Judicial Externships

Judicial externships are open to students who have completed the first-year curriculum and would like to gain practical experience by working with a judge on the state or federal level. Rutgers Law School students may apply for judicial externships with municipal and state court judges as well as with federal judges, including district court, court of appeals, magistrate, and bankruptcy judges. Judicial externships allow students to gain exposure to the inner workings of a court. During an externship, students conduct legal research, write memoranda, attend court proceedings, and research a variety of legal issues. Externships can help a student discover an interest in a particular area of law. After completing a judicial externship, a student may be able to get a letter of recommendation from a judge for future job prospects and some judges hire former externs as law clerks upon graduation.

Many other legal employers think highly of judicial externships and the valuable research and writing skills students develop. Judicial externships are unpaid; however, a student can receive academic credit for these externships.

For further information about judicial externships, please contact Dean Yvette Bravo-Weber at 973-353-5644 or ybravoweber@kinoy.rutgers.edu in Newark, and Professor Barbara Gotthelf at 856-225-6692 or barbara.gotthelf@rutgers.edu in Camden. Visit https://law.rutgers.edu/judicial-externships.