Fall/Spring

Fall/Spring Course Format

The fall and spring externship course can be either a three- or four- credit bundle, comprising a two- or three- credit externship experience and the one-credit, seminar style course. Together, the externship course and experience comprise five basic components:

• 1. The externship component requires the externship student to devote a required number of hours at the externship office or doing externship activities – 45 hours per credit hours sought, therefore, 90 or 135 recorded hours for the 2- or 3 credit externship, respectively;
  2. In addition, the externship student needs to devote 45 hours to the externship course (including preparing for class discussion, participating in class meetings, Canvas submissions and correspondence, and individual or small group tutorials);
  3. Reflective learning conversations and essay, as assigned;
  4. The externship student must also keep a professional time record of all externship hours. This time record will be reviewed by the faculty advisor during the semester. The finalized time log, setting forth externship and course hours (to total either 135 or 190 hours), will be due to the faculty advisor at the conclusion of the semester; and,
  5. A completed and signed Supervising Attorney's Evaluation Form, assessing the professional development of the externship student throughout the semester and providing a substantive evaluation of the student's externship work.

PARTICIPANT RESPONSIBILITIES

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

 The PLSG student extern is responsible for:

 i.   Spending ninety (90) or one hundred thirty-five (135) hours, forty-five (45) hours per externship credit sought, during the semester in externship activities and related work. Externship activities and related work includes, e.g., working on legal assignments from the supervising attorney while at the assigned externship office or agency and/or, with permission, working remotely to address legal assignments from the supervising attorney;

ii.   Spending 45 hours over the course of the semester on externship coursework. Externship coursework includes: editing and finalizing the individualized externship agreement, completing documentation of your externship and course hours for submission and review, preparing for and participating in our class meetings, preparing for and attending individual meetings with the faculty advisor, and completing class meeting and reflective learning assignments. Course hours may also include externship hours and related work, including those completed, with permission, at a location other than the externship office. Off-site externship work will be held to the same standards of accountability and quality as externship work performed at the externship site;

iii.   Immediately identifying any potential conflicts of interest between the externship office 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;

iv.   Understanding that the externship work performed this semester, whether paid or unpaid, is being done for professional development and the academic credit offered through this externship course, which requires, among other things, direct supervision of the externship student's work by an attorney;

v.   Understanding the externship office’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;

vi.    Sharing individual development plan (IDP) with faculty advisor and supervising lawyer in the first half of the externship semester;

vii.   Completing the reflective learning assignments and other class assignments assigned by the faculty advisor;

viii.   Preparing for and participating in at least six (6) class meetings scheduled to be held at the law school;

ix.   Preparing for and attending two (2) individual or small group tutorial sessions with the faculty advisor;

x.   Submitting accurate time logs accounting for the student’s time working at the externship and working on externship activities and related work. Time logs will be due to the faculty advisor at individual meetings, as an occasional online assignment, and at the semester’s end;

xi.   Arranging a professional meeting with the student’s supervising attorney to discuss his or her formal written evaluation of the student’s externship work; and,

xii.   Submitting the completed Supervising Attorney Evaluation form to the faculty advisor upon semester’s end.   

 Supervising Attorney is responsible for:

 i.     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; 

ii.     Immediately communicating any actual or potential conflicts of interest that the student extern may have, develop, or discover during the externship semester with the faculty advisor;

iii.     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;

iv.     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;

v.     Providing a variety of challenging tasks that draw on the student extern’s legal skills throughout the course of the placement;

vi.     Meeting regularly with the student extern to discuss matters pertinent to the student’s work and the student’s understanding of the legal process;

vii.    Giving specific, meaningful feedback to the student extern during the course of the placement;

viii.   Allowing student, when feasible, to participate in, and not merely observe, legal or strategic decision-making processes;

ix.     Notifying faculty advisor in a timely manner regarding any problems or concerns about the student extern or his or her work at the externship office or agency; 

x.     Conducting a brief assessment of the student extern's performance at mid-semester and communicating the assessment to the faulty advisor;

xi.    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,

xii.     Complying with all relevant laws and regulations including the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Faculty Advisor is responsible for:

i.     O Overall coordination and administration of the externship placement course, including the development, monitoring, and maintenance of the agreement between the law school, the student, and the externship’s supervising attorney;

ii.    Coordinating the class meeting and Canvas correspondence components of the course;

iii.   Maintaining communication with the law student and the supervising attorney regarding the quality of the externship semester for all involved;

iv.    Conducting at least two individual or small group tutorials with each student during the course of the semester;

v.    Assigning, reviewing, and assessing the class meeting assignments, the externship time logs, and the reflective learning assignments;

vi.   Giving meaningful feedback to the student on his or her work through Canvas, individual meetings, or as a part of class discussions;

vii.   Assessing externship students’ coursework for a grade (based on the quality of the assigned class meeting and reflective learning assignments, quality, accuracy, and professionalism of the assigned time logs, and the quality of the externship students’ participation in the class and individual meetings); and,

 viii.     Assessing whether the student earned a passing or failing grade for the externship (based on consultation with the supervising attorney about midway through the semester, an assessment of the supervising lawyer’s written evaluation of the student’s legal externship work (submitted by the student at the end of the semester), and an assessment of the student’s externship time logs, including the time log’s demonstration of the student’s meeting or failing to meet minimum the number of hours required to be spent at the externship office and/or doing externship course activities and related work)