Externships - Bringing the Law to Life
The Legal Externship Program
Externship Application
Please submit the application to Interim Externship Director Lila Meadows to have your placement approved.
Once your placement has been approved, you will receive an approval number that you can use to register for the class.
The Legal Externship Program at the University of Baltimore School of Law is designed to engage students in real life lawyering experiences with practicing lawyers. Through the program, students can explore a particular area of practice and observe different lawyering styles and techniques. Externships promote the development of key lawyering skills such as legal analysis, research and writing, interviewing and counseling, negotiation, policy making and advocacy.
The externship program assists students in their roles as professionals and developing interpersonal and professional skills. Students will focus on identifying specific learning goals and the importance of learning from observation and reflection.
Participation in the externship program involves working while taking an externship course. Externships are for 3 academic credits.
The Externship Course
The externship course promotes students’ understanding of professional responsibility through discussion of ethical and moral issues arising in practice. The course instructor guides and facilitates the students’ exploration of their externship experience through journal writing, class discussion and assignments. The course provides you with the tools and skills to excel in any law office.
Externships are offered in the fall, spring and summer semesters. The Attorney Practice externship course includes students who are working with a variety of organizations. The Judicial externship course includes students working with state, federal and Administrative Law Judges.
There is an Advanced Externship for those who have completed the Attorney Practice or Judicial course. The Advanced Externship does not have a classroom component but all the other requirements still apply including journal assignments, timekeeping, and individual meetings with the instructor.
During the spring semester, there is a Corporate Counsel Externship program where students are working with in-house counsel.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has an internship program offered year round. Interested students should apply directly to the SEC and if accepted into the program, then submit an application for the law school's externship program.
Eligibility
Academic Requirements
Students must complete 130 hours in the placement for three credits (12-14 hours per week).
Students are required to complete 10 pages of substantive legal writing for this three-credit course.
Each student who is participating in the externship program for the first time must register for and attend the weekly seminar which will address, among other topics, professionalism, legal ethics and professional responsibility—skills that are important to the attorney's effectiveness and the lawyer's societal role.
Each student is also required to have one or more individual conferences with the supervising faculty.
To participate in the Legal Externship Program, you must have completed at least two semesters of law school and be in good academic standing.
Securing a Position
Organizations interested in working with law students have posted positions through Symplicity.
Students should start looking at least two months in advance of the semester in which you would like extern.
Participants include judges, government agencies, public interest organizations, law firms and corporations.
You may identify an organization on your own and then discuss it with the Director of Externships to determine if they are eligible for the program. You must first secure a position in order to apply for the program. If you would like to discuss externship options or need assistance please contact the Director of Externships to schedule an appointment.
Application Process
Once you have secured a position, you will submit your applications to the Interim Director of Externships, Lila Meadows, at lmeadows@ubalt.edu. When your application is approved you will receive a permission number so that you can enroll in an externship course in the same way you would register for other law courses.