Corporate Externship

The Corporate Externship Program provides students with experiences in business law, specifically in corporate law. While the Law School’s Judicial Externship familiarizes students with the workings of the court system, the Corporate Externship Program familiarizes students with the working connections between law and business in corporate counsel settings. This program is a fitting companion to the Business Law Clinic, where students represent start-up and emerging businesses in non-dispute-related matters.

While externship providers determine assignments, we ask that projects be transactional (non-dispute). Projects and activities should focus on research, writing, and thinking related to lawyering and business skills—problem analysis, organizational strategy, negotiation, and drafting or revising commercial documents. Approximately half of the time students should be experiencing the environment of the corporate legal department. Shadowing, mentoring, and other kinds of observation are experiential activities.

We will assign a student based on the student's preferences when possible. We also may be able to address a specific request you may have as to organizational experience or foreign language proficiency.

Contact Kiri Somermeyer at the Corporate Institute at CorpInstitute@umn.edu.

Compensation is optional. The students pay tuition for the course and it is in the discretion of each company to decide whether to pay their externs.

We evaluate the students based on feedback from you and from the students and on assignments that are part of the program.

Grades for the Corporate Externship are on a pass/no pass basis.

• Corporate counsel presentation
• Essay based on interview or conversations with placement supervisors on their experiences in the role of corporate counsel
• Weekly reflective journal