Field Placement
General Information
Second- and third-year students may be placed as interns with public service organizations such as the ACLU, Atlanta Legal Aid, or the Georgia Innocence Project. Others may intern with the regional offices of a federal agency such as the Internal Revenue Service, the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the Environmental Protection Agency. Some students may join in-house counsel at corporations such as The Coca-Cola Company and AT&T. Judicial placements include positions with several justices of the Georgia Supreme Court and federal judges. Third-year students may be placed with a district attorney, public defender, or with the U.S. attorney and may try cases under supervision pursuant to local, state, or federal rules.
These placements are carefully selected, monitored, and evaluated by the administrative professor for field placement in order to provide practical lawyering experiences with the supervision of highly qualified and experienced attorneys. Students integrate substantive learning with the practice of law and develop their legal skills through exposure to many different kinds of law practice.
Field Placement Program Homepage
Guide to the Emory Law School Field Placement Program:
A Guide to the field placement program is published each fall and each spring listing placements available in the next semester. The Guide contains brief descriptions of the individual placements along with eligibility requirements and pre-requisite courses. Additional information is available from the administrative professor for field placement.
Each semester, students are invited to apply to a limited number of placements for which they are academically eligible. The application process is coordinated by the administrative professor for field placement. Applicants are then interviewed by the field placement supervisors and students are selected as interns for the following semester prior to pre-registration for other courses in that semester. All placements are three credits and require that the student commit a minimum of 120 hours and 12 weeks to the placement over the course of the semester. Other requirements include participation in special classes on ethics and professionalism designed for students in field placements, weekly timesheets, journals and submission of a sample work product. Interested students are urged to talk to the administrative professor for field placement at any time about program requirements and opportunities.
GOALS OF THE EMORY LAW SCHOOL FIELD PLACEMENT PROGRAM
The Clinics and Field Placement Committee of the faculty has adopted these goals for the field placement program. All individual placements have been approved to further these goals.
- To provide opportunities for students to integrate substantive learning with the practice of law.
- To assist students in improving legal skills, including legal research, writing, negotiation and advocacy.
- To help students develop confidence in practical lawyering situations.
- To promote the ethical practice of law by sensitizing students to ethical issues and allowing them to explore issues of personal identity and conflicting value systems.
- To promote self directed learning by requiring students to set their own goals and manage their priorities.
- To encourage students, through exposure to the wider community, to develop a professional commitment to public service.Students are encouraged to develop their own goals when taking a specific field placement. A common goal, for example, is the goal of experiencing the practice of law within a particular kind of setting. Please consider your personal goals when submitting your applications.
RULES GOVERNING FIELD PLACEMENTS/ REQUIREMENTS FOR CREDIT
In every field placement, students work under the supervision of attorneys in placements approved by the Clinics and Field Placement Committee of the faculty.
All students must complete a minimum of 120 hours and twelve weeks of legal work at the placement. The 120 hours and 12 weeks are only a minimum. Students may not include travel time to and from the placement. Many interns work more than the minimum hours as they become involved with cases, clients and projects. As a general rule, students work approximately 10 hours a week. All students should take into consideration the time commitment when making their applications.
All students in field placements participate in a series of meetings for students in field placements. These are scheduled after preregistration for other courses at hours when the majority of students can attend. In cases of conflict, the classes are video-taped. Other requirements include weekly timesheets, two journals, a midsemester conference with the administrative professor for field placement and a sample work product. The placement is to be undertaken during the class weeks and all requirements met by the last day of classes. Exceptions may be made only by the program director.
It is anticipated that, once selected for a placement, a student will fulfill his/her commitment. If a student accepts an offer, failure to register for the placement in the spring may result in a grade of WF(Withdrawn Failing). Any student withdrawing from a field placement after registration without the express consent of the program director will receive a WF.
All field placements beginning in the spring semester require a one semester commitment. One semester placements are never converted to two semester placements on an ad hoc basis. Some placements, beginning in the fall, require a two semester commitment. Students may not withdraw at the end of the first semester without permission.
Some placements schedule on-site classes for the students. If a placement will include on-site classes, this is noted in the individual descriptions. Every effort is made by the supervisors to accommodate the students when scheduling these classes. Interns, however, are expected to attend these classes if offered.
Field placement credits count towards law school residency in the semester when the placement is taken. The number of credit hours per semester for all placements is THREE. The credits afforded a placement are never increased or decreased on an ad hoc basis. All placements are graded pass-fail.
A student may take only ONE field placement each semester and may not take the same placement twice. Students may take a maximum of TWO placements (two one-semester placements or one one-semester placement and one two-semester placement) for degree credit.
Students who are enrolled in a joint degree program such as the J.D./M.B.A. or the J.D./M.Div. may not take a law school field placement during a year or semester that they spend solely in another school of the university.
Students who are on academic probation may not take a field placement in the probationary semester. First year students must have a cumulative average of 2.55 at the end of the fall semester to apply for placements for the following fall.
Occasionally the Clinics and Field Placement Committee grants individual requests for special field placements. Requests must be for placement with an agency where the law school does not have a placement and which will offer a placement experience not found in any other placement. Given the large number of regular offerings, the Committee discourages special placements and the criteria are strictly enforced. The Committee NEVER approves placements with non-lawyers or with private practitioners or law firms. Requests for special placements must be made in writing and MUST be supported by a letter from the potential supervisor. Petition deadlines are published each semester.
SUMMER WORK
As Emory law school does not have a summer session, there are no field placements available through Emory over the summer. Field placements or internships are sometimes sponsored by other ABA-AALS accredited law schools. Emory students may earn field placement credit if they register in such programs. All rules relating to summer school eligibility apply. Students who plan to register in a field placement program sponsored by another law school over the summer should speak to the Administrative Professor for field placement prior to registering in the program. The Clinics and Field Placement Committee must approve the transfer of any field placement credits from another law school to the Emory degree.
If you are planning to volunteer with a court or an agency over the summer, you CAN NOT get credit unless you meet the requirements described above. The requirement of registration in a placement program sponsored by an AALS accredited law school as a condition of credit CAN NOT BE WAIVED.
Field Placement Program Homepage