Legislation and Lobbying

This is the field placement component of a full term externship program and is paired with the Externship Lecture course. Total credits between Semester in Practice and Externship Lecture will total 13. The number of credit hours awarded to an individual student will determine the hours of work required at the field placement and meet or exceed the ABA standards. In accordance with ABA guidelines, students work at a placement under a supervising attorney. C-LAW 300.

The course will allow students to learn about the real work of environmental law and policy through a combination of intensive training on the skills needed to work with clients and grappling with environmental law and policy matters with which clients need help. At the commencement of the semester, students’ classwork will focus on lawyering skills and the basics of administrative and environmental law through two Saturday intensives. During the course of the semester, a weekly, two-hour class meeting will build upon these skills and include practitioners from industry, private practice, government, and non-profits. In addition, this weekly meeting will serve as a touch-point for learning and sharing with other students how their representation of clients is progressing, what concerns and issues are arising, and what learnings they are taking away. Students will be expected to put 10-12 hours of effort into the clinic per week in keeping with the 4 credit requirement. They will keep timesheets and a journal of their experience.

This experiential course is ideal for prospective law clerks or future litigators who wish to learn more about the perspective behind the bench. It explores the purpose and function of a law clerk, the nature and structure of the judiciary, how to apply for and obtain a clerkship, and most importantly, how to perform it well. Topics of discussion include judicial ethics, chambers confidentiality, docket management, courtroom decorum, professionalism, judicial drafting, and other issues that law clerks commonly encounter. Among other things, students draft an 11-day memo, bench memo, and judicial opinion. The course also includes Lunch & Learn events with federal judges, field trips to the U.S. Supreme Court, FBI, etc., and visits from guest speakers, including a prosecutor, in-house counsel, DOJ attorney, and partners at prominent law firms.

This course is currently available only in the summer. The director of the externship designates one or more cities in North and South Carolina, usually including Charlotte, NC, and offers the students externships in a designated practice area. The practice areas vary from summer to summer. Students meet weekly with the director to integrate and apply the doctrinal insights received elsewhere in the law school curriculum and in the subject matter of the field placements.