Externship and Field Placements
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Attorney General Externship (3)
The externship emphasizes research and writing in one of five areas: civil rights, consumer protection, health law/professional regulation, securities, and transportation. Students have the opportunity to the maximum extent possible to assist deputy attorneys general with trial preparation and to observe trials and appellate arguments in cases on which they have worked. Each extern also participates in a series of in-house training seminars. Offered for 3 credits on a 15-hour per week, 14-week basis, the externship will be graded on a Pass, D, F basis with a written evaluation at the end of the semester by the coordinator in the Division of Law.
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Federal Public Defender Externship (3)
This externship with the Federal Public Defender for the District of New Jersey places students in the Newark branch of the office. The externship is designed to increase a student's knowledge of the criminal justice system through observation of and intensive interaction with attorneys, judges, and other personnel. It is also designed to further the students' understanding of criminal law and criminal procedure, and to assist them in developing a number of lawyering skills such as legal research and analysis, writing, interviewing, fact investigation, and the strategic use of evidence.
The externship is offered in both the fall and spring semesters and requires the student to spend 12-15 hours per week at the office to total 210 hours. Responsibilities include extensive research and writing on various issues relating to criminal law and criminal procedure, including preparation of pretrial motions, sentencing memoranda, and appellate briefs. At the conclusion of the externship, students must submit a minimum of 30 pages of their work for review both by the supervising attorney in the Federal Public Defender's Office and a faculty member. Students are also required to attend a minimum of four hours of classroom instruction conducted by the staff of the office during the semester in addition to meeting regularly with a faculty member. Students wishing to enroll in the Federal Public Defender Externship must submit a résumé, a transcript, and a writing sample.
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Field Placement (2 or 3)
Placement in a governmental or nonprofit legal services organization sponsored and inspected by a full-time member of the faculty.
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Immigration Law Externship (2)
The objectives of the immigration law externship program are to improve legal analysis and practice skills in the field of immigration law, through placement in either the Office of District Counsel of the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (formerly the INS) or the Immigrants' Rights Program of the American Friends Service Committee, located in Newark. The externship is supplemented by seminars conducted by the law school's director of externships that address subjects such as asylum, cancellation of removal, adjustment of status, 212(c) relief, the different types of visas, and immigration court procedure.
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Intellectual Property Externship (2)
Students work in the university's Office of Corporate Liaison and Technology Transfer which negotiates contracts between members of the Rutgers faculty and industrial research sponsors and oversees all aspects of the protection and licensing of intellectual property. This externship is particularly intended for students interested in patent law and will expose them to the process of evaluating invention disclosures; marketing and licensing faculty inventions; and managing Rutgers patents, copyrights, and other intellectual property.
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Judicial Externship (2 or 3)
Placement in the chambers of a state or federal judge as a legal intern.
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National Labor Relations Board Externship (3)
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) enforces federal statutes governing industrial relations. All NLRB externs are assigned a wide variety of tasks related to the processing and handling of "live cases." Students assist NLRB attorneys in their day-to-day responsibilities, with a significant portion of their time devoted to researching substantive, evidentiary, and procedural issues that they document through legal memoranda. Participants also are called upon to interview witnesses and prepare affidavits, and, if possible, handle a few simple investigations on their own (under their supervisor's close supervision). Students are invited to attend staff-training seminars that are conducted during their tenure. In addition, NLRB externs attend occasional externship seminars at the law school. Available to second- and third-year students who have successfully completed or are concurrently enrolled in Labor Law.
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