Externships

2,082

Students have participated
in at least one externship

125

Sites in 20 different practice areas

50%

Of 3L Classes participate
in at least one externship

Mentoring & Professional Exploration

For more than twenty-five years, Carolina Law’s Externship Program has engaged students in live cases and legal matters with practicing lawyers and judges in the community. Students receive academic credit for participating in the program, which requires on site work with one of our partner placement sites for a set number of hours each week as well as completion of accompanying journal and class requirements at the law school. Our partner placement sites include judges at federal and state levels, lawyers from government agencies, public interest groups, and corporate counsel who serve as mentors and on-site supervisors for the students, providing direction, supervision and feedback as the student initiates, progresses through and completes assigned projects.

The Externship Program’s faculty supervisors guide and facilitate the students’ exploration of their externship experience through tutorials, journal writing and class discussion.

Students participating in the Externship Program are immersed in a particular area of legal practice through working on real life lawyering experiences with experts in the field. Student externs develop key lawyering skills such as legal analysis, research and writing, interviewing and counseling, negotiation, policy making and both informal and formal advocacy. Externships also provide students with the opportunity to explore different lawyering styles and strategies in a live practice setting. Through their work with faculty supervisors, student externs critically examine their learning strategies, their goals, progress on those goals, and develop self-directed learning habits. The program also promotes students’ understanding of professional responsibility through discussion of ethical and moral issues arising in practice.

Students may take up to 18 hours of externship credit during the course of their law school career.

The Externship Program offers four academic options:

Application Process and Course Requirements
Externship Sites
Information for New Sites