THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY MICHAEL E. MORITZ COLLEGE OF LAW’S
APPLICATION FOR PUBLIC INTEREST PLACEMENTS
Background
The Moritz College of Law’s Public Interest Externship Program provides academic credit
to students who conduct substantive legal work at government and non-profit placements,
attend a class designed for externs, and fulfill specified academic requirements. The goals of
this program are twofold: to provide students with practical experience and to provide
assistance to governmental entities and non-profit organizations that further the public good.
This externship program will accept 40 students per semester and will be offered to
students during the summer, fall, and spring semesters. Students and representatives from
potential placements will complete applications and students will be matched to approved
placements by Student Services and Career Services staff. Placement approval is contingent
upon the review of this application and a site visit by Moritz staff, if one has not been
conducted as a part of the former Federal Work-Study Program. If your organization is
approved as an externship placement, you will be contacted by April Davis, Linda Jones, or
Cybele Smith.
For further information about this program, please contact April Davis, Director of
Student Services, at 614-688-2974 or davis.3537@osu.edu.
Application
Organization Name: _________________________________________________________________
Organization Address: _____________________________________________________________
Primary Contact: ___________________________
Job Title: _____________________________
Primary Contact Phone #: ____________________
Fax #: ________________________________
Primary Contact e-mail: ____________________________________________________________
Supervising Attorney: ________________________
Job Title: _____________________________
Supervising Attorney Contact Phone #: ___________
Fax #: ________________________________
Supervising Attorney Contact e-mail: ______________________________________________________
Number of Years Supervising Attorney Has Practiced Law: __________________________________
Is your organization _____ Governmental or _____ Non-Profit?
For non-profit organizations, check the categories that best describe the services of your organization
(check all that apply)
___ Aging & the Elderly
___ Animals & the Environment
___ Children & Youth
___ Health & Wellness
___ Hunger & Homelessness
___ Social & Economic Welfare
___ Other (please describe): ______________________________________________________
Please explain your organization’s desire to participate in the Moritz College of Law’s Public Interest
Externship Program.
What steps will your organization take to enhance our students’ educational experience and
professional development?
Please provide a job description for each of the positions in which you would like to place externs.
Please indicate how many externs you would be willing to host during the following semesters:
Summer _____
Fall _____
Winter _____
If you are not selected as a placement, would you be willing to host student volunteers (i.e., students
who will perform unpaid work and will not receive academic credit)?
Have you hosted externs before? If yes, please indicate which law schools the externs attended.
Please attach a copy of your organization’s mission statement to your application.
Acceptance of Placement Requirements
Supervising attorneys must initial each placement requirement set forth below to indicate that
they agree to comply with said requirements. If you feel that you cannot comply with one or more
requirements, please explain your reasons.
I, __________________________, agree to:
____
1.
Designate an attorney with no less than five years of experience to supervise each
extern.
_____ 2.
Orient each extern to the rules, policies, procedures, methods, and operations of your
organization.
_____ 3.
Provide each extern with a designated workspace and access to the technology and
resources necessary to complete his or her assignments.
_____ 4.
Provide each extern with substantive law-related work, including projects or parts of
projects that practicing attorneys at your organization would perform.
_____ 5.
Provide each extern with the opportunity to take part in or observe interactions and
proceedings in which attorneys at your organization are involved.
_____ 6.
Ensure that externs are not assigned clerical tasks (e.g., filing, photocopying, answering
non-client phone calls) or non-legal work such as fundraising or event planning that
exceeds what is expected of an attorney at your organization.
_____ 7.
Provide each extern with specific and timely feedback on each assignment.
_____ 8.
Meet with each extern at the beginning of the semester to discuss the specific goals of
the externship and how the practical externship experience will meet and complement
the student’s learning goals and needs.
_____ 9.
Meet with each extern at the mid-way point in the semester to review the extern’s
performance and discuss whether he or she is meeting the goals of the externship and
the goals identified by the extern.
_____ 10.
Meet with each extern at the end of the semester to discuss his or her performance.
_____ 11.
Complete an end-of-semester evaluation and send it to the externship coordinator at
the Moritz College of Law.
Supervising Attorney: _______________________________________ Date: _________________