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(Revised August 2022)

The faculty recognizes the value of externship placements asÌýa means of achieving educational and professional objectives such as developingÌýor enhancing professional skills and responsibility, improving legal researchÌýand writing skills, and acquiring knowledge of legal process and practice, asÌýwell as knowledge of specific substantive areas of the law and establishing professional relationships withÌýpractitioners in the legal community. The faculty, therefore, adopts theÌýfollowing policy governing externships.

An externship program may be approved by the dean or theÌýdean's designate, without being presented to the Faculty for approval, if itÌýmeets the following criteria:

1. It is proposed or supported by a faculty member.

2. The student is placed with a public agency, not-for-profitÌýorganization, the legal department of a private entity, or a law firmÌý(hereinafter referred to as the host organization).

3.ÌýThe student will be supervised by one attorney at the hostÌýorganization (hereinafter referred to as the supervising attorney), but mayÌýwork also with other attorneys actively involved in the work of the hostÌýorganization.

4. The student will meet with the sponsoring faculty member regularly during the semester. Judicial externs meet in class sessions with adjunct faculty members approximately every other week. Externs in non-judicial placements participate in four common classroom sessions and at least four meetings with their sponsoring faculty member during the semester. The meetings needÌýnot be individual, but may be meetings of multiple students advised by the same sponsoring faculty member. The meetings may takeÌýplace electronically if the student is in an externship remote from the LawÌýSchool.

5. ÌýThe student will keep a journal or log of activities atÌýthe host organization. The faculty member will review and evaluate the log atÌýleast every other week.

6. ÌýThe faculty member will discuss the planned experience forÌýthe semester with the supervising attorney before the externship commences andÌýwill discuss the progress of the externship with the supervising attorneyÌýperiodically during the semester. The faculty member is required periodically toÌývisit the host organization unless the externship bears less than six credits orÌýif the host organization is remote from the Law School. If the host organization is remote from theÌýLaw School and the externship bears six or more credits, the faculty member mustÌýarrange to have a representative from a different law school visit the hostÌýorganization as a proxy, unless the faculty member is able to visit in person.

7. ÌýThe externship should expose the student to substantiveÌýaspects of legal practice in the host organization. The student's time shouldÌýnot be spent on clerical work except to the extent it is a normal incident ofÌýthe law-related experience in the host organization. The externship experiencesÌýshould normally include several of the following:

• Conducting legal research.
• Conducting factual investigation and research.
• Participating in preparation for a hearing,Ìýdeposition, or similar proceeding.
• Participating in or attending a hearing,Ìýdeposition, or similar proceeding.
• Preparing comments on proposed agencyÌýregulations or preparing testimony for an administrative agency hearing.
• Preparing comments on proposed agencyÌýregulations.
• Drafting legal documents, such as letters,Ìýpleadings, orders, and briefs.
• Participating in or attending sessions in whichÌýthe lawyers counsel the client of the host organization.
• Participating in or attending negotiationÌýsessions.

8.ÌýThe faculty memberÌýwill engage the student(s) in critical evaluation of the externship. TheÌýfaculty member and student(s) will normally discuss the professional experienceÌýat the host agency, identify legal and ethical issues raised by the externshipÌýexperience, and explore the issues of substantive law or procedure that relateÌýto the student(s) experience while maintaining appropriate confidentiality.

9. Paid Externships

Each student is permitted to have one paid externship during law school as long as it occurs in the fall or spring semester. Paid externships are limited to three (3) or four (4) credits. Paid work positions are not eligible for credit-bearing externships during the summer. Paid positions include circumstances where the student is compensated directly by the host organization or funded by grants, stipends, or other sources outside the host organization.

10.ÌýApproved Credit Amounts

The number ofÌýcredits earned by the student will be proportionate to the amount of time theÌýstudent is required to spend on the work of the externship, not including time the student spends in classroom sessions, meeting with the sponsoring faculty member, or commuting. The time allocated to the externship shouldÌýnormally be spent at the host agency. However, during the Coronavirus epidemic, virtual or remote work time is permitted and virtual site visits by sponsoring faculty members are permitted. The work time requirement is forty-five hours per credit with the following approved credit allocations:

• 3 credits for 135 hours for a 13-weekÌýsemester
• 4 credits for 180 hours for a 13-week semester
• 6 credits for 270 hours for a 13-weekÌýsemester
• 6 credits over two semesters for 135 hours during each of the 13-week semesters
• 12 credits for 540 hours for a 13-weekÌýsemester
• The associate dean for academic affairs can approve other credit allocations, between 3 and 12 credits, when they are convinced the circumstances warrant approval.

Summer externships are limited to three (3) credits. Judicial externships are ordinarily limited to three (3) credits; however, the academic dean can approve upto six (6) credits for a judicial externship during the fall or spring semester if the supervising judge expects an unusually large work commitment from the student.

11. Grading Scale

ExternshipÌýcredits will be awarded on a High Pass, Pass, Low Pass, or Fail basis. The student’s grade should be determined byÌýthe supervising attorney at the host organization in consultation with theÌýfaculty member.

12. Credit Restrictions:Ìý

Third year students will be given preference for enrollmentÌýin externships.ÌýNo student will be permitted to earn more than 9 externshipÌýcredits without the approval of the associate dean for academic affairs; theseÌýcredits are counted toward the total of 27 non-instructional credits that aÌýstudent is permitted to take without approval of the associate dean forÌýacademic affairs. The credits a studentÌýreceives for participation in an externship program will be included whenÌýcomputing the student's total clinic and externship credits, which are subject to a cap ofÌý17 credits.

13.Ìý Extended Externships:

Generally, students are limited to a single externship at a particular placement. In some circumstances, the academic dean may approve a second externship semester at the same placement upon showing that the experience in the second semester will involve significant additional development of the student's knowledge, experience, and skills beyond what the student achieved during the first semester.

A student participating in a judicial externship may receive credit for a second judicial externship if it will be served with a different court system (state rather than federal or vice versa) or at a different level (appellate rather than trial or vice versa). In some circumstances, the academic dean may approve a second externshipÌýsemester in the same judicial chambers or court upon a showing that the experience in the second semester will involve significant additional development of the student's knowledge, experience, and skills beyond what the student achieved during the first semester.

14. Proposing a new externship program:Ìý

The student or faculty member who wishes to propose an externshipÌýplacement has the burden to make the case and put together the necessaryÌýrecord. The program proposed must meet the standard requirements of otherÌýexternships as outlined above. A faculty member must agree to serve as theÌýfaculty sponsor. If the externship isÌýgeographically removed from the greater Philadelphia area, the faculty sponsorÌýmay supervise the student through a combination of videoconferencing, phoneÌýconferencing, and written exchanges.ÌýThe following criteria will be used to evaluate proposed newÌýexternships:

• Does this program enhance the range ofÌýalternatives open to students by offering a new range of experiences, exposureÌýto an additional substantive area of practice, or the opportunity to pursueÌýexperiential learning in a new geographic area?
• Are the educational goals of the externshipÌýclearly defined and realistically attainable?
• How well does the program fit in the law schoolÌýcurriculum?
• Does the externship offer the opportunity toÌýdevelop one or more core competencies?
• Is the work the extern will perform consistentÌýwith the activities listed above?
• Are there other educational experiences (such asÌýseminars, tours, training programs) provided besides the regular legalÌýtraining?
• Is there adequate host organization supervision?ÌýWhat are the qualifications of the supervising attorney?