Student externs work in law firms, corporations, non-profit and government offices as well as judicial chambers through our externship program.
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. Second-year students may earn up to 6 credits in a single semester for a total of 10 credits while in their second year. Students in their final two semesters may earn up to 12 credits per semester for a total of 18 credits total 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 February bar takers and non-February-bar 2Ls and 3Ls.
Externship FAQS for Students
Externs may work in a variety of government agencies, non-profit offices, compliance and corporate counsel offices as well as private law firms throughout the State of Arizona and the world. Students are welcome to contact the Career Development Office to find new opportunities. For approval of new externship sites, contact Director of Externships, Prof. Shannon Trebbe.
Past externship placements have included but are not limited to:
- ACLU of Arizona
- Attorney General’s Office
- Arizona Center for Disability Law
- Arizona Corporation Commission
- Arizona State Legislature
- City of Tucson Public Defender
- Florence Immigration and Refugee Rights Project
- Federal Public Defender
- Goldwater Institute
- Governor’s Office
- Department of Homeland Security / ICE
- Intel
- Airforce JAG
- Keep Tucson Together
- NatLaw Center
- Step up to Justice
- Supreme Court of the Navajo Nation
- Office Children’s Counsel
- Pascua Yaqui Tribal Court
- Pascua Yaqui Public Defender
- Pima County Public Defender
- Raytheon
- Southern Arizona Legal Aid
- Tohono O’Odam Public Defender
- University of Arizona Athletics Compliance Office
- United States Attorney’s Office
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 each semester through the Externship Application Program.
Please email the Director of Externships, Prof. Shannon Trebbe, at strebbe@arizona.edu. Your email should contain the name of the organization at which you would like to extern and a brief description of the type of work that you will be doing at the site. Prof. Trebbe will need to meet with your supervising attorney to approve the externship site.
Any 2L or 3L student whose externship is approved may enroll in LAW 693-003 during the spring semester. This class begins after Spring Break and is designed to accommodate externships taking place after the February Bar. Students may enroll in this class even if they are not planning on taking the February Bar.
All SJD, 2L, and 3L students are eligible to enroll in the externship class, provided their externship has been approved. Advanced Admission JD students are eligible to enroll after they have completed their first year. LLM students who wish to enroll in the externship class must be in their second semester and have their externship approved by their academic adviser and the Director of Externships. All international students must obtain CPT approval from ISS prior to beginning work.
Students may receive both pay and credit for externship hours. Externship sites 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 internship programs under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Application processes vary by externship site. Some postings are available on CareerCAT. Students interested in externship opportunities not posted on CareerCAT should speak with the Director of Externships, Prof. Shannon Trebbe.
To register for the externship class, the student's externship site and learning agreement must both be approved by Director of Externships, Prof. Shannon Trebbe. A blank learning agreement form is available on this site under "Resources and Forms."
Before the start of the semester, the student and their field and faculty supervisor must complete a Learning Agreement that outlines the student’s duties and learning goals for the externship. Throughout the semester, students will engage in weekly reflective exercises. Students must also submit mid-semester and final evaluations, weekly timesheets showing hours worked, and assessments of their externship site.
All externships earn pass/fail experiential credits. If you have completed your required hours and submitted the above listed assignments on time, you should pass the class. For a detailed syllabus, please email Prof. Trebbe.
A completed and approved learning agreement is a prerequisite to enrolling in the externship class. You may start work at your externship site, but you will not be able to earn credit for your hours until your learning agreement is approved and you are enrolled in the externship class. You may start counting your hours towards your externship class requirements on the date your learning agreement is approved or the first day of the semester, whichever is later.
Yes--Arizona Law externs have earned credit at externship sites all over the country, both remotely and in-person. Students in their final two semesters of law school may earn up to 12 externship credits in one semester, which equates to a full-time externship. If you plan appropriately, you could spend your entire final semester working in an externship out-of-state.
Resources and Forms
Field Supervisor Manual (Updated Fall 2024)
Learning Agreement Form (Updated Fall 2024)
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 and demonstrate self-direction.
Students are placed in the Federal District Court, the United States 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. Email Professor Howell with questions at any time.
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 email Willie Jordan-Curtis, assistant dean for student affairs and clinical professor of law, or Phone: 520-621-8602.
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 email Lisa Queen 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. Students also receive a $10,000 stipend.
Interested students should email Lisa Queen for more information.
Information for Externship Sites
Externship Site Duties:
Mentoring an extern can be a rewarding and fulfilling experience, but it also comes with additional responsibilities. Please see the document below for information on extern supervisor duties.
Arizona Law Externship Supervisor Information
New Externship Site Approval:
New externship sites are approved upon student request only. If your organization is interested finding a student extern, you may post an opening on Arizona Law's CareerCAT recruiting platform. Please visit our Career Development Office's webpage for instructions on how to create a CareerCAT account and post externship openings.