What Students Don't Know Will Hurt Them: A Frank View from the Field on How to Better Prepare Our Clinic and Externship Students

Abstract

This Article investigates the areas in which law students are under-prepared for the externship and clinical experience as identified by those in the best position to know: their field supervisors. Through surveys and interviews, the authors learned what qualities supervisors hope to see in students, what abilities they want from students, and the level of competence they will accept. The article begins with an examination of the authors' own perceptions of student inexperience and the factual basis, if any, for the concern that law students need to be better prepared for their first field placements and clinics. Next, the authors describe the survey of nearly three dozen judges, law clerks, government agency attorneys and public interest attorneys with experience supervising students from schools across the county. Also discussed are the more detailed accounts offered by several supervisors who presented their opinions at the authors' Externship 3: Learning from Practice conference presentation in March, 2006. The authors analyze the results by type of skill (writing, research, office etiquette, etc.), as well as by type of placement (judicial, government and public interest). The article concludes with a discussion of the tools that the authors have developed to better prepare their students and their plans for future program improvements.

Keywords: Externship, Clinic, Survey, Field, Supervisor, Student, Prepare