Spring 2010 Course Schedule

Ext Sem (LAW-769-003)
Drane

Meets: 06:00 PM - 07:50 PM (T) - Room 351

Enrolled: 12 / 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

Externship seminars provide 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. Learning How To Be a Lawyer: Reflections on Legal Practice Supervised Externship Seminar (Drane) Law school is about learning to be a lawyer, and no place is that more true than through the process of reflecting on the externship experience. Through externships, students learn about the special role lawyers play in society to protect the rights of others, whether they are the most vulnerable in society or the most affluent, individuals or organizations. The diversity among students' field placements demonstrate the variety of roles lawyers play and the wide range of experiences available to persons with law degrees. In this seminar, we'll continue to learn together as we use each student's externship as a prism to explore how professional values play out in the practicalities of the work environment. We will talk about lawyering as a profession, exploring ethical obligations and the unique responsibilities that come with having such specialized skills. We will talk about the nature of the lawyer-client relationship and the challenges associated with client-centered representation. We'll address diversity and difference in the legal profession, both on the ground level and with the profession's leaders. We'll also talk about how lawyers' personal values may impact their career choices. Finally, we'll talk about how to forge a professional path and be professionally fulfilled while maintaining a healthy work-life balance. This will be an interactive seminar, where we will learn from each other's experiences to develop our own sensibilities about what type of lawyer we want to become.

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.