Externship Guidelines

Effective Fall 2006

ABA Standard 305, "Study Outside the Classroom," (193 KB PDF; see p. 8) governs all externships. To ensure a meaningful educational experience for all students, and to comply with ABA Standard 305, the following procedures have been established for each externship through Washburn University School of Law.

Effective Fall 2006, externship courses will be known as Externship I (LW 921, two to four credit hours) and Externship II (LW 922, two credit hours).

A maximum of four credit hours may be devoted to Externship credits. Students who have not previously received externship credit will enroll in Externship I, while those who have earned a maximum of two credit hours in a previous externship will enroll in Externship II.

Externships require a minimum of two credit hours, and a minimum of 50 hours of work is required for each credit hour earned. Please note that additional hours of work and course requirements may be required by various placements.

Prior to enrollment, students will be required to complete and submit the following forms to Director Leisinger: (1) Externship Plan and Enrollment Request (30 KB PDF; requires Adobe Acrobat Reader) and (2) Student Acknowledgement and Release (24 KB PDF; requires Adobe Acrobat Reader). For the fall and spring semesters, the deadline to secure an externship will be the Friday of the second week of the semester. The deadline for the summer semester varies; contact Director Leisinger for further information. "Secured" means that the externship has been selected, the position has been formally offered by the supervisor, and all paperwork has been completed, submitted and approved so that the student is ready to begin work.

Placements in private law firms or with solo practitioners are generally not eligible for externship credit; however, students may receive externship credit for work with in-house counsel in corporations. Placements may be approved for out of state experiences in appropriate circumstances and often this is a good opportunity to obtain some exposure and experience in the home state that you intend to practice in upon completion of law school.

Students may not participate in any externship until they have completed at least one year of study.

Externship opportunities will be generally be listed on the Sample Externship Opportunities web page. You are encouraged to speak with Director Leisinger about other opportunities you might like to pursue as well that may not be listed. Opportunities not listed on the externship web page must be approved by Director Leisinger.

A course component, which includes one class session, is required. A syllabus and TWEN page will be provided, and a required textbook will be associated with the course.

Students will be required to submit weekly time sheets (38 KB PDF; requires Adobe Acrobat Reader) indicating time spent engaging in externship activities plus a brief description of those activities.

In order for students to reflect on their externship experiences and optimize the benefits derived from them, students are required to submit responses to "Guided Reflection" topics throughout the semester (e.g., identifying your goals for the externship, reflecting on training, discussing ethical concerns that may have arisen, etc.). Submissions must be thoughtful, thorough, and well written to satisfy the "Guided Reflection" requirement.

In submitting Guided Reflections, students are urged to be very cautious NOT to include any privileged or confidential information. Students are also advised not to share with others information that may have been disclosed by other externs in your class that may be privileged or confidential.

At the end of the Externship, students will prepare a written report that addresses how the overall externship experience enhanced their legal education, aspects of the externship experience the student found particularly useful to his or her development as an attorney, and aspects of the externship experience that could be improved. The written report will be submitted to Director Leisinger on the Friday before final exams.

Each student is responsible for keeping a hard copy of every electronic or hard copy submission, form, time sheet, etc., in connection with his or her externship.

Students must satisfactorily and timely complete the requirements set forth above to receive a grade of "Credit." Failure to do so will result in a "No Credit" grade for the externship.

Revised: March 29, 2024.