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CRIM. JUSTICE EXTERN PLACEMENT (ADVOCACY AND LEGAL SKILLS - 3030)
2 credits
Students work 140 hours in pre-approved criminal externship placements under the guidance of carefully selected mentor-attorneys. It is expected that students will be integrated into all aspects of the legal setting so that students will assist their mentor-attorneys in their day-to-day legal activities as well as receiving research, writing or other legal assignments. Some placements may include an opportunity for students to appear in court, interview clients, or interact with opposing counsel, while others may be more observational in nature. Criminal clinical placements are with prosecutor and defender offices in the counties and boroughs near St. John's Law School and occasionally with pre-approved private practitioners who take assigned counsel cases. The course is graded on a pass-fail basis. This course must be taken in conjunction with the Criminal Clinical Externship Seminar.
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CRIM. JUSTICE EXTERNSHIP SEM. (ADVOCACY AND LEGAL SKILLS - 3020)
2 credits
The Criminal Clinical Externship Seminar seeks to promote self-directed learning in students through appropriate goal-setting and the critical reflection on how the criminal justice systems function (how the law, procedures, practice and fact patterns interrelate), give students an understanding of the roles of prosecutors and defense attorneys within the systems, and orient students to recognize and begin to learn the skills prosecutors and defense attorneys must acquire. Students must complete weekly short written assignments based upon relevant readings and externship observations and experiences, a collaborative student presentation, accurate timesheets, and a lawyering skills simulation. The seminar uses an interactive classroom format where students share insights gained through their externship observations and experiences. Grades are based upon class participation, weekly written assignments, and a final student presentation. This course must be taken in conjunction with the Criminal Clinical Externship Placement.
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GENERAL EXTERNSHIP PLACEMENT (ADVOCACY AND LEGAL SKILLS - 4000)
2 credits
Students work 140 hours in pre-approved externship placements under the guidance of carefully selected mentor-attorneys. It is expected that students will gain a sense of what it is like to be a lawyer practicing in that particular law setting, so that students will assist their mentor-attorneys in their day-to-day legal activities as well as receiving research, writing or other legal assignments. Some placements may include an opportunity for students to appear in court, interview clients, or interact with opposing counsel, while others may be more observational in nature. Placements may be with administrative, city, state, and federal judiciary members; prosecutor and defender offices; and civil placements which meet the interests of the student body including, among others, organizations which are on the leading edge of housing law, domestic violence law, immigration law, environmental law, labor law, mental hygiene law, consumer law, and general civil litigation. The course is graded on a pass-fail basis. This course must be taken in conjunction with the General Clinical Externship Seminar.
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GENERAL EXTERNSHIP SEMINAR (ADVOCACY AND LEGAL SKILLS - 3090)
2 credits
The general clinical externship seminar explores important issues in lawyer development through weekly readings, directed journal assignments and collaborative student presentations. The seminar uses an interactive classroom format which may include simulations and discussions where students share insights gained through their externship observations and experiences. Grades are based upon class participation, weekly written assignments, and a final student presentation. This course must be taken in conjunction with the General Clinical Externship Placement.
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JUDICIAL EXTERNSHIP PLACEMENT (ADVOCACY AND LEGAL SKILLS - 3050)
2 credits
Students work 140 hours in pre-approved judicial externship placements in the chambers of administrative, city, state, or federal judges. It is expected that students will be integrated into all aspects of the judicial chambers so that students will observe court proceedings as well as receive substantive research and writing assignments. The course is graded on a pass-fail basis. This course must be taken in conjunction with the Judicial Clinical Externship Seminar.
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JUDICIAL EXTERNSHIP SEMINAR (ADVOCACY AND LEGAL SKILLS - 3040)
2 credits
The Judicial Clinical Externship Seminar directs students to consider the richness and variety of the courts in which they work to promote self-directed learning through appropriate goal-setting and the critical reflection on judicial process, lawyering skills, and legal institutions. Weekly short written assignments based upon relevant readings and externship observations, accurately kept timesheets, student presentations and a lawyering skills simulation are used to engage students in recognizing and using decision-making strategies in responding to professional responsibility issues. Grades are based upon class participation, weekly written assignments, and a final student presentation. This course must be taken in conjunction with the Judicial Clinical Externship Placement.
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SUMMER EXTERNSHIP SEMINAR (ADVOCACY AND LEGAL SKILLS - 3060)
1 credits
This 1-credit seminar is required when a student is taking an Externship Placement for the first time during the summer. It will meet for seven weeks, two hours per class. The student will be required to keep time sheets and a written reflection on their work at the placement. The first thirty minutes or so of each class will be devoted to the students' reflections. That discussion will include issues of ethics, confidentiality, workplace environment (including collaboration) and professionalism. The balance of the course will focus on lawyering skills, including fact investigation and evaluation; interviewing and counseling; writing letters, emails, and a Multistate Practice Test; and oral skills, such as presenting work to the mentor-attorney or judge, discussing the pros and cons of a case, orally synthesizing the law and the facts to tell an effective story, speaking assertively, and communicating effectively to clients. A student who goes on to take a fall or spring externship after this Summer Externship Seminar must enroll in the Externship Seminar (2 credits), and a student who takes a third subsequent externship in the fall or spring must enroll in the Externship Seminar-Advanced. A student who takes no fall or spring externships but takes a second summer externship must enroll in Externship Seminar-Advanced. This seminar will also be available in a distance-learning format for students externing at a distance. Grading method: Practice writing assignments (30%); interviewing, counseling and fact-investigation exercises (45%); MPT (20%); class participation (5%); time sheets with reflections (mandatory).