The J.D. Externship Program consists of two core components (fieldwork and seminar):
Fieldwork Credits
Seminar Credits
Requirements
11 hours per week for a minimum of 10 weeks during the semester (110 total fieldwork hours) equates to 2 Pass/Fail fieldwork credits, OR
16.5 hours per week for a minimum of 10 weeks during the semester (165 total fieldwork hours) equates to 3 Pass/Fail fieldwork credits
For the best experience and to allow for an unanticipated need to miss a day, the J.D. Externship Program strongly recommends planning to work 11 weeks or more.
The required, two-hour companion seminar meets six times in the same semester as the fieldwork
Students also participate in a mid-semester, individual meeting with their seminar professor
The externship seminar is 1 letter-graded credit. The course is graded with the Law Center’s grading curves.
Total Number of Externship Course Credits a Student Can Enroll In
3 externship credits (2 pass/fail fieldwork credits plus the 1- credit letter-graded seminar); OR
4 externship credits (3 pass/fail fieldwork credits plus the 1- credit letter-graded seminar)
Students who enroll in this course are responsible for enrolling in the seminar and fieldwork components as well. To enroll, students must add the course header section and the accompanying seminar and fieldwork sections in GU Experience simultaneously. The CRNs for the course header, seminar and fieldwork sections can be found in the “Class Notes” section of the seminar’s course description in the Law Center’s online Curriculum Guide. The seminar and fieldwork components may not be taken separately.
NOTES:
If a student wants to switch fieldwork credit sections (e.g., from the 3-credit to the 4-credit version of their Externship Seminar or vice versa), they SHOULD NOT try to do so themselves in GU Experience. Doing so may lead to the loss of their course seat altogether because of the way GU Experience works. Instead they should request to switch fieldwork credits on their J.D. Externship Program Registration Survey, and the Office of Experiential Education will then work with the Office of the Registrar to process the request. If a student needs to request the switch be made earlier than around the Add/Drop deadline (or summer registration deadline), they should contact lawreg@georgetown.edu(This link opens in a new tab)and lawexp@georgetown.edu(This link opens in a new tab), include “Time-Sensitive” in the subject line, and explain the reason for the time-sensitivity of the request (e.g., they need to lower their fieldwork credits in order to accept a seat offered through the GU Experience waitlist lottery process).
Look at whether the 4-credit version of the course (considered by the system to be the “Parent” section) is at maximum enrollment to determine if there are any currently available course seats, not the 3-credit version (considered by the system to be the “Child” section) of the course.
Fieldwork Credits
Seminar Credits
Requirements
18.5 hours per week for a minimum of 6 weeks during the summer session (110 total fieldwork hours) equates to 2 Pass/Fail fieldwork credits, OR
27.5 hours per week for a minimum of 6 weeks during the summer session (165 total fieldwork hours) equates to 3 Pass/Fail fieldwork credits
The required, two-hour companion seminar meets six times in the same summer session as the fieldwork
Students also participate in a mid-summer, individual meeting with their seminar professor
The externship seminar is 1 letter-graded credit. The course is graded with the Law Center’s grading curves.
Total Number of Externship Course Credits a Student Can Enroll In
3 externship credits (2 pass/fail fieldwork credits plus the 1- credit letter-graded seminar); OR
4 externship credits (3 pass/fail fieldwork credits plus the 1- credit letter-graded seminar)
Students who enroll in this course are responsible for enrolling in the seminar and fieldwork components as well. To enroll, students must add the course header section and the accompanying seminar and fieldwork sections in GU Experience simultaneously. The CRNs for the course header, seminar and fieldwork sections can be found in the “Class Notes” section of the seminar’s course description in the Law Center’s online Curriculum Guide. The seminar and fieldwork components may not be taken separately.
NOTES:
If a student wants to switch fieldwork credit sections (e.g., from the 3-credit to the 4-credit version of their Externship Seminar or vice versa), they SHOULD NOT try to do so themselves in GU Experience. Doing so may lead to the loss of their course seat altogether because of the way GU Experience works. Instead they should request to switch fieldwork credits on their J.D. Externship Program Registration Survey, and the Office of Experiential Education will then work with the Office of the Registrar to process the request. If a student needs to request the switch be made earlier than around the Add/Drop deadline (or summer registration deadline), they should contact lawreg@georgetown.edu(This link opens in a new tab)and lawexp@georgetown.edu(This link opens in a new tab), include “Time-Sensitive” in the subject line, and explain the reason for the time-sensitivity of the request (e.g., they need to lower their fieldwork credits in order to accept a seat offered through the GU Experience waitlist lottery process).
Look at whether the 4-credit version of the course (considered by the system to be the “Parent” section) is at maximum enrollment to determine if there are any currently available course seats, not the 3-credit version (considered by the system to be the “Child” section) of the course.
Students may work additional hours and/or weeks beyond the minimum numbers required by the J.D. Externship Program, but no additional academic credit will be given.
Students whose total hours worked exceed the J.D. Externship Program’s requirements may be eligible to apply the additional hours worked to the Pro Bono Pledge. Students may sign up for the Pro Bono Pledge online through the OPICS website. To determine whether your field placement qualifies for the Pro Bono Pledge, please contact Jen Tschirch, Director of Pro Bono Programs, at jt1133@georgetown.edu(This link opens in a new tab).
Students working more than the required number of weeks may adjust their weekly hours accordingly, as long as hours are completed during the semester (a maximum of 13 weeks during the Fall and Spring semesters). Students are encouraged to extern across the entire semester, and the 10 week requirement for Fall and Spring is only a minimum.
Ex: A student in the 4-credit version of the Externship course in the Fall or Spring Semester (3 fieldwork credits plus 1 seminar credit) working for 11 weeks may work for 15 hours per week to meet the total hours requirement of 165 hours.
Ex: A student in the 3-credit version of the Externship course in the Fall or Spring Semester (2 fieldwork credits plus 1 seminar credit) working for 11 weeks may work for 10 hours per week to meet the total hours requirement of 110 hours.