Some law schools have even suggested students procure lines of credit at specific banks

The University of Toronto law school’s website notes that Scotiabank and TD Bank offer special financial assistance for U of T JD students.

Students get a maximum of $50,000 a year through that bank – and, if they bank with Scotiabank, an extra $10,000 during articling

Shaun Aaron, who graduated from Windsor Law in 2015, believed he understood the terms of his line of credit well. But there were certain pieces he missed. The summer after his second year, Aaron had to buy a new car to get to and from class from his home. I bought it used, but I had to take out a chunk of cash and the line of credit to do that, he says. He ended up draining the line of credit for his available amount for the year. You have to leave X amount of money to cover off the interest payments that are occurring, he said. And, so, I wound up owing them several hundred dollars.

One major question is whether law students understand exactly what they are signing up for when they get these lines of credit. In 2017, Stephanie Ben-Ishai, a professor of law at Osgoode Hall Law School, Saul Schwartz, a professor at the School of Public Policy & Administration at Carleton University, and Nancy Werk, an independent consultant, decided to ask law and medical students if they understood the terms of their line of credit contracts. Their study followed an American study that asked first-year students who get undergraduate student loans whether they understood how much student debt they had. About half of those surveyed did not.

They had no insurance, so the dental work had to be paid for with the line of credit

Ben-Ishai, Schwartz and Werk looked at a small sample size – they interviewed 11 law students at Osgoode Hall Law School and 16 first-year medical students at the University of Ottawa to determine whether they understood the terms of their lines of credit contracts. What they found was that, by and large, the law students they spoke to were fully informed about their lines of credit and what they had borrowed, a fact the researchers credited to the plain language used in the line of credit contracts presented by the people they interviewed. In general, they talked about their lines of credit in a remarkably relaxed and matter-of-fact way – no high anxiety was apparent, the study reads, a result, perhaps, of students knowing they would have to borrow money if they wanted to graduate.

Ben-Ishai, Schwartz and Werk noted that law students were also aware that their plans might not express payday loans Ville Platte, LA work out and that that would present a challenge for them – some of the law students were described as lount of debt they owed.

While law students may be aware of what they are getting into, they may not be aware of what life can throw at them in the meantime. Tronin moved to Ottawa with her partner, who was also going to school and had his own debts to pay off. They rented an apartment for $1,200 a month that they had to furnish – paying to move furniture from Toronto to Ottawa was far more expensive than just buying new furniture. Soon after the move, her partner had to have two extensive root canals, each costing more than $1,000. And with a demanding first-year schedule, there was no way Tronin could get a part-time job to supplement their income. To make things work, she even used credit cards to bridge financial gaps.