The Elon University School of Law will soon be able to offer more externship opportunities for students in the Washington, D.C. area.
The law school recently announced its partnership with The Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars, which will provide law students with legal externship opportunities in D.C.
The Washington Center was founded 35 years ago and pairs undergraduates with internship positions in the D.C. area.
Margaret Kantlehner, associate professor of law, is the director of externships, preceptors and capstone leadership experiences. Kantlehner said Elon’s undergraduate program has worked with The Washington Center for many years, but an opportunity opened up for Elon to get involved in the legal environment.
“We will send students to D.C. for a residency working with government lawyers and (non-governmental organization) governmental lawyers for 36 hours a week supervised by an attorney,” she said.
Students will take 12 to 15 credit hours at The Washington Center, which will satisfy their elective credit for graduation. But, as with study abroad, the students will have to plan ahead to make sure they can be off campus for the time needed for the externship.
Participants in the program must be second-year or third-year law students.
“We are looking for students who have a good academic standing, good character, who will represent us well, who are interested in governmental law and in the national prospective of law,” Kantlehner said.
As the director of externships, Kantlehner will travel to D.C. occasionally, but Courtney Dredden, an adjunct professor and program adviser for the Washington Legal Externship Program at The Washington Center, will serve as an onsite faculty member.
Dredden will be the constant source of information for students and will also teach the externship seminar that will meet once a week.
“We are very pleased to have her on the ground,” Kantlehner said. “She brings a great knowledge of D.C. and placement there.”
The experience in D.C. will be beneficial to students in numerous ways because it would add to their resumes and cover letters, and it is something to talk about in their future interviews, Dredden said.
“If (they are) interested in working in D.C., it gets their foot in the door,” Dredden said. “If they aren’t interested in D.C., it also gives them practical experience.”
[box]Fast Facts: Washington Center Externship -Based in Washington, D.C. -Pairs undergraduates with internship positions -Students take 12 to 15 credit hours -Students work 36 hours per week -10 students from Elon University School of Law can participate -Students gain on-the-job experience with a federal agency[/box]
Students have expressed a lot of interest so far, Kantlehner said. The law school will send at least 10 students to D.C. this summer and at least 10 in the fall and the spring. Since the law program is still new, sending 10 students is almost 10 percent of the law school’s student population.
Second-year law student Meg Sparger is one of the students who has shown interest in the program. Sparger said the externship program is a phenomenal addition to the law school curriculum. She said she thinks students will not only gain practical, on-the-job experience with a federal agency, but will also be exposed to the realities of the work week in Washington, a city where law is particularly relevant.
But Sparger also sees this program affecting Elon’s law school as a whole.
“On a macro level, even students who do not participate in the externship program will benefit indirectly from Elon’s relationship with The Washington Center,” she said. “While Elon certainly has a regional presence, its role as a facilitator for a nationwide program will better the law school’s reputation and hopefully bring some well-deserved notoriety"