Our Interview With The Experts At UC Klekamp College of Law

Juris Education interviewed Neil Taylor, Director of the Externship at UC Klekamp College of Law, for an exclusive look at what sets the school's Program apart.

How do the externship opportunities at the University of Cincinnati College of Law help students gain practical legal experience before graduation, and what types of placements are available?

Legal externs usually work about one day a week at a field placement that we help them find in most cases.  We have a large variety of potential externship placement and make efforts to match students with an area of law they believe they might be interested in.  We use our contacts around the area to develop externship opportunities so that students get a chance to see what working in a particular field of the law is like.  Lawyers supervising the externs give them the type of work they would expect a recent graduated lawyer to perform and also let them observe hearings, depositions, negotiations and important meetings.  Placement opportunities include:  

• working with local corporations like Fifth Third Bank, FC Cincinnati, Kroger, and Western-Southern;

• opportunities in healthcare with Medpace, UCHealth, Cincinnati Childrens’ Hospital, TriHealth, CareSource and others;

• federal, state, and local governmental entities like the City of Cincinnati, City of Hamilton, county prosecutors and public defenders in Ohio and Kentucky, the NLRB and others;

• public interest organizations such as Legal Aid, the Immigrant & Refugee Law Center, and the Clerk of Court’s Help Center; and

• law firms spanning from the largest firms in the city, many small and medium-sized firms and firms that specialize in a particular area of practice such as environmental law, labor & employment, and personal injury.

What skills do students develop through the externship program that make them more competitive for law firm, public interest, government, or in-house legal careers after law school?

In conjunction with the Ohio and Kentucky limited license programs, some of our students are able to make court appearances under supervision and represent real clients in real cases.  In other placements, students develop their contract drafting and review skills, perform legal research and get the opportunity to interact with clients.  The skills they develop in their externships make them more competitive in their chosen field of law because they gain the experience and confidence in their abilities that are extremely valuable to employers. More than a few of our students have been able to convert their externship into permanent employment after graduation.

For prospective law students evaluating externship programs, what makes the University of Cincinnati College of Law's externship experience unique, and how does it prepare students for the realities of legal practice?

Two primary things make our program distinctive. The first is the Greater Cincinnati legal community is very supportive of the program and offers amazing opportunities for our students.  Cincinnati is the quintessential big city with a small town feel in terms of a vast array of opportunities that are accessible for our students.  The second thing that we believe is distinctive is the efforts we make to connect students to their interests, whether or not we have previously had an externship in that area of law.  For instance, last semester we were able to connect a student interested in maritime law with one of our alumni practicing in that specialized area.  We also tell students that the externship offers them an opportunity to try out an area of law that is different from what they had originally thought they would pursue.

Juris Education is proud to interview experts at the nation's most renowned law schools for insights on what makes their programs unique and how they shape career-ready law students.