Page 1 of 1

Job flexibility after law school

Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2012 10:49 pm
by sophistical
Assuming you can get a job offer from the OCI at the beginning of second year or even after graduation, how much job flexibility do you have? Say a person takes a high paying job at some big firm to pay off their huge debt burden after graduating. Say they manage to pay it off in 2-3 years. Would they then be able to choose another job elsewhere if they don't like it, or would they be locked in by a contract or otherwise prevented from doing so?

Re: Job flexibility after law school

Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2012 10:51 pm
by rad lulz
.

Re: Job flexibility after law school

Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2012 10:51 pm
by Br3v
sophistical wrote:Assuming you can get a job offer from the OCI at the beginning of second year or even after graduation, how much job flexibility do you have? Say a person takes a high paying job at some big firm to pay off their huge debt burden after graduating. Say they manage to pay it off in 2-3 years. Would they then be able to choose another job elsewhere, or would they be locked in by a contract or otherwise prevented from doing so?
No you could chose a job elsewhere, but don't bank on paying off debt in 2-3 years. plenty of people do not get a market paying biglaw salary out of school, plenty of people do not even get a offer out of school.

Re: Job flexibility after law school

Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2012 10:54 pm
by sophistical
Br3v wrote: No you could chose a job elsewhere, but don't bank on paying off debt in 2-3 years. plenty of people do not get a market paying biglaw salary out of school, plenty of people do not even get a offer out of school.
if someone does manage to get an offer in school, do they have to take the job immediately upon graduating, or could they postpone the offer for a year or two while exploring other possible options for paying the debt (say an LRAP)?

Re: Job flexibility after law school

Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2012 10:55 pm
by rad lulz
.

Re: Job flexibility after law school

Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2012 10:55 pm
by Br3v
sophistical wrote:
Br3v wrote: No you could chose a job elsewhere, but don't bank on paying off debt in 2-3 years. plenty of people do not get a market paying biglaw salary out of school, plenty of people do not even get a offer out of school.
if someone does manage to get an offer in school, do they have to take the job immediately upon graduating, or could they postpone the offer for a year or two while exploring other possible options for paying the debt (say an LRAP)?
i am the wrong person to ask but here is my understanding:

No.
To qualify for LRAP you need to do X number of years at a lower paying sector, not just 1.

Re: Job flexibility after law school

Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2012 11:15 pm
by Always Credited
Br3v wrote:
sophistical wrote:
Br3v wrote: No you could chose a job elsewhere, but don't bank on paying off debt in 2-3 years. plenty of people do not get a market paying biglaw salary out of school, plenty of people do not even get a offer out of school.
if someone does manage to get an offer in school, do they have to take the job immediately upon graduating, or could they postpone the offer for a year or two while exploring other possible options for paying the debt (say an LRAP)?
i am the wrong person to ask but here is my understanding:

No.
To qualify for LRAP you need to do X number of years at a lower paying sector, not just 1.
10 years.

Re: Job flexibility after law school

Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 1:54 pm
by r6_philly
Misinformation on LRAP.

LRAP != public service loan forgiveness. LRAP = Loan Repayment Assistance Program. That means as long as you are working a public sector job, your school helps you defray the cost of loan repayment. This usually comes in the form of a loan that your school gives you during the year to cover your student loan repayments, and the loan from the school will be forgiven at the end of the year (so really works like a monthly grant). When you leave your PI job, you stop getting those school loan/grants. Whatever you have left on your accounts with the loan servicer is then your liability.

Because in an installment loan contract you pay mostly interest during the first few years, you will likely not reduce your loan principals by much during that time. So working in PI only a few years really doesn't net you much benefit when it comes to debt.

Re: Job flexibility after law school

Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 1:19 am
by kellyanderson
.