![](https://vermontlaw.b-cdn.net/wp-content/themes/vlgs/src/img/page-header.png)
Externships at VLGS
Overview
VLGS was one of the first law schools to allow students to earn a full semester of academic credit in an off-campus apprenticeship. Our individualized approach to experiential learning allows second- and third-year students to learn from practice by working directly with judges and lawyers across the nation. VLGS faculty teach and coach students and their supervisors using online class discussion, journals, site visits, individual and group conferences, and frequent communications throughout the semester.
VGLS has an extensive network of experienced lawyers, judges, and qualified JD recipients with whom students may work, but students are not restricted to a finite list of externship options. Each semester, a significant number of students apprentice to legal professionals who are new to the VLGS community.
During the externship semester, students also work one-on-one with an assigned faculty supervisor who serves as teacher, coach, mentor, and confidant throughout the semester. Faculty supervisors have significant experience in the legal profession outside of academia, offering students the benefit of their perspectives, along with the support necessary to begin successfully navigating the challenges of early professional experience.
Vermont Law and Graduate School students can begin the transition to a professional career before graduation through one or more Externship courses.
“I learned more from this experience than I have in any other work experience or class. I wish that every student could have the same opportunity. I learned how to be a better writer and researcher, work more independently, be more confident, and to push through the hard parts.”
Amanda Carrington JD’19
Available Externships
Full-Time JD Externship
Through a full-time, semester-long externship, VLGS students apprentice in legal practice with experienced attorney-supervisors at government agencies, nonprofits, corporations, and law firms in the United States.
Judicial Externship
In this semester-long practicum students work in judges’ chambers, where they learn about the process of judicial decision making by observing and participating in the functions of a court. Students work closely with a supervising judge to develop legal skills such as writing, research, and analytical skills.
Part-Time JD Externship
Similar to the Full-Time, the Part-Time J.D. Externship is a semester-long externship in which students work part-time with experienced attorney-supervisors in a variety of legal settings, including courts as well as public and private practice settings.
Interested in Hosting a VLGS Student?
We are very grateful for your interest in hosting one of our students through a J.D. Externship course.
Please use this online Site Description Form to submit your information. Alternatively, you may download and submit a Site Description Form as a .doc using the form linked on the side menu of this page. Once we receive your Site Description, J.D. Externship faculty will contact you to discuss the experience you have to offer one or more of our students.
We have high expectations of and for our student externs, and we seek to match them with legal professionals who can offer the highest quality opportunity available during a 15-week semester.
Supervising attorneys, qualified J.D.s, and judges take our students “under their wing” because they have a commitment to providing them with practical, hands-on legal education, and because they appreciate the benefits a fresh and inquiring mind can bring to their work. They directly supervise students to ensure the quality of their educational experience during a 15-week semester, and are expected to provide opportunities for students to observe and participate in all aspects of their work.
Student externs are enrolled in an academic course for credit toward their law degrees. That course work requires various meetings with and input from the designated supervisor at the externship site. Course components include:
- Working with the student at the beginning of the semester to craft realistic educational goals in light of the anticipated work of the semester;
- Meeting during the 5th and 10th weeks to review the student’s narrative self-evaluation, and discuss progress toward meeting the student’s goals;
- Meeting with faculty for an in-person site visit in the first half of the semester, and communicating with faculty about the externship during the semester; and
- Preparing a final evaluation and meeting with the student during the final (15th) week of the semester.
Regular feedback, guidance, and support are essential hallmarks of high quality supervision of emerging legal professionals
JD Externship FAQs
Enrollment, Application, and Lottery Process
Vermont Law and Graduate School offers eligible 4th, 5th, and 6th semester students the opportunity to work in the field for JD credit. Externship courses for JD credit are offered only in the Fall and Spring semesters. Eligibility is limited to students with a 2.40 or higher cumulative GPA in the semester before the externship semester. Students must also meet all applicable deadlines for the Program, and follow Externship faculty instructions, in order to remain eligible to enroll in an externship course.
All students interested in completing an externship in their 4th, 5th, or 6th semesters must complete the JD Externship Program Application before they will be considered for an externship.
Yes, you may apply and request that you be allowed to complete multiple externships. However, preference in our enrollment process is given to those who will be completing one externship. If you express a preference for multiple externships you may be assigned a semester, and placed on the waitlist for the other semester.
Yes. Submitting an application does not mean you are committing to enroll in an externship course. All students who think an externship may be in their plans, however, should apply by the deadline.
Traditional-track students interested in completing a 4th-semester externship must apply by no later than September 15 of their 2L year. Traditional-track students interested in completing a 5th- or 6th-semester externship must apply by no later than November 1 of their 2L year. Accelerated JD students interested in completing a 4th-, 5th-, or 6th-semester externship must apply by no later than November 1 of their first (for Fall-Start AJDs) or second (for Summer-Start AJDs) semester.
If you miss the deadline to enroll in an externship, you will be placed on a numbered waitlist for your preferred semester.
In order to balance enrollment for the Fall and Spring semesters in any academic year, and ensure that the majority of the 3L student body is not off-campus in one semester, the Externship Program employs a lottery to evenly distribute students between the two semesters.
Once we receive applications in early November, students are assigned a lottery number and distributed evenly between the two semesters to balance enrollment. Students who are not placed in their preferred semester are placed on a numbered waitlist for their preferred semester in order of their lottery number. We will post lottery results by December 1.
Placement Process and Course Registration
Our placement process is designed to maintain flexibility for each student to pursue a desired externship, to be fair to all members of the student body who may have similar interests for their externships, and to ensure that each externship meets VLGS and ABA standards for an award of JD Credit.
Our program has the pleasure of serving more than two-thirds of the student body each year. In order to ensure that the externship placement process proceeds in a timely, orderly, and uniform manner that is fair to all interested students, we do not allow students to set up their own externship. Instead, we require that you work with the JD Externship Program to set up your externship.
Externship faculty must confirm that your externship for JD credit meets VLGS and ABA requirements and that the expected quality of the experience is sufficient to award credit. The approval process is conducted by externship faculty. It may involve a request for written information, and it always involves a phone conversation with the attorney, judge, or JD professional with whom the student wishes to work for credit.
In contrast to law schools with lots of local externship options, the VLGS process is actually very early. It is common for externship faculty to contact externship sites in close proximity to law schools in metropolitan areas to push for early consideration of VLGS students because of that timing. In most other externship sites, the application process does not begin until the VLGS process begins for any given semester. Most lawyers, judges, and other JD professionals are not considering externs earlier than our process, and many don’t have a clear sense of whether they have sufficient work to keep a student busy until they are much closer in time to the preferred semester.
Note: If you are considering an externship site that appears to have an early deadline, please let JD Externship faculty know. We can easily contact the location to determine if you should apply before our process begins. Most often, internships posted with “rolling” deadlines do not indicate an application process that is earlier than our enrollment process.
That varies, considerably. The process is highly individualized for each student, and it depends on a number of factors. For example, in some well-established externships sites, only faculty contact or communication is welcome or is likely to produce a response from busy lawyers or judges. For externships sites that are regularly utilized by other law schools local to the work site, students may not receive much in the way of a welcome mat when inquiring on their own about the possibility of an externship. On the other hand, when the possible externship site is new to VLGS, the student may have contacts that bring the option to the table for consideration and approval. VLGS externship faculty can play any role necessary to bring an idea to the table for consideration, but only externship faculty can approve an externship for JD credit.
See above. And, it depends. If no other students in the externship pool for the semester of interest overlap, then students may (with approval from externship faculty) proceed to work on externship ideas on their own if they so choose. However, students must keep externship faculty up to date on what ideas are being considered, and externship faculty member approval must always precede any effort to secure a placement.
The approach is not mandatory. However, externship faculty have found a much higher success rate in securing externships for or in collaboration with students if the attorney/judge/JD professional knows from externship faculty that the student is focused squarely on working with that particular professional for the semester. Legal professionals are extremely busy. Externship applications are not a priority for many work sites of interest to students. If the professionals know their investment of time reviewing materials from a student, interviewing the student, and discussing a possible externship with faculty will likely produce a “yes” from the student if a position is offered, it substantially increases the likelihood of an offer, and it significantly increases the likelihood of quicker consideration of the student applicant.
It’s possible in some externship sites that other VLGS students will want to apply to the site(s) you prefer. In other externship sites, it is a certainty that VLGS students will compete with a few (or perhaps many) students from other law schools. For still other externship sites, you may be the only applicant for a position.
This is the single most difficult question to answer due to the extreme flexibility the JD Externship Program offers VLGS students. Timing is highly variable. For some sites, timing is predictable. In others, it is impossible to know when attorneys/judges/JD professionals will make decisions about your externship. Faculty can be successful in pushing for early decisions, but not always.
The goal is to confirm an externship for every student before an on-campus “Meet and Greet” orientation session that occurs in the semester before your externship. The goal is not always met. These on-campus sessions are conducted in late April for Fall semester externships and in late November for Spring semester externships.
See above. Some externship sites act quickly due to competition with other sites in their geographic area. Others act very late for just the same reasons, oddly enough. Still others sites are not regularly of interest to academic year externs, and may act quickly or very slowly. It is important to remember that we are engaging the public when attempting to secure an externship, and our program flexibility makes that effort highly individualized and very different from other law schools that have a fixed set of pre-approved options.
Externship faculty will continue to work with you to confirm an externship if you are rejected from preferred sites.
Yes, but this outcome has been extremely rare over the history of the JD Externship Program at VLGS.
Courses, Credits, and Grading
There is significant faculty involvement in an externship for JD credit at Vermont Law and Graduate School, from the placement process through the end of the work experience. We hope (and past comments from students suggest) the experience will be one of the best you have in law school. VLGS works to offer you a high quality, professional work experience with the benefit of individual faculty support in order to maximize the value of the experience as you enter the professional world. We expect you to achieve great things in an externship, far more than just another entry for your resume.
The Semester in Practice (SiP) is a full-time externship course. The Judicial Externship is, essentially an SiP, except students work full-time in judicial chambers. The Part-Time JD Externship course includes all externships requiring less than a full-time work commitment, including those in judicial, private, and public settings.
12 “experiential credits” for the work on-site (practicum) are awarded on a pass/fail basis, plus two “classroom credits” for the companion academic component. 14 credits total are awarded for all full-time externships.
Four, five, six, seven, or eight “experiential credits” are awarded on a pass/fail basis. Each credit represents at least three hours of work each week over the course of the 15-week semester, including both on-site work and course work.
While part-time externships of four or five credits count toward the requirement they do not satisfy the 6-credit requirement on their own. Part-time externships of six, seven, or eight credits do satisfy the VLGS experiential credit requirement for graduation. Full-time externships are worth 12 experiential credits; completion of a full-time externship satisfies the VLGS experiential credit requirement.
Work Commitment to Earn Credit
Engaging professionals and the issues they address within the office setting, as matters arise and then inevitably change, is the essence of the exposure we seek for our students earning credit towards their law degree. Telecommuting, although emerging in the profession, offers a different quality of experience. Virtual externships or hybrid externships are carefully considered if the employer can offer a meaningful experience that overcomes the remote qualities of telecommuting. Working remotely will be considered on an exceptional case-by-case situation and not the norm.
See the Externship Work Commitment Policy for more detailed information available here.
Full-time: The classroom component is a two-credit academic course, and you should expect to spend time in “class” and on assignments consistent with the time you would spend in any other academic course for JD credit.
Part-time: The classroom component is imbedded within the credits you receive for the externship as a whole. A reasonable estimate for time spent per week on coursework is an hour, on average.
Coursework: You will be expected to participate in an online orientation the week before your externship begins. You will draft a learning plan for your academic goals for your externship and meet with your on-site supervisor to engage in a self-evaluation process several times during the semester. You will also meet with your faculty supervisor, alone or in groups, several times during the semester, keep a weekly journal reflecting on your experiences, and keep weekly timesheets tracking your on-site hours and billable work.
Where can I do my Externship?
The better question is probably where can you not go? (See below). Our program history suggests that little is off limits as a possible site for an externship, provided the site, prospective experience, and attorney/judge/professional supervisor meets the approval requirements of the Program.
You may not extern under the supervision of an unlicensed lawyer when working in a legal practice setting. In a policy setting, you may only work under the supervision of someone holding a JD, whether actively licensed to practice or not.
You may not extern under the supervision of a lawyer, judge, or JD professional with less than five years of experience in the area of law or policy in which he or she practices.
You may not extern for JD credit at a site where you have previously worked for credit, as a volunteer or for pay, unless approved by the Director of JD Externships under the restrictions set out in the VLGS Academic Regulations.
International externship students must work under the supervision of a lawyer or JD equivalent (if policy work is the focus) licensed in the jurisdiction where the representation or advocacy takes place.
Foreign Students: The US Government currently prohibits most federal agencies and other offices from accepting foreign students as externs, even for academic credit. There are some exceptions, including federal courts.
Yes. It is accessible to any eligible student who has submitted all paperwork required to begin the placement process for an externship course. In addition, a weekly newsletter of opportunities, The EON, will alert you to new sites seeking externs.
Past supervising lawyers and judges were concerned that our database could create a portal for unsolicited applications for summer and post-graduate jobs. We addressed those concerns by limiting the information in the database. The externship faculty member with whom you work on a placement has all of the contact information for locations listed in the database.
Course and/or Clinic Participation During and After the Externship
You may enroll in more than one externship course while a student at VLGS, but not in the same semester. You may also enroll in one or more part-time externships in combination with ONE full-time externship while a student at VLGS. You may not enroll in two full-time externships, however. Keep the “classroom” credit requirement for graduation in mind as you plan externship enrollment. Most of your externship credits do not count toward that requirement.
Yes, but not without the approval of both the Director of JD Externships and the director of the clinic of interest, as well as your supervising attorney or judge. In Vermont, it is unlikely that both will consent due to the potential for conflicts of interest. The attorney or judge at the potential externship site may not, even if the Director of JD Externships and the director of the clinic do.
Financial Aid and Compensation
Until August 6, 2016, the ABA prohibited students earning JD credit from receiving any form of “compensation” for the work done in an externship. That prohibition has now been repealed. Vermont Law and Graduate School’s Academic Regulations still prohibit externs from receiving “compensation.” But, the Committee on Standards has granted “case-by-case” approval authority to the Director of JD Externships to allow for compensation. We don’t expect many externship organizations to be willing or able to pay student externs, but some have been approved in the last couple of academic years.
Yes. Historically, only a small percentage of externship sponsoring organizations have offered reimbursement of expenses, although government offices typically provide a transit pass.
Yes. These are academic courses taken while you are enrolled as a full-time, student “in-residence” (even though off-campus) at VLGS.
Budgeting for an externship is critical, and any adjustment to your budget for an externship semester must run through Financial Aid before you can be confirmed in an externship through the Registrar’s Office.
No.
Background Checks/Security Clearances
Yes. Most federal government positions (including courts) require some form of security clearance or background check. State government offices, particularly prosecutor’s offices, also employ some form of clearance or check.
You can expect anything from fingerprinting to character and fitness questions, disclosure of past arrest or traffic citations, credit check, or possible drug screening. It varies by organization.
We move on to the next idea for an externship.
It varies, but most organizations move quickly on security clearance and background check processes for all the same reasons that are important to you in planning your semester.
Required Attendance – Orientation
Attendance is mandatory because it is part of the academic course work, and the information you are offered at orientation is important. Medical or other emergencies such as family illness are valid excuses for not attending orientation. The Program inquires early and often about potential conflicts with orientation and externship course work, vacations, and other commitments you may have, so you are advised to keep us up to date about potential or actual conflicts with our scheduling process. We cannot accommodate all conflicts, but if you don’t inform us of your potential or actual conflict, we cannot excuse an absence based on that conflict.
Yes. That restriction is enforced.
The on-campus PreOrientation session is the only portion of orientation held on campus JD Externship students. It will be scheduled with plenty of advance notice, late in the semester preceding your externship semester, in April for Fall semester externships and in November for Spring semester externships. The balance of orientation for JD externships is conducted online in the week prior to the externship start date. You are required to attend and participate in both portions of the orientation. Attendance is mandatory unless you have a direct class conflict. If you do have a class conflict, you must let our placement professor know immediately.
Application Process and Deadlines
Vermont Law and Graduate School offers eligible 4th, 5th, or 6th semester students the opportunity to work in the field for J.D. credit. Externship courses are designed to meet each student’s individualized goals for skill development and to allow for further experience in the legal profession prior to graduation. Our program goal is to create an individualized experience that meets each student’s interests in a preferred geographic location and in a particular type of practice, policy work, judicial chambers, or other professional work setting where a law license or degree is utilized or required.
Externship courses for J.D. credit are offered only in the Fall and Spring semesters. Accelerated JD candidates must plan carefully with academic advisors because these courses are not offered during summer term.
Eligibility is limited to students with a 2.40 or higher cumulative GPA in the semester before the externship semester. Please contact us for more information regarding the GPA requirement. Students must meet application deadlines in order to remain eligible to enroll in an externship course.
Important Deadlines
ALL APPLICATIONS ARE DUE IN THE FALL
- Traditional J.D. students must apply in the fall of their 2L year
- Applications for 2L spring (4th semester) are due September 15
- Applications for 3L year (fall or spring) (5th or 6th semester) are due November 1
- Accelerated J.D. students apply in the fall of their 1L year
- Applications for all semesters (4th, 5th, or 6th) are due November 1
- Remember: there are no J.D. externships during the summer term
If you missed the deadline but now want to participate, ask to be added to the numbered waitlist by emailing us at JDExternships@vermontlaw.edu. Upon receipt of your complete application, you will be added to the waitlist. There is no guarantee students will be admitted off of the waitlist. Make sure you have other plans in place to meet your experiential credit degree requirement.
Note: Submitting an application by November 1 does not mean you are committing to enroll in an externship but it does preserve your option to do so. All students who think an externship may be in their plans, should apply by the November 1 deadline.
Externship faculty may employ a lottery to balance enrollment for the Fall and Spring semesters in any given academic year. Lottery results will be posted by December 1 of the year preceding the externship. Those students moved by the lottery from a preferred semester to a non-preferred semester may ask to be placed on the waitlist for their preferred semester.
Enrollment Process
VLGS’s externship program is extraordinarily flexible with many new placements created each semester. Consequently, enrollment into an externship course is only by permission of the Director of J.D. Externships. General conversations with a location about the type of work they do and if they ever take externs is allowed but setting up an externship at a potential work site is not permitted without the express approval of an externship faculty member.
Students may ONLY enroll in these courses through a placement process established by the Director of J.D. Externships. Please read through our Frequently Asked Questions for information regarding the program, enrollment and placement processes, course descriptions, work requirements, and credits. You must comply with the requirements and restrictions of our processes to remain eligible for an externship course. You will be asked to certify in your application that you have read and understood all our program materials, including the FAQ.
To begin the enrollment process, please read through the FAQ completely, then click the link below to submit an externship program application by the deadline.
Contact Us
If you have questions about the JD Externship Program at Vermont Law and Graduate School, you are welcome to contact us at JDExternships@vermontlaw.edu or (802) 831-1156.
Write to us: JD Externship Program
Vermont Law and Graduate School
PO Box 96
South Royalton, VT 05068