Law and Government Organization and Leadership

Overview

In the Law and Government Organization and Leadership program, you’ll spend the first semester of your third year of law school living in Washington, DC, immersed in a full-time externship with a federal agency, Congressional committee or office of a member of Congress.

You’ll attend hearings and conferences, join in strategy sessions and accompany federal government attorneys to formal and informal gatherings and meetings. You’ll research law, prepare memoranda, draft federal rules and otherwise engage in the day-to-day professional lives of your externship host. You could extern at the:

• Department of Agriculture
• Department of Energy
• Department of Justice
• Department of State

• Department of the Treasury

Outcomes

• Enhanced employment opportunities as lawyers in government service upon graduation
• A comprehensive understanding of the role of professional ethics in government settings, including a focused examination of the specific standards of ethical conduct applicable to lawyers in government service and to generic ethical principles arising from both the core values of society at large and the Jesuit tradition
• Skills to facilitate and improve strategic planning, creativity, collaboration and consensus building
• A set of core competencies to promote the capacity to assume leadership roles
• An understanding of the role of attorneys within large and diverse governmental organizations