Events
Externship Program
The Basics
The Externship course allows law students (2Ls or 3Ls) to gain practical work experience at a nonprofit, government agency or in-house counsel offices while completing a curriculum that builds key professional development skills. The course provides law students an opportunity to understand the relationship between legal doctrine and practical legal skills.
Contact Us
Director:
Amanda Rivas
arivas@stmarytx.edu
210-431-5712
Faculty Supervisor:
Karen Kelley
kkelley2@stmarytx.edu
210-431-5708
Student Eligibility Requirements
In order to be eligible for the Externship course, a student must:
- Complete all 1L courses.
- Be in good standing at the law school. (If cumulative GPA is below 2.3, the student must meet with Faculty Supervisor Karen Kelley to discuss enrollment.)
- Not exceed the semester enrollment credit limit or the pass/fail credit limit.
General Course Requirements
Students earn three experiential learning credits (pass/fail) in the course by:
- Completing a minimum of 150 hours of substantial legal work over at least 10 weeks while supervised by a licensed attorney, and
- Completing approximately 15-20 hours of course work.
Curriculum
During the Externship semester, in addition to the work at their sites, students will complete approximately 15-20 hours of curriculum.
This includes:
- Orientation
- Goals Conference to finalize Learning Plan
- Reflective Assignments
- Timesheets
- Class Meetings
- Small Group Meetings
- Midterm and Final Evaluation Feedback Meetings
- Pre- & Post-Semester Assessments
- Evaluation of the Course, Placement, and Supervision
Finding a Placement
- Pre-approved Externship sites are advertised on CORE every semester. Contact the Externship Office to explore pre-approved sites for future semesters.
- Students can obtain a position at a nonprofit, government or in-house counsel office that is not pre-approved, but the supervisor and site must complete the Vetting and Approval Process.
EXAMPLES OF EXTERNSHIP WORK SITES
SUPERVISING ATTORNEY ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
Vetting and Approval Process
- Secure a position with a supervising attorney and/or placement that will qualify for the Externship class (nonprofit, government, in-house counsel).
- Submit your placement and supervising attorney information through the vetting and approval process on CORE.
- Log in to CORE. Go to the “Externship and Pro Bono” tab and click “+New Experience.” Fill in the required information (employer, work mode, term, etc.).
- The director will connect with you and your supervising attorney during the vetting and approval process to confirm the student and supervisor understand the educational standards for the course and have the capacity to meet the requirements. With a previous Externship partner, the process is usually abbreviated. The timeline for this process will vary based on the director and supervising attorney schedules.
- Once the vetting is complete, you will receive an initial approval on CORE and directions via email.
- You and your supervising attorney will need to review and sign the commitment form available on CORE.
- Upload the completed commitment form on CORE and notify the director via email.
- You will receive the final approval via CORE once the commitment form is received. We cannot register any student for the Externship class without a completed commitment form.