The Prelaw Advisement Center does NOT offer placed Spring/Summer Internships. However, if you have a legal placement that you have set-up, we can still run academic credit through our office if you would like to receive credit for the work you are doing, whether paid or unpaid. If you are interested in doing this (what is called a self-initiated internship), please contact our internship coordinator, Darcey Pett, at darcey_possie@byu.edu.

We will be filling approximately 40 internship spots in Fall of 2008. Applications will be posted online at this website and through the weekly prelaw e-newsletter in early August. If you have any questions about fall internships, please contact Darcey Pett.

Legal Internships

"This internship has given me first hand experience. I was in the office working on real cases, dealing with clients. I enjoyed all the time I had working with my attorney. This internship has further encouraged me to want to attend law school."

-Karrie Johansen, Winter 07

What are Legal Internships?

The Brigham Young University Legal Internship program was established two years ago in order to expose prelaw students to the legal profession. The goal of legal internships is to provide undergraduate BYU students with a meaningful legal experience in preparation for law school and eventually a career in law. Students are placed in nearly 30 firms all over Utah County and work closely with attorneys in various specializations, ranging from family law to intellectual property law. Our interns are actively involved in the firms they work for and contribute in many different ways, through:

• Legal research: reading case files, evidence, case histories
• Acting as a file clerk and runner: delivering documents to court, serving process, etc.
• Drafting documents: writing memos, patents, appeals, etc.
• Attending court: trials, hearings, depositions, etc.
• Shadowing: observe meetings, mediations, plea bargains, court, etc.
• Organizing: filing, copying, preparing discovery folders, etc.
• Updating websites and creating databases
• Ordering records and bills

Although these legal internships are unpaid, students receive university credit for the work they complete. Also, this experience is a great way to learn about legal careers and create meaningful relationships with local attorneys.

How are the Internships Graded?

After accepting a legal intern position, students are required to attend a 90 min. mandatory orientation meeting. Here they will receive a syllabus, their firms' contact information and be trained on legal research to better prepare themselves before they begin working. In order to receive credit for the work completed in the firm, students are required to submit a weekly journal assignment to the TA. They also keep a log of their hours throughout the entire semester and submit it, along with a final evaluation, at a mandatory meeting held at the end of the semester. More details for grading criteria are listed in the syllabus for the class.

Fall and Winter interns earn 1 credit hour for every 42 hours of work completed each semester. This averages to around 3-4 hours a week. Students may enroll for more credits, but they must complete the required work hours for each credit (2 credit hrs=84 hrs work a semester, 3 credit hrs=126 hrs work a semester). Usually only part-time students register for more than one credit hour because they have more time to commit to their firm.

Who Can Apply for a Position?

Any BYU undergraduate student is encouraged to apply for a legal internship position, although we do give preference to juniors and seniors since they usually have more research experience and a more mature work ethic.

We are looking for students who are proactive, dependent and committed to working in a legal environment. We need students who will represent themselves, Prelaw and BYU in a professional manner so that firms will be content with the quality of our interns. This, in turn, will help us continue establishing top quality internship experiences for future interns and expand our program to more firms.

Applying for Fall/Winter Semesters

We will be accepting applications for the Fall 2008 semester beginning Monday, August 4th. The deadline for submission will be Friday, August 8th. Students will be notified as to whether they have received an internship on Monday, August 11th.

Students can access the application at this website or by picking one up from our office in 3328 WSC.

Completed applications with their required attachments can be submitted via email at prelaw@byu.edu or may be dropped off at our office (3328 WSC).

Applying for Spring/Summer Terms

Although our office does not place students for legal internships during the spring and summer terms, we will give university credit if students find their own internship related to law. Students interested in the Self-initiated Internship program should consider the following:

-For every 42 hrs of work completed, 1 credit hour is awarded (2 credit hrs=84 hrs work, 3 credit hrs=126 hrs work)
-If the experience provider is not already contracted with the Unviersity, specific paperwork needs to be filed and submitted to the Internship Office.
- An ADD/DROP card needs to filled out and submitted to the Registration Office in order to receive credit for work completed
For more information please visit Darcey Possie during her office hours (M, W, Th and Fri from 10-5) or email her at darcey_possie@byu.edu