Advanced Externships

To reach the educational objectives, the Advanced Government Externship has five components:

1. A required number of hours at the advanced externship placement or doing advanced externship activities and related work (45 hours per credit hour sought); a professional time log, evidencing the content and scope of these externship hours, will be kept during the course of the semester and occasionally be reviewed by the faculty advisor during the semester. The finalized time log will be due to the faculty advisor at the conclusion of the semester;
2. At least one individual tutorial meeting between the student and the faculty advisor during the course of the semester;
3. A final externship meeting with the faculty advisor and the extern’s supervising attorney, to be arranged and led by the externship student;
4. A reflective learning essay of approximately 2,000 words, theme and format to be developed by the first individual tutorial and due by semester’s end; and
5. A completed and signed Supervising Attorney's Evaluations Form, assessing the professional development of the externship student throughout the semester and providing a substantive evaluation of the student's externship work.

The three main participants in the advanced externship are: the PLSG student, the faculty advisor, and the supervising attorney. Success in reaching the educational objectives of the advanced externship depends on the main participants and the interrelationship between and among them. Outlined below are the advanced externship responsibilities of the participants.

The PLSG student advanced extern is responsible for:

1. Spending forty-five (45) hours per credit sought, during the semester in advanced externship placement activities and related work. Advanced externship placement activities and related work includes, e.g., being present at the assigned field placement and addressing the legal assignments from the supervising attorney. With the supervising attorney approval externship hours may be earned at a location beyond the advanced externship office, (e.g., law school library, law school computer center, a home office) but these hours should be less than 20% of hours earned and the out-of-office advanced externship work must be of the same quality of other externship work and assessed by the supervising attorney in the same manner that he or she would assess regular externship work;
2. Immediately identifying any potential conflicts of interest between the externship placement and other interests. If such conflicts should arise, immediately communicating those to supervising lawyer and faculty advisor with the purpose of resolving the real or potential conflicts of interest as soon as practicable; 
3. Understanding that the externship work performed this semester, whether paid or unpaid, is being done for the professional development and the academic credit offered through this externship course, which requires, among other things, direct supervision of the student’s work by an attorney;
4. Understanding the externship placement’s procedures for receiving and handling confidential information, including that confidential information may not be disclosed except as authorized by the supervising lawyer and that, under Indiana law, penalties may be enforced if he or she knowingly or intentionally discloses confidential information to any person not authorized to receive it;
5. Sharing individual development plan (IDP) with faculty advisor and supervising lawyer in the first half of the externship semester;
6. Developing and completing the reflective essay for the AGE, presumable to be discussed at the final AGE tutorial;
7. Preparing for one (1) individual or small group tutorial session with the faculty advisor during the course of the semester;
8. Arranging and setting the agenda for a professional meeting (final AGE tutorial) with the faculty advisor, the supervising lawyer, and the externship student. This meeting should cover topics such as the quality of the student’s externship work and professional development and should take place at the externship offices; and
9. Submitting accurate time logs accounting for the student’s time working at the externship placement and working on externship activities and related work to the faculty advisor at individual meetings with the faculty advisor and at the conclusion of the semester.

Supervising Attorney is responsible for:

1. Orienting the PLSG extern to the office before or during the first week of the externship semester, including a discussion of office procedures and, specifically, a discussion of office and/or department procedures for receiving and handling confidential information;
2. Immediately communicating any actual or potential conflicts of interest that the student extern may have, develop, or discover with the externship placement with the supervising lawyer and faculty advisor. Working with the externship student to establish and implement a work plan in accordance with the extern’s individual development plan (IDP) and that is in alignment with the externship site’s mission and needs;
3. Providing skills training opportunities to the extern by assigning legal projects to the student, reviewing the student’s legal work, and providing constructive feedback to the student extern;
4. Providing a variety of challenging tasks that draw on the student extern’s legal skills throughout the course of the placement;
5. Meeting regularly with the student extern to discuss matters pertinent to the student’s work and the student’s understanding of the legal process; 
6. Giving specific feedback to the student extern during the course of the externship semester;
7. Allowing student, when feasible, to participate in, and not merely observe, legal or strategic decision-making processes;
8. Notifying faculty advisor in a timely manner regarding any problems or concerns about the student extern or his or her work at the externship placement;
9. Conducting a brief assessment of the student extern’s performance at mid-semester and communicating the assessment via phone conversation or voice mail to the faculty advisor;
10. Evaluating the student’s performance and work product in writing at the end of the externship semester, reviewing the written evaluation with the student extern, and making the written evaluation available to the student extern for final submission to the faculty advisor; and
11. Participating in a small group meeting, to be arranged by the externship student and to be held at the externship location, regarding the student’s externship work and professional development.   

 Faculty Advisor is responsible for:

1. Overall coordination and administration of the advanced externship course, including the development, monitoring, and maintenance of the agreement between the law school, the student, and the externship placement;
2. Maintaining communication between the Program, the law student, and the supervising attorney;
3. Participating in at least two individual or small group tutorials with the advanced externship student;
4. Assessing and reviewing the externship time logs and the reflective learning assignments; and,
5. Assessing whether the student earned a passing or failing grade for the advanced externship (based on doing satisfactory work at the placement and meeting or failing to meet minimum the number of hours required to be spent at the field office and doing externship placement activities and related work).