LGLA-2388

PARALEGAL PROGRAM INTERNSHIP

LGLA 2388

 

The Paralegal Program's Internship Course is designed to provide a student who has completed all but one or two semesters of the Program, with an opportunity to obtain experience and greater responsibility in paralegal duties and law office or law agency operations. 

The Course is three college credit hours and is only offered in the fall and spring semesters.  Unless the student is working for a government agency or not-for-profit organization, the student must be paid at least minimum wage. The student is expected to spend at least 280 hours during the semester in the law environment and to be spending a "significant portion" of those hours involved in tasks normally accomplished by a paralegal.  During the sixteen-week semester, the student is expected to be working approximately 20 hours per week every week except for the first and last weeks of the semester, or during weeks involving holidays.  It is also important that many of the assigned paralegal tasks involve functions that are new to the student or from which the student can learn or improve. 

The student's overall supervisor for purposes of the internship should be the attorney who will be responsible for evaluating the student's performance during the internship.   The student will also be required to write a paper and attend a seminar during the course and review videotapes on pertinent subjects.  The instructor will visit the student at the job site and maintain regular contact with the student as needed.

The project or projects that will form the basis for the internship can involve any function or functions that a paralegal normally performs in a law office.  A research project or projects, or other work on a case or series of cases, often forms the basis for an internship.  It is critical though, that the student's project(s) involve something that the firm or agency needs accomplished (not make-work).

The first internship is a required course for graduation; however, approval for enrollment in a second internship will only be granted where the previous internship was extremely valuable and an unusual opportunity for continued learning exists.

Finally, the student should be enrolled in another Paralegal course at the same time that the student is enrolled in the internship.

Questions??  Contact Duane Crowley, Dept. Chair, Paralegal Dept. (223-3266).