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Hey everyone,

I have a full ride lined up at SIU (I'll be a 1L in August) and I was thinking about graduation a bit (hopefully not to jinx myself) - have you ever heard of a part-time lawyer? I think it would be cool to work just enough to pay for living expenses and tuition to pursue a Masters or Doctorate or something, but I haven't heard of many people doing this. Maybe at like $50 an hour or something. I will only have about 20k in debt (400 a month) from living expenses so it shouldn't be too bad. Thoughts?

Younks wrote:Hey everyone,

I have a full ride lined up at SIU (I'll be a 1L in August) and I was thinking about graduation a bit (hopefully not to jinx myself) - have you ever heard of a part-time lawyer? I think it would be cool to work just enough to pay for living expenses and tuition to pursue a Masters or Doctorate or something, but I haven't heard of many people doing this. Maybe at like $50 an hour or something. I will only have about 20k in debt (400 a month) from living expenses so it shouldn't be too bad. Thoughts?

Whose going to pay you 50 dollars an hour to be a lawyer part time? Maybe 20 dollars an hour for some doc review.

Younks wrote:Hey everyone,

I have a full ride lined up at SIU (I'll be a 1L in August) and I was thinking about graduation a bit (hopefully not to jinx myself) - have you ever heard of a part-time lawyer? I think it would be cool to work just enough to pay for living expenses and tuition to pursue a Masters or Doctorate or something, but I haven't heard of many people doing this. Maybe at like $50 an hour or something. I will only have about 20k in debt (400 a month) from living expenses so it shouldn't be too bad. Thoughts?

This is a bad plan. First off, if you want a Master's or Doctorate, get one of those instead. Second, lawyers generally can't work part time, it's just not a profession that lends itself well to that. Third, who is going to pay a new lawyer, who knows nothing, and isn't assocoiated with another lawyer $50/hour? And what would they be paying you to do?

Also, any PhD program worth attending will pay your tuition and provide a stipend. If they don't, it's not worth going there.

Hate to break it to you, but $50 an hour part time is not realistic. The only exception might be if you are fluent in Japanese (or similarly in-demand language) and get on a document review in that language. Even if you did, it wouldn't exactly be a lifelong career option.

Large firms do part time on a case by case basis (usually for those who have already proven themselves as full time associates), but "part time" means about 40 hours a week, and tends to kill upward mobility. Your chances of getting such a job from that school are exceedingly slim.

Lacepiece23 wrote:Whose going to pay you 50 dollars an hour to be a lawyer part time?

nealric wrote:Hate to break it to you, but $50 an hour part time is not realistic.
...
Your chances of getting such a job from that school are exceedingly slim.

+1 to all of this.

You could be a part-time lawyer at a legal clinic.

lololololololololololol

Plenty of lawyers work part-time. If you're a solo, you're only working when you have clients, which likely won't be all the time. Or if you're lucky enough to get into a decent firm, some of them have part-time positions (non-partnership track) for working moms/parents.

cinephile wrote:Plenty of lawyers work part-time. If you're a solo, you're only working when you have clients, which likely won't be all the time. Or if you're lucky enough to get into a decent firm, some of them have part-time positions (non-partnership track) for working moms/parents.

Another classic 0L post.

cinephile wrote:Plenty of lawyers work part-time. If you're a solo, you're only working when you have clients, which likely won't be all the time. Or if you're lucky enough to get into a decent firm, some of them have part-time positions (non-partnership track) for working moms/parents.

But to be more specific:

No, "plenty" of lawyers do not work part-time. If you're a solo right out of law school you're not even going to have enough clients to work part-time, but you'll need to spend the rest of the time finding enough clients to pay you even the equivalent of a part-time salary. And true "mommy-track" positions are extremely rare, and are generally a pathway out of the firm unless a person is really invaluable or excellent.

blsingindisguise wrote:

cinephile wrote:Plenty of lawyers work part-time. If you're a solo, you're only working when you have clients, which likely won't be all the time. Or if you're lucky enough to get into a decent firm, some of them have part-time positions (non-partnership track) for working moms/parents.

Another classic 0L post.

Thanks, I'm a 3L and know numerous working lawyers who only work part-time. If you don't have this experience that's fine, but doesn't negate the experience of others. Nearly every one of my parents' friends who work in law do so part-time on the "mommy-track" as you put it. It's really common where I grew up.

cinephile wrote:

blsingindisguise wrote:

cinephile wrote:Plenty of lawyers work part-time. If you're a solo, you're only working when you have clients, which likely won't be all the time. Or if you're lucky enough to get into a decent firm, some of them have part-time positions (non-partnership track) for working moms/parents.

Another classic 0L post.

Thanks, I'm a 3L and know numerous working lawyers who only work part-time. If you don't have this experience that's fine, but doesn't negate the experience of others. Nearly every one of my parents' friends who work in law do so part-time on the "mommy-track" as you put it. It's really common where I grew up.

There's a huge difference between doing part-time wills and estates work after practicing ten years or more and "getting a part-time job" paying $50 an hour out of school. Sure, there are lots of experienced suburban solos making a decent living from their niche without breaking their backs. You can't really discount survivor bias in looking at those people though, and in any case, it's not a lifestyle available when you're right out of school.