Summer International Externships

The Center for Law and Global Justice International Externship Program educates lawyers to be global citizens able to practice their profession anywhere in the world.

Students that participate in global clinical externships apply the skills they have learned in law school at NGOs, international business law firms, nonprofit organizations, government agencies, and foreign judicial offices.

Externships bring students to dynamic law offices around the world and present unbounded opportunities for learning and growth in both human rights law and international business law. The externship program began in Brazil in the 1990s. Today, students travel to Beijing, China, to study the legal system of China and its intersection with relevant international law before beginning their externships with law firms, many of which specialize in intellectual property law. In Bangalore, India, students receive instruction on the Indian legal system and visit historic courts and parliament before starting four-week externships in the home of India's high-tech industry and the birthplace of some of the most effective human rights NGOs in the country. In Bilbao, Spain, students spend three days reviewing the legal system of Spain and how it relates to European community law and other international law and then undertake positions in law offices, NGOs, courts, and government agencies. Students participating in the Argentina externship program receive instruction on the country's legal system before embarking on externships with private firms and public agencies. And while participating in externships in Vietnam, students work at NGOs, such as STAR-Vietnam, and international commercial law firms, representing Vietnamese and overseas investors in contract, regulatory, intellectual property, trade, securities, and real property issues.

Law students receive four units of academic credit from USF for their participation in a five-week program. The students arrive at their destinations ready to learn, often bringing with them previous work experience in intellectual property, business, and human rights. Competition for the externship positions is strong and priority is given to law students who are at or near the top of their class or who are fluent in the language of the country in which they wish to intern. Students are eligible to apply for the program at the end of their first or second years of law school.