LAWS 707 - Children's Law Externship|

Credits: 2

This course places the student with a lawyer employed by a child-serving agency; an agency involved with child law issues where a child may be charged with a crime or is a victim of a crime; or with a lawyer in private practice that represents children. The student works approximately 8-15 hours per week with the lawyer. This work includes hands-on experience with the supervising lawyer to engage in the representation or advocacy process for those children based upon the legal setting chosen for the individual extern. The extern will observe the lawyer as the lawyer represents clients and also attend meetings, hearings, trials and other legal proceedings in order to experience the legal process firsthand. The student will provide assistance to the assigned lawyer by drafting memorandums, legal motions, proposed orders and providing legal research relevant to each case. The student will be immersed in each system as it relates to the assigned agency's duties and responsibilities to improve outcomes for children in the legal system.

Corequisites: Professional Responsibility or Problems in Professional Responsibility

Prerequisites: Professional Responsibility or Problems in Professional Responsibility

Note: Each student will be expected to work 8-15 hours each week of the semester at the approved extern site and to attend a one and a half hour class every other week. Each student will be expected to maintain and submit both at midterm and at the end of the semester a journal of the student's activities at the extern site. This journal must state the dates and times of the student's experience and provide a summary of that event as it relates to the listed course objectives above. The student must also submit a weekly timesheet documenting the days and hours worked by the student and have it signed by the assigned supervising lawyer at the extern site.

For first year students entering Fall 2016, this course satisfies the experiential course graduation requirement.

Basis of Grade: The grade shall be based on the student's attendance and class participation in the bi-weekly class, the evaluation of the student by the externship site supervisor/lawyer, and the journal submitted by the student.

Form of Grade: letter

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