APPLICATION SCHEDULE FOR FALL 2011 EXTERNSHIPS
Externship Expo: Tuesday, March 29
Applications Due: Tuesday, April 5
Offers to 1st Round: Wednesday, April 13
Acceptances Due: Friday, April 15
Offers to 2nd Round: Tuesday, April 19
Final Acceptances Due: Thursday, April 21
Below you will find summaries of the externships offered for Fall 2011, as well as for the August Intensive Judicial Externship. For detailed information on a specific externship and its application procedure, click on the linked externship title.
Arts Law Externship
Teri Silvers, Lecturer-in-Law (4 credits)
The Arts Law Externship provides students with practical experience in intellectual property, entertainment and nonprofit law as they assist staff attorneys at Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts (VLA) in their representation of artists and nonprofit arts organizations. Through class discussions and journals, students reflect on the wide variety of clients and issues they encounter in their fieldwork, and engage in critical thinking about the role that law and lawyers can play in the arts and entertainment world.
The Arts Law Externship consists of three components: a weekly seminar; a fieldwork placement at Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, at which students work for 10 hours per week; and two out-of-class simulated exercises, in client counseling and contract negotiation.
Community Defense Externship
Rick Jones, Lecturer-in-Law (Full-year course: 8 credits)
The Community Defense Externship offers students the opportunity to learn about the practice of indigent criminal defense in a community-based setting. Students will learn about aspects of criminal law and procedure related to the movement of a case through the court system and the practical and ethical considerations related to client interviewing and the forming of the attorney-client relationship. They will also engage in critical thought about topics related to criminal defense, including discovery and motion practice, investigations, developing a theory of the case, suppression hearings, disposition advocacy, and trial preparation.
Criminal Appeals Externship
Carl S. Kaplan and Mark Zeno, Lecturers-in-Law (5 credits)
The Criminal Appeals Externship at CLS offers students a first-hand opportunity to learn about criminal law and appellate advocacy while gaining practical experience drafting a brief on behalf of an indigent defendant in a New York State appellate court proceeding.
The externship will consist of a seminar component and a placement at the Center for Appellate Litigation (“CAL”), a public defender organization based in lower Manhattan that engages in cutting-edge advocacy of defendant’s rights, often involving complex constitutional issues.
Domestic Violence Prosecution Externship
Scott Kessler, Lecturer-in-Law (4 credits)
The Domestic Violence Prosecution Externship is a one-semester course in which students work at the Queens County District Attorney’s Office, under a practice order as assistant district attorneys. They will take the lead in prosecuting misdemeanor domestic violence cases from the very inception of the case though trial. Third-year students chosen for the program will work in the new Family Justice Center, a unique facility where the efforts of civil services providers for domestic violence victims are coordinated with those of law enforcement officials. The seminar will prepare students for their field work and explore topics related to domestic violence prosecution. Scott Kessler, who has a national reputation for leading one of the finest domestic violence prosecution bureaus in the country, will teach the seminar and oversee the field placements.
Federal Appellate Court Externship
The Honorable Robert D. Sack, Lecturer-in-Law and Anne Green, Director of Academic Counseling and Judicial Programming, Lecturer-in-Law (pending faculty approval) (4 credits)
The Federal Appellate Court Externship introduces students to the judicial and adversary processes involved in federal courts of appeals. Students work in the chambers of a Second Circuit judge on legal research, analysis, and writing, occasionally drafting lengthy bench memos and parts of opinions. Students also participate in seminar classes, which include lectures addressing fundamental topics of appellate review and federal jurisdiction, discussions with judges and experienced appellate attorneys about appellate law and practice and reflection/debriefing sessions for students to share their experiences and problem-solve. A moot court argument to three Court of Appeals judges provides a relevant oral advocacy experience.
Federal Court Clerk Externship
Paul Radvany, Adjunct Associate Professor (4 credits)
The Federal Court Clerk Externship provides an in-depth examination of the functioning of the federal trial courts. Students will have the opportunity to work with a federal judge, draft opinions, and observe trials, oral arguments and hearings. The externship requires a commitment of 15 hours per week, which includes at least one day per week at the courthouse. In addition, students must submit a few short papers relating to the externship experience; read selected materials; and participate in seven classroom meetings to discuss topics such as: the externship experience; writing judicial opinions; habeas corpus; and effective courtroom lawyering. Two of the classes consist of panel discussions on criminal and civil law with judicial and practitioner guests.
Externship on the Federal Government in Washington D.C.
The Externship on the Federal Government in D.C. is a full-semester offering for selected Columbia Law School second and third year JD candidates in the spring 2012 semester. It is designed to provide a valuable hands-on complement to the Law School’s more conventional teaching offerings in public law, affording an opportunity to integrate aspects of students’ public law education in an applied setting. Admission is by application only. Up to fifteen students will be selected. Ellen Chapnick, Dean for Social Justice Initiatives, and Matt Gewolb, Associate Director of Government Programs, will oversee externship placements, including the application process and term-time counseling. Michael Shenkman, Fellow of the Center for Law and Politics and Lecturer in Law, will teach the seminar components of the program in Washington, D.C. For more information, please see the Externship's webpage.
Federal Prosecution Externship: U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York
Joan Loughnane and co-Instructor TBD, Lecturers-in-Law (2 academic and 2 clinical credits)
The Federal Prosecution Externship offers students the opportunity to learn about investigating and prosecuting federal criminal cases in United States District Court. Students will be placed in the Criminal Division of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, where they will work with Assistant United States Attorneys representing the federal government in a wide range of criminal prosecutions, including ones involving firearms, narcotics, fraud, immigration, child exploitation, public corruption, terrorism and violent crimes. The externship will also consist of a weekly seminar taught by Joan Loughnane, Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York.
Immigration Defense Externship
Maria Navarro and Olivia Cassin, Lecturers-in-Law (5 credits)
The Immigration Defense Externship offers students the opportunity to learn about U.S. immigration laws and policies through a combination of lecture, discussion, simulation and representation of immigrants facing deportation from the United States. The Externship consists of a two hour weekly seminar and a field placement with an attorney from The Legal Aid Society's Immigration Law Unit in one of the Unit's projects, providing direct representation and counseling to immigrants facing deportation.
Judicial Externship - August Intensive Course, 2011
Externship Summary
The Judicial Externship provides an in-depth examination of the functioning of courts in the United States. Columbia Law School students who obtain a position with a state court or federal court judge for the summer of 2011 and will not be financially compensated for the position can elect to take the Judicial Externship. The class combines field experience in chambers with a seminar, which will meet in May and August and require written work over the summer. Attendance of all class meetings is mandatory. Students who successfully complete the course will receive three ungraded clinical credits for the field experience and one ungraded academic credit for the seminar (a total of 4 credits). Students also will be eligible to register for Minor Writing Credit in conjunction with the August Judicial Externship (Minor Writing Credit must be registered separately using the JD Research & Writing Registration Form). As for all August upperyear intensive courses, registration for the Judicial Externship will be attributed to the Fall 2011 semester. Students registered in this Externship will not be eligible to register for one of the other August intensive courses. Students may apply for pro bono credit for hours spent in chambers after the eighth week.
Judicial externs must work in chambers at least 35 hours per week for eight weeks. Although specific experiences will vary from court-to-court, it is expected that work with the judge will involve legal research, analysis and writing on the cases to which the intern is assigned and will provide students with the opportunity to observe court proceedings and attorney conferences. The seminar will meet for one two-hour session in late May and for five three-hour sessions in late August.
Instructors
The Judicial Externship will be taught by Ilene Strauss, Executive Director of Judicial Programming Academic Counseling, and Judge Paul G. Gardephe of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (pending faculty approval).
Statement of Intent and Registration
If you have already obtained a judicial internship for summer 2011 and intend to take the Judicial Externship, the deadline for filing the attached Statement of Intent to Take the Judicial Externship is March 7, 2011. If you have not obtained a judicial internship, you must file the Statement of Intent within seven days of obtaining your judicial internship. Statements of Intent should be submitted to Ilene Strauss by dropping them off at her office (Room 505 of W&J Warren Hall). If she is not available, you may leave your Statement with one of coordinators at the Student Services desk.
Once you file your Statement of Intent, Ilene Strauss will provide Registration Services with a list of participants and your registration for the offering will be completed for the Fall 2011 term. Please notify her immediately if you decide not to take the externship after filing a Statement of Intent. Students registered for the Judicial Externship are not eligible to register for any other August intensive course.
