Thoughts on working during law school?

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I'm hoping to hear thoughts and firsthand experiences with working part time throughout law school. I've been admitted to UVic and will be relying largely on loans, but would obviously like to graduate with as little debt as possible! I worked throughout my undergrad, and my current job would allow me to carry on part time if I wanted.

Curious about how common it is to work during law school and whether anyone feels strongly about if it's a good idea or not.

Thanks in advance!

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[t3ctonics]

I don't think I commented on the threads @realpseudonym linked, so I'll give my input. I worked through law school. I still took on a bunch of debt because I was only making $14 an hour.

I wouldn't recommend it, but it was certainly doable. It meant I had to sacrifice more personal time than students who didn't work. It wasn't an issue with regards to school itself - there was still plenty of time to study and write papers - but I did miss out on a lot of the social aspects. This was in part because I went to law school in a city where I was already established, and I didn't want to sacrifice my existing relationships. My significant other and most of my friends and family lived there, so there was always something going on with my existing social contacts. I made an effort to go to scheduled events - either official school events or just scheduled parties or other events with classmates - but I often missed out on spontaneous things because I often already had other commitments. Working 3 or 4 shifts a week already limited my availability for evenings and weekends, and my existing social obligations compounded the difficulty of doing things with classmates.

As a result, I think a lot of my classmates grew to think I was stuck up or didn't like them. That wasn't the case at all; it was just that my time was almost always spoken for in one way or another in advance. 

[SlytherinLLP]

Maybe others will disagree but I really find that the best bang for your buck in law school is to focus on getting good grades and capitalizing on the various opportunities offered in law school whether paid or unpaid (moots, clinics, research, journals) rather than working minimum wage. Not in the least to disparage working such jobs, but it will just serve you so much better  by being well positioned to get a good job placement, which will enable you will overcome your debt much quicker. 

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10 minutes ago, t3ctonics said:

I don't think I commented on the threads @realpseudonym linked, so I'll give my input. I worked through law school. I still took on a bunch of debt because I was only making $14 an hour.

I wouldn't recommend it, but it was certainly doable. It meant I had to sacrifice more personal time than students who didn't work. It wasn't an issue with regards to school itself - there was still plenty of time to study and write papers - but I did miss out on a lot of the social aspects. This was in part because I went to law school in a city where I was already established, and I didn't want to sacrifice my existing relationships. My significant other and most of my friends and family lived there, so there was always something going on with my existing social contacts. I made an effort to go to scheduled events - either official school events or just scheduled parties or other events with classmates - but I often missed out on spontaneous things because I often already had other commitments. Working 3 or 4 shifts a week already limited my availability for evenings and weekends, and my existing social obligations compounded the difficulty of doing things with classmates.

As a result, I think a lot of my classmates grew to think I was stuck up or didn't like them. That wasn't the case at all; it was just that my time was almost always spoken for in one way or another in advance. 

Those are some good points, thanks for the thoughtful reply! It's good to hear you feel like it didn't impact your studies, but the social side is definitely important to think about too

[t3ctonics]

28 minutes ago, SlytherinLLP said:

Maybe others will disagree but I really find that the best bang for your buck in law school is to focus on getting good grades and capitalizing on the various opportunities offered in law school whether paid or unpaid (moots, clinics, research, journals) rather than working minimum wage. Not in the least to disparage working such jobs, but it will just serve you so much better  by being well positioned to get a good job placement, which will enable you will overcome your debt much quicker. 

I certainly wouldn't disagree - getting good grades and taking learning opportunities should be the focus - but it's possible to work and still focus on those things. For me the work required for law school was less than a full time job, even with some extracurricular stuff. Between work and school I don't think any more of my time was occupied than later on when I was in private practice, and the vast majority of law school was far less stressful than articling or my first few years of practice.

Despite working 8 hours every Saturday and Sunday, plus an evening shift or two every week, I was still able to get good grades, be a law review editor, do an independent research paper, volunteer with PBSC, and take a leadership position on a student-run charitable event. I got the kind of job I wanted at a large full-service firm, and my interviewers were impressed that I'd worked through school. Looking back, it was a huge gamble before I got my first year grades back and found out how well I was actually doing. It worked out in the end though. I didn't sacrifice school to work, though I certainly sacrificed social opportunities, as mentioned above.

I wish I hadn't needed to work, but just because that would have reduced my stress level and made life easier. I don't think we could have realistically cut expenses enough to make it through all 3 years of law school without hitting the max on my PSLOC. There were a variety of reasons - no money from parents, debt carried over from undergrad, ineligible for government student loans, etc.