Another semester is well underway, and for 1Ls currently staring down approximately a couple hundred pages of reading per week, it might be heartening to remember that with 2L comes opportunities to practically build your legal skills. 

Two of these opportunities, externships and clinics, allow students to engage with the legal profession practically. This all sounds amazing, but when I was a 1L I had questions: what’s a clinic? What’s an externship? How are they different? Can you do both? 

The first two questions I can answer. In clinics students work in teams with clients under the direct supervision of Boston College faculty. Externships are “on the ground” legal placements, where students work outside of Boston College—whether that be in a courthouse, nonprofit, defenders office, or private firm.

As for the third, I’ve only externed, so I’m not the best person to answer that. Luckily for our readers, I outsourced to students who have done both to get a better understanding of how these experiences differ (this, of course, answers the fourth question: you can do both). 

2L Maeve Silk externed at the United States’ Attorney’s Office Affirmative Civil Enforcement in her fall semester, and currently works in the Federal Pro Se Legal Assistance Clinic. For her externship, Silk applied externally and had an interview, whereas for her clinic, Silk applied through the clinic application form on Sage, BC law’s internal career website. 

In her clinic, Silk gets assigned different clients that she works with directly. In her externship, Silk did not work with clients, but worked on longer term research assignments. These research projects were one of the “pros” of Silk’s externship, along with more flexible hours. Alternatively, in the clinic, Silk enjoys working with a variety of different clients, alongside other BC Law students.

2L Delaney Fleming worked with the Youth and Family Rights Clinic in her fall semester, and currently externs with Citizens for Juvenile Justice. In her clinic, Fleming got matched with a young adult client and a community organization, whereas in her externship she works on more “macro-level” advocacy and policy work. 

In her clinic, Fleming said she received more structured supervision—she attended a seminar and once a week supervision meetings with her clinic instructor. Fleming worked with other students in her clinic, whereas in her externship she works with her supervisor. 

Fleming said her clinic required approximately 20 hours of weekly work, and she could count more towards her clinic hours than for her externship. In the clinic, Fleming was assigned cases, whereas in an externship, Fleming said you may need to ask for work once assignments are complete. 

Fleming said her clinic provided her with training hosted through the CEL. 

While both externships and clinics count for course credit, Fleming said her clinic experience focused more on the learning process, while for her externship the focus is the overarching goal of the projects she worked on. In both experiences, however, Fleming said she is working on her skills and trying to create a quality product.

2L Ariana Harris worked in the Housing Court Lawyer for the Day clinic in her fall semester, and is a Judicial Extern in Justice Dalila Wendlandt’s chambers in the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. 

In the fall, Harris and the other members of her clinic would travel to the Metro South Housing Court in Canton every Tuesday, which are “eviction” days at the court. Harris said on these eviction days, people would line up for negotiation conferences, hearings, and trials related to evictions. Harris said her job was akin to “triage” and in her time at the clinic negotiated with landlord’s attorneys, helped clients apply for rent assistance, and wrote answers and motions. 

In her externship, Harris has written memos regarding whether a court should hear an appellant’s case, and will eventually write memos detailing issues of law. Harris watches arguments, meets with Justice Wendlandt and other interns to discuss cases, and reviews Bar Discipline cases. 

Harris’ application for her clinic was unorthodox. She received an email stating there was availability in the clinic in May, after the usual application period, and wrote to the clinic professor detailing her prior work experience and clinic goals. Harris also reached out to a prior TA for guidance. 

Harris began applying for externships in mid-September, and received an interview offer in early October. She spoke to law clerks at the SJC, and received an offer a few hours after her interview. 

In her clinic, Harris said she spent hours with clients both in and out of the court, making calls and sending emails. She worked closely with her clinic instructor to strategize. At the SJC, Harris does not work for clients, but works with her supervisors: Justice Wendlandt, a career clerk, and two law clerks.

In her externship, Harris said she gets to think through policy considerations, and her supervisors encourage her to think out the legal implications of each case while “flexing” her “writing and research muscles.” Harris has gotten to work with a wide variety of cases across multiple disciplines. She has also enjoyed “Getting off campus and into the ‘real world,’” as she worked prior to attending law school. 

In her clinic, Harris got practical experience. “My advocacy abilities grew exponentially,” Harris said. She also appreciated the leadership from her clinic professor and the genuine connection she could develop with clients and other clinic students. 

Finally, Harris learnt more about housing law. 

“Housing law is no joke,” Harris said. “I will never be late on a rent payment again.”

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Samantha Torre is a 2L student at BC Law. Contact her at torrs@bc.edu.