South Texas College of Law Annotations (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 39, No. 2, Ed. 1, October, 2006 Page: 4 of 8
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Page 4
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October ¿uut
Externships allow students to move out of classroom, to real world
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By Lauren Sacra
Staff Writer
Having trouble making it to class? You don't
have to be in class to earn school credit South Texas
College of Law students can work in a courtroom
or defend people accused of war crimes in
Yugoslavia — and still earn hours toward their
Judicial Process Clinic I and II allow students
to receive credit for their courthouse experiences.
According to the Student Handbook and Dean
Catherine Burnett, students must have completed
30 credit hours before they are eligible to participate
in die Judicial Process Clinic I and 45 hours before
Clinic II. Students enrolled in the courses are
'^watching law practiced in court" instead of reading
about it in a book, Dean Burnett said.
2L Nicole Shanklin interned (for class credit)
with Judge Lynn Adelman in the Eastern District
of Wisconsin and with Judge David Hittner in the
Southern District of Texas.
Friends who are attorneys said she should try
to work for a judge, so she .sent her resume to
federal judges in Chicago, Milwaukee and Houston.
She enjoyed her experiences and believes that her
research, writing, and oral skills were improved
through her internships, which will help her work
for a large firm.
Students in Clinic I can work in the summer
full time and receive course credit in either the
summer or fall, depending upon financial aid
considerations. Students also can take up to six hours
of clinic credit
Placement may be in a trial court or an appellate
court at either the state or federal level. Students
are required to participate in online discussions on
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issues affecting the courts, including confidentiality,
pro se or indigent clients, and the quality of
lawyering.
In order to participate in die clinic, students must
first meet with Dean Burnett or Dean Elizabeth
Dennis' office to discuss the students' expectations
from the externship. Students will be given the names
of judges who have employed students in previous
semesters or judges who are interested in
participating in the program.
Although the courts are open to the public, the
internship gives students a "director's cut" of what's
going on in court, Dean Burnett said. The judge
will be able to tell ypu what might happen and what
the lawyers might do and can give feedback as to
why certain decisions are made. Students may not
find placements hard to come by, because judges
are often eager to employ students for credit instead
of monetary payment.
2L Adam Massey interned (not for class credit)
with federal Judge Sim Lake. He was responsible
for researching relevant habeas corpus law and
drafting opinions. Occasionally, he was also asked
to help research topics that were currendy before
his judge's court, including the trials of Enron
executives Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling Massey, who
hopes to work in oil and gas law, called the internship
"a great opportunity to see first hand what Federal
Trial Court Practice is all about."
STCL also offers class credit for Public Interest
Clinic and the International Criminal Process Clinic.
The requirements for each are basically the same as
the Judicial Process Clinics, as both require the field
work and classroom components and prior
meetings with Dean Burnett or Dean Dennis.
3L Carleen Raymond participated in the
International Criminal Process Clinic this past
siimm^r, working for Michael Karnavas (lead
counsel on six defendant cases) and working on
the defense team of Jadranko Prlic (former
president of Bosnia-Herzegovina). Her tasks
included helping draft an interrogatory appeal,
writing a portion of a response to prosecution's
evidentiary submissions, and writing portions of
articles on the treatment of prisoners, which was
distributed at a lecture to Canadian military officers
training to be generals.
While in the Netherlands, Raymond lived with
six other interns from all over the country, including
STCL 2Ls Spencer Solomon and Jen Engdale. She
found the experience to be very challenging, but
also rewarding. She worked very closely with lead
counsel and participated in meaningful assignments.
She believes that the most beneficial part of the
internship was watching court proceedings.
For the Public Interest Clinic, students work
at local non-profit agencies or charitable
organizations. Dean Burnett said potential
placements include Lone Star Legal Aid or a
children's advocacy group. Other options are the
Texas Defender Project, Catholic Charities, Texas
Accountants and Lawyers for the Arts, Houston
Volunteers Lawyer Program and the NAACP.
Dean Burnett also pointed out that placements
in the Prosecutor's Office are highly beneficial
to students. In such a placement, students have
been allowed to try cases if they acquire a
temporary bar card. Students are given the
opportunity to pick a jury and work on a case,
giving them unsurpassed courtroom experience.
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Frazer, Jason L. South Texas College of Law Annotations (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 39, No. 2, Ed. 1, October, 2006, newspaper, October 2006; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth144577/m1/4/: accessed May 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting South Texas College of Law.