Externship / Internship Programs at Miami Law

Miami Law Externship Program

The expanded Miami Law Externship Program allows students to obtain academic credit while working in a real-world legal setting during both the academic year and over the summer. The Externship Program offers national and international opportunities with corporations, government agencies, public interest organizations and the judiciary. Students at Miami Law also have the unique opportunity to propose an externship at a qualified organization or agency of their choice, allowing students the flexibility to tailor their experiences to their specific career and geographic goals. The program is designed to enhance the educational experience of students by giving them an opportunity to do advanced legal work that generally is not available through the law school's curriculum.

Litigation Skills Externship Program

The Litigation Skills CLI Externship Program provides students with the opportunity to apply the trial and pre-trial skills learned during the Lit Skills I course in a live client setting. In these externship placements, students may represent clients in criminal and civil matters as Certified Legal Interns (CLI) and argue cases in Circuit, County and Federal courts under the supervision of practicing attorneys.

D.C. Semester in Practice Program

The D.C. Semester in Practice Program allows law students to live and work full-time in the United States Capital. Students work at government agencies, nonprofits or advocacy organizations while still enrolled full-time at Miami Law. The classroom component of the course provides students with comprehension of the institutional, political, and legal contexts in which policymaking and implementation take place; greater insight into the mechanisms through which administrative agencies operate at the federal level; and engagement with government, relevant legal authorities and D.C. attorneys.

Florida Supreme Court Internship Program

Highly selective 3L and second semester 2L externships with the new Florida Supreme Court Fellows Program are available during the fall and spring semesters. Fellows function as a law clerk to individual justices, a central staff law clerk working for all of the justices, a law clerk working for the clerk of court and the administrative justice, or a law clerk for the Office of the State Courts Administrator General Counsel. The Program is a paid externship position for nine (9) credits a semester. For information about this program, contact Professor Jessi Tamayo, Director of the Externship Program at jtamayo@law.miami.edu.

Judicial Clerkships/Internships/Externships

The Office of Career and Professional Development runs the judicial clerkship program which is a highly regarded post-graduate job that provides an excellent launch pad for competitive positions in both the private and public sectors. Additionally, the Externship Program allows students the opportunity to complete placements with Judges at all levels during their time as a law student for which the student receives academic credit.

Summer Public Interest Fellowship Program

The Summer Public Interest Fellowship Program (SPIF) is offered through the Law School's HOPE Public Interest Resource Center. It is for rising 2Ls with a commitment to public interest work and provides a full-time placement at a South Florida non-profit or government agency along with a public interest lawyering course for credit. Participants experience firsthand how lawyers can make a significant difference in the lives of clients by representing them in criminal, family/domestic violence, education, disability, housing, as well as in other proceedings.

Externship Placements by Industry

Students are allowed to complete up to 3 externships during their time at Miami Law, and since 2020, 500+ law students have participated in at least one externship of their choice. Below are examples of past externship placements completed by our students.

Externships in the News

Inside Judge Bloom’s chambers: Law students reflect on summer internship experience

Two School of Law students gained valuable real-world experience as judicial interns in federal court under the mentorship of the 1988 alumna. Read Full Article >