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.
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:
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.
Download Externship forms and Information
TBD- Director of Clinical Legal Studies Program and Oversees the Experiential Learning Programs
• (713) 313-7275
Timothy Adams
Adjunct Professor of Law and Director of Advocacy
• Timothy.Adams@tmslaw.tsu.edu
Brandon Draper
Assistant Professor of Law& Director of Experiential Learning • brandon.draper@tsu.edu
• (713) 313-1075
Lydia Johnson
Professor of Law – Criminal Externship
• lydia.johnson@tmslaw.tsu.edu
• (713) 313-7004
Thalia Dubose
Adjunct Professor – Civil Law Externship
• thalia.dubose@tmsl.tsu.edu
• (832) 240-1177
Judge Joy Thomas
Adjunct Professor – Judicial Externship
• sharonda.thomas@tmsl.tsu.edu
• (281) 444-0330