Suffolk University Law School

Suffolk Law’s clinics are ranked 14th in the nation by US News & World Report's 2021 Best Law Schools. The clinical programs have been ranked in the Top 25 for 12 of the past 13 years.

As part of Suffolk's robust experiential learning offerings, the in-house clinics provide students the opportunity to learn best practices in all aspects of client representation under the close supervision of our nationally ranked clinical law faculty. From representing young people facing juvenile delinquency hearings from school to helping microenterprises fight “corporate bullying,” students in the clinics help solve real world problems for clients who would otherwise go unrepresented.

Each of the in-house clinics trains students to be practice-ready by teaching key legal skills in the context of a real world client/problem; asking students to consistently reflect on their performance; and documenting improvements in skills over time. This reflective process allows students to move from learning the law to doing the law and doing it well. By the end of the year, students in every clinic have interviewed and counseled clients, engaged in strategic decision making and advocated for their clients’ interests. It’s what makes clinic alumni consistently say that their clinic was the best experience they had in law school.

Students in their final year may extern full-time in either the fall or spring semester. Government, judicial and non-profit placements in Boston or Washington, D.C. The Semester in Practice program is a highly-selective, full-time externship program. Students selected for the program will participate in a full-time externship during one semester of their final year at the law school. 

Experience the field of international legal practice through one of Suffolk's five dynamic and complementary programs--engaging in public interest and/or private sector practice with prominent organizations. Each of the programs provides students with compelling opportunities to extern internationally in conjunction with specialized academic coursework designed to bridge the divide between theory and practice. 

This externship program is specifically for Suffolk University Law students participating in Suffolk’s summer study abroad program at the National University of Ireland at Galway seeking to pursue an externship in Ireland for a period of 6-8 weeks following the study abroad program. Accordingly, students must apply (i) to the Galway study abroad program, in addition (ii) to this “plus” externship program. 

The externship placements will be predominantly in the public interest arena, including non-profits and government-related organizations. To the extent possible, our Galway affiliates will place students in organizations in Ireland corresponding with the students’ respective practice areas of interests noted on the application. Students work full-time under the supervision of an attorney in the placement organization.

The for-credit Civil and Judicial Externship Program is Suffolk Law's largest extern program, enrolling about 75 students each year.

Day students are eligible beginning in the summer after First Year. Evening students are eligible after three semesters.

Students must take the two-credit Legal Process and Practice course concurrent with the externship or, in some cases, be supervised individually by a full-time faculty member. All legal work is performed under the supervision of a lawyer. Students find and apply independently for a one-semester externship.

Opportunities exist in courts, government agencies, non-profit organizations, and private law firms or corporations. 

• One semester (available beginning summer after first year for day students, after three semesters for evening students)
• 2-5 credits (depending on total hours worked)

The Accelerator-to-Practice Program is the first of its kind comprehensive three-year course of study and practice designed to prepare graduates to join or start sustainable law practices serving average-income individuals and families. To create practice-ready graduates, the program includes the creation of a law practice within the Law School (the Accelerator Practice) to train students to be competent lawyers within three years.

The Legal Innovation and Technology (LIT) Lab is an experiential program combining the vision of our Legal Innovation and Technology Institute with the pedagogy and legal services mission of our Clinical Programs. The Lab allows students to work as part of a consultancy and research & development (R&D) shop focused on legal tech and data science work. Active areas of research involve, but are not limited to, the construction of expert systems/guided interviews (e.g., chatbots) and algorithmic codification of tacit knowledge (i.e., training computers to replicate human decisions). See examples.

Lab students develop legal technology and data science solutions for organizational clients (e.g., legal aid organizations, courts, firms, and non-profits), helping them improve efficiency and effectiveness. These services are provided to organizational clients, who frequently do not have in-house expertise in automating tools, engaging in process improvement, and data analytics.