I did legal temping for a while, and ended up at a huge, well-known firm that paid very well. I started out highlighting depositions, putting stuff in folders, etc., but after about 2 weeks, once they realized that I actually had a brain and wasn't just a robot, they actually started giving me really interesting stuff to do. I learned a lot about law, economics, firm life, etc. - and there were lots of perks (really nice gym downstairs, break room always had gourment coffee, fruit, and soda, the partner and associates took me to lunch a lot, time and a half for OT, holiday parties and social get-togethers) - honestly, I wish I still worked there sometimes. And there was ALWAYS an opportunity to do something - LOTS of hours; someone was always working. And, at $20/hour ($30/hr OT), working 60-hour weeks (this was VOLUNTARY, you could work as little or as much as you wanted), I was making over $1,000 a WEEK, post-taxes. They paid me weekly, the work was usually very low stress (it only got stressful when the partner was going to court or to a meeting the next week).
I would totally do this again if I had another year off. I would never want to go into law, but it was interesting to see how such a massive law firm operates, and the amount of money flowing around is truly mind-boggling. You are such a tiny cog in their giant machine, that they sneeze at your measley $20/hr. Then they take pity on you, and take you out to lunch at a 5-star restaurant
