Center for Externships

Employers consistently convey their desire to hire law school graduates who are ready to practice and who have the skills, not just analytical or research skills, but also the practical skills needed to be productive members of the team from day one.

Northwestern University School of Law offers one of the most comprehensive externship programs in the country. Each year, more than 200 law students gain on-the-job training, while earning class credit in a practicum course. The Center for Externship's Practicum program integrates theoretical coursework with hands-on learning provided by fieldwork. This integrated approach to experiential learning results in graduates who are confident and prepared with real-world experience when they begin their careers.

This reciprocal design provides students with a theoretical background that enhances their externship and an opportunity to use their externship to inform their in-class learning. The combination of both types of learning promotes a high level of engagement in both the courses' curriculum and the externship experience.

"Our program is different from many others in two primary ways," says Center for Externships director Cindy Wilson. "First is our classroom component, where faculty members with expertise in a particular field of law provide students with a theoretical foundation. Second is that rather than simply put all externship students in one class, we group students with similar types of placements together in a smaller classroom setting with a curriculum specifically designed to inform that particular type of work."

The Center for Externships's program includes a series of subject matter-based Practicum seminars. Students work at their placements about 12 hours each week and attend a weekly seminar that includes assigned readings and discussions about key issues they may be experiencing in their day-to-day externship work. Students gain a heightened level of confidence in their ability to appear before judges, write briefs or opinions, prepare cases, and work with clients. Their externship experiences also give them new insight into cases they read in traditional doctrinal classes.

Who We Are

Cindy Wilson
Center for Externships Director
(312) 503-2924
c-wilson1@law.northwestern.edu

Cindy Wilson has taught in Northwestern Law's Center for Externships since 2000, and serves as the Center's director. A Northwestern Law alum herself, she discovered first-hand the importance of learning about and working on real cases as a law student, and how valuable those experiences would be as she began her career. "I understand what my students are experiencing, and having practiced for 15 years, I can help guide them around tricky areas of the law or provide help when they are struggling."