Clinics & Externships

Externship Policy

The faculty recognizes the value of externship placements as a means of achieving educational objectives such as developing or enhancing professional skills and responsibility, improving legal research and writing skills, and acquiring knowledge of legal process and practice, as well as knowledge of specific substantive areas of the law. The faculty therefore adopts the following policy governing externships.

An externship program may be approved by the Dean or the Dean's designate, without being presented to the Faculty for approval, if it meets the following criteria:

1. It is proposed or supported by a faculty member.
    
2. The student is placed with a public or not-for-profit agency or organization (hereinafter referred to as the host agency).
    
3. During the semester in which the student is enrolled in the externship, the student will spend at least 12 hours per week on the work of the externship, most of which time should normally be spent at the host agency. (The requirement of 12 hours does not include time conferencing with the faculty supervisor or time commuting.)
    
4. The student will be supervised by one attorney at the host agency (hereinafter referred to as the supervising attorney), but may work also with other attorneys actively involved in the work of the host agency.
    
5. The student will meet with the sponsoring faculty member for at least one hour every other week during the semester. The meeting need not be an individual meeting, but may be a meeting of a group of students involved in similar or related externship placements.
    
6. The student will keep a journal or log of activities at the host agency. The faculty member will review and evaluate the log at least every other week.
    
7. The faculty member will discuss the planned experience for the semester with the supervising attorney before the externship commences and will discuss the progress of the externship with the supervising attorney periodically during the semester. The faculty member is encouraged to visit the host agency.
    
8. The externship should expose the student to substantive aspects of legal practice in the host agency. The student's time should not be spent on clerical work except to the extent it is a normal incident of the law-related experience in the host agency. The externship experiences should normally include several of the following:
    
• Developing and investigating facts.
   
• Conducting legal research.
   
• Participating in preparation for a hearing.
   
• Anticipating in or attending a hearing.
   
• Drafting legal documents, such as letters, pleadings, orders, and briefs.
   
• Participating in or attending sessions in which the lawyers counsel the client of the host agency.
   
• Participating in or attending negotiation sessions.
   
9. The faculty member will engage the student(s) in critical evaluation of the externship. The faculty member and student(s) will normally discuss the professional experience at the host agency, identify legal and ethical issues raised by the externship experience, and explore the issues of substantive law or procedure that relate to the student(s) experience.
    
10. The student will receive three (3) credits on a Pass-Fail basis.
     
11. Restrictions:
     
• Third year students will be given preference for enrollment in externships.
   
• No student will be permitted to take more than two, three-credit externship for credit.
   
• The credits a student receives for participation in an externship program will be included when computing the student's total clinical credits, which are subject to a cap of 16 credits.
   
12. Proposing a new externship program:
     

The student who wishes to proposes a "one-semester" externship placement has the burden to make the case and put together the necessary record. The program proposed must meet the standard requirements of other externships as outlined above. The student must present these to a faculty member who he/she wishes to serve as the faculty sponsor. Upon the faculty members agreement, the faculty member will submit a proposal to the Academic Dean for approval.

The following criteria will be used to evaluate new programs:
 

• Does this program significantly enhance the range of alternatives open to students? Geographic considerations alone are not sufficient.
   
• What are the educational goals of the program?
   
• Is an externship a realistic way of achieving those goals?
   
• How well does the program fit in the law school curriculum?
   
• What work will the extern be performing? Detailed information is required.
   
• Are there other educational experiences (such as seminars, tours, training programs) provided besides the regular legal training?
   
• Is there adequate host agency supervision? What are the qualifications of the supervising attorney?

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