Externship Policy Change. Paid Externships Approved!
Beginning summer semester 2023, the Seattle University School of Law Externship Program will allow students who receive compensation to earn credit.
Thanks to our students, staff, deans, faculty, and site supervisors for the effort that went into creating this policy change!
Although the ABA lifted its ban on paid externships in 2016, most schools required that externships be unpaid until recently. SU students advocated for a change in the policy, but most sites could not pay, and faculty and supervisors had concerns about the impact of payment on externships’ academic goals. In 2020 the school’s renewed focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion led to a push for change by students, the Student Bar Association, and externship program faculty and staff.
In the summer of 2022, the United States District Court in Seattle and Tacoma created a paid externship pilot explicitly designed to increase diversity. SU and UW externship programs worked with the court to encourage measures to ensure inclusion, for example to avoid the use of transcripts during the application cycle since they do not accurately measure the abilities of students with fewer resources. The court also created additional programming to ensure that those selected, many of whom were first-generation students, would receive mentoring, opportunities for observation, and additional training. The pilot was successful and will be offered again this summer.
In November of 2022, the SU Externship program surveyed its sites again and found that most were now in favor of paid externships, although only a few can pay. The Program Director drafted a policy to allow paid externships at existing sites. The policy includes measures to ensure that observation, training, and feedback are preserved since research has found these opportunities decline slightly in paid positions. Faculty voted to approve the policy and it has now been modified to include PILF grantees who will now be able to earn externship credit while receiving a PILF grant. We will be sharing this policy change with our externship sites as well.
What should I do if an existing SU externship site has offered to pay me?
Please be sure you have filled out the Externship Application online so that you have a place in the corresponding seminar. Once you have been offered a position, please tell us your supervisor’s name and email address. For sites currently in our database that will pay, the following processes will apply:
- The Director of Externships shall conduct a remote or in-person site visit with any site that offers a paid externship for the first time.
- All field placement supervisors shall sign agreements ensuring that educational goals remain the priority during the externship experience.
- The faculty will review student time records to ensure student work hours reflect the supervisor agreement requirements.
- The Externship Program will collect data from paid placements to ensure that program goals are met. This data will be used to vet future positions and to implement additional safeguards if needed.
- If you were planning to earn externship credit in order to receive financial aid, and the site has now offered to pay, it is fine to withdraw from the externship seminar and not receive credits if the site agrees. You can also ask to be enrolled in as few as 2 externship credits and still work full time. For instance, this may be helpful if you need to earn the required 6 credits of experiential learning before graduation. As long as you have been enrolled in an externship seminar during the semester and logged all your hours, we will be able to confirm that you have worked the time and you can then pay for and receive those externship credits if you need them before graduation.
What if I have a position at a new paid Externship Placement site?
Please remember that the site will need to be approved for you to earn credit!
- Fill out the Externship Application online to save your place in the seminar. We will not be able to grant credit if the seminar has already been filled!
- Provide the information on the site and supervisor to the Externship Office so the site can be approved.
- Other requirements of the Externship Program have not changed: the site must be at a judicial chamber, non-profit, government agency, or in-house counsel position and it must provide students with a substantial legal experience, good supervision, and adequate feedback. The program cannot approve private firms unless they are receiving a contract to provide government services.
- Once approved, the same procedures for site visits, time records, and monitoring described above for existing paid sites will apply.
What kind of compensation is allowed?
Third-party grants, stipends, scholarships, and direct payments by the site are all allowed. This includes the Public Interest Law Foundation (PILF) grants or Judicial Intern Opportunity Program (JIOP) fellowships. Funds to help with travel or cover other incidental costs were already allowed under the previous policy and receiving such funds will not be considered as a paid externship.
What will happen to students who get a PILF grant?
In previous years, students have applied for sites early in the spring by filling out the externship application online. They applied to sites through the externship office and withdrew from the externship seminar if they were awarded a PILF grant. As some students relied on this policy and may not have applied for a PILF grant in the past, for this coming summer, priority will be given to those who are not earning externship credit. If you have questions about the PILF application process, deadlines, and likelihood of getting a grant, there will be information sessions held to address these questions. For any immediate questions or concerns please reach out to PILF President, Julia Doherty, at jdoherty@seattleu.edu.
Thank you again to all, especially the students, who have provided input into the policy. We remain open to your feedback and concerns and hope to work with you to continue to improve our program!
