Externships
An externship is the placement of a student in a law office off-campus where the student studies law practice in action under the oversight of an on-site field supervisor and an Arizona Law faculty member, usually the Director of Externships. Externship opportunities are available for all students who have completed their first two semesters and enhance educational experience through real lawyering opportunities in the field.
Arizona Law provides academic credit to students studying law through a variety of externship placements in government, non-profit, legislative, executive, judicial, corporate, and for-profit entities where students engage in substantial legal work.
Students may initiate their own field placement or apply for an existing externship. New externship placement offices must be pre-approved by the Director of Externships.
Students receive (1) credit for every 50 hours of work in the field, up to a total of 6 credits in a single semester and a total of 10 credits while in law school. All students participating in the externship program are required to engage in ongoing, contemporaneous reflection guided by the faculty member teaching their externship section.
Post-February-bar externships are available to both Feb bar takers and non-February-bar 2Ls and 3Ls.
Employers
Employers interested in hosting an extern should contact Shannon Trebbe, Professor of Practice and Director of Externships, at strebbe@arizona.edu.
Announcing the Phoenix Externship Program
The new Arizona Law Phoenix Externship Program allows students to spend their spring semester taking classes and externing in Phoenix.
Program DetailsExternship Q & A for Students
Externships are available in a variety of government agencies, non-profit offices, corporate counsel offices, and private law firms throughout the State of Arizona and the world. Students are welcome to apply to existing placements through the Externship Application Programs held in the second half of each semester. Students may also obtain approval for a new placement where they will be performing substantial legal work and supervised by an attorney. Students interested in obtaining approval for a new placement should email Prof. Shannon Trebbe at strebbe@arizona.edu.
To ensure all interested students have an opportunity to apply for positions in which they are interested, all externships are filled via an application process. Additionally, students often find their own placements through CareerCAT, previous externships, previous employment, or other sources. Students who are interested in the externship program are encouraged to meet with the Director of Externships as early as possible to plan ahead. Various externships at pre-approved placements are also made available in the second half of every semester through the Externship Application Program.
Post-February-bar externships are available. Student-initiated externships must be approved in the same way as described above, and students must enroll in the appropriate Post-February-bar externship section.
Externships are available for all students who have completed the first-year curriculum. Before earning credit for their hours, all students must have a Learning Contract, and, if necessary, their placement office approved by the Director of Externships. All international students must obtain CPT approval from ISS prior to beginning work.
Students can receive both pay and credit for externship hours. Employers are responsible for complying with all laws relating to employment and unpaid work.
For more information, visit the U.S. Department of Labor's web page outlining unpaid internship programs under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
At the start of the semester, the student and their field and faculty supervisors complete a Learning Contract that outlines the student’s duties and learning goals for the placement. Throughout the semester, students will engage in reflective practice by way of class lectures and written reflection assignments.
All externships earn pass/fail credits. If you have completed your required hours, attended class, and timely completed your reflective assignments (including all required evaluations and meetings), you should receive a passing grade.
Your credit hours only count once the externship has been approved and cannot be applied retroactively. ABA rules require that an externship is supervised by faculty and that students engage in ongoing contemporaneous reflection. Consequently, you cannot count any hours worked as externship hours prior to approval.
Yes! Contact Prof. Trebbe (strebbe@arizona.edu) to discuss options for out-of-state externships. Or, learn about our new Phoenix Externship Program.
Your credit hours only count once the externship has been approved and cannot be applied retroactively. ABA rules require that an externship is supervised by faculty and that students engage in ongoing contemporaneous reflection. Consequently, you cannot count any hours worked as externship hours prior to approval.
Yes! Contact a career counselor to discuss whether we can work out an arrangement with an out of town organization. Learn about our new Phoenix Externship Program.
Resources and Forms
Supervision Manual (PDF)
Fair Labor Standards Act Information
Judicial Externships
Judicial externships provide students the opportunity to work and interact with judges and their staff in chambers. In so doing, students gain insight into the legal system, develop their legal skills and professional behavior, and demonstrate their ability to work with a supervisor.
Students are placed in the Federal District Court, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, the Arizona Court of Appeals Division Two, and the Pima County Superior Court, including the civil, criminal, family, and juvenile benches. Other opportunities may be arranged as well on an individual basis.
Enrollment requires registering for LAW 693-002 and providing professors with a resume and completed placement form upon request (generally after registration and before the start of the semester). Students may register for 1-4 credits; 2 credits is standard during the school year, but more or less is allowed upon consultation with the professor. No particular set of academic achievements is required, but students are encouraged to be enrolled in or have taken Evidence, and completion of Advanced Legal Writing and Research is helpful.
Students will be held to a high standard of professionalism in their interaction with chambers, including meeting all time commitments and completing assigned work projects. Schedules and assignments are coordinated with chambers, and although chambers are generally flexible with student schedules, adherence to the agreed-upon schedule and work is expected. Students must comply with the code of judicial conduct for the court to which they are assigned. Background checks and, in some cases, drug testing are required in some courts.
Academic-year judicial externships are taught by Part-time Professor of Practice Lisa Howell. Contact Professor Howell with questions at any time at lisavhowell@arizona.edu. Summer judicial externships are taught by Professor of Practice Kaitlyn Quigley.
Fellowships
The Minority Writing Program is a collaborative program among The Arizona Minority Bar Association and the State Bar of Arizona Committee on Minorities and Women in the Law.
Purpose of the Program
The program provides an opportunity for talented minority law students to participate in clerkships at private law firms. The Minority Writing Program provides second-year law students with practical clerking experience in private law firms in Pima County, Arizona. This experience both enhances the student’s writing skills and exposes them to the private firm environment.
The Arizona Minority Bar Association chairs this collaborative effort to provide a liaison between the students involved in the clerking program and the firms providing real life assignments.
Eligibility
Second-year minority law students at The University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law are eligible to apply for the Minority Writing Program.
Interviews
During the fall semester each year, private firms that will participate in the program interview interested students. The firms make offers to the students, and the students are matched with a firm.
Length of Clerkship
After the student clerk is selected, the firm notifies the student of a start date in January. The student will clerk at the firm for 10 hours per week and not more than 20 hours per week for the entire spring semester (12 weeks).
Scholarship
Once the law firm has selected a student and the student accepts the offer, the law firm will designate a $5,000 scholarship in the student’s name at The University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law. The scholarship requires that the student participate in the Minority Writing Program for the entire semester.
Program Requirements
The student will clerk for the assigned firm for 12 weeks and work on projects assigned by mentor attorneys. These projects will be reviewed and feedback given to the student to improve legal writing skills.
Offers of Employment
Students are aware that there is no job offer attached to this program at the end of the semester. The program is designed to develop better writing skills and to expose the students to private firm clerkships. If a firm is impressed with the student and wants to offer a summer clerking position or other opportunities to the student, that is entirely up to the firm.
Further Interest
If you are interested in learning more about the Minority Writing Program, or have questions, please contact: Willie Jordan-Curtis, Assistant Dean for Student Affairs and Clinical Professor of Law, at 520-621-8602 or jordancu@arizona.edu.
Offered in the spring semester, legislative attorneys select several second- and third-year law students as legal externs.
The work consists predominantly of legal research and writing, with an opportunity to learn about the legislative process. Positions are available in both the Senate and the House of Representatives with the non-partisan Rules Committee legal staff and the Republican and Democratic legal staff, and with the Legislative Council.
Students receive up to six externship hours and a cash stipend to cover out-of-pocket costs associated with the externship.
Interested students should contact Lisa Queen at lisap4@arizona.edu for more information.
Administered by Assistant Dean Willie Jordan-Curtis in conjunction with the prosecution clinic, the fellowship is a year-long opportunity for students serious about criminal prosecution.
Students receive 10 credits over the course of the year while working at four prosecuting agencies.
Interested students should contact Lisa Queen at lisap4@arizona.edu for more information.
Key Contact
Shannon Trebbe
Professor of Practice and Director of Externships
strebbe@arizona.edu
520-626-5011