Columbus School of Law

LEGAL EXTERNSHIPS AND CLINICS

Washington, D.C., is an enormous legal playground for law students. LPP students gain professional experience working at federal and local government agencies, on Capitol Hill, at nonprofit organizations, and for judges, law firms or corporations. It is a buyer's market; for every law student seeking a field placement there are a dozen organizations seeking a law student. Two of the LPP courses include experiential learning requirements. While enrolled in these seminars, each student must undertake either an externship or a live-client clinical course. Students spend ten to twenty hours per week at their placements and receive academic credit for the work. LPP students have done fieldwork at many different organizations.

Here is a sampling of recent placements:

American Bar Association, Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities

American Center for Law and Justice

American Diabetes Association

American Foreign Service Association

Amnesty International Country Coordination Program

Arlington County Circuit Court

Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center

Ayuda

Capital Area Immigrants' Rights Coalition (CAIR)

Center to Prevent Handgun Violence

Commonwealth of Virginia, Office of the Attorney General

Court of Special Appeals for Maryland

Defenders of Wildlife

Department of the Army, Office of the Judge Advocate General

Environmental Protection Agency

Epilepsy Foundation of America

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Fair Employment Council of Greater Washington

Federal Emergency Management Agency

Food Research & Action Center

International Center for Not-for-Profit-Law (ICNL)

Montgomery County Commission on Juvenile Justice

National Center for Missing & Exploited Children

National Center for Victims of Crime

National Coalition for Students with Disabilities

National Council on Disability

National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty

National Trust for Historic Preservation

State of Maryland Office of the Attorney General Consumer Protection Division

Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition, Business and

Consumer Rights

Superior Court of the District of Columbia

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Policy Development

U.S. Commission on Civil Rights

U.S. Department of Commerce, Patent and Trademark Office

White House Legal Internship Program

Women Empowered Against Violence, Inc. (WEAVE)

Women's Bar Association

World Organization Against Torture USA

Some LPP students undertake two or more externships for academic credit. Some fulfill one of the two fieldwork requirements for the certificate by enrolling in one of CUA's fine clinical programs, which allow students to provide direct services to indigent people and to appear in court.

These include:

Advocacy for the Elderly
Criminal Prosecution Clinic
D.C. Law Students in Court
Families and the Law Clinic
General Practice Clinic

For more information about clinical programs at the law school visit our Clinical Programs page by clicking on the following link: Clinical Programs