Externships

Externship Program goals

• Pursue individual learning goals;
• Apply knowledge and skills gained from academic studies in class to the rigors of practice;
• Learn to be a reflective professional—articulate observations, comprehend, and integrate new knowledge for future actions;
• Develop professional responsibility skills;
• Gain skills and knowledge necessary to work with individuals with life experiences different than the student’s own life experiences; and
• Assist in defining career goals and create professional networks,

Externship Site Flexibility

Mitchell Hamlineʾs Externship Program is designed to support and provide flexibility for all students, including those of you with busy or complicated schedules and diverse learning and career goals.

Externship students work across a wide range of practice areas, including general civil, health law, business law, family law, alternative dispute resolution, and criminal law. It is also possible to earn externship credit for lawyering work that does not require a JD, such as work in lobbying, compliance, and mediation.  Students extern in a variety of legal settings, working with public defenders to preserve the rights of the accused; with prosecutors to achieve just results in criminal cases; with state and county agencies to shape public policy and protect society’s most vulnerable; with federal, state, and tribal judges to ensure the judicial system is just; in-house with business and non-profit organizations; and with numerous other partners.

Other ways Mitchell Hamline externships give you flexibility:

• You may earn externship credit for paid and unpaid externship work.
• You may work remotely. Remote externships are not considered “distance learning.“
• You may organize externship work with your employer or family firm provided the work and supervision are appropriate.
• You may work at the same externship site for more than one semester provided that you show each semester how the work will be different from past work so as to provide a valuable learning experience.
• Examples of Externship Sites:

• • Federal, tribal, and state courts
  • Federal & State agencies;
    • Department of Homeland Security
    • Department of Veterans Affairs
    • Federal Bureau of Investigation
    • Office of Judge Advocate General
  • Legal Aid offices
  • Businesses:
    • 3M
    • HealthPartners
    • Medtronic
    • NCS Pearson Inc.
    • Target Corp.
    • Thomson Reuters
  • Nonprofit Organizations
    • Education Minnesota
    • Elder Care Coordination
    • Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights
    • The Legal Revolution
    • Tubman Family Alliance
  • Public Defenders Offices
  • District attorneys & County attorneys offices
  • Secretary of State & Governor’s Offices
  • Offices of the Attorney General
  • Tribal governments
  • Legislative Offices
  • City Attorney’s Offices

Initiating and Finding a Field Placement

• Each student interested in an externship is encouraged to reflect on her or his own learning goals and be creative in seeking a placement that will help meet those goals.
• Students are responsible for finding their own placements.
• Mitchell Hamline has resources to assist students in finding suitable placements including: Office of Career and Professional Development, 12Twenty postings, Minnesota Justice Foundation, Alumni Relations, professors, and the Externship Director.

Requirements Common to All Externships

• • To be eligible for an externship, you must:
    • be in academic good standing;
    • have completed first two semesters of law school and earned a minimum of 20 credits; and
    • have completed (or are concurrently taking) Professional Responsibility. This requirement may be waived if the Site Supervisor is aware that the student has not taken Professional Responsibility and comfortable providing needed training and guidance.
  • All externships include both an academic and a field placement component. Externship students work with both a Faculty Supervisor and a Site Supervisor.
  • All externships require appropriate work and supervision. The work must provide the student with:
    • a substantial lawyering experience that is reasonably similar to the experience of a lawyer advising or representing a client or engaging in other lawyering tasks in a setting outside a law clinic, under
    • appropriate supervision, usually by a licensed attorney but supervision by an unlicensed JD or other qualified individual  may be appropriate in limited circumstances.
  • All externship students must complete an Externship Education Agreement with the help of their Faculty and Site Supervisors; the final agreement must be initialed and signed by the student and both supervisors.
    • Students who are enrolled in any externship course, whether a Specialized or General course (see below), will complete an Externship Agreement as one of the very first course assignments.
    • Students doing Independent Externships (see below) must submit an Education Agreement for registration.
  • In general, externship students may register for 1-6 credits in a semester or summer term.  Some of the Specialized Courses (see below) have different credit limitations.
  • Externships are not allowed during J-term, except in special circumstances and with approval of the Vice-Dean and Director of Externships.  Site vetting for a J-Term externship must be completed before the end of classes in the fall semester.
    • Each credit requires logging 45 hours of work, including both fieldwork and coursework.  Coursework includes any class meetings, individual meetings with Faculty Supervisors, self-evaluations, and other work required by the course or Faculty Supervisor.
      • 1 credit = 45 hours
      • 2 credits = 90 hours
      • 3 credits = 135 hours
      • 4 credits = 180 hours
      • 5 credits = 225 hours
      • 6 credits = 270 hours
  • All externships are graded on a pass/fail basis. If the faculty supervisor also provides field supervision, a letter grade may be an option.

Important Information for F-1 International Students 

• F-1 International students seeking to enroll in an externship or other work opportunity must be authorized for curricular practical training (CPT). To qualify, you must be in F-1 status for one full academic year and in good academic standing. All other requirements under ‘Requirements Common to All Externships’ will apply to the student.
• International Students have the option to work part-time (20 hours or less per week) or full-time (more than 20 hours per week) CPT.  International students are strongly encouraged to participate in part-time CPT during the school year. Students who participate in a total of twelve or more months of full-time CPT, will not be eligible for post-completion optional practical training (OPT). It is important for many international J.D. students to reserve their OPT for after graduation, because OPT is one common way to legally stay in the United States while you study and then sit for the bar exam.
  • Questions regarding CPT or OPT can be directed to Jack Her, Designated School Official (DSO) at jack.her@mitchellhamline.edu
•  In order for an internship, externship, or other work opportunity to qualify for CPT it must be an integral part of the established curriculum. In practice, this means that the work opportunity must be sufficiently related to your law studies and tied to academic credit. To do this, many students use the opportunity to fulfill one or more independent externship credits.
• The United States Immigration Regulations regarding CPT can be found at 8 CFR 214.2(f)(10)(i).

• It can take time to get the appropriate approval and employment information. So please start this process well ahead of the time when you would like to start working. You may not begin work until you receive and sign the I-20 with the approved CPT listed on it.
  • F-1 International Student Support
  • Ann Gemmell ’12, J.D. – Vice President of Enrollment, PDSO, Gemmell@mitchellhamline.edu
  • Jack Her, Assistant Director of Admissions, DSO, 651-695-7659, her@mitchellhamline.edu

Faculty Supervision and Registration

Mitchell Hamline offers three ways to organize faculty supervision.  Each has a different path to registration, as detailed below.

Specialized Externship Courses

Each specialized course offers a classroom portion focused on a particular practice area and is taught by an expert working that area. These externships have regularly scheduled classes. Many classes allow remote participation by students wherever they may live. Some assign students to placements while others require students to line up their own placements.   All specialized externship course names start with the word “Externship,” making them easy to find in the alphabetical lists in the course schedules and course descriptions.

Path to Registration.  The published course schedule for each term lists the specialized externship courses offered and includes notes with detailed instructions about eligibility and how to proceed with registration.  You must report your externship site via a proposal.  To do so, log into the 12twenty Experiential Learning module and click + New Experience in the top right corner to access the proposal form. Choose Report Assigned site and fill out form.

General Externship Courses

Mitchell Hamline offers three remote asynchronous general externship courses that can be taken in any order—the Spring, Summer, and Fall General Externship courses. To accommodate varied summer schedules, the summer course offers rolling start dates. (Students who have already completed the General Externship course for a particular term will be enrolled in Advanced General asynchronous course.)

The General and Advanced General Externship courses are taught by a talented, dedicated, and experienced team of adjunct professors. Each General Externship course (Fall, Spring, Summer) focuses on a different set of skills and topics. Common learning activities include readings focused on learning from practice, reflective writings, meetings with supervisors, and evaluations. During one of the Capstone Weeks each Fall and Spring Semester, students are invited to attend a General Externship lunch or dinner for in-person interactions with classmates and faculty supervisors.

Path to Registration. To enroll in any General or Advanced General Externship course, students submit an online externship proposal detailing their externship plans and expectations. There is a deadline for proposals each semester that is set early to allow vetting of proposed externship sites. Once enrolled, students are assigned a faculty supervisor. You may make a proposal for a General Externship by logging into the 12twenty Experiential Learning module and clicking + New Experience in the top right corner to access the proposal form.  Choose Self-Identified Externship Site.

Independent Externships

An Independent Externship is a limited opportunity that allows a student to work one-on-one with a Faculty Supervisor who has relevant expertise and wants to supervise for pedagogical or other programmatic reasons.  For instance, the Director of a Center or Institute may choose to supervise externships required for a Center or Institute Certificate.

Path to Registration. Once an externship site is confirmed and Site Supervisor identified, students first submit an online externship proposal in 12Twenty.  To do so, log into the 12twenty Experiential Learning module and click+ New Experience in the top right corner to access the proposal form.  Then choose Independent Externship.

Students must then line up their own Faculty Supervisor, who may be any faculty member who is not an adjunct.  The student confers with the two supervisors to complete and Externship Education Agreement and submit the completed, initialed, and signed Agreement for approval by the Externship Director.

Timesheets

• The student will be required to submit their time online in 12Twenty.
• P/F Grade will be submitted to the Registrar at the end of the semester with Faculty Supervisor’s approval after the student has logged the required credit hours

Externship Team and Other Support

Erica Strohl, J.D.
Externship Director
Erica.Strohl@mitchellhamline.edu

Larisa  Gehmie
Administrative Coordinator of Externship Program
651-290-6463  |  Fax: 651- 290-6407
larisa.gehmie@mitchellhamline.edu

In addition to the externship team, Mitchell Hamline has many resources to advise you about externships and assist you in finding suitable placements, including:

• • Advisors in the Office of Career and Professional Development
  • Academic advisors
  • 12Twenty postings
  • Minnesota Justice Foundation postings
  • Alumni Relations staff
  • Directors of Centers and Institutes and other faculty members with expertise in practice areas of interest