After graduating in the middle of Lawmageddon, craiglist was very useful in finding jobs. I managed to cobble together enough work through Craiglist to start paying off my student loans and gas. If I'd kept at it for an entire year, I could definitely have made enough to at least reach the bottom peak of the bimodal curve (~$50,000) just through craiglist-related work.
Second-chairing trials was the most lucrative work. This mostly involved helping the primary attorney on the matter with pretrial hearings, jury selection, presentation of evidence, and cross-examination of expert witnesses.
Courtroom appearances was a distant second. For about $100-$200 a day (depending on the court and number of cases), I would appear in court on behalf of other lawyers to file various motions and paperwork.
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