Supporting Learning and Development
Requirements
Each externship placement must meet a set of foundational requirements to ensure that the student’s experience is educational, professionally supervised, and meaningfully connected to the practice of law. Site supervisors are essential to this process and play a central role in supporting the extern’s learning and development.
To qualify as a placement and supervisor, the following criteria must be met:
- Qualified Supervision: The extern must be supervised by a licensed attorney in good standing. Supervisors should be actively involved in the extern’s work, available to answer questions, and committed to mentoring the student throughout the placement.
- Substantive Legal Work: The externship must provide the student with substantial, law-related assignments that promote the development of core legal skills such as research, writing, analysis, communication, and problem-solving. Assignments should be comparable to those typically given to entry-level attorneys and should not consist primarily of clerical work.
- Examples of Appropriate Tasks:
- Drafting legal memoranda, motions, or client correspondence
- Conducting legal research and summarizing findings
- Reviewing discovery materials or case files
- Participating in team meetings, client interviews, or strategy sessions
- Observing hearings, mediations, or depositions
- Preparing appellate briefs, researching appellate standards of review, or assisting with moot court-style argument preparation
- For judicial externs: drafting bench memos, researching motions, observing proceedings, and discussing case strategy with chambers staff
- Orientation and Work Environment: Externs should receive an orientation at the start of the placement, including office procedures, confidentiality expectations, and communication protocols. The supervisor should ensure that in-person externs have access to a workspace and necessary equipment, while remote externs are provided with appropriate tools, access, and support to complete assigned work.
- Feedback and Reflection: Opportunities for feedback and reflection should be built into the externship. While there is no formal mid-semester evaluation required, supervisors are encouraged to provide regular, constructive feedback. At the end of the semester, site supervisors complete an evaluation of the student’s performance. The externship office will provide the evaluation form.
- These requirements help ensure that each externship offers a structured, rigorous, and supportive environment in which students can begin to develop the skills and judgment necessary for professional success. More detailed guidance and best practices are included in the Site Supervisor Manual, which is provided to all participating supervisors.
Responsibilities
Site supervisors are central to the success of the externship program. Your mentorship provides students with practical insight, helps them develop lawyering skills, and models professional values. To support a productive and educational placement, supervisors are asked to:
- Provide meaningful, law-related assignments that align with the extern’s learning goals and expose them to varied legal tasks and practice areas.
- Monitor progress and offer regular feedback—ideally through informal check-ins and a final written evaluation.
- Create a supportive and professional environment, including providing a workspace, orientation to office policies, and clear expectations for communication and deadlines.
- Facilitate observation opportunities such as court proceedings, client meetings, or strategy sessions whenever possible.
- Encourage self-reflection and learning by engaging the student in dialogue about their work and growth.
- Support the student’s professional development by introducing them to colleagues and encouraging appropriate networking opportunities within the organization and the broader legal community.
- While these responsibilities don’t require extensive time, your active engagement has a lasting impact on student development. A final written evaluation is required at the end of the semester, and the externship office will provide a form and instructions.
Examples of effective feedback and suggested supervisory practices are included in the Site Supervisor Manual, which will be shared with you upon approval of your placement.
Resources
ABA Rules
Supervisor’s Manual
Interested in Hosting an Extern?
If you are interested in hosting a South Texas College of Law Houston extern, we welcome the opportunity to partner with you. Our students are eager to apply their legal education in meaningful ways and are well-prepared to contribute to your organization through research, writing, analysis, client interaction, and more.
Externship placements may be with courts, government agencies, nonprofit organizations, corporate legal departments, or other qualifying legal settings that offer a supervised, educational experience focused on substantive legal work.
Please note: At this time, externships cannot be hosted by private law firms, unless the placement falls within a corporate counsel setting.
To become a host organization:
- Your office must be able to provide the extern with structured supervision, substantive legal assignments, and professional development opportunities.
- Each extern must be directly supervised by a licensed attorney in good standing or a professional with comparable legal experience, depending on the nature of the placement.
- Hosts must be willing to provide a short orientation, regular feedback, and a final evaluation of the student’s performance.
If you would like to create an externship opportunity or have a position, you would like to make available to our students, please contact the Externship Program at externships@stcl.edu.
The Externship Program Director would be happy to meet with you in person or via Zoom to discuss your goals, answer any questions, and explore how an extern can contribute to your team.
We look forward to the possibility of working together to support legal education and the profession.
