To prepare students for the new reality of practicing law in a global legal environment, the Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University has established the Global Legal Practice Externship Program, which allows students to work over the summer in international or domestic unpaid positions for academic credit. The Program gives students two options to participate in, with the same academic requirements for both.
About the Program
The Global Legal Practice Externship Program relaunches Hofstra's former program into one initiative that includes all unpaid international and domestic opportunities for which students receive academic credit over the summer. The two options for student participation allow you to select the method that works best for you — being placed internationally or finding your own placement in the U.S. or abroad. The Program awards students 3 academic credits and requires participants to agree to the following conditions:
- To be supervised by an attorney who assigns substantive legal work and provides regular feedback
- To physically work in the employer's office a minimum of 200 hours over the summer
- To produce at least 20 pages of legal research based written work that meets the satisfaction of the faculty member supervising the Program (no forms, boilerplate decisions or motions, etc.)
- To participate in the Externship Success Lecture in advance and check in online with the faculty member supervising the Program each week
- To chronicle the placement experience daily by objectively summarizing what you are doing and any legal issues and problems presented; you must also subjectively respond to the daily chronicle with observations about the placement or legal system
- To provide a four page subjective paper at the end of the summer on the placement experience
The Program's Externship Success Lecture will review the academic requirements in more detail, while exploring the skills necessary to maximize the externship placement opportunity, like professionalism and office etiquette. The Lecture will be offered in mid-May after spring semester final examinations, but before placements begin.
There are two placement options, each with different application procedures. With Placement Option I, we place with an internship via our partnership with Global Experiences, Inc. With Placement Option II, Hofstra awards credit for externships you find on your own. Both options are supported by financial aid.
