Third year students are eligible to participate in any of the externship programs. Second year students are eligible to participate beginning in the spring semester of their second year.
Students may not participate in more than two externship courses and may not earn more than six academic credits from externships. If a student participates in more than one externship, the externships must be in different areas. Students may not take an externship along with either a capstone or a clinic during the same semester. Students participating in the externship program may not earn a salary or receive other compensation for the work performed at the placement.
Externship Specifications
Prior to beginning an externship, each student must attend the Mandatory Orientation conducted by the Director of Externships and Special Academic Programs.
Students are also required to turn in weekly journal entries detailing experiences over the previous week. Instructors may also require students to provide information in the journal entries regarding particular subjects related to the weekly discussion.
During the fall and spring semesters, students are expected to work a minimum of eight hours per week for thirteen weeks. Students should work at least 104 hours at their placement in a semester. Each course carries two hours of pass/fail academic credit. Grades range from High Pass, Pass, Low Pass and Fail. Credits received for a student’s first externship course will not reduce the student’s total pass/fail allowance of six credits.
During the fall semester the following three externship opportunities are available:
- In-House Counsel
- Judicial
- Public Interest
During the spring semester the following six externship opportunities are available:
- Administrative Law
- Children’s Law
- Criminal Law
- Family and Small Business
- Judicial
- Public Interest
In the summer students earn four hours of pass/fail academic credit by working a minimum of 30 hours per week for seven weeks. The student should work at least 210 hours at their placement. Grades range from High Pass, Pass, Low Pass and Fail. Credits received for a student’s first externship course will not reduce the student’s total pass/fail allowance of six credits.
During the summer the following two externship opportunities are available:
- Administrative Law/In House Counsel
- Judicial
In addition to the hours spent working at the externship placement, externs are required to attend a companion class. Please see the course schedule for the days and times of those classes.
Site supervisors are always attorneys. They are expected to provide students with substantive legal work as well as observational experiences. At the conclusion of the course, attorney supervisors submit a written evaluation of the student's performance. This evaluation is based upon a student's research and analytical skills, writing skills, legal knowledge and ability, verbal communication, professionalism, and work habits. This evaluation constitutes 50% of the student's grade.
Application Process
Interested students must complete an externship application and submit it to the Director of Externships and Special Academic Programs. The Director will work with each student to find a suitable placement depending on the student's interest and placement availability. The student will be registered for the externship class directly by the Registrar's Office.
Educational Objectives
Students enrolled in the externship program are given the opportunity to enhance their professional legal skills. Depending on the externship placement, students can develop their research and writing, interpersonal skills, professionalism, and professional responsibility. In addition to working on substantive tasks like drafting memos, assisting with brief writing, and legal research, students also have the opportunity to observe attorneys and judges both in the courtroom and behind the scenes.
Externship Opportunities
- Centers for Disease Control (CDC)
- Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
- Federal Emergency Management Agency
- Federal Highway Administration
- Health and Human Services
- U.S. Air Force, Judge Advocate General
- U.S. Attorney’s Office, Civil Division
- U.S. Department of the Interior, Office of the Solicitor
- U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
- Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy
- Coastal Conservation League
- Fort Gordon, Office of the Staff Judge Advocate (Augusta, Georgia)
- Fort Jackson, Office of the Staff Judge Advocate
- Human Affairs Commission
- Latin American Association (Atlanta, Georgia)
- Municipal Association of South Carolina
- Santee Cooper
- South Carolina Attorney General’s Office — Environmental Crimes
- South Carolina Attorney General’s Office — Post Conviction Relief
- South Carolina Conservation Bank
- South Carolina Department of Administration
- South Carolina Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services (SCDAODAS)
- South Carolina Department of Children’s Advocacy
- South Carolina Department of Corrections
- South Carolina Department of Disability and Special Needs
- South Carolina Department of Education
- South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce (DEW)
- South Carolina Department of Environmental Services
- South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services
- South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation
- South Carolina Department of Natural Resources
- South Carolina Department of Public Health
- South Carolina Department of Public Safety
- South Carolina Department of Revenue
- South Carolina Enterprise Privacy Office
- South Carolina Environmental Law Project
- South Carolina Office of Regulatory Staff
- South Carolina Office of Resilience
- South Carolina PEBA
- Ocean and Coastal Resources Management
- Office of the Governor
- University of South Carolina Office of Compliance
- University of South Carolina Rule of Law Collaborative
- Aiken County Department of Social Services
- Beaufort County School District
- Berkeley County School District
- Catawba Nation
- Joint Citizens and Legislative Committee on Children
- Kershaw County Department of Social Services
- Kershaw County Guardian Ad Litem
- Lexington County Department of Juvenile Justice
- Lexington County Department of Social Services
- Lexington County Public Defender
- Newberry County Department of Social Services
- Palmetto Center for Children's Legal Access
- Richland County CASA
- Richland County Public Defender
- Richland County Public Defender’s Office — Family Court
- Richland County Solicitor
- Richland School District One
- South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center
- South Carolina Attorney General’s Office of Human Trafficking
- South Carolina Department of Children’s Advocacy
- South Carolina Department of Education
- South Carolina Department of Social Services, Regional Office
- South Carolina Legal Services
- Federal Public Defender
- U.S. Attorney’s Office, Criminal Division
- Aiken County Solicitor’s Office
- Beaufort County Solicitor’s Office
- Charleston County Public Defender’s Office
- Colleton County Solicitor’s Office
- Florence County Solicitor's Office
- Greenville County Solicitor’s Office
- Hendersonville District Attorney’s Office (Hendersonville, NC)
- Horry County Solicitor’s Office
- Kershaw County Solicitor’s Office
- Lexington County Public Defender’s Office
- Lexington County Solicitor’s Office
- Orangeburg Public Defender’s Office
- Richland County Public Defender’s Office
- Richland County Public Defender’s Office — Family Court
- Richland County Solicitor’s Office
- Safe and Stable Families, Domestic Violence Project (Atlanta, Georgia)
- South Carolina Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
- South Carolina Attorney General’s Office
- South Carolina Commission on Indigent Defense - Appellate Division
- South Carolina Commission on Indigent Defense — Capital Trial Division
- South Carolina Law Enforcement Division
- South Carolina Prosecution Coordination Commission
- South Carolina Victims Assistance Network
- York County Public Defender’s Office
- Blanchard Machinery Company
- Callison Tighe
- i3 Resources
- NASCAR
- Robinson Gray
- SCORE
- South Carolina Council on Competitiveness
- Sowell + DuRant
- AgFirst Farm Credit Bank
- AstenJohnson
- Belk
- Charlotte Hornets Sports and Entertainment
- Dominion Energy
- Duke Energy
- Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina
- Fidelity National Title Insurance Company
- Furman University
- GrowCo
- Honda of South Carolina
- Keep It Green
- Lake City Partnership Council
- Lexington Medical Center
- Midlands Technical College
- NASCAR
- National Wild Turkey Federation
- Nephron Pharmaceuticals Corporation
- Office Depot
- Piedmont Hospital (Augusta)
- Prisma Health
- Richland County Sheriff’s Office
- Samsung
- Santee Cooper
- South Carolina Emerging Technology Association
- South Carolina PEBA
- Southeastern Freight Lines
- Sundance Institute
- Trane Technologies
- TRU Simulation + Training
- University of South Carolina Office of Innovation, Partnership, and Economic Engagement
- University of South Carolina’s Technology Commercialization Office
- The Honorable Joseph Anderson
- The Honorable Robert Conrad (Western District of NC)
- The Honorable R. Bryan Harwell
- The Honorable Mary Geiger Lewis
- The Honorable Sherri A. Lydon
- The Honorable Paige Gossett
- The Honorable Shiva V. Hodges
- The Honorable David Duncan
- The Honorable Elisabetta G.M. Gasparini
- The Honorable John Waites
- The Honorable J. Michelle Childs
- The Honorable DeAndrea Gist Benjamin
- The Honorable Deborah Brooks Durden
- The Honorable Milton Kimpson
- The Honorable Phillip Lenski
- The Honorable John C. Few
- The Honorable Frank R. Addy, Jr.
- The Honorable Paul Burch
- The Honorable Daniel Coble
- The Honorable G. Thomas Cooper
- The Honorable Diane Schafer Goodstein
- The Honorable Edgar Gregory (NC)
- The Honorable Eugene C. Griffith, Jr.
- The Honorable John C. Hayes III
- The Honorable Robert Hood
- The Honorable William P. Keesley
- The Honorable Casey Manning
- The Honorable Debra R. McCaslin
- The Honorable William A. McKinnon
- The Honorable Walton J. McLeod, IV
- The Honorable Clifton Newman
- The Honorable Thomas Russo
- The Honorable John D. Geathers
- The Honorable Blake A. Hewitt
- The Honorable J. Douglas McCullough (NC)
- The Honorable Paula H. Thomas
- The Honorable Bruce Williams
- South Carolina Court of Appeals, Staff Attorney’s Office
- The Honorable Robert E. Newton
- The Honorable Rosalyn Frierson-Smith
- The Honorable Michelle Hurley
- The Honorable Gwendlyne Y. Jones
- The Honorable Nancy C. McLin
- The Honorable C. Vance Stricklin, Jr.
- The Honorable Thomas H. White, IV
- The Honorable Caroline Streater
- The Honorable James Spence
- The Honorable Joseph Strickland
- The Honorable Amy McCulloch
- The Honorable Carolyn Rogers
- J. Keith Roberts, Esq.
Externs have the opportunity to work on a variety of South Carolina State Senate Committees.
Externs have the opportunity to work on a variety of South Carolina House of Representatives Committees.
- Center for Heirs' Property Preservation
- Charleston Legal Access
- Disability Rights South Carolina
- Equality Legal Action Fund
- Justice 360
- Lowcountry Legal Volunteers
- One80 Place
- Palmetto Center for Children’s Legal Access
- Rainy Day Fund
- South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center
- South Carolina Legal Services Corporation
- Chappell, Chappell, and Newman
- South Carolina Council on Competitiveness
- Nelson Mullins
- Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd
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