Externships

Externships at the College of Law offer students opportunities to earn academic credit while gaining real-world legal experience. Students are able to explore various areas of the law and potential career paths while engaging with alumni and building professional networks. 

Our robust programs provide a range of locations and placement types allowing students to customize their experience to meet their professional and career goals. Through hands-on lawyering working with attorneys in real practice settings, students improve their research, writing, and legal analysis skills while learning how to identify and adapt to the culture and expectations of a law practice.

General Requirements

Students must be in good academic standing (min. 2.2 GPA) at the time they apply for and throughout the duration of their externships. Students must also complete Professional Responsibility prior to enrolling for an externship or complete it concurrently with their externship.

Seminars

Each externship is paired with a required seminar. Grounded in the same academic rigor, the externship seminars are designed to examine the complex operations of the legal profession and support students adjusting to workplace culture with a tailored approach to the unique markets of Central New York, New York City, Washington, DC, and Philadelphia. Students will hear from panels of alumni and distinguished guest lecturers, attend networking events, and produce a research paper on an approved topic of their interest.

Programs & Placements

Our externship programs each have a vast network of placements covering many areas of law, allowing students to complement their coursework with experience in particular legal settings. In order to maximize your externship experience, consider your own career goals when selecting a program and a placement. You are also encouraged to meet with one of our faculty directors to discuss which placements and locations best fit your academic and professional goals.

NYEx

Spanning from Rochester to Binghamton, NYEx offers part-time, year-long and single semesteras well as full-time single semester placements in a variety of interesting legal settings alongside your regular coursework.

DCEx

Experience the unique legal environment of our nation’s capital. Offered every Spring, Summer, and Fall, take on a full-time, semester-long placement on the Hill or among other premier placement options.

NYCEx

Experience law in the Big Apple. Kicking off in Spring 2018, NYCEx will give students full-time semester-long work experience among premier public interest agencies, law firms, hedge funds, and other legal employers.

PhillyEx

Experience law in one of the nation’s most historic cities. Beginning with a small pilot program in Spring 2018, PhillyEx will give students a full-semester experience with public defenders, public interest agencies, and private law firms, with a full launch in Spring 2019.

LondonEx

Spend the summer abroad and receive a comprehensive understanding of London’s rich legal world. Through a placement in one of the world’s most dynamic cities, students will learn the fundamental tenets of English Law, emphasizing its institutions, profession, court structure, procedure, and substantive law.

Faculty

Terry L. Turnipseed
Professor of Law, Faculty Director of Externships
tlturnip@law.syr.edu

Kimberly Wolf Price, Esq.
Director of Externship Programs
kwprice@law.syr.edu

Todd A. Berger
Associate Professor of Law, Philadelphia Externship Director
taberger@law.syr.edu

Christian C. Day
Professor of Law, Faculty Co-Director of LondonEx
ccday@law.syr.edu

Mary Helen McNeal
Professor of Law, Faculty Co-Director of LondonEx
mhmcneal@law.syr.edu