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Lawyers, do you have a side job?


Skypnet

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Skypnet
  • Lawyer

That's the question, and really intended to get a sense of what types of side jobs, if any, folks are doing in addition to their primary job as a lawyer. I know that for most the primary one is more than enough in terms of time and energy used, and also in terms of income. For others, there is room for a side gig and I happen to be one of those. I am employed and love my job but I would love to be able to supplement my current income, which isn't great. So, besides doing real estate which some do, are there any side jobs folks are doing, if any or if you can provide ideas or know of what others are doing, please share. Thank you.

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13 minutes ago, Skypnet said:

That's the question, and really intended to get a sense of what types of side jobs, if any, folks are doing in addition to their primary job as a lawyer. I know that for most the primary one is more than enough in terms of time and energy used, and also in terms of income. For others, there is room for a side gig and I happen to be one of those. I am employed and love my job but I would love to be able to supplement my current income, which isn't great. So, besides doing real estate which some do, are there any side jobs folks are doing, if any or if you can provide ideas or know of what others are doing, please share. Thank you.

Even in one of the lower paying areas of law, my hourly rate as a lawyer is still a lot more lucrative than almost any other work I’d have access to. Eventually I’d like to have some money in commercial real estate or something, but until then, practice is the most financially rewarding way to spend my  time. 

I also like my job more than any other work I’ve done. So also no, in terms of personal enjoyment. If I want to enjoy life outside of work, I find enjoyable things to do instead of work. 

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Judgelight
  • Lawyer

I’m a waiter on Friday and Saturday nights. One of my friends got me into it - she makes close to a thousand a week in tips, I make a few hundred over the course of the weekend.

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On 8/17/2022 at 7:07 PM, realpseudonym said:

So, besides doing real estate which some do,

Do you mean acting as real estate agents or purchasing property? I've only heard of lawyers doing the latter. 

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1 hour ago, hiccups said:

Do you mean acting as real estate agents or purchasing property? I've only heard of lawyers doing the latter. 

Are you asking me? If so, I'm not sure what was meant -- OP said that, not me.

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Bob Jones
  • Lawyer
On 8/17/2022 at 9:47 PM, Skypnet said:

That's the question, and really intended to get a sense of what types of side jobs, if any, folks are doing in addition to their primary job as a lawyer. I know that for most the primary one is more than enough in terms of time and energy used, and also in terms of income. For others, there is room for a side gig and I happen to be one of those. I am employed and love my job but I would love to be able to supplement my current income, which isn't great. So, besides doing real estate which some do, are there any side jobs folks are doing, if any or if you can provide ideas or know of what others are doing, please share. Thank you.

In today’s day and age one salary just isn’t enough, but being a lawyer takes up so much of our time and brain capacity, I wouldn’t have the energy pick up a second gig. I’d love to do so. 

There’s of course the whole remote “over employed trend” but that’s a fast way of getting fired. 

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On 8/17/2022 at 8:07 PM, realpseudonym said:

Even in one of the lower paying areas of law, my hourly rate as a lawyer is still a lot more lucrative than almost any other work I’d have access to. Eventually I’d like to have some money in commercial real estate or something, but until then, practice is the most financially rewarding way to spend my  time. 

I also like my job more than any other work I’ve done. So also no, in terms of personal enjoyment. If I want to enjoy life outside of work, I find enjoyable things to do instead of work. 

My thoughts are similar. 

Given the hourly rates that lawyers charge, and given that most family law firms in Edmonton offer some sort of fee split, there is virtually nothing that I can do that will be more lucrative than hustling for clients in the long run. I considered potentially doing some personal training on the side out of personal interest before, but even with the personal interest component I could not justify the amount I would lose spending my time hustling for personal training clients instead of legal clients. Even Legal Aid would be far more remunerative for me. 

That being said, I live in a two earner family and do not have an immediate need for money. 

If I needed to supplement my income I'm not really sure of what I would do other than get some sort of part-time job on the side, or possibly see if there are any apps I can use to earn some extra money. Perhaps I would see if there were any sort of manual labour that I could do from time to time on weekends since I enjoy working with my hands and am physically fit. 

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Bob Jones
  • Lawyer

I think passive income through long term investments (like dividend earning stocks or ETFs, renting out property etc) is an option for a second source of income but that requires significant capital to earn anything decent. 

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On 8/28/2022 at 4:49 PM, Judgelight said:

I’m a waiter on Friday and Saturday nights. One of my friends got me into it - she makes close to a thousand a week in tips, I make a few hundred over the course of the weekend.

Aren't you tired from the work week though? I am always exhausted by Friday that I can't push myself any further... I put in a few hours here and there to catch up on some hours, but that's it. Whatever energy I have left, after spending some time with family and some household chores, i'm out. 

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N. Mink
  • Lawyer
4 hours ago, hiccups said:

Aren't you tired from the work week though? I am always exhausted by Friday that I can't push myself any further... I put in a few hours here and there to catch up on some hours, but that's it. Whatever energy I have left, after spending some time with family and some household chores, i'm out. 

OP’s post history suggests they are only paid $4000/month to for their legal work (!). 
 

 

Edited by N. Mink
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Judgelight
  • Lawyer
On 9/5/2022 at 12:49 PM, hiccups said:

Aren't you tired from the work week though? I am always exhausted by Friday that I can't push myself any further... I put in a few hours here and there to catch up on some hours, but that's it. Whatever energy I have left, after spending some time with family and some household chores, i'm out. 

Waiting is an incredibly chill job. The tips are tax free. It adds-up.

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They aren't "tax free" but they are also often not reported, though I assume that's getting harder as cash gets less and less common these days.

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CleanHands
  • Lawyer
2 hours ago, Judgelight said:

Waiting is an incredibly chill job. The tips are tax free. It adds-up.

The criminal lawyer (who brags about never having bothered doing anything criminal law related before bumbling into a Crown job) speaks. And gets something wrong that most literal teenagers who wait tables know.

Also you complained about your Crown job being too much work and not having enough time to prepare for trials, only to then immediately post about working a side job multiple days per week. I bit my tongue initially but you're continuing to be even more of an idiot.

Looks like you should be spending that time working on professional development instead of waiting. Except you don't give a shit.

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Yes. During the week I practice law.
 

On the evenings and weekends, I also practice law. 😛
 

edit: if not obvious, this is a joke, I’m not working two separate law jobs.

Edited by Cool_name
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On 9/18/2022 at 10:03 AM, Judgelight said:

The tips are tax free.

That can't be right

 

On 9/18/2022 at 10:03 AM, Judgelight said:

Waiting is an incredibly chill job

This seems contrary to common human experience also

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Bob Jones
  • Lawyer
On 9/19/2022 at 3:32 PM, hiccups said:

That can't be right

 

This seems contrary to common human experience also

Tips are tax free in the sense that since it's cash, they're not reported on a T4 and waiters don't declare them either as commission or other income. So the CRA has no way of knowing how much in tips a waiter has made, meaning they can get away with not paying taxes on it. 

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BlockedQuebecois
  • Lawyer
7 minutes ago, Bob Jones said:

Tips are tax free in the sense that since it's cash, they're not reported on a T4 and waiters don't declare them either as commission or other income. So the CRA has no way of knowing how much in tips a waiter has made, meaning they can get away with not paying taxes on it. 

I think everyone knows this. 

It’s just not every day that a Crown comes into a public forum and admits to tax fraud, so people are having a bit of fun with it. 

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Piffle
  • Law Student

Without aiming at anyone in particular, I just want to say that the personalities we get on this forum (and previously on LS.ca), however much one may personally dislike them, are vastly outweighed by the collective wisdom they generate through their posts. I’m content with the overall tone of this forum the way it is, warts and all.

Edited by Piffle
(Mods removed the post I was responding to)
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easttowest
  • Lawyer

A few years back the CRA cracked down on a chain restaurant out east by going through their card data and noting the many thousands of dollars in tips tracked by their system that none of the employees reported. 

I’ll see if I can find an article about it.

Edit: https://www.google.com/amp/s/financialpost.com/personal-finance/taxes/cra-servers-electronic-tips/wcm/5743d648-badb-406d-9a41-329802f314a2/amp/

 This isn’t the one I’m thinking about but it’s a similar idea. I suspect we’re going to see more and more of this. Most of the money being paid out in tips is recorded somewhere nowadays. 

Edited by easttowest
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Renerik
  • Law Student

I'd be inclined to modify CH's post if their exchange was with an applicant, law student, or someone in a vulnerable position asking for advice. As is both CH and JL share the same job (as lawyers, not as waiters). While I don't endorse the wording used by CH, they criticism has some merit. 

Regarding the Reddit.com post mentioned earlier, a lot of the criticism revolved around interactions between forum veterans and applicants/law students. I'll keep a closer eye on the applicant and law student sub forums and moderate rude behavior more severely.

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Bob Jones
  • Lawyer

Has anyone tried the Overemployed trend? I know it’s risky and a fast route to get fired, but it’s seems like many people (particularly in IT) are making money hand over fist (300K+). Unless you make partner at a Bay firm, it seems like that type of coin for Canadian lawyers will be difficult to come by. 

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