Students may participate in the Externship Program only once during law school. Applications are reviewed on the basis of your academic performance and — for applications to participate in the SCEP (those outside the Bay Area) — the rigor of the proposed course of academic study to be conducted under the supervision of your faculty sponsor. (See below.) Generally, however, you will be considered eligible to participate IF:

• You have not participated in an externship before;
• You do not have any outstanding papers;
• You plan to extern at a non-profit agency or government organization only; (Judicial externships do not qualify);
• You meet with the Externship Director either in person or by phone prior to applying for your externship; and
• You are a 2L or 3L.

Please note:
1. Transfer students who have completed one quarter at SLS are eligible.
2. Joint degree students who will have completed 112.5 quarter units by the end of your ninth quarter are also eligible.

Prior Participation in an SLS Clinic is Strongly Encouraged

Students who are considering an externship at any point in their law school careers should select their courses carefully in advance. In particular, it is highly preferred that students have taken one or more clinical courses prior to their participation in an externship. The applications of students who have not taken a clinic prior to, or contemporaneous with, making an externship proposal will be carefully scrutinized. Students who seek to do an externship that involves a substantive area of law that is also the subject of a clinic offered in the same quarter are required to first determine whether they would be able to secure a place in that clinic.

By way of hypothetical example: Assume that the Immigrants’ Rights Clinic will be offered in the Fall of 2017. Student John Smith wants to apply to do an externship in an immigration legal aid office outside of the law school in the Fall of 2017. John has not taken the Immigrants’ Rights Clinic and has not taken the maximum of 2 clinics he is allowed to take while at SLS. Before applying to participate in the SLS Externship Program, he must first determine whether he could participate in the SLS Immigrants’ Rights Clinic in the Fall of 2017.

It’s up to you to make initial contact and arrangements with a placement. You may identify possible locations by reviewing student evaluations from summer public interest internships and prior externships. Please scroll down to the next section on this webpage to see a list of recent placements. You may also speak with members of the Levin Center staff and you may certainly do your own research into possible placements that fit your interests.

Once you find a potential organization to which you’d like to apply, you should generally submit a cover letter, resume and writing sample to them, although it would be prudent to check beforehand to see if other materials are required. Because many agencies are not aware that SLS is operating on the quarter system, you should also be sure to advise them of your specific schedule for the externship in the cover letter.

Be aware, as well, that some criminal or other governmental placements require a security clearance and/or a practice certification, and these processes take extra paperwork and time. Security clearances may take 10 to 12 weeks and certification takes at least 3 weeks. The application for certification of law students to practice under the supervision of an attorney in California is available online.

The number of credits students may receive for an externship varies depending upon the externship program and number of hours worked.

SEP Externships: Students registered for an SEP externship must work at least 20 hours a week and may work no more than 34 hours a week. Please also note that individual employers are free to require a minimum number of hours worked as a condition of employment. Full time externships are not allowed for SEP placements. The allotment of credits for a given number of work hours is as follows:

20 hours work = 6 Credits
24 hours work = 7 Credits
30 hours work = 9 Credits
34 hours work = 10 Credits

Students who are enrolled in an SEP externship must also take an externship companion course. The companion course is the two credit Civil/Criminal Externship Companion Course taught by Mike Winn, the Director of the Pro Bono and Externship Programs. The Registrar will enroll approved externs in the companion course.

SCEP Externships: All non-local externships require students to work full-time (40 hours a week) and participate in a reading tutorial. Students receive 12 credits for the SCEP externship.

Our two externship programs have different requirements when it comes to various modes of work.

Special Circumstances Externship Program (SCEP):

Fully-remote SCEP externships are not permitted, as the program is only available to students who must live outside of the Bay Area to participate in their proposed externship.

Hybrid SCEP externships are permitted, but require that the extern:

• Work at least 20% of their time in-person (e.g., in an office, at in-person meetings elsewhere, in court, etc.); and
• Work in-person at least once a week.

Standard Externship Program (SEP):

Hybrid SEP externships are permitted by default as long as the extern:

• Works at least 20% of their time in-person (e.g., in an office, at in-person meetings elsewhere, in court, etc.); and
• Works in-person at least once a week.

SEP externships that are fully-remote, along with hybrid externships that fail to meet the above requirements, are permitted at the discretion of the Externship Director on a case-by-case basis. In-person experiences are highly valued and, when available to the extern, will be favored (whereas proposals for fully-remote experiences where in-person opportunities are available will be disfavored). The following factors will be considered in the Director’s decision:

• The current policies and practices for employees at the host site (i.e., Do members of the staff regularly work in the office?);
• The current policies and practices for other externs/interns at the host site (i.e., Is the extern able to work in-person? Are other externs able to work in-person?);
• The availability of a substantially similar placement that can offer an in-person experience;
• The ability of the host site to provide quality work and a meaningful experience remotely; and
• The ability of the host site to fully integrate the student remotely.

No, there is no additional funding for any externships. Students can receive their normal financial aid package.

Site Visits: The ABA requires that a law school faculty member make a site visit to the student’s externship site. For students in an SEP externship, the Externship Director will schedule a site visit with them for sometime during the quarter. For those doing an SCEP externship, students should discuss these arrangements with their faculty sponsor prior to securing the faculty sponsor’s agreement to participate in the program. As noted above, site visits for an SCEP externship can be conducted in person, via Skype, or, if absolutely necessary, via a conference call. Students in any externship program should arrange for the site visit to be made at a time when both the student and site supervisor are present.

It is the student’s responsibility to make arrangements for the site visit regardless of the externship location. SLS does not provide funds for site visits. They must be made either at the faculty member’s own expense or in conjunction with some other paid travel. In some circumstances, it may be possible to have an alternate faculty member make a site visit. Such situations should be discussed with the Externship Director.

Evaluations: Both ABA and Stanford Law School rules require certain evaluation forms to be filed for each student in the externship program. It is up to each student to make sure that each of these forms is filed in a timely fashion in conjunction with their externship. Specifically, the forms that the student must file – or arrange for filing – are: 1) a Mid-Quarter Self-Assessment Form to be filed by the student and signed by both the student and the Site Supervisor; 2) a Final Evaluation by the Student; 3) a Site Visit Report by the Faculty Sponsor for SCEP externs or by the Companion Course Lecturer in Law for SEP externs; and 4) a Final Evaluation by the Site Supervisor. These forms should be timely filed by submission to the Director of Pro Bono and Externship Programs at the Levin Center.

Directed Research for Extra Credit: Students in the Externship Program may choose to earn an additional 2 to 3 units by developing a directed research project connected to the externship. Any student who wishes to pursue this option must follow the SLS requirements for Directed Research set forth on the Stanford Law School website at www.law.stanford.edu. See Student Handbook under Information for Current Students.

Health Insurance: International externs have the option of waiving Cardinal Care health insurance coverage if they obtain alternate insurance (travel insurance or otherwise) and notify Stanford’s Vaden Health Center in advance of the standard deadline, as listed on Axess. We encourage you to investigate coverage and costs thoroughly. To opt out of Cardinal Care for the Quarter, go into Axess online and go to “health insurance waiver.” For more information on opting out of Cardinal Care, please contact Vaden Health Center at (650) 723-2135.