Field Placement Policies and Procedures

Responsibilities of Externs

Externs who intend on participating in the Field Placement Program must be mindful of the obligations described below.

1. Student (Extern) Responsibilities

1.1 Eligibility

Students are eligible to apply for a field placement after completing 28 units of study and must be in good academic standing. The minimum cumulative GPA for a part-time field placement is 2.33. Students on academic probation (defined as a GPA below 2.33) are not eligible to enroll in a field placement for units.

Students who have failed to complete an off-campus field placement or who have received a grade of “Fail” in an off-campus field placement are not subsequently eligible to enroll in an off-campus field placement.

Completion of a minimum of two units at a qualified public interest placement automatically satisfies the public interest/pro bono graduation requirement, subject to program confirmation. See Section 1.3 for public interest unit limits.

1.2 Enrollment and Application Deadlines

All field placement opportunities must be approved prior to enrollment by the Field Placement Department. Enrollment in off-campus field placements is always processed through the Field Placement Department. Students who do not follow application procedures may not be permitted to enroll.

Application deadlines for off-campus field placements change each academic year. Deadlines are posted on the Field Placement Department website and in Brightspace. Field placements must be confirmed by the posted deadline date.

On-campus clinical placements (such as the Center for Conflict Resolution or the Center for Juvenile Law and Policy) are not subject to the off-campus application deadlines. Students interested in on-campus clinics should apply directly to the office of interest.

1.3 Unit Limits and Credit Cap

The maximum number of field placement units a student may complete during their legal education is 14, whether graded or ungraded. Of the 87 units required to graduate, up to 20 may be ungraded units.

Private field placements are limited to a maximum of 4 units during any single term and 6 total units during a student’s legal education.

Full-time field placements (7–10 units) are available only for judicial placements and require a verified minimum cumulative GPA of 3.33.

Public interest field placements: completion of at least two units at a qualified public interest placement may automatically satisfy the public interest/pro bono graduation requirement, subject to program confirmation.

Second-year students are required to complete Ethical Lawyering, Evidence, and Constitutional Law during their 2L year. Before enrolling in a field placement, second-year students must confirm that their placement schedule will not prevent them from completing all three required courses in the same academic year. No preference in registration is given to field placement students for required courses, and the required course obligation will not be waived due to a field placement conflict.

Transfer students cannot enroll in a field placement until they have completed at least one semester at Loyola and have a Loyola GPA. After their first semester, transfer students may enroll in up to 6 units during the academic year in which they have no official Loyola GPA. Transfer students may not enroll in a full-time field placement (7 or more units) until they have completed a full academic year and have a Loyola GPA of 3.33 or higher.

Summer enrollment is limited to a maximum of 6 field placement units. Students on academic probation are not eligible to enroll during the summer.

1.4 Time Commitment and Hours

Each field placement unit requires a minimum of 52 hours of supervised legal services. All hours must be completed during the term in which the student is enrolled.

* One-unit field placements are available during the summer only.

** Full-time placements require a verified minimum GPA of 3.33 and are available only for judicial placements.

1.5 Mandatory Course Component

Participation in an academic course component is a required condition of receiving credit for a field placement. There are no exceptions or waivers to this requirement. Students must complete all of the following in addition to their fieldwork hours:

Orientation

All students must attend a mandatory online orientation class at the beginning of each semester covering ethics, professionalism, and course requirements. Attendance is required regardless of whether the student has participated in a field placement in a prior semester. The Field Placement Department Director reserves the right to refuse enrollment to students who do not attend orientation.

Online Class Component

All students must participate in a seminar or online tutorial course taught by Loyola faculty. Class attendance is mandatory. Work is not an acceptable excuse for missing class—placement sites are made aware that students are required to attend class as a condition of receiving academic credit.

Hour Logs

Students must prepare and submit regular hour logs by the established due dates. Hour logs must include detailed journal entries and are submitted through 12twenty. Hour logs must be signed by the supervising attorney by the established due date in order for the hours to be credited toward course completion.

Late Penalty for Assignments

Late assignments, including hour logs and reflections, are subject to a time penalty of ½ hour for each school day beyond the due date that the document is late. Deadline dates are posted in Brightspace at the beginning of each semester. Students are responsible for calendaring all deadline dates and class dates.

Reflection Assignments

Reflection assignments encourage students to engage with their supervisors and to thoughtfully and critically examine issues arising within the context of their field placement. Because reflection and learning from experience are central goals of the program, students are expected to demonstrate genuine, substantive consideration of the issues raised in each assignment.

Writing Samples

Students must submit samples of written work produced during their field placement. Written work must demonstrate legal research, legal writing and analysis, and the application of legal principles. All written work must be reviewed and critiqued in writing by the supervising attorney or judge. Students must redact all written work prior to submission in accordance with the confidentiality requirements of their placement site and must retain copies of all written work submitted.

Evaluations

Evaluations are required at the end of each term and are completed through 12twenty. Students must complete an evaluation of their placement site and supervisor. Students must also provide their supervisor with the supervisor evaluation form so that the supervisor can evaluate the student’s work.

1.6 Professional Obligations and Conduct

Externs must perform all legal services professionally under the direct supervision of an attorney who is currently licensed and has practiced law for a minimum of two years.

Confidentiality: Externs must become familiar with the confidentiality policy of their placement and must not reveal information designated as confidential by their supervising attorney. Externs may not disclose information relating to the representation of a client, the identity of a client, or any information that would lead to disclosure of a client’s identity, without the express advance authorization of the supervising attorney. All written work submitted to the Field Placement Department must be redacted to comply with the confidentiality requirements of the workplace and the legal profession.

Unauthorized practice of law: Externs are not permitted to give legal advice to any person or client unless supervised by an attorney or expressly authorized to do so by a supervising attorney.

1.7 Email and Communication

The Field Placement Department’s preferred method of contacting students during the term of enrollment is through individual Loyola Law School email accounts. Students must check their Loyola email frequently, but no less than once per week.

A printed copy of an email indicating the student’s name, date, and time it was sent constitutes presumptive notice that the student received the email and is aware of its contents. Any administrative notice regarding delinquent performance or the imposition of time penalties may be sent by email and is governed by this policy.

1.8 Withdrawal

No student may withdraw from a field placement until adequate safeguards for the handling of cases and/or client matters assigned to the student have been arranged in advance with the Field Placement Department Director and the student’s supervising attorney.

1.9 Compensation

Students may receive both academic credit and compensation for qualifying field placements. Compensation includes wages, stipends, fellowships, and third-party funding. Compensation does not include payment for time spent on any required academic component of the placement.

Paid field placements must remain educational placements for academic credit. Compensation does not remove the requirement that the placement provide substantive legal work, attorney supervision, regular feedback, writing opportunities, reflection, evaluations, and compliance with all Field Placement Program requirements.

Students receiving compensation must complete a Paid Field Placement Agreement in addition to the Performance Agreement and Memorandum of Understanding. See the Program Handbook, Section 14, for full paid placement policies and employer requirements.

Federal work-study exception: Students may not earn academic credit for a job paid by federal work-study (e.g., SPIEP). This applies to field placement units taken in any term.