Externship Program

Hofstra Law School is committed to providing students with classroom training in how to think like a lawyer and experiential training in how to use that thinking on behalf of real clients. One of the ways in which students get legal experience is through our Externship Program, which enables students to earn credit by working under the supervision of mentor/lawyers in a variety of practice situations. Students have a wide range of placements from which to choose, in practice areas which offer experience in the varied subject areas in which students might ultimately choose to practice. Most externships are in the public sector, which gives students the opportunity to see how different government and not for profit offices meet the legal needs of the communities they serve. Through our specialty externships with the Nassau and Suffolk County Bar Associations, students also have the opportunity for private firm placements.

Why Choose an Externship?

An externship affords students the opportunity to earn up to three (3) credits while working directly with judges, prosecutors' offices, publicly funded criminal defense agencies, and other government or private non-profit agencies. By participating in the Program, student externs develop lawyering skills in real-life situations, under the supervision and guidance of a practitioner/mentor and the overall program supervision of a full time faculty member.

Externships also provide a wonderful and creative way to develop connections with practicing attorneys in your field of interest and to build a resume of legal experience.

What are the Program Details?

Students enrolled in the Externship Program for the Fall or Spring semester get three credits for working a set number of hours per week (typically 12 - 15 hours) at an assigned office. Students working over the summer for 3 credits, may work more hours over a shorter number of weeks. Students are required to keep journals and time records, and will meet regularly with their practitioner/mentor. In addition, they will meet with the Externship Program faculty supervisor to talk about their experience, and to review the functioning of the externship in general. Students will attend a weekly seminar and must produce a minimum of 25 pages of written work based upon their work with the mentor over the course of the externship. The written work may be one long research paper or legal document or a series of shorter samples of the legal work which the student worked on in their placement.

The weekly seminar provides an opportunity to meet with all other externs and to examine substantive and ethical legal issues that have arisen during the placements. Each student presides over a session of the seminar on at least one occasion.

Can I Take Part in an Externship During the Summer?

The Summer is an ideal time to take part in an externship, particularly for students who have just finished their first year of law school and who may not be able to get paid legal work. Since the summer externship can be done on a full time basis over less weeks than the semester externship, it may be possible to do an externship for part of the summer and to find paid employment, legal or non-legal for the balance of the summer.

In addition, summer externs pay a flat fee cost of $500 for the requisite seminar, rather than paying the per-credit rate charged for other summer courses.

The per-credit rate will be charged if the course is being used to accelerate graduation, transfer between part-time and full-time programs, or fulfill other residency requirements.

What Types of Externships are Available?

Although externships vary each semester, the following offices often have available externships.

Criminal Law Placements

Nassau County District Attorney's Office
Suffolk County District Attorney's Office, Child Abuse and Domestic Violence Bureau
Queens County District Attorney's Office
Kings County District Attorney's Office
New York County Defender Services
Nassau/Suffolk Law Services
U.S. Attorney's Office
U.S. Department of Justice

Government Placements

Nassau County Office of the County Attorney
Nassau County Comptroller's Office
New York State Attorney General's Office, Medicaid Fraud Control Unit
Office of the Bronx Borough President
Environmental Protection Agency
Internal Revenue Service
National Labor Relations Board
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
U.S. Department of Labor
New York City Law Department

Judicial Placements

Surrogate Court, Nassau County
Supreme Court of Nassau County
Supreme Court of the State of New York
U.S. Bankruptcy Court, EDNY
U.S. Bankruptcy Court, SDNY
U.S. Court of International Trade

Bar Association Committee Externships
The Nassau County and Suffolk County Bar Associations sponsor externships in which participating students are assigned to the chairs of a bar committee, whose subject matter is of interest to the student. The Bar Committee Chair will find a private firm placement with an area firm, whose specialty area is the substantive law area of the committee.

Students are welcome to seek other externships with governmental and not-for-profit agencies not listed here.

How do students sign up for the Externship Program?

If you are interested in the externship program, you should complete the Externship Request Form and submit it to Professor Marcia Levy in Room 203C or e-mail it to her at: lawmnl@hofstra.edu.

Professor Levy will work with you to find an externship placement. If you are approved for a placement, you will be required to register for the Externship Course for the semester in which you are working at the placement.

How can I find out more?
If you are interested in learning more about the available externships, submit the externship form to Professor Marcia Levy, Assistant Dean for Skills Training at (516) 463-4256 or lawmnl@hofstra.edu, or visit the Program's web site at www.hofstra.edu/law/externship.