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The Externship Program at ASL is designed to give all students an opportunity to learn about the legal system first hand by shadowing a practicing attorney in a government or public service setting for six weeks. The externship, which is mandatory for all ASL students, is placed between studentsi first and second years of law school. This enables students to see the practical application of the legal concepts they have learned over the first year, and gives each student a set of real life legal experiences to bring back to his or her second year. Classes such as Dispute Resolution and Professional Responsibility, which students take during their second year, draw upon these real life experiences.
During their second semester of law school all students take the Externship Class. This class is designed to prepare students for practice-based learning, and introduces students to legal concepts they need for their placements that are not covered in the first year curriculum. During the course of their externship placement, students must work at least 200 hours under the direct supervision of a licensed attorney or judge. Students typically engage in or experience the following types of tasks: assisting with trial strategy; drafting judicial opinions; drafting pleadings and legal memoranda; interviewing clients; observing court proceedings; performing factual investigations; researching legal issues; and, updating law libraries. Students receive three (3) hours of academic credit for successful completion of the program.
Once students are placed at an externship site, each student is assigned a faculty supervisor. Faculty supervisors coordinate with the student, the student's site supervisor, and the externship director. Faculty supervisors talk weekly with students, review the students' weekly work, and meet periodically with site supervisors. The externship director coordinates the externship class, places students in suitable sites, monitors the administration of the program, and conducts periodic site visits to ensure compliance with ABA guidelines regarding externship education.
For more information about the externship program please contact the Externship Director, Professor Scott Boone, at sboone@asl.edu.
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