Law Students Excel During Summer Externships

During the Summer 2019 semester, 52 University of Memphis School of Law students are enrolled in the Externship Course, simultaneously earning academic credit and valuable hands-on legal experience through field placement work performed under the supervision of federal and state judges on the appellate and trial court levels; federal and state attorneys' and public defenders' offices; federal and state government and administrative agencies; healthcare entities; non-profit legal services providers, academic institutions, and select corporate in-house counsel departments.

"It is incredible to have so many Memphis Law students gaining critical practice experience through the Law School's Externship Course this summer," said Daniel Schaffzin, Associate Professor of Law and Director of Experiential Learning. "Students emerge from Externship field placements and experiential courses generally that much more ready to practice law and to meet the high expectations of the future clients and employers on whose behalf they will work following graduation."

"Memphis Law students are once again taking advantage of outstanding Externship opportunities, not only in Memphis and Shelby County but throughout the state of Tennessee and beyond," said Adjunct Professor Shawn McCarver, the Career Law Clerk to Chief Judge S. Thomas Anderson of the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee who teaches a section of the Externship Course devoted to judicial externs and federal government field placements. "Our Externship program receives an unparalleled level of support and commitment from so many dedicated partners."

Through enrollment in the Summer 2019 Externship Course, Memphis Law students are gaining for-credit learning and work experience in the following field placements:

Judicial Chambers

• Judge J.B. Bennett, Hamilton County Circuit Court, 11th Judicial District, Chattanooga, TN
• Judge Bernice B. Donald, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, Memphis, Tennessee
• Judge John T. Fowlkes, U. S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, Memphis, TN
• Judge Stella Hargrove, Circuit Court for the 22nd Judicial District (TN), Columbia, TN
• Judge Sheryl H. Lipman, U. S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, Memphis, TN
• Judge Mark S. Norris, U. S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, Memphis, TN
• Magistrate Judge Tu M. Pham, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, Memphis, TN
• Magistrate Judge Diane K. Vescovo, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, Memphis, TN
• Judge Mary Wagner, Shelby County Circuit Court, 30th Judicial District, Memphis, TN

Federal, State, and Local Government Law Offices

• City of Memphis Attorney's Office, Litigation Unit, Memphis. TN
• City of Memphis Attorney's Office, Transactional Unit, Memphis. TN
• Craighead County (AR) Public Defender's Office
• Office of Chief Counsel, Dept. of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Memphis, TN
• Rutherford County (TN) District Attorney General's Office
• Shelby County District Attorney General's Office, Memphis, TN
  • Honors Prosecution Externship (3 Students)
• Shelby County Public Defender's Officer, Memphis, TN
• U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Tennessee, Memphis, TN
• Office of the Federal Public Defender for the Western District of Tennessee, Memphis, TN

Federal and State Administrative Agencies

• Equal Employment Opportunity Commission – Hearings Unit, Memphis, TN
• Memphis Immigration Court, Memphis, TN
• Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority, Memphis, TN

Healthcare Entities

• Baptist Memorial Health Care Corporation – Office of General Counsel, Memphis, TN
• Medtronic Corporation – Office of Ethics and Compliance, Memphis, TN
• Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare – Office of General Counsel, Memphis, TN
• Regional One Health – Office of General Counsel, Memphis, TN

Academic Institutions

• University of Memphis Office of University Counsel, Memphis, TN

Non-Profit Advocacy

• Community Legal Center, Immigration Justice Program, Memphis, TN
• Ducks Unlimited – Office of Land Protection, Memphis, TN
• Memphis Area Legal Services, Memphis, TN
  • Consumer Unit
  • Fair Housing Center
  • Family Law Unit
  • Pro Bono Unit
  • Restoration of Rights Project
• University of Memphis Medical-Legal Partnership Clinic
• University of Memphis Neighborhood Preservation Clinic

For more information about the Experiential Learning Program at the University of Memphis School of Law, please click here.