<p>Is it possible to work while attending a top law school? How difficult would this be? Is it recommended?</p>
<p>Most top law schools do not allow you to work at all, at least during your first year of law school. After that, I suppose that you could get a job, but law school is very demanding and your grades, participation in extracurricular activities, like law review, and your other opportunities may suffer.</p>
<p>Lots of my kid's LS classmates and friends at other LSs have part-time jobs.</p>
<p>Hanna has described the advising process for Harvard undergrads in another thread. Most of the law tutors are current law students. They live in undergrad dorms and this is the bulk of their "compensation." Since Cambridge is expensive, it's not an inconsiderable benefit.</p>
<p>One common thing is teaching LSAT prep classes for some of the commercial organizations. You usually need a high LSAT to do this. </p>
<p>Some people who work as summer associates (usually after the second year of LS) in the same city in which they attend LS work part time for the same firm during 3L year. </p>
<p>It's true that it limits your other activities. However, some people are more than willing to do that to avoid additional debt.</p>
<p>You really can't count on it though. Most of the best part time jobs for law students are jobs you get after you start law school. It's hard to line something up in advance.</p>
<p>Many law schools do forbid it during the first year, and the ABA has the following to say about it for any accredited law school in the U.S. (please see (f)):</p>
<p>Standard 304. COURSE OF STUDY AND ACADEMIC CALENDAR. </p>
<p>(a) A law school shall have an academic year of not fewer than 130 days on which classes are regularly scheduled in the law school, extending into not fewer than eight calendar months. The law school shall provide adequate time for reading periods, examinations, and breaks, but such time does not count toward the 130-day academic year requirement.</p>
<p>(b) A law school shall require, as a condition for graduation, successful completion of a course of study in residence of not fewer than 58,000 minutes of instruction time, except as otherwise provided. At least 45,000 of these minutes shall be by attendance in regularly scheduled class sessions at the law school. </p>
<p>(c) A law school shall require that the course of study for the J.D. degree be completed no sooner than 24 months and not longer than 84 months after a student has commenced law study at the law school or a law school from which the school has accepted transfer credit. </p>
<p>(d) A law school shall require regular and punctual class attendance.</p>
<p>(e) A law school shall not permit a student to be enrolled at any time in coursework that, if successfully complete, would exceed 20 percent of the total coursework required by that school for graduation (or a proportionate number for schools on other academic schedules, such as a quarter system). </p>
<p>(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.</p>
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<p>Most top law schools do not allow you to work at all</p>
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<p>What top law schools enforce this rule? Certainly not Harvard or Yale -- many 1Ls work as teaching assistants, to start with.</p>
<p>The ABA accreditation rules on attendance and work are a complete joke, at least when it comes to YHS etc. Many people in my class graduated on the basis of credit earned in courses they attended once or not at all (except for the exam). </p>
<p>I was involved in performing arts more than 20 hours per week my 1L fall. This could easily have been a part-time job instead.</p>
<p>It definitely depends on your definition of "work."</p>
<p>One crazy example of working during law school is that of Theo Epstein, general manager for the Boston Red Sox, who did a normal roster at UCSD law while working SEVENTY hours a week for the San Diego padres.</p>
<p>What do you mean by "work"? if you are talk about picking up a few hours of work at a local law firm, or the type of jobs mentioned above, yes you can do it. If you mean hold down a fulltime job while attending law school, you would probably need to attend a school that has a night program.</p>
<p>don't assume you can satisfactorily complete a top law school by skipping classes in favor of work -- i am not going to argue with anyone who said they accomplished this, but it seems to me to be a pretty poor game plan for approaching law school before you know what you will need to do to succeed.</p>
<p>I'm just quoting the ABA rules here, folks. If law schools choose not to abide by the rules, I am certainly not the accreditation police.</p>