Finding a Placement

Students who wish to earn externship credit must:
   1. Secure an opportunity, and
   2. Apply for approval for externship credit and enrollment via CoreElms (See Application Process).

Finding a Placement

Students are responsible for securing an opportunity for which they would like to receive externship credit. The Director of Experiential Learning 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:
   1. Applying for specific externship opportunities posted on CoreElms; or
   2. 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 CoreElms 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, law firm, governmental agency, organization, or judge is offering an externship in each semester can change. A student interested in a particular placement can contact the Director of Experiential Learning to learn more about it.

Regardless of how a student identifies an opportunity, all students must apply for approval to participate in the course/program via CoreElms to the Director of Experiential Learning by the applicable deadline.

Pre-approved Civil, Criminal, and Judicial Opportunities:

Pre-approved governmental agency, law firm, nonprofit organization, corporate in-house legal department, or judicial placements accepting students for the upcoming semester will be posted in CoreElms. These will usually be posted in February/March for fall placement, September/October for spring placement.

1. Students confirm their eligibility and apply for each opportunity according to the instructions provided in CoreElms.
   a.  Note: The instructions are in the Student Introduction to CoreElms PowerPoint found on the home page. Follow the instructions on how to submit a Site using Site Prospector (pp. 5-7 of the PowerPoint).
   
2. 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 Director of Experiential Learning.
   
3. Once an externship offer is received and the Director of Experiential Learning has approved the student to participate, the student may then register for the appropriate externship class through the Registrar.
   

4. Students cannot decline an externship offer, or withdraw from the program after accepting an externship, without prior approval from the Director of Experiential Learning.
   

Students Identifying Their Own Opportunities:

If you have secured an internship and would like externship credit, you must apply to the Director of Experiential Learning for approval. If the placement has not been previously approved, the placement must:

1. Complete the application-questionnaire and return it to the Director of Experiential Learning; and
   
2. Be available to discuss, either by phone or in-person, the program’s requirements, and expectations with the Director of Experiential Learning.

Note: once a placement is approved, the placement must then fill out documents required for all previously approved placements.

See Supervising Attorney Basic Responsibilities and the Supervising Attorney Eligibility and Application Process for further information.

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