Criminal Defense Placement Externship

Course Description

This course is open to 10 students who have secured their own in-person externship positions with criminal defense organizations (either trial level or appeals) in the New York City area. The course includes a one-credit seminar and two to three field work credits (8-12 hours of placement work weekly). Students who are enrolled in other clinics or externships are not eligible to participate in this externship. 

The seminar portion of the course will largely be skills-based and practical. It will include best practices for client interviewing and counseling; discussions about tailoring legal and factual arguments to the audience; how to preserve objections at the trial level and argue that claims are preserved on appeal; and anonymized case rounds about the work and cases students are handling in their placements. We will also be hearing directly from formerly incarcerated people, who will share their experiences and talk about the qualities of an effective and caring advocate.  

Registration

To indicate their interest in this course, students must submit answers to this form by August 1, 2025, at 5:00 PM. We expect students to have secured an externship by August 1, too (with flexibility for students applying for the spring semester), and to inform the professor of their externship placement by that date. If students registering for the fall semester have not secured an externship by August 1, they should set up a meeting with the PILC office for assistance in securing an externship. The final selection process for the course will be determined based on the number of applications received.  

Attendance at the first class is required. Please note that if you have not secured an externship by the time of the first class meeting of the semester in which you seek enrollment, you will not be enrolled in the course.

* 3-4 credits include 1 credit for seminar and either 2 or 3 credits for fieldwork, as approved by professor.