Judicial Externships

Each semester, the college places approximately 25 students as judicial externs to work in judges' chambers. Judges participating in the program include include United States Circuit, District, Bankruptcy, and Magistrate Judges; Justices of the Ohio Supreme Court; and Franklin County Domestic Relations and Juvenile Court Judges.

Over the past few years, the program has expanded to include Commissions of the Supreme Court of Ohio, the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, and the Ohio Judicial Conference.

Judicial externships provide excellent educational opportunities, including opportunities to glimpse the workings of courts from the inside, interaction with distinguished judges, and engagement in supervised research and writing.

Judicial externs attend several classes at the college, in which they are exposed to a range of topics, including the variety of judicial experiences of their classmates in the program and ethical issues specific to the judicial context.

The program runs the full 14 weeks of the Spring Semester. Students receive 3 credits, and the course is graded on a "satisfactory" or "unsatisfactory" basis.

The course requirements include eight hours of work each week (plus possible additional work as required by the judge), attendance at the classroom component, a journal, a short paper about what the student learned during the externship, a significant sample of work done for the court, and an evaluation of the student's work by the judge or supervisor.

Application Process

After completing the first year of classes law students can apply through the college to participate in the program. Selection is on a competitive but broad basis. Demonstrated writing ability and commitment and capacity to represent the college well are important criteria. Law school grades will be neither irrelevant nor controlling. Under the faculty policy, third-year students are given preference in the selection process. Also, a few of the judges are willing to take only third-year students.

The application process takes place twice during the academic year. During October of Fall Semester, 2L and 3L students apply for extern positions they will hold during the following Spring Semester. The second application process takes place during March of Spring Semester for 1Ls (upcoming 2Ls) and 2Ls (upcoming 3Ls) to apply for the following Summer and Fall Semesters.

Application Requirements and Deadlines

An interested student must submit to Asst. Dean Monte Smith a resume, an individual writing sample (2-3 page minimum) and a cover letter (addressed to Dean Smith) describing why the student is interested in a judicial externship, the student's professional interests, the student's plans for employment, extra-curricular activities, activities outside law school, ability and willingness to devote the necessary time and energy to a judicial externship, and the student's preferences for courts and/or judges.

Students may, but need not, indicate your preference of judges. Students interested in the Bankruptcy Court must indicate whether they have taken or will take, a course in Debtor/Creditor Law or any other Bankruptcy-related class. Students may also indicate a preference not to work in a particular type of court. To avoid conflicts, applicants should note potential conflicts of interest arising from past interaction with, or relationship to, particular judges.

Students selected will be notified shortly after the close of the application period. Students with questions about the Judicial Extern Program may see Asst. Dean Monte Smith in Room 104 or email him at smith.747@osu.edu.

Federal Bar Association Extern Scholarship Program

The Federal Bar Association Columbus Chapter Extern Scholarship Program seeks to provide financial support to students of the The Moritz College of Law and Capital University Law School and to provide them with the unique opportunity to serve as a judicial extern for the Judges and Magistrate Judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio (Columbus). The Program has two separate elements. FBA Extern Scholars will (1) receive a $5,000 scholarship; and (2) be provided an opportunity to extern for law school credit with the Court for 14 weeks in the spring. The FBA Extern Scholars will serve in one or more of the chambers chosen by the court.

Application are due to Assistant Dean Monte Smith by Friday, October 2, 2009 at 4:00 p.m. Students who apply for the scholarships must also apply for the externship program, and the scholarship recipients will be required to participate in the Moritz Judicial Extern Program. Applicants who are not selected for scholarships may, nevertheless, be placed in externships. Accordingly, only students who desire to participate in the Program are encouraged to apply for the scholarship.