Washington Lawyer - January/February 2022 - 31

TAKING THE STAND
lawyering experience that (1) is reasonably
similar to the experience of a lawyer advising or
representing a client or engaging in other lawyering
tasks in a setting outside a law clinic
under the supervision of a licensed attorney
or individual otherwise qualified to supervise . . .
(emphasis added).5
It is within the school's
purview to decide who is qualified. Many law
schools continue to require their supervisors to
be licensed attorneys.
The ABA states that experiential courses must
" provide a classroom instructional component;
or, for a field placement, a classroom instructional
component, regularly scheduled tutorials,
or other means of ongoing, contemporaneous,
faculty-guided reflection. " 6
Most law
schools satisfy this requirement through a
seminar or tutorial.7
POSITIVE PERSPECTIVES
FROM EXTERNS
American University Washington College of
Law enrolls more than 350 student externs
every year. " It goes almost without saying that
real-life legal experience is essential to the
students' preparation for legal practice.
Washington, D.C., has extraordinary site opportunities.
However, the simultaneous educational
component delivered by the law school
is also essential, " Externship Program Director
Avis Sanders says. " Externship seminars provide
students with an opportunity to engage in
critical reflection about the legal profession,
their own future legal careers, and their priorities
and values as lawyers in conjunction with
their field placement experiences. "
Nicole Lehtman is director of the UCDC Law
Program, which is a collaboration of five
University of California law schools (Berkeley,
Davis, Hastings, Irvine, and Los Angeles)
through which students spend a semester in
Washington, D.C. " The program allows students
to gain confidence and traction in Washington's
work environment, " says Lehtman. " There
is no better way to determine whether government
or public service is right for you than to
spend time in Washington immersed in it. "
The semester includes a three-unit graded
seminar focusing on the " unique roles lawyers
in Washington play in making and changing
federal law and policy. " 8
Sarah Gamble, a UC
Davis law student interning in fall 2021 at the
U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Foreign
Litigation, says, " The opportunity to learn not
only from practitioners but also [from] each
other has been invaluable, and I feel lucky to
be a part of this program. "
Sakinda Skinner, who is litigation and advocacy
director at the Neighborhood Legal Services
Program in Washington D.C., reflected on her
law school externships, including one at the
Anne Arundel County Public Defender. " The
practical experience was invaluable and
allowed me to begin my legal practice with
confidence. Learning that you never have all
the answers opens the door to becoming more
creative, and [it] made practice enjoyable.
Ideally, law practice is about the craftsmanship, "
says Skinner.
Wayne Turner, a senior attorney with the
National Health Law Program (NHeLP) in
Washington, D.C., explains why his organization
has built a robust externship program. " Training
a new generation of health law attorneys is part
of our mission, and that is embedded in our
approach to our internship program, " Turner
says. " We want to offer interns meaningful educational
opportunities - they aren't just free
help. " He notes that his law school externship
influenced his approach. " At my placement, the
supervisors didn't have experience working with
law interns, and I had to work very independently.
However, because my externship
included a weekly law school tutorial, I had
support in the form of check-ins with the faculty,
talking with classmates about our respective
challenges, and workplace dynamics. "
Turner says that early in the semester or
summer, the student lays out goals for the
placement with the attorney, and together
they discuss how that student will reach
them. Also, Turner explains that although selfmotivated
students can succeed in almost any
setting, he prefers (when possible) to work with
a structured law school program. " NHeLP attorneys
are very busy, and knowing that we have
someone at the law school who is also looking
out for the student is immensely helpful. "
UPDATES ON PAYMENT
PROHIBITION, IN-PERSON WORK
After years of controversy, in 2016 the ABA eliminated
its prohibition on paid externships. The
ABA now allows, but does not require, schools
to approve paid externships. The Clinical Legal
Education Association Externship Committee
conducted surveys in 2017 and 2018 and conducted
a follow-up survey in 2020. It found that
60 schools now allow some form of compensated
externships.9
The COVID-19 outbreak has profoundly
affected legal education and practice. Before
the pandemic, a significant number of law
schools required their students to work inperson
at their placements to experience " reallife "
work culture and take advantage of
numerous informal opportunities to meet a
variety of colleagues and attend meetings in a
spontaneous fashion. Virtually overnight,
students and attorneys were working remotely,
and many continue to do so today. The pros
and cons continue to unfold.
In 2020 externship faculty across the country
developed training programs for hundreds of
field supervisors to support them in remote
supervision of law students. Those programs
and discussions were immensely valuable in
the short term and will be invaluable in developing
new best practices. Although the
pandemic is ebbing, it is still heavily influencing
legal practice with unknown long-term consequences.
It will be important for externship
faculty and site supervisors to continue
working together in identifying a new normal
for externships.
Dena Bauman is a lecturer and the externship
director at the University of California, Davis
School of Law. She formerly taught at the
University of the District of Columbia David A.
Clarke School of Law externship program in
Washington, D.C.
NOTES
1 There are 199 ABA-accredited schools, including
the nine in metropolitan D.C., americanbar.
org/groups/legal_education/resources/aba_
approved_law_schools.
2 americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/
administrative/legal_education_and_admissions_
to_the_bar/standards/2021-2022/2021-2022-abastandards-and-rules-of-procedure-chapter-3.pdf.
3
ABA Standard 304(d)(i).
4 Id. 304(d)(ii).
5 Id. 304(d).
6 Id. 304(a)(5).
7 The Center for the Study of Applied Legal
Education 2019-2020 survey includes national
data on externships, uploads-ssl.webflow.com/5d
8cde48c96867b8ea8c6720/5f8e46e59e39d4dc82
e70a54_Report%20on%202019-20%20CSALE%20
Survey.10.19.20.pdf.
8 ucdc.edu/node/993.
9 dropbox.com/s/fggbjf13rhg4arf/CLEA%20Paid%20
Externships%20Survey%20Report.10-20-20.FINAL.
pdf?dl=0.
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2022
* WASHINGTON LAWYER 31

https://www.americanbar.org/groups/legal_education/resources/aba_approved_law_schools/ https://www.americanbar.org/groups/legal_education/resources/aba_approved_law_schools/ https://www.americanbar.org/groups/legal_education/resources/aba_approved_law_schools/ https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/administrative/legal_education_and_admissions_to_the_bar/standards/2021-2022/2021-2022-aba-standards-and-rules-of-procedure-chapter-3.pdf https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/administrative/legal_education_and_admissions_to_the_bar/standards/2021-2022/2021-2022-aba-standards-and-rules-of-procedure-chapter-3.pdf https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/administrative/legal_education_and_admissions_to_the_bar/standards/2021-2022/2021-2022-aba-standards-and-rules-of-procedure-chapter-3.pdf https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/administrative/legal_education_and_admissions_to_the_bar/standards/2021-2022/2021-2022-aba-standards-and-rules-of-procedure-chapter-3.pdf https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/5d8cde48c96867b8ea8c6720/5f8e46e59e39d4dc82e70a54_Report%20on%202019-20%20CSALE%20Survey.10.19.20.pdf https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/5d8cde48c96867b8ea8c6720/5f8e46e59e39d4dc82e70a54_Report%20on%202019-20%20CSALE%20Survey.10.19.20.pdf https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/5d8cde48c96867b8ea8c6720/5f8e46e59e39d4dc82e70a54_Report%20on%202019-20%20CSALE%20Survey.10.19.20.pdf https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/5d8cde48c96867b8ea8c6720/5f8e46e59e39d4dc82e70a54_Report%20on%202019-20%20CSALE%20Survey.10.19.20.pdf http://www.ucdc.edu/node/993 https://www.dropbox.com/s/fggbjf13rhg4arf/CLEA%20Paid%20Externships%20Survey%20Report.10-20-20.FINAL.pdf?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/fggbjf13rhg4arf/CLEA%20Paid%20Externships%20Survey%20Report.10-20-20.FINAL.pdf?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/fggbjf13rhg4arf/CLEA%20Paid%20Externships%20Survey%20Report.10-20-20.FINAL.pdf?dl=0

Washington Lawyer - January/February 2022

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