Externships

Externships combine legal placements with a classroom component to help students get the most from their experience.

Theory and Practice Meets Ethics

Our Externship Program helps students develop those qualities and skills they will need to become successful practitioners by combining theory and practice, while also providing opportunities to reflect upon and instill the moral and ethical values that underlie a rational and just application of law.

Full-Time

Our Semester-in-Practice Program (SIP) gives our students the opportunity to work 4-5 days per week working in the field, while retaining the crucial seminar component for reflection on their experiences and for faculty guidance. Students can work locally or around the world in diverse settings and practice areas and learn on the job from experienced lawyers--many of them BC Law alumni--who are committed to helping our students succeed.

Part-Time

For those who want to enroll in law school courses and extern in the same semester, we offer numerous part-time externships with companies, courts, law firms, government agencies and public interest organizations.

This is how you build your network, learn what kind of law you want to practice, and figure out what kind of lawyer you want to become. 

Semester in Practice

Real Experience, Across the World

Our Semester in Practice (SIP) Program, unique in the breadth and flexibility of its offerings, places students in immersive externships with firms, judges, public interest organizations, government agencies, and businesses in Boston, across the US, and around the world. 

Students work 4-5 days per week and attend a weekly seminar, examining their experiences through readings, discussion, and presentations. The program director monitors every placement to ensure supervising attorneys provide a significant educational experience.

In addition to the diverse SIP placement opportunities, students can also customize their experience and design their own SIP, subject to approval. The law school also has two flagship SIP programs offered in the Spring semester: BC in Dublin/Europe and BC in DC.

Sample SIP placements include:

AerCap (Dublin)

Akebia Therapeutics

Boston Red Sox

DLA Piper (Boston and Dublin)

Earthjustice

First Circuit Court of Appeals

US Department of Justice

Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Wayfair

 

SIP: Dublin/Europe


​The administrative center of the program, which celebrated its 30th year in 2019, is now based at the Boston College satellite campus in Ireland. The program has served hundreds of students working in private businesses, law firms, and public organizations. It is an immersive experience which offers students a comparative law opportunity to work and collaborate with international attorneys.

Students spend 35-40 hours per week at their externship placement and maintain journals relating to their research, writing and observations. These are discussed at weekly seminars led by a member of the BC Law faculty.​ For externship placements throughout Europe, students use videoconferencing to participate in the seminar.

SIP: BC in DC


This is a full-time, immersive externship in the nation’s capital. Students work in diverse settings, including government agencies, law firms, public interest groups, in-house corporate counsel, and courts.

Weekly seminars focus on attorneys’ roles in DC, and site visits and guest speakers help students gain practical skills, develop professional relationships, and learn about career opportunities.

Part-Time Externships

Many students benefit from working in an off-campus legal setting while still taking academic courses on-campus in the same semester. Our part-time externship field placements provide students with the opportunity to gain professional experience over the course of an entire semester at companies, courts, law firms, government agencies and public interest organizations.

Our externships provide strong on-site quality supervision and feedback from attorneys employed at the placement, and through the oversight and monitoring provided by the Externship Program Director who maintains close communication with every field placement. Students also take an accompanying externship seminar that is taught by adjunct faculty, which allows a more holistic approach to learning on the job.

Placement options include:

Beth Israel Lahey Health

Casner & Edwards LLP

Department of Labor

Federal & State Appellate and Trial Courts

Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights

Massachusetts Attorney General's Office

Massachusetts District, Juvenile, Land, and Housing Courts

Victims Rights Law Center

Many more

Externship Opportunities


Administrative Law

Federal, state, and local government placements.

Attorney General Civil Litigation Program

Students practice for a full year at the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, working on civil litigation, drafting legal documents, and researching and writing trial and appellate briefs. Students argue matters in superior court on behalf of state agencies.

Department of Revenue Tax Program

Students placed at the Massachusetts Department of Revenue work directly with Legal Division attorneys handling cases involving state taxation of individuals, corporations, and other entities. 

In-House General Counsel

Students work with corporate in-house counsel on a variety of matters, such as contracts, mergers and acquisitions, employment law, IP, and privacy.

Judicial Process - Appeals

Students work with judges in the First Circuit Court of Appeals, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court and the Massachusetts Appeals Court, assisting in drafting judicial decisions and observing oral arguments.

Judicial Process - Trials

Students are placed with justices of the U.S. District Court, Massachusetts Superior Court, Boston Municipal Court, Juvenile Court, and Land Court in civil and criminal proceedings.

Public Policy/Legal Services

Students work with a variety of organizations providing direct service and/or on important policy issues, such at the ACLU, Earthjustice, Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, and Victims' Rights Law Center, among many others.