GENERAL INFORMATION

Eligibility:

A student must be currently enrolled at Cleveland State University College of Law. For any externship, you must have substantially completed the Required Core Curriculum (RCC), completed 29 credits, have a cumulative G.P.A. of 2.25 or better, and obtain approval from the site supervisor. Some externships have additional prerequisites, such as course requirements, GPA requirements, or background checks. 

Students must complete an Externship Pre-Application in CareerConnect and meet with a Student and Career Services adviser before applying to individual externship sites.

Externships are subject to certain restrictions: 

1. You may not receive compensation for your work as an Extern; under certain circumstances students may be reimbursed for out-of-pocket expenses they incur in carrying out their duties at the placement sites.
2. You cannot participate in an Externship and a Clinic during the same semester. See Academic Regulation 4.8.
3. You may not enroll in the same externship more than once. This includes Judicial Externships.
4. You may not enroll in more than one externship per semester.
5. Placements at private law firms are not permitted.
6. You may only enroll in a total of 17 credits in externships and clinics throughout your law school career. See Academic Regulation 4.3.
7. You may not apply for an externship that will result in a conflict of interest including, but not limited to: simultaneous work for public defender's or prosecutor's office and a judicial externship in the same court system; a judicial externship in a court where the student is involved in a case pending before the court; or such other work or circumstances as the clinical faculty supervisors determine constitutes a conflict.

Application Timelines:

There are specific timelines for externship pre-applications, meetings, and applications for each semester. Students who miss these deadlines, absent extraordinary circumstances, will not be permitted to apply to an externship for that term.

The application timelines are as follows:

• For Summer Term Externships:
  • Pre-Applications must be submitted no later than February 15
  • Student meetings with the OSCS must be completed on or after February 1 and no later than February 25
  • Externships will be open for applications from February 20 until March 10
• For Fall Semester Externships:
  • Pre-Applications must be submitted no later than March 30
  • Student meetings with the OSCS must be completed on or after March 20 and no later than April 15
  • Externships will be open for applications from April 10 until April 30
• For Spring Semester Externships:
  • Pre-Applications must be submitted no later than September 15
  • Student meetings with the OSCS must be completed on or after September 1 and no later than September 25
  • Externships will be open for applications from September 20 until October 10

The Externship Pre-Application is available in CareerConnect.

Credits:

For every externship, you must commit to work a certain number of hours and participate in the Externship Seminar.

Students must complete 50 hours of fieldwork for each academic credit. Each student should consult with the Externship Site to jointly determine how many hours of fieldwork will be available during a semester.

*It is suggested that students taking six credits during a summer semester plan on completing their work over nine weeks instead of seven. Spreading the hours over nine weeks would result in working 33.5 hours per week.

The Externship Seminar:

Students are required to participate in an externship seminar in order to receive credit for the course. The seminar is taught by full-time faculty members at the law school. Students must submit weekly timesheets, participate in seminars, and complete written assignments and make a presentation on their externship experience.

For more information about the Externship Program generally, please contact Prof. Ken Kowalski, k.kowalskinull@csuohio.nulledu or 216-687-4825. For more information about the selection and application process, please contact the Office of Student and Career Services, careernull@law.csuohio.nulledu or 216-687-6871.