Hobbs District Attorney Clinic

The Hobbs District Attorney Clinic offers students a year-long opportunity to receive courtroom experience while working in the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office as a certified law clerk. 

During their externship semester, students may conduct actual felony preliminary hearings, misdemeanor jury trials and juvenile adjudications.  This courtroom experience comes after a semester of intensive advocacy training specifically focused on preparing the students for the types of courtroom work they will handle as DA externs.  While the externship is in a prosecutorial office, the experience is beneficial for anyone interested in work as a courtroom lawyer including prosecution, criminal defense and civil litigation.

The program is competitive and interested students must submit an application the semester before they start the trial advocacy class. Based upon student applications and their performance in the interview, Professor Poehls selects the 14 students who will be admitted into the following semester’s trial advocacy class.  In the first semester, students earn three graded units in the trial advocacy course.  In the second semester, students can earn either 4 or 6 pass/ fail units (depending on whether they choose to work two or three full eight-hour days a week) for the DA externship and one graded unit for a DA Seminar class that meets twice towards the end of the semester. 

Please click the link below for the District Attorney Peformance Evaluation Form.

DA Externship Performance Evaluation

Faculty Advisor: Susan Poehls