When I was in law school (DAMN, why did I go to law school
) they always just said that there is an ABA rule that you can't work during the first year. Because I'm a lazy ass and I don't like to work, I never questioned it and lived on my student loan money (which was more than enough b/c of cheap tuition). Really, I don't think it's a bad policy because your grades first year are REALLY important if you want to make law review.