Fall 2012 Course Schedule

Supervised Extshp Sem (LAW-769-004)
Lawlor

Meets: 03:00 PM - 05:50 PM (W) - Room 501

Enrolled: 14 / Limit: 16

Administrator Access


Notices

IMPORTANT: This is a three credit class to be taken at the same time as an externship (Law-899). NOTE: AS WITH ALL THREE-CREDIT EXTERNSHIP SEMINARS, IN ADDITION TO THE TWO HOUR SEMINAR CLASS, STUDENTS WILL MEET IN SMALL GROUPS FOR AN EXTRA HOUR EVERY OTHER WEEK. Specifically, for this seminar, the seminar class meets weekly for two hours (Wednesday, from 4:00 pm to 5:50 pm). In addition, students will be divided into two smaller groups with each small group meeting for an hour before the regular class every other week on an alternating basis (Wednesday, from 3:00 pm to 3:50 pm). To ensure that students keep open the Wednesday at 3:00 to 3:50 pm slot for the alternating week small group meetings, the meeting time for the seminar is listed as Wednesday from 3:00 to 5:50 pm. REGISTRATION: There are two parts to registering for an externship: 1) Register on-line for the seminar as you would for any class. 2) Register for the field placement by going to the Externship Page www.wcl.american.edu/externship and submit a Request for Approval, which generates the necessary forms.

Description

This is a three-credit, graded seminar, taken along with a field placement in the Washington, D.C. area with a nonprofit or government organization, or a private law firm doing pro bono work. The work of the course is to examine your placement experience—legal work, lawyers and clients, and the legal and professional systems in which you find yourself. The overarching goal is to provide a framework for you to reflect on and learn from your externship experience beyond the substantive legal work you will be engaged in. Developing the capacity to reflect on and examine critically your goals at this stage in your career will prove invaluable as you enter the profession after graduation. Indeed, a regular habit of analyzing your own experiences will enable you to select and implement purposefully improvements and strategies that make your professional career both more effective and meaningful. The content of the classes will be general, designed to appeal to students with a broad array of interests and externship placements. Unlike most other law school courses, rather than focusing on a particular body of legal doctrine or a particular set of technical lawyering skills, this course focuses on the professional development of the students in the class. Topics will include professionalism, learning from supervision, management skills, balancing personal life and professional life, and legal ethics. While readings are required for the class, the real “text” of this course is you, your goals, and your experiences at your placements during the semester. The class will meet weekly for two hours (Wednesday, from 4:00 pm to 5:50 pm). Classes will include discussion of assigned readings, externship experiences, and problem situations. In addition, students will be divided into two smaller groups with each small group meeting for an hour before the regular class every other week on an alternating basis (Wednesday, from 3:00 pm to 3:50 pm). Required written work includes a goals memorandum, weekly journal entries, and a final reflective paper. Other writing may be assigned. In addition, toward the end of the semester, each student will make an in-class presentation on a topic that relates in some way to the course, whether general issues of lawyering or something of interest from his or her fieldwork placement.

Textbooks and Other Materials

The textbook information on this page was provided by the instructor. Students should use this information when considering purchases from the AU Campus Store or other vendors. Students may check to determine if books are currently available for purchase online.

J.P. Ogilvy, Leah Wortham and Lisa G. Lerman, Learning from Practice (2d Edition 2007). Articles and other readings will also be assigned.

First Class Readings

As indicated in the syllabus, the assigned readings for the first class are the following in J.P. Ogilvy, Leah Wortham and Lisa G. Lerman, Learning from Practice: (i) Chapter 1: Learning from Experience; (ii) Chapter 2: Setting Goals for the Externship; and (iii) Appendix: MacCrate Report.

Syllabus

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