Civil Externship Seminar - Corporate Counsel

Prerequisites: 1L course of study This course is the companion seminar for students enrolled in the Civil Practice Externship fieldwork course with a placement in an in-house law department where the lawyers are employees of the organization and represent only that client. The course exposes students to the varied problems which daily confront in-house counsel and the skills required to resolve them in a timely and practical manner while serving diverse stakeholders and constituencies. The course will focus on the function of the in-house law department, the development and drafting of an organization's policies, the hiring and managing of outside counsel, the compliance function and internal investigations of employee complaints, interacting with non-lawyers in the organization, and the ethical issues that in-house lawyers are likely to confront. Students will perform simulated in-house lawyer tasks including drafting a litigation settlement memo, and negotiating and drafting the indemnification provision of a typical services contract. Class time will also be spent discussing the work students do at their placements, the skills they are building, and their impressions of the differences between in-house and law firm practice.

Enrollment Notes:
Students who have earned credit for "The General Counsel's Role" Seminar may not earn credit for this course.
Grading and Method of Evaluation:
Letter grade only. Students will be assessed based on reflective writing assignments, other writing projects and simulations, and professionalism and class participation.