How to Apply for Clinics, Practicums & Externships

Clinics, externships, and practicums offer students an opportunity to gain practical lawyering skills and have a real-world impact. Every student is required to take at least six credits of experiential classes (clinics, practicums, simulations, and practicums) to graduate from BU Law. Experiential classes cement doctrinal knowledge by allowing you to apply these principles in the context of live cases, projects, or scenarios. They also help to prepare you for the bar examination by exposing you to subjects tested and allow you to develop lawyering skills likely to be tested on the Next Generation Bar Examination. Experiential offerings also prepare you to practice law by providing opportunities to develop lawyering skills, like trial advocacy, negotiation, client counseling, and more. You have the opportunity to go deep or wide across areas of law to develop lawyering skills that will transfer to your career as a lawyer.

What is the difference between a clinic, externship and a practicum?

Clinics offer students the chance to engage directly with clients or projects under the supervision of a full-time faculty member. Clinics generally feature a small seminar with a 8-t0-1 student/faculty ratio, allowing students to received detailed feedback and reflect as they gain critical lawyering skills. Clinics can be year-long or semester-long.

Externships provide students with the opportunity to work under attorney supervision in the field in diverse placements, from criminal law to corporate counsel to environmental law. Students participate in a weekly seminar taught by BU faculty, where they learn about lawyering skills and reflect upon their fieldwork. The Externship Program includes both part-time opportunities and full-time Semester in Practice and the NY Pro Bono Scholar Program.

Practicums provide students with the opportunity to engage with clients and projects under the supervision of a faculty member, who usually works at an offsite placement. Practicum faculty teach a seminar connected to the fieldwork that provides students with opportunities to learn lawyering skills and reflect upon their fieldwork.

How do I apply?

The application period for all clinics and practicums is now closed.

Fall 2024/ Spring 2025 Externship Program

The Fall 2024/ Spring 2025 externship application is for rising 2L and 3L Boston University law students who are applying to participate in a part-time externship or Semester-in-Practice during the 2024-2025 Academic Year. Log in with your BUID to access the Google form. For assistance, email lclinic2@bu.edu. You are strongly encouraged to meet with a faculty member before or shortly after submitting your application. Email Director Kate Devlin Joyce (kdevlin@bu.edu) about externship opportunities, or email Cecily Banks (cbanks@bu.edu) for for-profit and non-profit corporate counsel placements.

Welcoming All

We warmly welcome all applicants and remind students that Boston University policy prohibits discrimination against any individual on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, military service, pregnancy or pregnancy-related condition, or because of marital, parental, or veteran status, and acts in conformity with all applicable state and federal laws. This policy extends to academic programs, including School of Law’s Clinics, Practicums, and Externships. The Program works with students and BU’s Office of Disability & Access Services to arrange reasonable accommodations as appropriate.

If you have any questions regarding the application process, please contact lclinic2@bu.edu.

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