Legislative Externship
SLN #: 12729Course Prefix: LAW-785
Course Section: 003
Credit Hours: 6
Instructor(s): Bender
Course Books: View List of Books
Course Description:
Legislative internship students are selected in a competitive process administered by the Career Services office at the College of Law. Students should contact Career Services for admission forms and information. Legislative externs apply and are selected in the fall semester. There are 6 intern positions at the Arizona Legislature for spring 2011: House Rules (2), Senate Rules (2), House Democrat Staff (1), and Legislative Council (1. Students from all the three Arizona law schools apply for the positions. The only partisan position is the House Democrat. Students are placed in the positions and cannot choose where they want to be placed.
All Legal Legislative Interns earn 6 pass/fail credit hours. To receive these credits, a student must work 60 hours for each credit earned resulting in a total of 360 hours of work. Students, who begin the internship on or about January 14, will work for 15 weeks including Spring Break, and complete the internship around April 21. Students who start and finish on dates other than those described will adjust their schedules so that they complete the required 360 hours of work for the 6 credits earned.
When contemplating applying for a Legislative Internship, be sure to note that the College of Law will recognize no more that 12 credits of externship credit, including the 6 Legal Legislative Internship credits. If you do not have the appropriate number of credits (6) available to you, you will not be allowed to participate with the legal Legislative Internship program.
Among other opportunities, legislative interns work closely with legislative counsel to analyze proposed state legislation for constitutionality. It is strongly recommended that legislative intern students take Arizona Constitutional Law as either a pre-requisite or a co- requisite. In addition to the on-site work experience provided at the Arizona legislature, an academic component of the internship is provided by Professor Paul Bender at the College of Law. Professor Bender meets with legislative internship students periodically throughout the semester to review their work and discuss their experiences. Professor Bender will contact the spring intern students by e-mail to set up the first meeting of the academic component.
Additional Information:
Credit Hours: 6
Grading Option: Pass/Fail Only
Graduation Writing Requirement: No
Flexible/Upper-Level Writing Requirement: No
Skills Requirement: No
Simulation Course: No
Experiential Learning: No
Seminar: No
Special Withdrawal Course: No
Final Exam Given: No
Attendance Policy: Per Statement Of Student Policies
* The law school has a policy that is used to calculate credit hours. Please see the Statement of Student Policies.