www.wmitchell.eduExternships
Ann Juergens
Co-Director of Clinic Program
Peter B. Knapp
Co-Director of Clinic Program
Jean Backes
Administrative Coordinator, Clinics and Externships
Externships: Real-world experience
William Mitchell externship courses offer students the opportunity to work off campus in a variety of different roles such as clerks, advocates, research assistants for a judge, business, government agency, or organization before they graduate. Students may attend agency hearings or appellate arguments; or observe judges..
Each course offers a classroom portion with analytical topics. All externships have an hour commitment based on credit enrollment and all require prerequisite courses. All externships have a faculty supervisor and field placement supervisor.
Administrative Law Externship
Students intern with administrative law judges at the Minnesota Office of Administrative Hearings. Each student attends a state agency contested (trial-type) hearing and a rulemaking hearing and prepares the first draft of a decision for the judge.
Bankruptcy Law Externship
Court of Appeals Externship
Students intern with judges of the Minnesota Court of Appeals and participate in a variety of court and clerking activities and attend appellate arguments.
Criminal Justice Externship
Students work at public defenders’ offices in the Twin Cities on criminal cases and make court appearances.
District Court Externship
Students intern with state court judges, magistrates, or referees (occasionally with a federal judge). Students participate in a variety of clerking activities, attend chamber discussion, and observe trials and hearings.
Family Law Externship
Students intern with family law practitioners engaged in various professional roles such as mediator, collaborative lawyer, guardian ad litem and traditional practitioner in private and public settings.
Law and Business Externship
Work of the Lawyer Seminar
Students engage in a rigorous study of the often-conflicting moral, professional, financial, personal, and political imperatives inherent in the work of the lawyer. The course consists of a seminar and field experience, which involves observing or working alongside a lawyer as he or she engages in a variety of lawyering activities.
The experience students’ gain from externships and clinical programs helps them develop professional judgment, confidence in their advocacy and counseling skills, and an understanding of the critical role justice plays in our democracy.
All externships have a faculty supervisor and field placement supervisor.