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Many law students dream of working in-house someday yet are in the dark about what such a career actually involves.

Our Corporate Counsel Externships Program combines classroom instruction with immersive experiences in corporate legal departments.

Students gain hands-on experience by working in corporate legal departments on real-world projects under the guidance of inside counsel. This practical experience is complemented by a weekly course on in-house practice offered at the law school.

The four-hour academic program is available once a year during the fall semester. To be eligible, students must meet a minimum GPA requirement and have completed the Business Enterprise course.

Classroom Component

In the classroom part of the program, students learn about substantive legal issues facing corporations, contract drafting, confidentiality, and ethical responsibilities. They also gain insights into how in-house departments are structured and the relationship between in-house and outside counsel and their business colleagues.

General counsel, like Mark Howard, EVP and Chief Legal Officer at Nationwide (second from left), guest lecture in some classes, adding another opportunity for students to learn from and interface with corporate counsel.

Externship Component

Students are assigned to corporate legal department based on their practice area and/or industry interests. The externship is designed to complement their studies at SMU Dedman Law, allowing them to apply legal concepts in a real-world context.

Externships give students a unique insight into the day-to-day responsibilities of in-house attorneys and enable them to view the practice of law from the client's perspective. Throughout the placement, students have structured opportunities for performance assessment, feedback, and self-evaluation.

Student Requirements and Expectations

• Students work approximately 10 hours per week for a 12-week period. Placements start in late August and wrap up by Thanksgiving.
• Students who successfully complete the program receive four hours of academic credit.  The two-hour classroom component is graded, and the two-hour externship component is pass/fail.
• We and our students take seriously matters of professionalism, ethics, and integrity. Externs are expected to abide by the rules of professional conduct.

Benefits

• Externships provide a frame of reference for students’ studies at SMU Dedman Law, including what they learn in the classroom component of the program, and allow them to apply legal concepts in the real-world.
• Students witness first-hand how in-house attorneys create solutions, exercise judgment, and advise their clients as trusted legal advisors and business partners.
• Many of our students are interested in working in-house at some point in their careers. The program gives them a unique insight into what in-house practice is actually like.
• Corporate placements provide an opportunity to view the practice of law from the client’s perspective. A better understanding of client needs will make the students more effective legal advisors, whether they practice in firms or corporations.
• Students develop a better understanding of workplace issues, such as time management, workplace culture, professionalism, and giving and receiving feedback.
• Many externs report they gain confidence through the experience.
• Placements cultivate students into adept thinkers, issue spotters, problem solvers, contract drafters, communicators, and valuable team members. Fostering solid judgment, business acumen, and a pertinent business vocabulary for comprehensive professional growth.