Part Time v. Full Time (With an Important Consideration) Forum

[BernardBellington]

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[Abbie Doobie]

i would just say v10 or something like that...no need to list firm names


regarding your situation, it doesn't sound like they are going to make you an associate when you graduate since you indicate that they will keep you on in your current role? in that sense, going part time could hurt you pretty badly because you will be missing out on oci which is the primary way law students gain full time firm employment as an associate. so yeah you could be taking a big hit by not going full time and its not like the research experience will even help you stand out that much.

[GoneSouth]

I am currently in my last year of undergrad and am planning on attending law school afterward.

I also hold a part-time legal research position at a top law firm in New York. To be more but not entirely specific, the firm is either Wachtell, Cravath, or Sullivan & Cromwell. (I am paranoid about posting identifying information online, sorry) I have the option to continue working in this role as a full-time employee upon finishing undergrad.

My Question: Would it benefit me, in terms of later employment prospects, to continue working at the firm and go to law school part-time, finishing in four years instead of three? Is there a reason to go full-time that may outweigh the benefit of the work experience on my resume?

I should note, my boss will be understanding and accommodating should I choose to work through law school.

Thanks for your help.

Why don't you just go be a full-time paralegal or legal researcher or whatever for a couple years and then go full-time law school afterwards? It will only take you one extra year, you get the work experience and the degree without have to try to juggle doing them at the same time, and you may be able to go to a better law school since you're not limiting yourself to part-time programs (I assume part-time in the NYC area you're looking at Fordham?). If you don't have the LSAT score to get into a T14 school right now, it would give you the time to try to improve that too.

Either way, you already have the research job on your resume, so I doubt continuing it while you're in school is going to add that much marginal benefit.