Explore non-litigation externships:
Jill Miller, Lecturer-in-Law (2 for the seminar; 2 for placement work)
Available in: Fall 2026 & Spring 2027
Course Description
The Estate Planning externship provides students with a unique opportunity to deepen their legal knowledge and skills beyond the classroom. Participants will gain practical experience by assisting members of the local community with basic estate planning needs. This course is designed to help students apply their theoretical understanding to real-world scenarios while fostering trust and comfort in client relationships. Students will work in pairs under faculty supervision to develop an estate plan for an actual client. Each plan includes a last will and testament, living will, health care proxy, and power of attorney. Students will participate in the full process, from the initial intake meeting to document drafting, client communication, and document execution. Additionally, students will collaborate in small groups to research, design, and deliver an estate planning seminar to the New York City community, gaining valuable public speaking and community engagement experience.
Important Information
The course will be open to JD and LL.M candidates. There are no prerequisites for the course.
Natalie Jean-Baptiste, Ramona Morel (Fall); Kevin Lam, Tashi Lhewa (Spring), Lecturers-in-Law (2 for the seminar; 2 for placement work)
Available in: Fall 2026 & Spring 2027
Fall: Ex. Economic Justice and Empowerment: Consumer Bankruptcy
Spring: Ex. Economic Justice and Empowerment Externship: Consumer Debt, Tax, and Community Development
Course Description
Students in the Economic Justice and Empowerment Externship will help economically disadvantaged New Yorkers with consumer debt, federal and state income tax disputes, and small business needs.
Students will work with experienced practitioners with The Legal Aid Society through the Harlem Office to offer legal services that empower and provide financial stability to clients. The experience will enhance the law students’ abilities as future lawyers and increase their understanding of the economic challenges faced by lower income New Yorkers and their families, while allowing space for students to reflect on the systems—societal, economic, legal, etc.—that impact clients’ daily lives. Students will gain hands-on experience in lawyering while simultaneously helping some of the most disadvantaged civil litigants obtain critical legal assistance in State courts, U.S. Tax Court, in administrative forums, and through transactional practice.
Seminar
In class, students will consider the various systems—societal, economic, legal, etc.—that impact our clients’ daily lives, will be expected to reflect on the systems and increases their understanding of the economic challenges faced by low-income New Yorkers and their families, and will critique and debate developing policies in class and consider economic justice can be attained by all. At their placements, students will gain hands-on lawyering experience helping some of the most disadvantaged civil litigants obtain critical legal assistance in State courts, U.S. Tax Court, in administrative forums, and through transactional practice.
Placement Work
Students will work ten+ hours a week on cases at various stages alongside experienced practitioners. They will have the opportunity to draft pleadings and participate in motion practice. Students will accompany attorneys to court and, if appropriate, negotiate settlements and/or make arguments for cases before the New York City Civil Court. In addition to individual cases, students will have the option to partake in legislative or regulatory advocacy through legal research focused on expanding economic justice.
Important Information
The course will be open to JD and LL.M candidates. There are no prerequisites for the course.
Various Lecturers- in-Law, 4-5 credits (2 for the seminar; 2-3 for placement work)
Course Description
The In-House Counsel Externship will provide students with an understanding of roles in-house lawyers play while offering them an opportunity to experience that work firsthand. The 2-hour externship seminar will explore areas of the law that are integral to in-house practice – including governance, compliance,, product counseling, employment law, intellectual property, privacy, contracts, and litigation – from the perspective of the attorney whose job is simultaneously both lawyer and client. The seminar component will also explore workplace dynamics and ethical considerations of in-house attorneys including conflicts of interest and confidentiality. Field placements will provide students the opportunity to learn from practice in the legal departments of for-profit and nonprofit organizations. Students will integrate the seminar-based skills into their field practice.
The Seminar
This 2-hour externship seminar will explore areas of the law that are integral to a general counsel or in-house practice. Students will learn to approach legal issues from the perspective of the attorney whose job is simultaneously to be both lawyer and client. The seminar component will also explore the ethical considerations of G/IHC attorneys including conflicts of interest and confidentiality. G/IHC are in a unique position at the intersection of law and business or operations; the seminar will explore how the G/IHC attorney must be fluent and able to explain legal rules and processes to the professionals in their organization, and to ensure that the legal team understands business or operations considerations and context. The seminar component will integrate students’ field-based learning experiences into weekly discussions and facilitate students’ reflection on those general counsel or in-house placements. The seminar component may also include a number of simulations and feature guest speakers who will be able to share their varied experiences as general or in-house counsel.
Students will be assessed on class assignments and performance.
General Counsel (both terms) – seminar will explore areas including governance, compliance, securities and SEC reporting, internal investigations, employment law, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), cyber security, contracts, and litigation. Lecturers: Jamie Gallagher, Matt Vidal (Fall) and Giselle Huron, Mark Maher (Spring)
Corporate Sustainability/ESG (Fall) – seminar will provide students with an understanding of the roles lawyers play in the ESG space while offering them an opportunity to experience that work firsthand with various companies’ ESG or sustainability departments. The class focuses on the unique, challenging and rewarding aspects of being ESG attorneys in the law firm environment. New to the legal space, the practice of ESG touches all aspects of an enterprise, helping clients identify environmental, social, and governance opportunities and risks; stay abreast of domestic and international ESG-related regulatory developments, trends, better practices and business implications; conduct rigorous due diligence, expanding beyond the traditional scope of data rooms; and leverage investigation and crisis management practices during a triggering event. Lecturers: Larcy Cooper and Madhuri Pavamani
Healthcare (Spring) – the seminar will explore the impact of diverse regulatory schemes in complex organizations grounded in the ever-changing backdrop of the healthcare industry. Privacy, anti-kickback, marketing, payer and insurance issues will be explored from the perspective of the role of the general or in-house counsel. Lecturers: Wendy Chow and Brett Friedman
Tech & Startup (both terms) – the class will explore the regulatory environment for tech companies, commercial contract law, privacy and data security, the IPO process and intellectual property. Seminar activities will consist of lectures, discussions, negotiation exercises, guest speakers and written assignments, all of which will explore areas of the law that are integral to in-house practice at a tech company or a startup. Work experiences will serve as the narrative for these activities, in which, subject to workplace confidentiality restrictions, students will share observations and discuss the issues and problems that develop in the placements. Lecturers: Erin Abrams, Maggie Drucker (Fall) and Amy Pardee, Lauren Thomas (Spring)
Placement Work
Students work at their field placement 10-15 hours per week, depending on whether they elect 2 or 3 credits for placement work. The In-House Counsel Externships require students to participate in a separate application process through Symplicity to secure their field placement. Students will receive instructions regarding the timeline for this process, which typically includes submitting a resume and interviewing with the placement. While the vast majority of students match with a placement, placement is not guaranteed.
In lieu of participating in a separate application process, students may also secure their own placements and contact the Director of Externships and Placement-Based Learning to discuss whether the work done at the placement fits within the scope of the course.
Some examples of previous student placements include, but are not limited to:
- General Counsel: The American Museum of Natural History, Barclays, Ted Conferences, and the New York Public Library
- Corporate Sustainability/ESG: Centerbridge, Elevate Renewables, and the Mellon Foundation
- Healthcare: Go Health, Helix, and Mount Sinai Health Systems
- Tech & Startup: Flex, Narmi Bank, and quantilope
Learning Outcomes
At the end of the course, students will have acquired understanding of and/or facility in various lawyering skills, for example, oral advocacy, legal writing and drafting, negotiation, and client communication.
- At the end of the course, students will have acquired understanding of the development and structure of certain corporate institutions and related legal departments.
- At the end of the course, students will have acquired understanding of and/or facility in ethical and professional issues.
Important Information
The course will be open to JD students in both semesters, and LL.M students in the Spring semester to allow sufficient time to finalize placements. There are no prerequisites to take this course. Students cannot take an In-House Counsel Externship more than once during their time at Columbia Law School.