Miami Law Externship Program

Home   >  Career Development Office   >  Miami Law Externship Program

The University of Miami School of Law Externship Program ("Externship Program") provides second-year (2L), third-year (3L) and domestic LL.M. students an opportunity to gain practical legal experience by working with local, national, and international corporations, government agencies, public interest organizations and the judiciary for academic credit. Students gain practical legal experience by working under the supervision of lawyers, which is supplemented and enhanced by a corresponding academic course. Please note that law firms, of any size, including solo practitioners, do not qualify as an externship placement for the Externship Program.

To qualify for the Externship Program, a placement must provide the student:

• A substantive legal experience;
• An on-site supervising attorney, who directly supervises and provides feedback in connection to the student's work.

Please note that students receive academic credit for their work at the field placements. As such, students are not eligible to receive any compensation from externship employers or from any other sources including stipends or fellowships. Click here to see requirements for an organization to qualify for an externship placement.

In order for a student to participate in and receive academic credit for his/her participation in the Externship Program:

• The student must be an enrolled student at Miami Law, in good academic standing;
• The student must submit a fully executed Student-Agency Agreement for an approved placement;
• The student must complete the work hours required for his/her elected credit amount;
• The student must complete the Externship Program Course;
• The student must maintain a time log and submit a complete Time Certification Form at the end of the externship term, verifying that he/she completed the required work hours;
• A student cannot repeat a prior externship placement for academic credit;
• There is a 9-credit cap as to the number of academic credits that a student may earn through externship placements that may be applied towards meeting a student's graduation requirements in accordance with the Miami Law Registrar Office's JD Degree Requirements Self-Audit Form.

All externship placements are subject to the approval of the Miami Law Externship Program Committee.

Fall 2013 Session of the Externship Program

For the fall 2013 semester, students are required to work at least 120 hours for 3 academic credits or at least 240 hours for 6 academic credits (in addition to completing the Externship Program Course). The first day of the fall 2013 semester is August 20, 2013, and students will be required to complete the required work hours by November 26, 2013.

How does a student secure an externship placement?

A student may apply to a pre-vetted externship placement through the Career Development Office ("CDO") or secure his/her own legal internship and request for it to be converted into an externship placement upon the Externship Program Committee's review and approval. If a student secures his/her own placement, it is the student's responsibility to discuss the work hour requirements with the employer. Please note that there is no guarantee that a student will receive an offer from a pre-vetted externship placement or that a student's self-secured internship will be approved as an externship. The CDO's goal is to provide students with as many opportunities as possible.

How do I participate in the Externship Program through the CDO?

To participate in the Externship Program, a student must complete the bidding process on Symplicity, a World Wide Web based program available at law-miami-csm.symplicity.com/students. "Bidding" entails submitting a resume and other requested materials via Symplicity. Instructions on how to bid on the Symplicity system are provided in the Student Guide to Symplicity. All students have a Symplicity account. If a student cannot locate his/her Symplicity login information, the student should e-mail cdo@law.miami.edu and provide his/her full name, class year and e-mail address (this e-mail address will be the student's username for the site). The student will then receive his/her login information via e-mail. Please allow up to two business days for a response.

Bidding for the Fall 2013 Externship Program has been launched.

Students will be notified about the formal launch of each session of the Fall 2013 Externship Program via e-mail (the e-mail will be sent to the e-mail address attached to the student's Symplicity account). Students will then be able to bid on pre-vetted participating externship opportunities by logging onto Symplicity and selecting "OCI, Resume Referral, Direct Contact and Externship Program Schedules" from the top navigation bar. A student will then be able to see a list of employers participating in the active Fall 2013 Externship Program session(s) by selecting the appropriate session from the drop-box menu, (externship placements will be specifically identified as such). Please note that Symplicity only allows a student to view and bid on employers seeking applications from his/her class year.

How do I submit a self-secured placement to the Externship Program Committee for approval?

All externship placements are subject to the Externship Program Committee's approval. If a student has secured his/her own legal internship and would like to submit it for approval, the student will be required to follow the steps on the CDO Fact Sheet: Would an Internship Secured For Myself Qualify as an Externship Placement? The deadline to submit a self-secured internship to the Externship Program Committee for approval is Monday, August 12, 2013. A student will be required to submit his/her contact information along with the placement's contact information, including his/her supervising attorney's direct contact information. The student's supervising attorney may be contacted directly for more information. This information will be considered by the Externship Program Committee. The Externship Program Committee will inform the student of its decision as soon as it is made via e-mail.

I have been offered an externship placement. Do I have to accept the position?

No; just as a student is not guaranteed he/she will be offered an externship position, an employer is not guaranteed that a student-applicant will accept a position when it is offered. If a student-applicant chooses not to accept an offer, the student must decline the offer in a professional manner, including calling the externship employer to decline the offer. Additionally, a student must decline an offer in a timely manner to give the externship employer and other students an opportunity to fill the placement.

I have accepted a placement. What do I do next to register for the course?

The Externship Program Course is a closed registration course; as such, the CDO will coordinate the student's registration with the Registrar Office after verifying the student's placement. Depending on the type of externship field placement that is secured, a student will be registered for Law 845, 873 or 881. Upon submitting a fully executed Student-Agency Agreement, a student need not take any further action to register for the course.

How does the CDO verify my placement?

The CDO verifies a student's placement with the receipt of a fully executed Student-Agency Agreement. A Student-Agency Agreement is an agreement among the student, externship employer, and the law school that states the terms of the externship relationship. A fully executed Agreement allows the CDO to request the registrar's office to enroll the student for the Externship Program Course. A fully executed Student-Agency Agreement is due to the CDO on or before Thursday, August 15, 2013.

I submitted my Student-Agency Agreement on time. When will I be registered for the Externship Program Course?

The CDO will ask the Registrar Office to enroll a student for the appropriate section of the Externship Program Course (Course 845, 873 or 881) upon receiving the student's fully executed Student-Agency Agreement for an approved externship placement. Upon receiving confirmation from the Registrar Office that a student's enrollment is complete, the CDO will send the student an e-mail to notify him/her of same.

I am registered for the Externship Program Course. What do I have to do to receive a pass?

An essential component of the Externship Program is the work that a student completes at his/her field placement. As such, the feedback from an extern's supervising attorney to the student's externship professor as to his/her performance and progress (i.e., professionalism, attitude, work product, attire etc.) will play a major role in a student's ability to pass the Externship Program Course. Additionally, the student will have to submit a Time Certification Form to his/her externship professor, verifying that the student has completed the required work hours for his/her elected credit amount. A student must complete the required hours to pass this course. The student must also attend and satisfy the requirements of the academic course attached to his/her specific section.

For the Fall 2013 semester, each section of the externship program (Law881, Law845 and Law873) is scheduled to meet as follows:

Law873 - Transactional-Based Externships will meet on biweekly Thursdays from 5:30 pm to 6:20 pm on the Miami Law campus, A110.

Law881 - Litigation/Policy-Based Externships will meet on biweekly Wednesdays from 5:30 pm to 6:20 pm on the Miami Law campus, A110.

Law845 - Judicial-Based Externships will meet on biweekly Fridays from 12:30 pm to 1:20 pm at the Wilkie D. Ferguson Federal Courthouse.

A student will be enrolled for one of the above-referenced sections pursuant to his/her field placement.

For information about the academic courses, please contact Professor Jennifer Zawid at jzawid@law.miami.edu.

Summer 2013 Session of the Externship Program

The summer 2013 session of the Externship Program is now closed. All students participating in the summer 2013 session of the Externship Program have been enrolled for the Externship Program Course. Any questions about the Summer 2013 Externship Program should be directed to Professor Jennifer Zawid at jzawid@law.miami.edu.