PLACEMENTS

Cleveland State University College of Law's externship program offers externship placements with judicial, governmental, corporate counsel, and other agencies and organizations that serve the public interest. 

Some externships require background clearances. When a background clearance is required, you will need to apply well in advance of the term in which you wish to extern. Most sites do not allow work to begin until the background clearance has been completed, which can sometimes take as long as six to eight weeks.

Students should meet with the Office of Career Strategy before applying to individual externship sites. It is best to begin academic planning very early to determine when and how you will complete your experiential learning requirements, including a possible externship, before you graduate.  It is also expected that every student will read and understand the Externship Program Handbook prior to applying for an externship.

For every externship, a student must commit to work a certain number of hours and participate in the Externship Seminar. The number of credits you may receive depends total number of hours you agree to work at the externship site. Please see the Externship Program Handbook for complete information on credit hours.

EXTERNSHIPS AVAILABLE

Judicial

Judicial externships are available at all levels of the judicial system. Judicial externs are integrated into the work of the chambers: writing bench memos, drafting opinions, researching issues during trials, observing settlement conference and mediations. Students also have the opportunity to observe proceedings in the courthouse, which may include trials, sentencing hearings or oral arguments.

Students interested in pursuing a judicial externship should familiarize themselves with the Code of Conduct for Judicial Employees, which extends to interns, externs, and other volunteers of the court, as explained in a March 2014 Advisory Opinion by the Committee on Codes of Conduct.

The following judges typically accept externs from Cleveland State University College of Law:

• Supreme Court of Ohio (note that their application cycle is typically earlier than the published CSU|LAW application cycles; be in contact with the Office of Career Strategy if you are interested in pursuing an externship at the Supreme Court; generally can be completed at least partially remotely)
• Ohio Court of Appeals, 8th District
• Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas
• U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio

Government, Public Interest & Corporate Counsel

These externships provide opportunities in numerous subject areas, including civil, criminal, education, health, immigration, labor/employment, and tax. These externships allow a student to have the opportunity to delve into substantive areas of law, investigate claims, research and write motions or briefs, draft contracts, and participate in hearings, trials, settlement conferences and/or negotiations. 

The following sites typically accept applications each term for students from CSU College of Law, though specific opportunities can vary by semester:

• Catholic Charities, Immigration Legal Services
• Catholic Charities, General Counsel
• City of Cleveland Law Department
• City of Euclid, Law Department
• City of Lorain, Law Department
• City of Mentor, Law Department
• Cleveland Metroparks
• Cleveland State University, Office of General Counsel
• Cuyahoga Community College, Office of Legal Counsel
• Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, Probate Division
• Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court
• Cuyahoga County Law Department
• Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office
• Cuyahoga County Public Defender's Office
• Eliza Jennings Senior Care Network
• Equality Ohio
• Federal Public Defender, Northern District of Ohio
• Federal Trade Commission 
• Hillcrest Food Service
• Internal Revenue Service, Office of Chief Counsel
• John Carroll University, Office of Legal Affairs
• Legal Aid Society of Cleveland
• Lorain County Prosecutor's Office
• Medical Mutual of Ohio - General Counsel
• Medical Mutual of Ohio - Cyber/Privacy
• Mental Health and Addiction Advocacy Coalition
• MetroHealth
• Mid-American Conference
• The Millennia Companies
• Office of Ohio Attorney General 
• Scranton Road Ministries
• SPIRE Institute
• State Industrial Products
• U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Ohio (typically has application cycles that are earlier than the CSU|LAW cycles; be in touch with Student and Career Services if this site is of interest to you)
• U.S. Coast Guard
• U.S. Department of Justice, Executive Office for Immigration Review
• U.S. Department of Labor, Office of the Solicitor
• University Hospitals Health System, Ethics & Compliance Department
• University Hospitals Health System, General Counsel

Independent

Students may also pursue opportunities outside of the pre-arranged externship placements. Once a student secures an offer from a qualifying organization, they must submit an application to Prof. Carole Heyward at c.heywardnull@csuohio.nulledu to receive academic credit for the placement through the College of Law's Independent Externship program. For complete information, please review carefully the College of Law's Independent Externship Policy and Appendix A of the Externship Handbook.