Clinical Externship Program
Through the Clinical Externship Program, third-year students gain real-world legal experience in exchange for academic credit at various organizations, agencies, law offices, government offices, and corporations in San Diego and around the world.
Clinical Externship Program
The Clinical Externship Program is an essential component of the curriculum at California Western School of Law, building upon the strong doctrinal and practical foundation our students develop during their first two years of law school. Running the full length of the semester, the program provides our third-year students the opportunity to earn academic credit for work performed under the mentorship of approved supervising attorneys. Externs participating in the program spend between 20 and 40 hours per week gaining meaningful legal experience. They work at a wide variety of placements across both the public and private sectors. Our students extern with judges, governmental agencies, public interest and nonprofit organizations, private law firms, and corporate in-house counsel. Participating in the program enhances a student’s lawyering skills and supports the development of research, writing, and oral advocacy skills in a clinical setting. Alongside their placement, students also attend a weekly externship seminar devoted to professional development as they transition from law students to practicing lawyers. The seminar provides students the opportunity to reflect on their current and future professional lives among a supportive cohort of their peers.
Clinical Externship Placements
California Western students gain valuable experience and develop their professional identity in a wide range of externship placements in both the public and private sectors. A sample of recent externship placements include:
Approximately 60–70% of Third Year Law Students Participate
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Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
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U.S. District Courts
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California Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District
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San Diego County Superior Court
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State of Hawaii Second Circuit Court
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U.S. Department of Justice
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U.S. Attorney’s Office - Civil Division
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U.S. Attorney’s Office - Criminal Division
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U.S. Department of Energy
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U.S. Navy JAG Corps
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Office of the U.S. Trustee
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California Office of the Attorney General
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San Diego Office of the District Attorney
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Los Angeles Office of the District Attorney
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San Bernardino Office of the District Attorney
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San Diego Public Defender’s Office
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Office of the City Attorney- San Diego
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County of San Diego Office of Labor Standards & Enforcement
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ACLU
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American Bar Association Immigration Justice Project
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Casa Cornelia Law Center
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Legal Aid Society of San Diego, Inc.
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San Diego Volunteer Law Program
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Southern California Immigration Project
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Dependency Legal Services, San Diego
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Department of Child Support Service
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Disability Rights of California
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San Diego Coastkeeper
Opportunities are available at private law firms of all sizes, from national firms to solo practitioners. Externs have worked in various practice areas, including civil litigation, corporate transactions, personal injury, criminal defense, estate planning and probate litigation, family law, immigration law, and Intellectual Property.
The Clinical Externship Program provides a law student the opportunity to begin to transition from student to practitioner. This program offers the opportunity for a student to strengthen their lawyering skills and supports the development of a student's research, writing and oral advocacy skills in a clinical setting.
Learn more about the rules and regulations for participation in the program or how to become a pre-approved placement for our law students.
Clinical Externship Team
Catherine Hardee is a professor of law and serves as the Director of the Clinical Externship Program. Hardee's research and teaching interests are in the fields of business law and torts.
Kelly Bruhn, Esq. is an adjunct professor of law and serves as the Associate Director of the Clinical Externship Program. Kelly Bruhn teaches Disability Law at California Western.
Contact Us
For more information, contact Kelly Bruhn, Esq. - Associate Director, Clinical Externship Program at JavaScript Required or at (619) 525-1438.