Monday 10 October 2016

Legal Externship vs internship. Which to choose?

Legal Internships
Legal internships provide students the opportunity gain knowledge and real world experience in different aspects of law by providing support to a legal practitioner. It is not common for legal internships to be paid at present. Nowadays, the completion of an internship is a prerequisite to graduation and students will receive schools credits. 

Judicial Clerkships 
Judicial clerkships are among the most popular law school internships. Students intern in places such as the state and federal court judges and gain valuable insight into the workings of trial and appellate courts. However, it is important to note that these positions are very research and writing intensive as they perform a wide range of duties that include reviewing and researching trial records and legal documents and draft formal memoranda. Thus, they are excellent resume-boosters, especially for those who wish to practice civil or criminal litigation or appellate law. Judicial Clerkships are extremely popular and prestigious, making the application process very much competitive with successful applicants having impressive academic records and strong interpersonal skills.

Legal Clinics
Legal clinics allow second or third year students to gain legal experience within law school. Student get to put their knowledge into practice under the supervision of a legal practitioner. This is most suitable for students are unable to secure an internship.

Legal Externships 
Externship programs offer students the opportunity to work in legal practice settings outside the school. Similar to the above, students can gain real work experience in specific areas of interest. Students in externships are usually supervised by a licensed attorney who will be in charge of assigning specific tasks and providing oversight and feedback. Full-time faculty members and staff may also provide additional oversight and supervision. 

Although some externships are paid, externships are mostly offered to legal students for school credit. Externships provide students with the opportunity to serve the public, build valuable networks in the field, learn about the rigors of daily practice in a specific field of law and acquire valuable legal skills.

Disclaimer: This is a work for the sole purpose of an academic project. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

No comments:

Post a Comment