Clinical Internship/Judicial Externship Program
Internship/Externship Documents
Program Procedures and Policies
Internships (student placements in a pre-approved public interest or government office) and externships (student placements with a judge or justice) provide a variety of opportunities for students to have direct experience with clients and legal problems in attorney-supervised settings as part of their second and third year curriculum. Internships and externships are designed to be different from paid legal work available to law students because of the nature of the supervision provided; they are intended to give students a breadth of assignments and a level of responsibility that are typically not available to paid student clerks. Internships and externships serve a number of valuable objectives, including:
- Assisting students in developing professional skills and a broader understanding of the legal profession and legal processes.
- Enhancing students' learning of a particular area of law.
- Enabling students to participate more effectively in law school classes because of the real world experience they bring back to the classroom.
- Making students aware of career alternatives.
- Reducing students' uncertainties about their ability to function as lawyers.
In order to achieve these objectives and satisfy academic program requirements, USC Law has implemented the following policies and procedures for students and supervisors participating in our program. In order to receive full academic credit, students are required to strictly adhere to the procedures outlined below which are in conformance with the American Bar Association, American Association of Law Schools and Greater Los Angeles Consortium on Externships.
Supervising Attorney's Responsibilities
- Each placement shall designate one attorney as the supervisor of the student intern/extern.
- This attorney is responsible for the overall supervision of the student's experience and must be available to the student and USC Law for consultation about the placement. This does not, however, preclude a student from working for other attorneys in the office. The supervising attorney must sign the student's progress reports prior to submission.
- The supervising attorney should strive to provide the student with as many different kinds of experiences and responsibilities as the placement will allow. Ideally, students will have the opportunity to have direct client contact, observe or perform courtroom-type experiences, research, write, etc. Non-law related activities, lunch hours and breaks cannot be counted as internship/externship hours for purposes of meeting the 56 hour per unit requirement
- All supervisors will be asked to prepare an evaluation of the student's work. Students cannot receive course credit until the evaluation has been received. A letter soliciting the evaluation will be sent at the end of the semester. The supervisor must also agree to comply with the Greater Los Angeles Consortium on Externships' Guidelines for Supervising Judges and Attorneys.
Student's Responsibilities
- Each student must complete the required 56 hours per unit by the end of the semester
- Students must submit a bi-weekly, typewritten or processed report. The progress report must include: date, time, total hours, and a description with substantive information regarding the legal work performed (e.g. types of cases, types of documents produced, other work performed). Entries should reflect, in brief detail, the nature of the issues researched, written assignments, including client contact (if applicable to the placement), meetings with supervisors and other activities related to the work done in office. The entries must be organized on a daily basis. Non-law related activities, lunch hours and breaks cannot be counted as internship/externship hours for purposes of meeting the 56 hour per unit requirement. Similarly, school, national or court holidays do not relieve students of the obligation to perform 56 hours of work per unit. Progress reports must be signed by the supervisor and turned in to room 110 on or before the stated deadline (see section regarding deadline dates).
- Students must hold as absolutely confidential all information obtained directly or indirectly concerning clients, clients' cases or legal problems.
- Students must schedule an appointment to meet with the internship counselor to discuss in detail the placement and supervision.
- The student cannot receive compensation for an internship or externship other than reimbursements for incidental expenses, such as parking or photocopying.
- Students are responsible for retaining photocopies of all materials submitted to the Career Services Office.
- Interns only must also have already completed or be enrolled concurrently in a substantive law course which is substantially related to the internship.
- Students must author a written
evaluation of their experience at the placement due
at the end of the semester,
along with submission of the final progress report.
The comments should reflect
- the kind of work performed
- the amount and quality of supervision
- what the student learned
- whether the placement is recommended to other students
- what the facilities were like
- the amount of contact with the judge/justice (if applicable)
- whether and how often the student was able to attend hearings, trials, depositions, client meetings, etc
