UT Law no job first yr? Forum

[DoubleChecks]

friend brought this up and i didnt know the answer -- curious; is it true that UTexas law does not allow first yr law students to hold any kind of job? even part-time or something?

[Leeroy Jenkins]

Not just UT, pretty much every LS out there.

hth

[DoubleChecks]

oh wow, so it is not ALLOWED? not just say, frowned upon? lol to even have a part time job during your 1L?

[Philo38]

From ABA Accredidation standards section 304f:

"(f) A student may not be employed more than 20 hours per week in any week in which the
student is enrolled in more than twelve class hours."

http://www.abanet.org/legaled/standards ... apter3.pdf

[Tuski]

oh wow, so it is not ALLOWED? not just say, frowned upon? lol to even have a part time job during your 1L?

Yeah, my understanding is that it's ABA rules, not the individual schools'. 1L's going to school full-time can't work at all, 2L & 3L's can't work over 20.

[luckyjd]

from that quote, that would mean you can still work part-time as long as it's less than 20 hours. it seems pretty ridiculous to forbid law students from working, we gotta make spending money somehow! unless the school wants to provide that in their scholarship offer

[Philo38]

oh wow, so it is not ALLOWED? not just say, frowned upon? lol to even have a part time job during your 1L?

Yeah, my understanding is that it's ABA rules, not the individual schools'. 1L's going to school full-time can't work at all, 2L & 3L's can't work over 20.

I don't see where ABA says anything about 1L, 2L, 3L etc.

[Philo38]

from that quote, that would mean you can still work part-time as long as it's less than 20 hours. it seems pretty ridiculous to forbid law students from working, we gotta make spending money somehow! unless the school wants to provide that in their scholarship offer

I actually disagree. Why work 15-20 hours per week in law school? You are already making a HUGE investment, might as well make the additional very small amount you would haev earned working so few hours and get the most out of your money.It would be a shame to do poorly on your $120,000 investment to make a few measly extra thousand.

EDIT: This is coming from someone who worked a part time job every minute of UG

[luckyjd]

but that's a personal choice. there shouldn't be a legal restriction that prevents a person from working entirely. i can understand a full time restriction since that's a lot of hours, but if someone truly cannot afford to not make a couple of hundreds a month to pay for rent or whatnot (e.g. someone who's not being supported by their parents but is deemed as a dependent by the school), that person should be allowed to work. i'm definitely not advocating for working during law school, but i've worked throughout undergrad and graduate school. i'm not sure how research works in law school, but if someone can get a research assistant position that pays, it's like killing two birds with one stone.

but re: the post about 1L, 2L, 3L.. i, too, didn't see any restrictions based on your year... perhaps some schools do have school-level restrictions. good thing i didn't apply to UT. who knows, if an opportunity to do something i enjoy while making money comes up during law school, i'd want to take it.

[Tuski]

oh wow, so it is not ALLOWED? not just say, frowned upon? lol to even have a part time job during your 1L?

Yeah, my understanding is that it's ABA rules, not the individual schools'. 1L's going to school full-time can't work at all, 2L & 3L's can't work over 20.

I don't see where ABA says anything about 1L, 2L, 3L etc.

I'm sorry; my mistake. It is the individual schools' policy not to allow 1L's to work at all - though it seems to be a very common policy (most, if not all, schools I applied to have that policy), which is where I got the idea that it was bar rules...

The ABA just says not over 20 hrs/week.

[Esc]

As a UT 1L, let me say that even tho you can get away with working a little bit during your first year, DON'T. Your. Grades. Will. Suffer. Debt is awful, but its worth taking out a bit more if that's the only way you won't have to work during 1L.

There are people who work part-time, at firms, but they are 2Ls and 3Ls, have already gone through OCI, and don't give a damn about their grades anymore.

[Aeroplane]

I actually disagree. Why work 15-20 hours per week in law school? You are already making a HUGE investment, might as well make the additional very small amount you would haev earned working so few hours and get the most out of your money.It would be a shame to do poorly on your $120,000 investment to make a few measly extra thousand.

EDIT: This is coming from someone who worked a part time job every minute of UG

I tend to agree with this for 1L fall, since you don't really know in advance how long your schoolwork will take you. But once you've gotten into a groove, you may find yourself with lots of free time on your hands. That being my experience, I'm glad that Michigan doesn't impose any restrictions on 1L work beyond the ABA 20-hr one. It's really a very individual decision and people should be allowed to use their discretion.