HOW TO TURN YOUR INTERNSHIP INTO AN EXTERNSHIP
1. Any “internship” can turn into an “externship” if it meets the following requirements:
 Placement must be in a not-for-profit organization, government agency, court or a pro bono project within a
law firm.
 Student must be engaged in substantive legal work.
 Student must be supervised by a licensed attorney.
 Position must be unpaid.
 Student must work onsite in the same location as supervising attorney; may not work remotely.
2. After seminars are posted, register for one of the LAW 769- Externship Seminar courses via my.american.edu
 If you’re externing for the first time, you must enroll in a 3-credit Supervised Externship Seminar or the 1credit Externship Seminar (the latter only available during the summer);
 If you’re externing outside of DC-VA-MD you must register for the domestic long-distance seminar (if inside the
U.S.) or international long-distance (if outside the U.S.);
 If you have externed before, you must enroll in the Advanced Supervision Seminar.
3. Once you’ve registered for a seminar, go to www.wcl.american.edu/externship and click on “Submit Your Externship
Fieldwork Application” – an online application that will request your contact information, employer information and
direct supervisor information. You will also indicate on the application how many field credits you will be requesting,
which depends on the amount of hours you will work at the placement. You must register for at least 1 field credit. Go
to our website to obtain further information on the minimum hours required for each field credit.
4. Once your fieldwork application has been approved by the Externship Office, your supervisor will be emailed a contract
to sign electronically. Once the contract has been signed, you will be emailed an add/drop form.
5. Bring your add/drop form to the Externship Program (rm. 413) for our signature/
6. Once the Program has signed the add/drop form, you must submit it to the Registrar Office (rm. 304).
You are required to complete the steps listed above in order to obtain externship credit.