The Charleston School of Law Externship Program provides students with meaningful hands-on, practical legal experience in a variety of legal practice areas while earning academic credit. Charleston Law students are able to find the perfect fit to learn and develop skills in the legal field of their interest, including public service, corporate law, criminal law, environmental law, civil litigation, family law and intellectual property.
The externship experience:
Additionally, externships provide students with the opportunity to meet and work with members of the legal bar and their staff, which may prove invaluable as the students pursue employment.
To qualify for an externship, students must have completed at least 27 credit hours and be in good academic standing. Externships are available in the fall, spring and summer semesters.
If you are a licensed attorney and would like to be an externship site, contact Michelle Condon.
The Charleston School of Law’s Externship Program allows students who have completed 27 credits and are in good academic standing to gain practical legal experience working with a variety of employers. A licensed attorney at the externship site must supervise the student’s law related work. Sites can include governmental agencies, courts, nonprofits, corporations, and private law firms. This fall, the law school will offer a corporate externship course as well as a general externship course.
Students earn Pass-Fail academic credit depending on the number of hours they work at the site during the semester. During the fall and spring semesters, students can earn two credits (104 work hours) or three credits (160 work hours). During the summer, students additionally can earn four credits (208 work hours) or five credits (260 work hours).
To support their experience at the externship site, students receive eight hours of educational instruction by attending a regularly scheduled externship course and reviewing their progress during one-on-one midterm and final evaluation meetings with the externship director. The externship course covers legal ethics, best practices in the workplace, professional identity, supporting diversity and cultural competency in the workplace, time management, wellness, and related topics.
Externship site supervisors must complete midterm and final evaluations of the extern and ensure that the extern has completed at least 25 pages of legal writing.
Michelle M. Condon
Director of Externships and Public Service and Pro Bono
Phone: 843.377.2457
“Going to law school and being around the practice of law were two different things. What was cool was watching everything that I learned in the classroom really come to life and see how it really worked and it solidified my education.”
“As a Marine Corps officer for eight years, I’m used to being outside, running around. Going into the corporate world was foreign to me. But I went in with an open mind and I got exposed to so much more. I think the externship was critical. I remember thinking, I’m gonna be trapped in a cubicle. But it’s been anything but that.”
“I decided to do an externship because I wanted hands-on practical experience. I was getting a lot of good information from classes and wanted to apply it. It’s a great opportunity to network with attorneys, get valuable feedback and improve your skills.”
