The lament of the practicing bar is a steady refrain: "They can't draft a contract, they can't write, they've never seen a summons, the professors have never been inside a courtroom." Law schools offer the traditional responses: "We teach them how to think, we're not trade schools, we're centers of scholarship and learning, practice is best taught by practitioners."

1992 MacCrate Report on Law Schools and the Profession: Narrowing the Gap

The Extern Program aims to bridge the gap between theory and practice for advanced law students by affording them the opportunity to work on a close, personal basis with judges or practicing attorneys. The goals of the externship program are:
* To afford students the opportunity to study the practice of law and public policy;
* To foster the ability of students to perform specific legal tasks;
* To enhance the capacity of students for analysis and critical reflection;
* To train students to examine legal doctrines and practices in the context of actual social problems and concerns; and
* To increase the mastery of self directed learning.

Each course in the Extern Program includes a field placement component that encompasses three aspects: (1) observation of and immersion in the day-to-day workings of a participating organization; (2) professional interaction between the student and the field placement supervisor; and (3) involvement in specific legal problems and the resolution of those problems. The student-extern will perform research for and provide other law related assistance to the field placement supervisor. The field placement supervisor must be a licensed attorney with at least five years post-bar experience and is expected to complete a review of the student's fieldwork in the middle and at the conclusion of the placement. The Semester in Practice course and the Public Service Externship (Classroom Credit) course supplement the field placement experiences of the student with a seminar. 

Note that 1st year law students must have a 2.2 or higher first semester GPA to participate in the Externship Program.

Current Courses

The Extern Program currently consists of the following courses:

Public Service Externship (Classroom Credit) Course 975
Public Service Externship (Non-Classroom Credit) Course 973
Academic Year Legal Externship Course 972
Semester in Practice (Classroom Credit) Course 976

Externship Documents

Field Placement Supervisor Forms
Field Placement Supervisor Application
Field Placement Supervisor Guidelines
Field Placement Supervisor Review Form

Student Forms
Student Consent Form
Student Externship Application
Student Review Form
Student Timesheet

For additional information, please contact:

UI Boise

Katie Ball Externship Coordinator College of Law UI Boise 322 E. Front St., Suite 442  Boise, Idaho 83702 Phone No: (208) 364-6187 Cell Phone:  (208)-870-8072 Fax No: (208) 364-4078 ktball@uidaho.edu

Or to contact External Programs Director Lee Dillion: