Thanks!

Depressing. OP landed a pretty good post law school gig for sure. Probably performed well in law school. Certainly landed a better gig than most new law school grads

Even so, still having difficulty with law school loans

Man, law school is such a horrible idea...

I suggest tutoring LSAT if you have the LSAT score to justify doing so. Super flexible hours for a pretty good hourly rate ($30-$50/hour... can get up to $100+ if in Manhattan with top credentials/at top tutoring shop like Manhattan LSAT)

This is dumb logic. Sure, for a lot of reasons law school sucks. But the guy is making 90k doing law and just wants to pay his loans quicker than the 10-year plan requires. His situation does not sound depressing at all. Clearly, he has enough time/energy to do moonlighting, so he is not working big law hours. And if he is not moonlighting, that means he is making 90k a year and has free time at nights where he 'could' be moonlighting.

He lost $240k or something UP FRONT between 3 years lost income and 3 years law school tuition for the privilege of working 60+ hour weeks while only earning $90k a year and now wants a 2nd job.

Sounds pretty dang depressing to me!

How many years does he need to work @$90k instead of the $50k-$60k job he could have had if not for law school to pay off the $240k he lost? A $50k-$60k job, by the way, that probably only required 40-50 hour work weeks...

See what I mean?

We are talking YEARS to pay off the up front cost. 7-8 years, actually. Sure, his legal career may progress and he may earn more money over time, but that would likely have been just as true with the non-law school career track AND that career would be 3 years more advanced because he would have been advancing it instead of spending 3 years in law school!

Never mind that at 40-50 hour work weeks he could no kidding take on a 2nd job bringing in an additional $20k a year and would likely end up at similar hours as what you work at a firm! Then the salary difference is rather small!

And sure, the OP may jump back in here and present additional facts that make his decision to go to law school a much more reasonable decision, but my point is: for most people, law school is a ridiculously bad idea.

[A. Nony Mouse]

Unless you actually want to work as a lawyer, of course.

[Voyager]

Unless you actually want to work as a lawyer, of course.

Oh absolutely. If you know you LOVE THE LAW before law school and are SURE that you will handle a life as lawyer so much better than all those wusses currently practicing who have substance abuse issues and broken marriages, then OF COURSE you should go to law school.

Note: "love the law" can be changed out for "always enjoyed arguing" depending on the person...

[A. Nony Mouse]

Unless you actually want to work as a lawyer, of course.

Oh absolutely. If you know you LOVE THE LAW before law school and are SURE that you will handle a life as lawyer so much better than all those wusses currently practicing who have substance abuse issues and broken marriages, then OF COURSE you should go to law school.

Note: "love the law" can be changed out for "always enjoyed arguing" depending on the person...

Sure, a lot of people have no clue what it's actually going to be like, but there are happy lawyers who like their jobs - like my whole office - and I get frustrated with the idea that the only measure of whether someone should go to law school is the maximization of income, rather than job satisfaction. (Admittedly lawyers have a lot of problems with the latter, too, but your previous answer was all about making money.)

[Anonymous User]

find some commodity good that is popular and you can buy cheap in China, import some, sell on Amazon via their drop-ship system. If you're good you might quit the firm life.

[Toni V]

All anecdotal. If you can, pick up one of the plentiful Title IX cases on the side, the money can be much better than just decent. You don’t have to go to court (Title IX doesn’t work that way). Just do a little rapist hand-holding and deal with parents who are positive their son is absolutely innocent. You might also be able to work a deal with a polygraph company for a commission....for whatever reason the accused often want a polygraph and believe they can beat the polygraph, but always fail.

[dixiecupdrinking]

Unless you actually want to work as a lawyer, of course.

Oh absolutely. If you know you LOVE THE LAW before law school and are SURE that you will handle a life as lawyer so much better than all those wusses currently practicing who have substance abuse issues and broken marriages, then OF COURSE you should go to law school.

Note: "love the law" can be changed out for "always enjoyed arguing" depending on the person...

Sure, a lot of people have no clue what it's actually going to be like, but there are happy lawyers who like their jobs - like my whole office - and I get frustrated with the idea that the only measure of whether someone should go to law school is the maximization of income, rather than job satisfaction. (Admittedly lawyers have a lot of problems with the latter, too, but your previous answer was all about making money.)

Incidentally, the least happy lawyers I know are the ones who prioritize money over job satisfaction (I count myself in this category, fucking golden handcuffs).

[Voyager]

Unless you actually want to work as a lawyer, of course.

Oh absolutely. If you know you LOVE THE LAW before law school and are SURE that you will handle a life as lawyer so much better than all those wusses currently practicing who have substance abuse issues and broken marriages, then OF COURSE you should go to law school.

Note: "love the law" can be changed out for "always enjoyed arguing" depending on the person...

Sure, a lot of people have no clue what it's actually going to be like, but there are happy lawyers who like their jobs - like my whole office - and I get frustrated with the idea that the only measure of whether someone should go to law school is the maximization of income, rather than job satisfaction. (Admittedly lawyers have a lot of problems with the latter, too, but your previous answer was all about making money.)

I just took it for granted that most lawyers are utterly miserable and that one should expect to hate the work and lifestyle leaving money as the only justification...

[acr]

Unless you actually want to work as a lawyer, of course.

Oh absolutely. If you know you LOVE THE LAW before law school and are SURE that you will handle a life as lawyer so much better than all those wusses currently practicing who have substance abuse issues and broken marriages, then OF COURSE you should go to law school.

Note: "love the law" can be changed out for "always enjoyed arguing" depending on the person...

Sure, a lot of people have no clue what it's actually going to be like, but there are happy lawyers who like their jobs - like my whole office - and I get frustrated with the idea that the only measure of whether someone should go to law school is the maximization of income, rather than job satisfaction. (Admittedly lawyers have a lot of problems with the latter, too, but your previous answer was all about making money.)

I just took it for granted that most lawyers are utterly miserable and that one should expect to hate the work and lifestyle leaving money as the only justification...

so what do you do when you don't have satisfaction or money then?