Externships  

Touro Law Center's externship program allows students to work in specific fields of law, gain exposure to highly technical or unusual legal skills, practice in specialized courts, or perform legal work that calls upon unique talents or knowledge. The placement:

· may be with a private law office, the court system, or the law office of a public interest or government employer;

· must be supervised by an admitted attorney or judge;

· may not involve any compensation. 

Touro Law offers both Independent Externships and Externship Seminars. Independent Externships are externships paired with a substantive course and supervised by the course professor. Externship Seminars pair a specific seminar with a specific type of externship placement.

Independent Externships

Any student enrolled in an upper division course may earn externship credit for legal work related to the subject matter of the course.  To earn credit, the work must be performed during the same semester as the related course and:

·         Approved by the faculty member teaching the course and the Director of Externship Programs.  The student must secure a written description of the placement and the duties to be performed from the supervising attorney or judge.  The faculty member teaching the related course must determine whether the externship will entail substantive legal experiences appropriate for academic credit, whether the work will be relevant to the course and whether adequate supervision of the student's work will be provided.

·         Supervised only by a full‑time faculty member.  The supervising faculty member will specify the criteria necessary to complete the externship and receive externship credits. These may include maintaining a journal of activities, making oral or written presentations to the class, periodic meetings with the faculty member, submission of work performed in the placement, submission of other written reports or papers regarding placement activities and/or other similar requirements.

Although the student may identify an externship placement, Professor Lewis Silverman, the Director of Externship Programs, and the Office of Career Services can assist in locating and contacting suitable placements. Externship forms may be obtained from the Office of Clinical and Externship Programs.

Externship Seminars

Business, Law & Technology Externship (5 credits)
 Touro Law’s Business Technology Law Externship allows students to work in private law firms and corporate law departments with a focus on intellectual property, e-commerce, licensing and joint ventures, privacy, and general corporate law, while examining the professional, ethical, personal, and financial pressures inherent in the practice of law.  It is designed to give students insight into law practice representing technology enabled organizations:  to provide hands-on experience in the varied and complex skills required to practice law; and to emphasize the importance of counseling and planning to a successful professional career.  Their experiences enable them to begin to set for themselves standards of professional skill and demeanor, as well as client and colleague relationships.

Civil Practice Externship (5 credits)

Touro Law's Civil Practice Externship allows students to work in a wide variety of law office placements – private law firms, corporate law departments, government offices, public interest organizations, and non-profit settings—while examining the professional, ethical, personal, and financial pressures inherent in the practice of law. It is designed to give students insight into the workings of legal institutions and the legal system; to provide hands-on experience in the varied and complex skills required to practice law, and to emphasize the importance of counseling and planning to a successful professional career. Their experiences enable them to begin to set for themselves standards of professional skill and demeanor, as well as client and colleague relationships.

Criminal Law Externship (5 credits)

Students in the Criminal Law Externship work approximately 12 to 15 hours per week at a District Attorney's or Public Defender's, under the supervision of the Externship's director and an attorney at the placement.

Judicial Clerkship Externship (5 credits)
Clerkships provide the opportunity to observe the confidential workings of a court and to experience litigation from a judge's perspective. The Judicial Clerkship Externship combines a placement as a clerk in the chambers of a trial or appellate judge with a weekly three-hour seminar focusing on various aspects of litigation and the judicial process.

United States Attorney’s Office Externship (6 credits)

The United States Attorney's Office Externship offers students an intensive experience, with 20 hours each week dedicated to concentrated learning in a real-world practice setting. The externship is designed to expose students in a highly structured way to a variety of practice skills and ethical issues, while giving them the opportunity to reflect on the lawyer's role both as an advisor and officer of the court. The emphasis is on problem solving, by placing students in situations where they are required to exercise professional judgment.

For additional information

Externship forms may be obtained from the Office of Clinical and Externship Programs or the Office of Career Services. For more information about externship programs, please contact Lewis Silverman, Director of Externship Programs at (631) 761-7080 or lsilverman@tourolaw.edu.