Clinical Opportunities

NKU Chase College of Law provides numerous clinical internship and externship opportunities in which students earn academic credit while developing the skills necessary for the practice of law. Students are placed in law offices, courts, and legal organizations where they experience the practice of law under the direction and guidance of licensed attorneys and sitting judges.

Chase Clinical Externships

The Clinical Student Externship Program awards academic credit to students in a wide variety of field placements with government and nonprofit entities in Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana. Externship placements have included: the United States Department of Labor, the United States Bankruptcy Court, the United States Attorney, and the Kentucky Department of Labor. In addition, students have been placed in the state courts of Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana, in county attorney's offices, county prosecutor's offices, commonwealth attorney's offices, public defenders offices, and legal services offices in the region. In every externship, students participate in the day to day legal work of the office under the guidance of supervising attorneys who are dedicated to instructing students in the knowledge and skills for the highest quality, ethical, practice of law.

Tax Externship

The Tax Externship Program places Chase students in the regional Internal Revenue Service District Counsel's office. Students have the opportunity to draft documents, do legal research, and become familiar with tax law practice and procedure under the supervision of IRS legal counsel.

Local Government Law Center Internship

The Chase Local Government Law Center (LGLC) provides research services, technical assistance and support to Kentucky local governments, their attorneys and their elected and appointed officials. Chase College of Law students may participate in a LGLC internship where they may research and draft answers to questions posed by local government officials and their attorneys, develop and draft model ordinances for cities and counties, and research and write articles for inclusion in the Center's newsletter.

Kentucky Innocence Project Externship

The Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy is a resource for men and women incarcerated in Kentucky's prisons who have a legitimate claim of actual innocence. This externship provides Chase College of Law students with an opportunity to gain practical skills in a field placement with the Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy under the supervision of a faculty member from the College of Law. Students' responsibilities include research and investigation of cases, interviewing clients and witnesses, contacting appropriate authorities, maintaining appropriate records, drafting legal documents, and attending legal proceedings.

NKU Chase Federal Trial Practice Seminar

The Federal Trial Practice Seminar is a specialized externship that enables students to earn academic credit in a clerkship with a United States District Court Judge or United States District Court Magistrate. Chase students become familiar with legal procedure, receive experience in researching and drafting legal memoranda, observe legal proceedings, and have the opportunity to work directly with prominent judges and magistrates on issues pending before the court.

Constitutional Law Clinic Externship

The Ohio Justice & Policy Center (OJPC) is a non-partisan, nonprofit, public interest law office based in Cincinnati, Ohio. The mission of OJPC is to achieve fair minded reform of Ohio's criminal justice system through the Constitutional Law Clinic and other related projects. Under the supervision of a licensed practicing attorney and full time Chase faculty member, law students receive academic credit while gaining valuable experience representing prisoners, former offenders, and other individuals who are traditionally underserved by the legal system. Students may become qualified to represent clients both in and out of court under the Ohio Supreme Court Limited Practice license rule.

Children's Law Center Externship

The Children's Law Center Externship places student externs in the non profit Children's Law Center. The Children's Law Center offers students a variety of roles including serving as special advocates for children, assisting in litigation directed at enforcement of the rights of children, and working with attorneys who represent children charged with delinquency.