Finding a Placement
Students who wish to earn externship credit must:
- Secure an opportunity, and
- Apply for approval for externship credit and enrollment via REVS’ Experiential Learning module (See Application Process).
Finding a Placement
Students are responsible for securing an opportunity for which they would like to receive externship credit. The Externship Director will assist students in identifying opportunities, and will provide counseling about options and the process, but cannot guarantee a placement.
Students can find opportunities through:
- Applying for specific externship opportunities posted on R.E.V.S., or
- Identifying their own placement (such as receiving an internship through OCI or a job posting) and seeking approval of the placement for credit.
Please see additional information about applying for pre-approved externships and other opportunities below.
To see a list of type of externship opportunities available, students can search employer profiles in REVS to identify attorneys/organizations who have offered past externship opportunities and are currently approved to offer an externship opportunity. Students can search using criteria such as practice setting or area. Whether a particular attorney/organization is offering an externship in a given semester can change. A student interested in a particular placement can contact the Extern Director to learn more about it.
Regardless of how a student identifies an opportunity, all students must submit an application for approval to participate in the course/program via REVS’ “Experiential Learning” module to the Extern Director by the applicable deadline.
Public Interest/Government Opportunities:
Pre-approved In-House/Firms/Federal Judicial Opportunities:
Pre-approved in-house, law firm, and federal judicial placements accepting students for the upcoming semester will be posted in R.E.V.S.. These will usually be posted in Feb./March for fall placement, Sept./Oct. for spring placement.
- Students apply for each opportunity according to the instructions provided in REVS
- Students submit a separate application for approval to enroll in the externship course via REVS “Experiential Learning” module. This is submitted one time and the student should save as a “draft” until they receive an offer.
- Upon the application period closing, resumes and cover letters are sent to the employers who are asked to contact students for interviews.
- Once a student interviews, they are making a commitment to accept an externship if offered. Students must accept the first offer received, so they should only apply for opportunities they are willing to accept. If a concern arises during an interview or the student has a compelling reason for wishing to decline, the student must raise this with the Externship Director.
- Once an externship offer is received, the student must revise their REVS application for approval by providing the placement's and supervisor's name, and submit for approval.
- Students cannot decline an externship offer, or withdraw from the program after accepting an externship, without prior Externship Director approval.
Students Identifying Their Own Opportunities:
If you have secured an internship and would like externship credit, you must submit an application to Extern Director for approval. If the placement has not been previously approved, the placement must:
- Complete the application-questionnaire and return it to the Extern Director; and;
- Be available to discuss, either by phone or in-person, the program’s requirements and expectations with the Extern Director.
See Supervising Attorney Basic Responsibilities and the Supervising Attorney Eligibility and Application Process for further information.