Department of Legal Studies Internships

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Department of Legal Studies Internships I. GENERAL INFORMATION A Legal Studies internship is a field based learning experience in a law-related organization, office, or government agency that serves a need of the organization. According to University regulations, students who have completed 45 credits and have a GPA of 2.0 or higher are eligible to register for an internship.

There may be additional requirements for specific Legal Studies internships. If you choose to participate in an internship, you will register for Legal 298, Practicuum. You may register for a maximum of 15 internship credits, which may be spread out over more than one semester.

The number of credits you get depends on the amount of time you spend working at the internship. Generally, you will need to spend one full day per week for 15 weeks for 3 credits; 2 days for 6 credits; 3 days for 9 credits; 4 days for 12 credits, and 5 days for 15 credits. You may not be paid for the work you perform at your internship.

Legal 298 is not graded; it is a Pass/Fail course. In addition to the time you spend at your internship, your faculty sponsor may require additional work, such as a paper ... more. less.

or journal. Legal 298 does not count toward your Legal Studies requirements but does count as graduation credits. All students who participate in an internship must also participate in the Legal Studies Internship Seminar. Students who do an internship over the summer must participate in the Seminar the following semester. At the present time, this seminar meets five times during the semester for 1- 1/2 hours in the evening. Contact Prof. Holmes if you have any questions about the Internship Seminar (545-2305 or jholmes@legal.umass.edu). This Seminar is under review by the department and this requirement may change. Student may do internships during the academic year or over the summer. If you choose to do a summer internship, you register for Legal 298 through the Division of Continuing Education. For any internship you do, you have to have a faculty sponsor in the department. Any member of the department may sponsor you. II. HOW TO FIND AN INTERNSHIP A. The Legal Studies Department sponsors the following internships: 1. Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD ). This is a three semester sequence. You start the sequence by taking one of Professor Levinsky 9s courses, Civil Rights (Legal 497C) or Worker 9s Rights (Legal 497F). Then you apply for an MCAD internship. If selected, you will spend 40 hours a week working at the MCAD office in Springfield. The following semester, you will take a seminar with Prof. Arons. For more information about the MCAD internship, go to http://www.umass.edu/legal/MCAD/MCADfaq.htm 2. Judicial Internship Program . This is an opportunity to spend time observing and discussing court proceedings with Judge Judd Carhart and other Superior Court judges who hear cases in Springfield, Northampton, and Greenfield. The prerequisite is Judge Carhart 9s course, Due Process in Criminal Trial (Legal 391U). After you have completed this course, you apply for the internship. Judge Carhart makes the final selection of students; preference is given to Legal Studies majors. Prof. Holmes is the faculty sponsor for this internship. 3. Texas Rural Legal Aid, Edinburg, Texas . This is an opportunity to spend the summer working in South Texas on issues related to public benefits, domestic violence, contested custody cases as well as doing public outreach in the community. Spanish speaking interns are preferred; housing will be provided. For more information, contact Attorney Renee Trevino, Texas Rural Legal Aid, 316 S. Closner, Edinburg, Texas 78539, telephone (956) 383-5673, email Rtrevino@trla.org. Prof. Holmes is the faculty sponsor for this internship. 4. Equal Justice Initiative, Montgomery, Alabama . Students in Prof. Holmes 9 Death Penalty class may apply to spend Spring Break working at the Equal Justice Initiative, a privately funded organization in Montgomery, Alabama, that provides legal assistance to indigent, death row inmates in Alabama. EJI also offers summer internships to students who have completed the course. For more information about the organization, go to http://www.eji.org, or talk to Prof. Holmes. B. UMass Field Experience Office Other law-related internships are administered by the Field Experience Office of the U.Mass Career Network. Through this office, Legal Studies students have done internships at: " Northampton District Attorney 9s Office " Victim Witness Program in Springfield and in Greenfield " Restorative Justice Program in Greenfield " local attorneys There are opportunities at other agencies as well. To participate in one of these internships, you must first attend one of the Field Experience cWelcome d Sessions held several times per week. To find out the time and location of these sessions, contact the Field Experience Office at 545- 6265. After attending a session, go see the Field Experience representative for the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Jeff Silver, whose office is in the Campus Career Network building - One Career Center Way, Rm. 103, 545-6267. Once you have identified an internship that looks interesting, contact the internship supervisor and see what you need to do to apply. If you are selected, ask the internship supervisor for a description of your duties. Your next step is to find a faculty sponsor in the Legal Studies Department. Any faculty member may sponsor you. In addition to your duties at the internship, your faculty sponsor may ask you to keep a journal or write a paper. You will need to complete the paperwork from the Field Experience Office and bring it to your faculty sponsor for his/her signature. C. Family connections, neighbors, friends The third method of finding an internship is through your own connections. If you know a lawyer who you think it might be interesting to work with, ask that person if s/he would be willing to supervise you. If the lawyer agrees, ask him/her to write up a description of what you will be doing. Then you need to approach a faculty sponsor in the department and present your proposed internship. The faculty member may want to contact your internship supervisor for more information. The faculty member may require you to write a paper or keep a journal in addition to the work you will do for your internship supervisor. If the faculty member approves the internship, then you will need to get the paperwork from the Field Experience Office and have your faculty sponsor sign off. Through their own connections, Legal Studies majors have done internships at: " District Attorney 9s Office, Essex County " District Attorney 9s Office, Witness Advocate Program, Plymouth County " Educational Testing Service, Legal Department, Princeton, New Jersey " Board of Jewish Education of Greater New York " Department of Mental Retardation, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Boston III. STEPS TO TAKE TO FIND AN INTERNSHIP A. Begin well in advance of starting the internship . Start investigating internship possibilities before Pre-Registration the semester before you want to do an internship. B. Find the internship you want to do . Review the information about internships sponsored by the Legal Studies Department; attend one of the Field Experience Office cWelcome d Sessions; meet with Jeff Silver, the Field Experience Officer for the College of Social and Behavioral Science; talk to family members, friends, and acquaintances. C. Apply for the internship . Do whatever you need to do to be accepted for the internship, e.g. submit an application or contact the internship supervisor. D. Get a letter describing your internship duties . Once you have been accepted for an internship, ask your internship supervisor to write a letter outlining the work you will be doing and whatever training you will receive. E. Find a faculty sponsor . Once you have the letter in hand, ask a Legal Studies faculty member to be your sponsor. Discuss with the faculty member what additional work you may be required to do. Except for the internships administered by the Legal Studies Department (MCAD, Judicial Internship, and Texas Rural Legal Aid), get the paperwork from the Field Experience Office and bring it to your faculty sponsor to sign.

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