Tower Legal - $18 per hour

"Tom, your website is awesome. it is very informative and funny. im a recent nyc tier 1 grad awaiting admission to the bar in ny and nj. i got a call from tower legal staffing offering me $18 per hour, since it is ajd/paralegal project. I declined. She pressured me telling me that it is the going rate for unadmitted JD's. I assumed she was lying, but either way, I felt it was exploitative, since my cleaning lady earns $15 per hour with zero education and zero student loans to pay off. I just thought I would share this with."

Unfortunately, she wasn't lying. JD rates (for those few that are lucky enough to be offered work) continue to fall through the teens, and admitted attorney rates are dropping to as low as $23 an hour straight time. The situation is certainly exploitative, as we discuss on here ad nauseam. Trying to support oneself on twenty bucks an hour, after taxes, student loan payments, and non-subsidized health insurance is nearly impossible. Furthermore, the work is oftentimes unsteady, the agencies are increasingly engaging in bait-and-switch techniques, the positions are truly dead-end in every sense of the word, and the working conditions are many times less than ideal. Welcome to hell.