Judicial Externships

Each semester, the college places approximately 30 students as judicial externs to work in judges' chambers. Judges participating in the program include United States Circuit, District, Bankruptcy, and Magistrate Judges; Justices of the Ohio Supreme Court; and Franklin County Domestic Relations and Juvenile Court Judges.

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 Autumn and Winter Semesters and 8 weeks of Summer Semester. Students receive 3 credits in Autumn and Spring and 2 credits in Summer, 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 sample of work done for the court, and an evaluation of the student's work by the judge or supervisor.

Selection Process

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 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.

Application Requirements and Deadlines

Interested students must submit an application and a resume and 5-page writing sample to April Davis in Room 104 by 5 p.m. on Monday, March 26, 2012.

Students selected will be notified shortly after the close of the application period. Students with questions about the Judicial Externship Program may see April Davis in Room 104 or email her at davis.3537@osu.edu. More information about the program can be found here.

Federal Bar Association Extern Scholarship Program

The Federal Bar Association Columbus Chapter Extern Scholarship Program seeks to provide financial support to students of 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 either Autumn or Winter. The FBA Extern Scholars will serve in one or more of the chambers chosen by the court. The goal of the scholarships is to enhance diversity among the externs at the U.S. District Court.

Application are available here and are due to April Davis by Monday, March 26, 2011 at 3 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.