Fall 2021 Legal Externships for Law Students
The New York State Office of the Attorney General (“OAG”) has externships for course credit available during the fall 2021 semester for second and third-year day law students, as well as evening law students who have completed at least three (3) semesters. Interested law students must be receiving course credit for their work at the OAG as part of an independent study, externship program or clinical program. As OAG employees continue to return to the workplace, students will begin their fall placements working remotely. OAG Leadership is continuously evaluating the situation, and we hope to provide students with the option of working in-person as soon as possible.
Selected law students will have the opportunity to assist attorneys in all phases of their work including but not limited to: legal research; drafting of briefs, memos and pleadings; document review; responding to discovery requests; preparing for depositions and trials; and performing some clerical work. Students are encouraged to commit to work part-time (15 hours/week) for at least a semester (10-12 weeks) or the minimum stipulated by their externship, clinic or independent study.
Externships are available in a number of our bureaus and regional offices. Applicants should only apply for those bureaus and/or regional offices that are of interest to them. These are unpaid placements for academic credit. For a current list of available student opportunities, which includes paid and externship placements, please visit www.ag.ny.gov/job-postings. For more information about the work of a particular bureau or regional office, please visit the Divisions & Bureaus and Media Center sections of our website.
At the time of hire, law students are required to provide written confirmation from their schools indicating their acceptance into an externship program, a clinical program or an approved independent study. Additionally, this confirmation must indicate the appropriate externship contact at the law school along with the parameters of the placement, including the employer’s responsibilities, the required minimum/maximum work hours to be completed by the student and the number of credits the student will receive upon completion of the placement.
How To Apply
The following section provides detailed information about the application process and application requirements. Please review the complete list of instructions prior to preparing and submitting your application materials online.
- Applications for the fall 2021 externships are being received online. To apply, please click on the reference number for the bureau or regional office of interest to you in the table listed above; applicants will be taken to the online application page for that particular extern position.
- Please apply to no more than three (3) bureaus/regional offices.
- Applications are submitted separately for each bureau/regional office, and an applicant’s candidacy for each application is determined separately by each bureau/regional office.
The following documents are required for each application that is submitted: (Click on the document name to learn more)
- Cover Letter
- You may address to Legal Recruitment.
- Indicate why you are interested in a placement with the OAG, why you are the best candidate and your career aspirations.
- Indicate your availability and preferred work schedule.
- If applying to multiple bureaus/regional offices, we recommend that you submit the same cover letter for each application, ranking those bureaus/regional offices in order of your preference.
- Indicate the details of your externship, clinic or independent study.
- Current resume
- List of three (3) references.
- Only submit professional (i.e., supervisor or professor) references.
- Indicate the nature and duration of your relationship to each reference.
- Include contact information and email addresses for each reference.
- Transcript
- Unofficial transcript is acceptable.
- Writing Sample
- Submit any piece of legal writing that demonstrates your ability to analyze legal issues in a clear and concise manner, as well as your advocacy and grammatical skills. For example, an advisory opinion, memorandum of law in support of a motion, or appellate brief would be acceptable.
Failure to submit a complete application will delay the consideration of your candidacy.
If you have questions about a position with the OAG, the application process or need assistance with submitting your application, please contact the Legal Recruitment via email at recruitment@ag.ny.gov.
QUALIFICATIONS
We are seeking bright, hardworking law students, as specified above, who are committed to public service. Excellent legal research, writing and verbal communication skills are also required. Fluency in other languages (e.g., Spanish, Mandarin, Russian, Korean, etc.) in addition to English is a plus. U.S. citizenship and NYS residency are not required, but applicants must be eligible to be employed in the U.S.
The following bureaus/offices have externships available during the fall 2021 semester for eligible law students: