Procedures For Students
Franklin Pierce Law Center allows students to earn credit by working with lawyers in a variety of legal settings. Franklin Pierce allows students to work in these supervised settings recognizing the importance of skills development in legal training.
Our program is designed to allow students a wide choice in selecting a placement. The criteria for determining whether a placement is suitable, is based on whether the opportunities for the student at the externship are sufficient for the credit awarded.
Obviously, for more credit awarded we expect more diverse and challenging experiences. Students in proposing externships should focus on what skills and substantive knowledge they will gain that are not available from taking classes or clinics.
We want to insure, to the extent we are able, that the supervising lawyers at the placements recognize that externships are educational experiences. What this means is that we favor externship sites where we have previously placed students, and the placement has been an educational success.
Regarding Prior Placements
- A record of some student externship experiences are available in the Career Services Office.
- A listing of companies offering externships, by state, is available to current students. Please contact Jeannie French, jfrench@piercelaw.edu for the user name and password to access the list of externship locations
While we encourage you to seek new opportunities, we will carefully review the qualifications of supervisors at any new placement. We also evaluate their commitment to making the externship educational.
Second and third year students
Eligibility
In order to be eligible for an externship a student must have completed Professional Responsibility. While this is the only formal prerequisite, students must comply with Rule IX. To help ensure that students are making selections that will satisfy the Rule, all students must meet with Professor Musinsky before enrolling in an externship. It is suggested that students meet with her early in their planning. Professor Musinsky will serve as the faculty supervisor for most students.
Students working for public interest placements may be able to appear in court. Each state has its own requirements and if you are externing outside of New Hampshire you need to check on the requirements. New Hampshire's student practice rule is based on New Hampshire Supreme Court Rule 36. Here is a link to a form that needs to be filed in order to be certified as eligible to appear in court. Rule 36 Student/Graduate Certification Form
Application
Students must complete an application and a three-way agreement which is signed by the student, site supervisor and Professor Musinsky or her designee. Because the need for approval of the agreement, it is generally best to ensure that it meets Professor Musinsky's approval before submitting it to the site supervisor.
Graduate students
Eligibility
As of fall 2008, MIP and LLM students are eligible for an externship. All eligible students must comply with graduate student externship rules. All students must complete at least a semester of coursework before they are eligible to apply for an externship. Additionally, students must complete all their coursework before they may attend the externship and their GPA must be at least 2.5. You will earn 4 credits for a 6-week externship.
To help ensure that students are making externship selections that will satisfy the rule, all eligible students must meet with the director of the Graduate Externship Program or his/her designee. Plan to meet with the director early in your planning for externship. The director of the graduate externships will serve as the externship supervisor.
We are planning a question and answer session mid January. Please check the events calendar for further details as that time approaches.
Application
Eligible students must complete an Intent to Apply for Graduate Externship form and a Learning Agreement which is signed by the graduate student and the director or externship supervisor. Here is an overview of the graduate student externship program.
Logs while on externship
During the externship students are responsible for keeping track of their work. Students are expected to submit a form weekly, which describes their activities and the students' responses to the activities. It is expected, of course, that students will honor confidentiality in this process. The log, thus, should not have anything, which could lead to identification of a client or a factual secret. It is expected, however, to describe the type of law and the legal skill that you are using in some detail, and to comment on what you are learning.
| PDF log examples | RTF "Rich Text Format" forms listed below to fill out |
| Log Form 1 Example | Log Form 1 |
| Log Form 2 Example | Log Form 2 |
| Log Form 3 Example |
