Externships
Western New England offers the opportunity to gain real-world experience from an externship in a wide variety of legal fields. The Externship Program provides learning opportunities for students placed with judges and lawyers who have agreed to provide a mentored learning environment away from the law school. All externs are supervised by a law faculty member.
Types of Externship Placements
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Law Practice
Students work in a nonprofit organization, governmental agency, or private sector law firm engaging in a variety of lawyering tasks under the supervision of an attorney. The emphasis of the placement is for students to acquire a range of lawyering skills with a particular focus on professionalism, ethics, and public interest lawyering.
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Student Secured
Students may secure their own judicial, public interest, or private sector externship placement. However, students seeking approval to add a new externship site must obtain preliminary approval from the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs or the Associate Dean for Clinics prior to submitting formal site approval paperwork. Students seeking approval of a student secured externship must provide information that demonstrates a good reason why they cannot obtain a similar experience at one of the approved sites, including expanding geographic, practice, or substantive areas.
Sufficient lead time (a minimum of 2 weeks prior to the start of the semester) must be given to complete the approval process. The approval process will include a consultation with the proposed supervisor, an assessment of the substance of the proposed work, and a written agreement with the supervisor regarding the expectations and requirements for on-site supervision and mentoring.
Additional Information
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Additional Information for Students
Current students may view additional information on the TWEN Clinic, Practicum and Externship Informational Page.