Legal Externships
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More than 50 representatives from government agencies and other organizations set up information tables in the atrium for the Clinics and Externships Fair. The fair provides an informal opportunity for law students to learn about a wide range of governmental and non-profit organizations for placement in externships and summer jobs. To view article, click here.
The Columbus School of Law offers one of the best legal externship programs in the United States! Our externship faculty have hosted national conferences on externship teaching and have authored the only available textbook for use in law school externship seminars. The text is called Learning from Practice: A Professional Development Text for Legal Externs. The second edition of the book was published in the fall of 2007.
Through the CUA Legal Externship Program, each year over 200 students earn course credits by working at non-profit organizations, government agencies, in congressional offices, for judges, law firms, trade associations and corporations. Student externs have the opportunity to assist with representation of clients, with legislative and other policy development, and with a wide range of other lawyering activities. Students gain valuable exposure to lawyers and legal institutions. Many students use externships to explore possible career paths and to clarify their professional goals. Many students develop relationships with mentors and colleagues that continue long past the end of the externship. Through the externship program's seminars and tutorials, students have the opportunity to examine legal and professional issues that arise in their fieldwork and to learn about the field experience of other students at other placements.
Externships Essentials for Law Students
Before the semester begins:
1-- Enroll in a Becoming a Lawyer (BAL) course
2-- Enroll in Legal Externships (for 2 or 3 credits) (this is the fieldwork component of BAL) or
3-- Enroll in a Supervised Fieldwork course (if you already have done a BAL course)
4-- Tentatively find a fieldwork placement and complete the on-line Placement Approval Form
5-- Once approved, finalize your placement
At the beginning of the semester:
1- Add Legal Externships to your list of courses on TWEN
Throughout the semester:
1-- Complete the course requirements assigned by your instructor and
2-- Submit bi-weekly time records on the TWEN site
At the end of the semester:
1-- Ensure that your fieldwork supervisor has submitted a final, written evaluation of your placement experience to the Coordinator of Clinical Programs by the end of the examination period
2-- Complete the online placement evaluation form
For more information visit the Externships FAQ page.
Here is a list of just some of the vast array of placements where CUA students have done externships.
Courts
Superior Court of the District of Columbia
US District Court for the District of Columbia
District of Columbia Court of Appeals
US Court of Federal Claims
United States Supreme Court
Virginia Court of Appeals
Fairfax County Circuit Court
Arlington County Circuit Court
Maryland Court of Appeals
Federal government agencies
US Department of Justice
Access to Justice Initiative
Antitrust Division
Civil Division
Criminal Division
Office of International Affairs
Environmental and Natural Resources Division
Executive Office for Immigration Review
Executive Office for US Trustees
National Security Division
Office of Legislative Affairs
Office of the Pardon Attorney
Office of Professional Responsibility
US Agency for International Development
US Department of Commerce
International Trade Administration
National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration
US Copyright Office, Office of General Counsel
US Department of Defense, Defense Intelligence Agency
US Department of Education
US Department of Energy
US Department of Homeland Security
US Department of Housing and Urban Development
Environmental Protection Agency
US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Federal Bureau of Prisons, Litigation Division
Federal Communications Commission
Wireless Telecommunications Bureau
Office of Legislative Affairs
Federal Election Commission
Federal Maritime Commission
Federal Trade Commission
Food and Drug Administration
US Department of Health and Human Services
Office of the General Counsel
US Department of the Interior
International Trade Commission
US Department of Labor
Library of Congress, Office of General Counsel
US Merit Systems Protection Board
NASA Office of General Counsel
National Labor Relations Board
National Science Foundation, Office of Inspector General
US Patent and Trademark Office
Peace Corps, Office of Inspector General
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
Office of Personnel Management
Securities and Exchange Commission
Small Business Administration
US Department of Transportation
Transportation Security Administration
US Department of the Treasury
Office of Foreign Assets Control
United States Mint
United States Coast Guard Judge Advocate General Corps
United States Navy Judge Advocate General Corps
Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction
Congressional Research Service
The White House
Domestic Policy Council
Executive Office of the President
Office of Science and Technology Policy
US Senate and US House of Representatives
Senate Judiciary Committee
House Judiciary Committee
House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
Senate Committee on Homeland Security
House Committee on Energy and Commerce
House Ways and Means Committee
House Committee on the Budget
Local Government
DC Office of the Attorney General
DC Office of the Chief Financial Officer
Office of the Maryland Attorney General
Comptroller of Maryland
Public Defenders
DC Public Defender Service
Alexandria Public Defender
Federal Public Defender Service of DC
Montgomery County Public Defender
Prince George’s County Public Defender
Prosecutors’ Offices
Montgomery County State’s Attorney
United States Attorney’s Office, District of Columbia
Office of the Commonwealth Attorney, Arlington County
Office of the Commonwealth Attorney, Fairfax County
Non-profits, trade associations and corporations
American Bar Association
Center for Human Rights
Center for Child Advocacy
Rule of Law Initiative
Death Penalty Moratorium
AARP/Legal Counsel for the Elderly
Catholic Charities
Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
Aequitas: The Prosecutor’s Resource for Violence Against Women
FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority)
Vera Institute of Justice
Alliance of Artists and Recording Companies
American Rivers, Office of General Counsel
Catholic Legal Imigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC)
Association of Corporate Counsel
Transparency International USA
National Association of Broadcasters
ACLU National Prison Project
American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
Discovery Communications, LLC
United Nations Development Program
Center for Women Policy Studies
WEAVE (Women Empowered Against Violence)
Octagon Worldwide Inc.
American Nurses Association
Solar Industries Association
The Nature Conservancy
Children’s National Medical Center
National Women’s Law Center
National Center for victims of Crime
Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe
Tahirih Justice Center
National Association of Home Builders
National Trust for Historic Preservation
American Humane Association
Friends Commission on National Legislation
Capitol Area Immigrants’ Rights Coalition
CUA Office of General Counsel
Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights
PCIA The Wireless Infrastructure Association
Service Employees International Union
National Geographic Channel, Business and Legal Affairs Department
Center for Medicare Advocacy
Leadership Conference on Civil Rights
International Center for Missing and Exploited Children
The World Bank
Law Firms
Benach Ragland LLP (immigration firm)
Troutman Sanders, LLP
Reed Smith LLP
Alston & Bird LLP
Sidley Austin LLP
Drinker Biddle and Reath LLP
Zavos Juncker Lawgroup
