Summer 2010 Course Schedule

Invention&Reinvention Externship Sem (LAW-769-003)
Diggin, Piervincenzi

Meets: 06:00 PM - 09:00 PM (W) - Room 504

Enrolled: 13 / Limit: 15

Administrator Access


Notices

Corequisite: LAW-899, Supervised Externship NOTE: CLASS WILL MEET IN SMALL GROUPS FOR AN EXTRA HOUR EVERY OTHER WEEK. TIME TBD. Registering for your field placement credits is a separate process. Students must first register for a seminar and then go to www.wcl.american.edu/externship to submit a Request for Approval, which generates the necessary forms. Students with concerns about placement approval should speak with a member of the Externship Staff. Students are not registered for field credits until they submit the signed add/drop form to the registrar.

Description

Invention and Reinvention -- Defining Your Professional Life in the Law is an externship seminar focusing on how we develop as lawyers and how we redefine ourselves throughout our legal careers. Rather than assuming that we spring from law school fully formed, this seminar emphasizes change - in careers, goals, and attitudes toward our work and our work environments. This seminar provides 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. With an emphasis on the lawyering experience rather than any one particular area of law, this externship seminar offers students exposure to different aspects of the practice of law, as well as real life issues facing practitioners. During the course of the semester, we will consider the variety of roles that lawyers may play in government, public interest, private practice, or in any number of other environments; examine the ethical challenges and professional obligations encountered in various practice areas; review societal perceptions of lawyers (are we knights, knaves, or nefarious ne'er-do-wells?); discuss strategies for making the law a career rather just a job; and make observations about the transition from student life to professional life. Your own externship experiences provide the basis for class discussion and the reflective journal you will keep. This seminar will lay the groundwork for you to evaluate your career on an ongoing basis and to help you evolve into a successful, content practitioner.

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.

First Class Readings

Not available at this time.