An externship is a temporary training program provided through a partnership between the College of Law and outside employers. Through this experiential learning opportunity, you can work under the direction of supervising attorneys on real-life legal work and receive course credit.
Externships typically last for one semester or summer term, though some externships span two semesters. You may participate more than once in the externship program.
Externships earn four credit hours. To earn the four credits, you typically work 12 to 15 hours per week at your placements, and must attend a weekly one-hour externship course at the College of Law. All credits are provided on a pass/fail basis.
You are required to take only one experiential course and related classroom component to meet the experiential requirement for graduation, but you may also earn credits through additional externships or other experiential courses. However, of the 90 total credit hours required for graduation, at least 65 hours must be earned in traditional coursework (see Student Handbook (PDF), §3.2.1). Further, you may not take more than one practice class in a single term (see Student Handbook (PDF), §3.15.4). You may not receive credit for a practice experience that is substantially duplicative of a prior practice experience for which you have already received credit (see Student Handbook (PDF), §3.13.1).
You are responsible for securing your own externship placement(s), but are encouraged to contact the director for assistance if you have questions or encounter difficulty in the process. Students often secure externship placements by reaching out to employers that have worked with our students in the past. A list of past employers is available.Students may also find postings on Career Corner, and they may consult TWEN to find past Career Corner postings from employers who could still be interested in working with externs.
There is a variety of externships:
- Civil
- Criminal
- Huskie Athletics
- Judicial
Descriptions of these externships appear on the externship home page.
Students have recently obtained placements with the following supervising employers:
- CAIR Chicago
- CASA DeKalb County
- City of Chicago Law Department
- City of DeKalb Legal Counsel
- City of Naperville Legal Department
- City of Rockford Legal Counsel
- Cook County Domestic Relations Court
- Cook County Public Defender
- Cook County Public Guardian
- Cook County State's Attorney
- DeKalb County Public Guardian
- DeKalb County State's Attorney
- DuPage County State's Attorney
- Farmworker and Landscaper Advocacy Project
- First American Title Insurance Company
- Illinois Attorney General
- Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission (ARDC)
- Illinois Legislative Reference Bureau
- Kane County Public Defender
- Kane County State's Attorney
- Kendall County Public Defender
- Lake County State's Attorney
- Metropolitan Family Legal Services
- NIU Athletic Department
- Prairie State Legal Services
- Rockford Public School District
- US Air Force JAG
- US Securities and Exchange Commission
- Winnebago County Public Defender
- Winnebago County State's Attorney
Although this list provides a good starting point for anyone seeking a placement and gives a general idea of typical placements, you are able and encouraged to find other placements as well. All placements must be approved by the director.
You must receive prior approval from the director. You should ensure that you meet the requirements for participation in the externship program (listed below), then complete an application and submit it to the director of externships. The director will review the application and enroll students who meet the program’s qualifications. This must be done before beginning the externship. If you have questions about the application or enrollment process, contact the director.
Although particular externship placements vary in their requirements, all require some combination of the following:
- Prerequisites
If you wish to participate in an externship, you must have taken both Lawyering Skills and Professional Responsibility. For criminal externships, you are encouraged to have taken or be enrolled in Trial Advocacy or its equivalent, as well as Criminal Procedure and Evidence. - Law School Seniority
Generally, you must have completed three semesters of study before participating in an externship. However, in some cases, for externships that do not require a 711 license and if you have a grade point average of 2.8 or higher, the director may waive this requirement. Contact the director if you are seeking a waiver. - Grade Point Average
All criminal externships, and all civil externships that require a 711 license, require a grade point average of at least 2.2. Judicial externships require a grade point average of at least 3.0. All other externship programs have no minimum grade point average requirement. - 711 License
All criminal externships require you to have a 711 license. Some civil externships also require students to have a 711 license; this varies by program and employer.
711 licenses are required for all criminal externships and some civil externships. If you hold the license you can engage in direct legal work, including court appearances, under the supervision of a fully licensed attorney.
You may apply for a 711 license by contacting Rebecca A. Leneau at rleneau@niu.edu or 815-753-0589.
Yes. Although the majority of externship placements are unpaid, you may also receive credit for paid placements.
