Howard University School of Law Externship Programs

Welcome to Howard University School of Law’s Externship Program! Our programs provide students the opportunity to learn through experience. Through externship placements in the DC-metro area and beyond, our students contribute to important legal work for organizations and their clients. 

Students at HUSL can participate in the following externship programs:

General Externship Courses

• Public Interest Externship
• Advanced Public Interest Externship

Practice Area- and Practice-Setting Specific Externship Courses

• Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Consortium Program
• Capital Habeas Corpus Externship 
• Corporate Counsel Externship
• Environmental Law Externship 
• Judicial Externship
• Racial Equity Strategies Externship (at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund)
• SEC Externship
• Tax Externship
• World Bank ADR Program

For more information, please navigate to the individual program pages using the links above or in the sidebar.

Student Eligibility 

To be generally eligible for the HUSL Externship Program, a student must demonstrate:

1. Successful completion of two (2) semesters of law school study;
2. Successful completion of a course in Legal Reasoning, Research & Writing; and 
3. Selection of a placement which has been approved by the Director of Externships and Public Interest Programming; and

A student enrolled in the Externship Program may not enroll in a “live-client” clinical course offering during the same semester in which the student is enrolled in the Externship Program. 

Additionally, students may only complete one externship for credit at a time.

Field Placement Eligibility

In general, externship field placements must be:

• A non-profit or a not-for-profit organization
• A government agency (all levels and all branches)
• A court or tribunal; or 
• A pro bono project within a law firm. For students working at law firms, 100% of their work must be in the firm’s pro bono practice. 

For the corporate counsel externship program, placements must be within the in-house counsel or Office of General Counsel at a corporation (including private corporations) or organization. 

Students must engage in substantive legal work and they must be supervised by a licensed attorney.

Required Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)

Students and their field placement supervisors must review and sign the HUSL Externship Program Memorandum of Understanding which outlines the expectations and responsibilities of the students, field placement supervisors, and the HUSL Externship Program.

Finding Placements

Students generally must find their own placements before applying for the externship program. Please review the specific program information to determine which programs match you with placements directly. Students are welcome to discuss placement options with the Director of Externships and Public Interest Programming. Useful sites for researching placement opportunities include 12Twenty, idealist.org, psjd.org, and the Clinical Law Center LinkedIn page.

Paid Externships

Field placements are permitted to pay students, but are not obligated to provide compensation. Any discussions and negotiations regarding compensation are between the student and the field placement. 

Seminar Requirement

All HUSL Externship Program offerings have an academic component as required by the American Bar Association. Students in the program should plan to attend a weekly seminar and complete additional assignments as part of the course.

Application Process

Students apply for externship courses in three ways:

• Through the combined HUSL Externship Application that is released each semester
• Through the specific externship’s faculty (either by contacting the faculty member or a separate application)
• Through the annual clinic application process

Please review the page for each specific externship to learn more about the application process, prerequisites, and other important information.

Registration Procedures

Registration for externship programs is restricted. Students must receive approval to enroll into the externship program. Students request approval by applying for the externship program. If your application is approved, the Clinical Law Center will submit your name to Records for enrollment.  

After you have been approved, you will receive instructions from the faculty for the course on how to access the learning management system so that you can review the syllabus, assignments, and other course content.

If you have not been enrolled by the end of the first week of classes, please contact Jess Harris at the Externship Office at jessica.harris@law.howard.edu.

The Clinical Law Center does not handle financial aid. Students are responsible for completing any documentation and other requirements for financial aid.  If you have a question about Financial Aid, please contact the Financial Aid Office at  Finaid@Howard.edu or 202-806-3345

For Our Field Placement Partners

We are excited for our students to connect with you! If you have an externship opportunity, please share it with us. You may sign up to post it on 12Twenty.com. Please reach out to our team if you need support in sharing your opportunity with our students.

Please note that HUSL’s externship program application for students closes in early August for Fall semester, late December for Spring semester, and in early May for our summer semester. Students must finalize their placements prior to applying. We appreciate your understanding of our internal timelines as students navigate the hiring process.

Please contact Director of Externships, Adrianne Clarke, at adrianne.clarke@howard.edu if you have any questions or would like to discuss any aspect of our program.