Internship in Legal Studies

Students in the Legal Studies concentration may use SSC 498, “Community Internship” to fulfill one of their upper level course requirements.   The internship offers students the opportunity to work with a community, government, or private agency related to their major.  This internship is open to seniors in good academic standing.

Students benefit greatly from the opportunity to ‘try on’ a career field they have been considering, including:

• Private Law Firms
• Court Outreach Unit Rehabilitation and Treatment Services
• Erie County Surrogates Court
• Neighborhood Legal Services
• New York Supreme Court Chambers
• Volunteer Lawyers Project
• US Secret Service
• US Probation and Parole
• NY State Police
• County, State and Federal Legislators

The following quotes attest to the value of an internship:

• “My internship at Volunteer Lawyers Project has given me the opportunity to apply the knowledge that I have received at the University at Buffalo to real legal cases.”

• “After participating in the activities that I have experienced, I have become more aware of what happens and what employees do to make the court function smoothly.”

• “I am really glad that I had the opportunity to work with attorneys over the last semester.  I am a firm believer in the idea that you won’t know if you like something until you try it.  It isn’t enough to study for a career because eventually you have to stop studying it and you have to start practicing it.”

• “I would like to thank the department for allowing students the opportunity to have community internships and get credit for them.  Sometimes it is not just the reading and testing of materials in a classroom that really tells what a person is capable of accomplishing.  It is the hands on experiences that can make a really big difference.”

Last updated: May 11, 2004