Semester in D.C. — D.C. Externship Program

Spend a semester in D.C. working for a non-profit or government agency – for law school credit! If you would like to work in D.C. or in any public policy-related position after graduation, this program offers the opportunity to make contacts and gain intensive, hands-on experience in your field of interest. To learn more about the D.C. externship program, please contact Assoc. Dean Kevin Deasy, deasy@pitt.edu, or Prof. Elena Baylis, ebaylis@pitt.edu.

The details:

Credits: In one semester, you earn 13 law school credits: 10 ungraded credits for roughly 35 hours a week of externship work, and 3 graded credits for participating in the related seminar held in our D.C. office. If you wish, you can also earn additional credits by writing an independent study paper related to your externship under the supervision of a professor.
Employers: Your externship can be with any government or non-profit employer, as long as they are willing to assign an attorney to supervise you and give you approximately 35 hours a week of legal work for 12-16 weeks. Your externship must be unpaid.
Applications: The law school has been in contact with many D.C. employers who are interested in receiving applications from Pitt Law students. We can provide you with this list as a starting place for your search for an externship site. Many employers have a formal application process for semester-long externships, often with very early deadlines (e.g., October for the spring semester and April for the fall). Other employers have an informal application process with rolling deadlines. Regardless, most employers will want to receive your resume, a list of people willing to provide you with recommendations, and a writing sample.
Alumni Contacts: The law school has an alumni network in D.C. of alumni who are eager to mentor current Pitt Law students. Our Associate Director for DC Area Outreach will invite you to alumni events in the D.C. area and put you in touch with alumni working in your area of interest.

The process:

As soon as you know that you might be interested in an externship, contact Assoc. Dean Deasy or Prof. Baylis via email so that they can add you to their list of interested students and provide you with details and periodic updates. Begin thinking about the fields (e.g., health law, IP, international law) and types of employers (e.g., government agencies, Congress, non-profit organizations) that might be of interest to you.
At the very beginning of the semester before you would like to do your externship, begin contacting employers to find out whether they are interested in receiving applications for the following semester. Employers on Pitt Law’s list are already aware of our program, so with them it is just a matter of confirming the availability of externship positions for the following semester. If you are contacting employers on your own, we would be glad to provide you with information about the program to pass on to them.
Apply early! If an employer has openings for the following semester, do not wait to send in your application. These externships tend to be highly competitive, especially the ones with government agencies. Some agencies may have very early deadlines, and even organizations that consider applications on a rolling basis typically only have a few spots to fill.
When you obtain an externship position, contact Assoc. Dean Deasy or Prof. Baylis to let them know. You will also want to contact the Financial Aid office so that they can adjust your cost of living amount to reflect the higher costs in the DC area, as well as registering for the DC externship program and seminar at the registrar’s office.