Externship Academic Program

WilmU Law provides students with opportunities to engage in externships as part of the student’s experiential learning. These externships expand upon classroom study by connecting traditional academic learning and conceptual legal thinking with the practice of law.

WilmU Law’s externship program enhances the development of a broad range of lawyering skills by helping students become better problem solvers, transition to their role as practicing attorneys, advance personal career goals, create mentoring relationships and build their professional networks. Through externships, students acquire real-world skills from active participation and firsthand experience in the practice of law.

Program Overview

Combining practical work experience in a legal setting with an academic component, WilmU Law’s externship program allows students to receive academic credit for substantive legal and law related work outside of the classroom setting during the fall, spring and summer semesters.

During their externships, students will work at their placement for a set number of hours, as well as participate in a weekly seminar compromised of direct instruction, tutorials, and self-reflection.

Credit for externships must be approved in advance by the Associate Dean for Experiential Learning. To qualify under this program, each externship must include legal work performed in a professional setting under the direct supervision of a licensed attorney at the host organization.

Externships may be completed in private law firms, with the judiciary, with government and public sector employers, or with nonprofit organizations.

The School of Law is dedicated to helping students advance in their career path through practical legal training and has deliberately planned the academic class schedules to allow students to devote meaningful blocks of time on consistent days of the week to maximize the externship experience.

Eligibility

• Full-time students may begin their externships in the fourth semester. Part-time students may begin their externships in the sixth semester or any subsequent semester.
• Students must be in good academic standing and must have completed a Professional Responsibility course prior to the start of their externship.
• Students may complete a minimum of three credits and a maximum of 15 credits of externship coursework.

Host Organization Information

We are excited to partner with local and regional law-related organizations to help our students thrive in the legal community. If your organization is interested in working with WilmU Law students, and you wish to become an approved externship site, please contact the Associate Dean for Experiential Learning.