FIU Law’s Externship Program gets you directly involved in the legal profession through practical educational experience, exposing you to the professional, ethical and personal challenges inherent to the profession. It’s learning by doing. It’s stepping out of the classroom and into real-world practice.
Various externship sites offer hands-on opportunities to observe legal and judicial systems at work. In most cases, you will interact with and provide advocacy on behalf of real clients and engage in relevant legal work under the supervision of practicing attorneys or judges.
The faculty-led seminar accompanying the field placement serves as a venue for review of substantive issues, self-assessment, and reflection upon the skills, values and professional obligations that prevail in the practice setting.
General Information
Credit will be awarded based on completion of the requisite hours per semester at the placement. These credits are considered in-classroom credits and do not count as credit non-classroom work. Credit will also be awarded based on participation in a classroom component designed to encourage critical thinking, ethical reflection and self-evaluation within the practice of law.
Criteria for admission will depend on the particular program. Please review the requirements and criteria carefully for your specified placement of interest.
The Advanced Externship is an externship placement for two to four credit hours, for students who have taken a previous externship and wish to continue at the same placement or switch to a different placement for additional opportunities.
Summer placements (excluding Advanced) will be comprised of two separate courses for two graded credits and four pass/fail credits.
Externship Courses
FIU Law offers a range of externship courses, each with specific credit, prerequisite and co-requisite requirements to match your area of interest.
Civil
Duration
4 credits (Fall or Spring semester Pass/Fail)Pre- and Co-requirements
45 completed credits
Professional ResponsibilityCriminal
Duration
4 credits (Fall or Spring semester Pass/Fail)Pre- and Co-requirements
48 completed credits
Letter of clearance from the Florida Bar
Professional Responsibility
Evidence Criminal Procedure – InvestigationJudicial
Pre- and Co-requirements
Foundation Curriculum (including all 1L courses)Law Firm Placement
Pre- and Co-requirements
45 completed credits
Professional Responsibility and EvidenceAdvanced Externship
Pre- and Co-requirements
Completion of another externship
Judge Aaron B. Cohen Judicial Externship
A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and New York University Law School, Judge Aaron B. Cohen was admitted to the New York Bar in 1941. He served as a Family Court Judge in New York State before retiring to South Florida.
Named in his honor, the Judge Aaron B. Cohen Judicial Externship Program offers students the chance to gain firsthand experience serving as judicial externs. The stipend is awarded to students who participate in unpaid judicial externships.
Courses offered through this externship vary from four credits in most placements to six credits for placements at the Florida Supreme Court in Tallahassee. Each externship entails similar general duties, with some variation from court to court. Other duties will be defined by the faculty supervisor and the individual judge.
Requirements
- Enrolled at FIU Law in good standing with at least one year of course work completed
- U.S. Citizen or permanent resident who has demonstrated long-lasting ties to either Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade or Monroe counties in Florida
- Unmet financial need, as determined by FAFSA
- Exemplary community service (as determined by your personal statement)
- Dedication to support the education of the next generation of lawyers
Learning Objectives
The Legal Externship Program offers students the opportunity to work with a legal employer in the corporate, governmental, public, or private sector. Through the students’ exposure to the real work environment of law practice, they will demonstrate knowledge and understanding of substantive and procedural law, as well as the knowledge and skills necessary for competent and ethical participation in different legal contexts, and exercise proper professional and ethical responsibilities toward clients and the legal system.