Program Objectives

The Michigan State University College of Law Externship Program provides law students with a stimulating and practical educational experience. The general educational objectives of the program include: (a) developing professional skills, values, judgment, and identity; (b) learning about professionalism, the practice of law, and the legal system; and (c) becoming reflective practitioners with the capacity for self-directed professional identity formation. Externship Sites offer hands-on opportunities to observe the legal and judicial systems at work and engage in relevant legal work supervised by practicing attorneys or judges. 

As stated in section IV of the MSU Law Externship Handbook, students must perform legal tasks such as research, analysis, investigation, counseling, or legal writing. Students may not receive academic credit for positions that consist primarily of clerical activities. Nonlegal clerical or other tasks should be kept to a minimum. The opportunity to discuss legal issues of concern in the externship with attorneys or judges at the placement, and an opportunity to meaningfully observe the inner workings of the legal system is an important component of the externship experience. Some observation of court proceedings or other legal functions is appropriate, but should not form the basis for the externship.