Presented by

1. What Students Don’t Know Will Hurt Them ---------A Frank View from the Field on How We Should Prepare our Externship Students Presented by Carolyn Young, Externship Director and Assistant Professor, Chapman University School of Law Barbara Blanco, Externship Director and Clinical Professor of Law, Loyola Law School

2. How Do Field Supervisors Perceive our Students? • Externship is often student’s first legal job. • Can also be first experience in a professional workplace. • Are our law students properly prepared for the externship experience? • According to many field supervisors, law students still have a lot to learn.

3. The Judge’s Top 5 • Judge Richard L. Fruin, Jr., Los Angeles County Superior Court : • Consider appropriate memo structure • Compare facts in precedent cases to instant facts • Critically discuss relevant facts • Consider public policy issues • Be precise in writing

4. The Law Clerk’s Top 5 • Deborah Chang, Law Clerk to the Honorable Alan M. Ahart, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge, Central District, Cal.: • Demonstrate your work ethic • Proofread • Be positive and professional • Brush up on basic law… • But don’t act like a know-it-all

5. The Public Interest Attorney’s Top 5 • Gary B. McGaha, Directing Attorney, Public Law Center, Orange County • Take the blinders off when you research • Write as an advocate • Know something about the organization and the clients it serves • Even tedious legal work has meaning • I didn't go to law school to Xerox either…

6. The Public Defender’s Top 5 • Luis J. Rodriguez, Special Counsel, L.A. County Public Defender’s Office • Don't be shy, introduce yourself • You can dress professionally even on a student budget • Asking questions leads to better answers • Don't leave common sense at the door • Analyze, advocate from the heart

7. The Supervisor Survey • Sent to federal and state judges clerks, public interest lawyers, district attorneys and other government lawyers in Los Angeles and Orange Counties. • Asked to pick “5 skills that you find students most lacking at the outset of the externship.” • Then asked to “describe in what way the skills are lacking, and/or what suggestions you have for law schools to help students better prepare for their externships.”

8. The Supervisor Survey, cont. Supervisors selected from the following categories: • Oral communication • Poise and confidence • Avoidance of “Like” and “Um,” etc. • Research • Quality of research • Efficiency of research • Knowledge of available research resources • Writing and Drafting • Follows basic rules of grammar, construction, format • Attention to detail • Quality of argument or analysis

9. The Supervisor Survey, cont. • Work Ethic • Punctuality and observation of deadlines • Attitude and response to supervision and criticism • Initiative / Self-reliance • Observation of professional ethics • Workplace Skills • Professional dress, composure • Ability to adapt to office routine and format • Polite to staff , clients, public • Other • Left blank for supervisors to suggest additional skill sets

10. Field Supervisors’ Responses • 34 Field supervisors responded to the survey (in writing or by interview) • 13 judges, clerks and court research attorneys • 13 from state, county and city government agencies • 8 from public interest organizations

11. Field Supervisors’ Responses, cont. • In addition to the 7 G.L.A.C.E. law schools, Supervisors based responses on experience with externs from: Boalt, Duke, George Washington, Georgetown, Gonzaga, Harvard, McGeorge, NYU, Notre Dame, Penn, Stanford, Syracuse, U.C. Davis, U.C. Hastings, U. of San Diego, Vanderbilt, Vermont, William & Mary.

12. 8 Areas Needing Most Attention

13. Most Lacking Skill:Judicial Placements Quality of argument or analysis(11/13)

14. Other Lacking Skills:Judicial Placements • Attention to detail (8/13) • Quality of research (6/13) • Efficiency of research (5/13) • Initiative / Self-reliance (5/13) • Follows basic rules of grammar, construction, format (4/13)

15. Most Lacking Skills:Government Placements Poise and Confidence(7/13) and Attention to Detail(7/13)

16. Other Lacking Skills:Government Placements • Knowledge of Available Research Sources(5/13) • Quality of Research (4/13) • Efficiency of Research (4/13) • Initiative / Self-reliance (4/13)

17. Most Lacking Skill:Public Interest Placements Attention to Detail(4/8)

18. Other Lacking Skills:Public Interest Placements • Quality of argument or analysis(3/8) • Poise and confidence(3/8) • Initiative / Self-reliance(3/8)

19. Additional Lacking Skills:All Placements • In the “Other” category, many supervisors listed skills specific to their placements, such as understanding… • relevant legal standards (summary judgment, appellate review) • substantive law, such as bankruptcy law for bankruptcy court externs • the operations of the court or agency • how to write and format a business letter • the California Style Manual • the proper tone for a draft opinion, memo or bench memo

20. Least Lacking Skills:All Placements • We thought these skills –related to first-time professional employment – might be problematic, but complaints were few: • Polite to staff , clients, public (1/34) • Avoidance of “Like” and “Um” (2/34) • Observation of professional ethics (2/34) • Attitude and response to supervision and criticism (5/34) • Professional dress, composure (6/34) • Punctuality and observation of deadlines (6/34)

21. Supervisors’ Comments on What Law School Can Do • Students need practice formulating complex searches in Lexis/Westlaw, and in using other available resources quickly. • Law schools do not focus on grammar, thinking students have picked it up along the way. • Students need more opportunity for legal writing practice, especially first year. • A mentoring system so more experienced students could guide newer students and increase their independence.

22. Additional Humorous Comments • “Externs need to be taught how to right [sic] concise, thorough, and effective memoranda.” • I cannot rely on my externs [sic] work; • Inadequate research skills are “…do [sic] to a lack of experience.” • Externs have a “lack of maturity.”

23. Solution 1: Address Issues in Class • Useful to a degree, BUT • Not all programs have a class component. • Even those that do cannot tackle every important issue early in the semester. • Students who extern “off the books,” volunteering for an agency without school credit, are left out.

24. Solution 2: The “Self-Help” Checklist • Originally envisioned as a CD Rom, but variety of responses and particular needs of certain placements are better suited to written format. • Memo can be adapted to type of placement or jurisdiction, and new advice easily added (see Solution 3). • Can distribute memo well before beginning the placement – on TWEN, by email, etc. • Students can keep it handy, consult it often.

25. The “Self-Help” Checklist, cont. • Our checklist, based on survey responses, is designed as a memo from supervisor to student. • For example, under “Workplace Attitude”: Show up on time and turn in your work on deadline. If I forget to ask for your work when it’s due, you should come to me. And never leave tasks unfinished, especially if you know you will not return the next day.

26. Solution 3: StudentsGuiding Students • Besides the supervisor, the person who best understands what she wants from the next extern is the last extern. • One supervisor’s suggestion of such a mentoring system led directly to Solution 3: • Assign “guided reflection” questions to externs about how they could have been better prepared. • Edit responses to use as a guide for newer students before they begin their externships – tailor to externship type or specific placement.

27. Students Guiding Students, cont. • For example, assign a “guided reflection” toward the end of the term, asking: • What could the law school have done to better prepare you for your externship? • What could you have done to better prepare? • What five things (good or bad) should future externs at your placement know before the first day? • What are the five things (good or bad) about extern performance most important to your supervisor? • What did you expect your externship experience to be, and how did that compare to the reality?

28. Q & A