Levin College of Law
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Externship Program

Field Placements

Welcome to the University of Florida Levin College of Law Field Placement Program. Field placements (also known as externships) combine work experience in a law practice setting with an academic component and allow students to earn credit for their experiences. Second and third-year students are eligible to participate in field placements.

We encourage you to participate in a field placement in order to: begin applying the doctrine learned in school to the practice of law; explore practice areas in which you have an interest; develop the professional skills needed in your future careers; develop a career network; and begin creating your legal work resumes.

Options

UF Law offers field placements in two different formats – Part-time or Semester in Practice.

Part-time – Second and third-year students may participate in 2-5 credit field placements while also taking courses at the law school. The time commitment for these externships is 8-17 hours per week. Most part-time placements are conducted in person with organizations in North Central Florida.

Semester in Practice – Third-year students may participate in 6-10 credit placements, which allow them to work 21-35 hours a week in the location of their choice. Semester in Practice is an immersive experience, intended to help students prepare for their careers and post-graduation life. Students who enroll in Semester in Practice also enroll in a mandatory two-credit Bridge to Practice course.

For additional information about part-time and Semester in Practice Field Placements, including credit and other limitations, law students should review the information provided on the Student Resources Canvas page, under Experiential Learning.

Sites

Field placements have been developed at a wide variety of sites, locally, state-wide and even nationwide. You may work with a state or federal court; a federal, state or local agency; a public interest or legal services organization, or a corporate general counsel’s office. Work for private law firms or explicitly partisan organizations does not qualify for credit.

A list of previous field placement sites is available in the Documents Library on Symplicity. Additionally, opportunities are regularly posted on Symplicity. Keep in mind, however, that not all opportunities make for appropriate field placements. Please make sure that you confirm that you will be able to earn credit before you finalize your plans.

We also work with attorneys and judges who would like to work with our students. If you are interested in becoming an approved site, please complete the new externship site form and return it to externships@law.ufl.edu. We can advertise a position on Symplicity, our career services portal.

Time Commitment

For each credit that you register for, you must work 45 hours. Additionally, you are expected to work throughout the 13-week semester, even if you can complete your required hours earlier. Typically, students register for 2-3 credits for a part-time placement. You should speak with your site supervisor to determine how much work they will be able to give you during the semester. Keep in mind that you may not change your credits after drop/add, so be realistic as to how much you can work.

Tuition

If you register for a Part-time or Semester in Practice field placement during the fall or spring semester, you will pay for those credits like all other credits – as part of your block tuition.

Externship Modality

Under normal circumstances, you are not allowed to participate in remote field placements. However, in response to the Covid 19 public health crisis, we will consider approving remote placements, if the site is continuing with remote work. Even if a placement is remote, if the circumstances allow, we encourage you to have at occasional in person meeting with your supervisor. We will continue to evaluate the situation and adjust as needed for future semesters.

Registration

Students interested in participating in either a Part-time or a Semester in Practice field placement should complete the Field Placement Registration Request form. Potential Semester in Practice students must speak with an advisor and receive approval for their plans before they are registered. Registration for either a Part-time or a Semester in Practice field placement is not automatic, as each request is reviewed to ensure that it meets the academic standards of the program.

Students interested in participating in a Part-Time or Semester in Practice Field Placement should schedule a time to speak with Alisha Tabag in the Office of Career and Professional Development (alishat@law.ufl.edu or 352-273-0775).

If you have questions about our program, please contact:

Professor Sarah Wolking
wolking@law.ufl.edu
(352)273-0815

University of Florida Levin College of Law
309 Village Drive
PO Box 117620
Gainesville, FL 32611
(352) 273-0804
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The Florida Constitutional Law Endowment in memory of Justice Ben F. Overton was created by Judge Karen Miller in 2013. This fund supports lectures and presentations by Justices of the Florida Supreme Court at the Fredric G. Levin College of Law.

HISTORY

Justice Overton, who earned his B.S. in 1951 and his Juris Doctor in 1952 from the University of Florida, was the first merit appointment to the Florida Supreme Court. Throughout his career he was active in legal education and served as an Adjunct Professor at the Levin College of Law through December 2012, the month of his death. Although he resided at Oak Hammock at the University of Florida, a continuing care retirement community developed in cooperation with UF, he also considered the Florida Supreme Court “home.” Among the high points of his later years was hosting Justices of the Florida Supreme Court in Gainesville and taking his class to Tallahassee to hear oral arguments at the Florida Supreme Court.
Judge Miller, who earned her B.S. cum laude from New York University in 1974 and her Juris Doctor from New York Law School in 1977, served as Chief Administrative Law Judge of the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs, New York City’s business regulatory agency, before she retired to Oak Hammock at the University of Florida. Having accompanied Justice Overton on his excursions to Tallahassee and joined him in welcoming guests to Oak Hammock at the University of Florida, she created the endowment in memory of Justice Overton to ensure that the Levin College of Law continues to have the funding necessary to continue and enhance the interaction between its students and the Florida Supreme Court.

 

Judge Miller remembered the event that motivated the endowment.

 

Prior to a dinner at the home of Dean Robert Jerry and Lisa Jerry shortly after Justice Overton’s death, Justice Barbara Pariente and I were discussing a suitable memorial. Justice Pariente, who had been Justice Overton’s colleague on the Florida Supreme Court and who understood the importance to him of the interaction between his students and the Court, suggested the outline of what has become the Overton lectures. Dean Jerry, who has since retired, as has Dean Emeritus Jon Mills, who assumed responsibility for implementing the Overton lectures, were very supportive from the beginning. Since Dean Mills’ retirement, Professor Timothy McClendon, who assisted both Justice Overton and Dean Mills teaching Florida Constitutional Law and who co-authored the recent Florida Constitutional Law casebook, has continued the Overton lectures with the support of Interim Dean Merritt McAlister and CGR director, Professor Danaya Wright.

Justice Overton was a devoted jurist, educator, and ethical leader of the Florida legal profession. The Overton Lecture Series brings Florida Supreme Court Justices to the University of Florida, Levin College of Law, and serves to introduce students to the inner workings of the Court. CGR and the students of the College of Law extend our deepest gratitude to Judge Karen Miller for making the Overton Lectures possible in perpetuity.

You can watch an interview for the Florida Historical Society by Mary Adkins, professor emeritus of the UF Levin College of Law, with Justice Overton here.

Justice Overton was also interviewed for the Samuel Proctor Oral History Project and a transcript of his interview is available at the Smathers Library, and here.
Justice Overton sat on the Constitution Revision Commission of 1977-78 that proposed a right to privacy in the Florida Constitution. Although it failed as part of the Constitution Revision Commission recommendations, it passed in 1980 when proposed by the legislature. The bill was co-sponsored by our very own Jon Mills. The privacy provision prevailed by greater than 60%. Justice Overton then wrote a concurrence in a critical reproductive rights case in 1989 affirming that the privacy provision of the Florida Constitution included the right to obtain an abortion. That decision was overruled in Planned Parenthood of SW and Central Florida v. Florida. You can read about the role of Justice Overton, Jon Mills – director emeritus of CGR, and the history of the 1989 case here.