Law 692:  Corporate Counsel - Field Placement (Summer)

This field placement is to be taken in the summer term, immediately following with the Law 798: Corporate Counsel Seminar which is being offered during the summer semester. The field placement complements the classroom seminar component by providing students with the opportunity to work in a general counsel’s office.  Students will be assigned to a supervising attorney and will complete 60 (1 credit), 120 (2 credits), 180 (3 credits), or 240 (4 credits) hours of field work over the summer.  As part of their placement students may be asked to conduct legal research, write memoranda, review and/or draft contracts, sit in on meetings or negotiations.  Hands on experience and the opportunity to observe a general counsel’s office in action affords students with a unique educational opportunity that provides a context for the legal concepts taught in the classroom. 

Students may also provide their own placement subject to professor approval and the following criteria:

• The placement should be in the general counsel’s office for a corporation or LLC.
• A supervising attorney must agree to oversee the student’s externship and provide an enriching educational experience for the student.  The attorney will be required to fill out a form before and after the field placement is complete.
• The corporation or LLC must commit to affording the student with 60, 120, 180, or 240 hour opportunity.
• The position must be unpaid and the student cannot work for that corporation in a paid capacity during the summer.
• The student should not be related to anyone in the general counsel’s office.

Sequence & Prerequisites:  Current enrollment in the Corporate Counsel Seminar is a prerequisite for this course. In addition, students must have successfully completed the first year curriculum. 

Evaluation: In addition to meeting the hourly work requirements, the student must timely submit all required periodic time reports, a mid-term self-evaluation, participation in periodic discussion sessions with faculty, as well as a final evaluation of his or her experience. Students will be evaluated on the mid-term, self-evaluation, participation in discussion sessions, and the final evaluation of his or her experience.

Course Classification:  Experiential