The Office of Career Services is trying to ascertain interest in the New York State Bar Association’s International Section’s Law Student International Internship Program. The NYSBA requires formal partnership with the Law School in order for students to participate in the program. Please carefully read the program description below from the NYSBA. Before committing to participate in the program, we would like to ascertain student interest. To demonstrate interest in this program, please submit your resume to CSM Job Posting # 436922 by Tuesday, January 13th at 11:59 pm. PLEASE NOTE: Submitting your resume indicates your interest in the OCS pursuing this program, it does not serve as an application to the program. If you have any questions about this potential opportunity, please email law.careers@nyu.edu with the subject line: International Section’s Law Student International Internship Program.
The International Section of the New York State Bar Association has 60 chapters in cities around the world, each of which is led by local members of the New York State Bar Association who are fully committed to promoting and strengthening ties to the New York legal world. (You can read more about the International Section by going to the www.nysba.org and clicking the section’s link). Through our chapter chairs around the world, we obtain commitments of establishing internship positions for law students from New York State. We have secured six such commitments for the Summer of 2015—in Prague, Vienna, Stockholm, Cyprus, Mexico City and Sao Paolo. All of the internships are with law firms, except for the internship in Cyprus which is with the European Rim Policy and Investment Council in Cyprus. As described in the outline below, the length of the internships vary but generally run from 4-8 weeks between late May and August, depending upon the participating firm’s program and schedule.
Overview of the program:
The New York State Bar Association’s International Section’s Law Student International Internship Program matches law firms in various cities around the globe that are willing to provide an internship of 4-8 weeks with U.S. law students who have completed two years of study with demonstrated interest in transnational law and who desire such a position in the Summer of 2015.
What our Committee does:
We obtain, from lawyers active in a number of the International Section’s sixty chapters around the world, commitments to provide 4-8 weeks of mentoring for law students in the Summer of 2015. Over the past three years, we have successfully placed law students in Vienna, Austria; Prague, Czechoslovakia; Guatemala City, Guatemala; Mexico City, Mexico; Bergamo, Italy; and others.
We also provide limited financial assistance with travel expenses to students, based on need. To the extent interested, students should so indicate in their application.
What the mentoring law firms do:
The law firms agree to provide a 4-8 week internship which will include assignments appropriate to the student’s experience and language ability and the opportunity to participate in client meetings, document preparation and review and research. The law firms agree to designate at least one lawyer in their firm to serve as mentor to the law student and to ensure the student receives a range of experience and an appropriate work load. While the experiences may vary, generally the students may expect the substance will be heavily geared to business, commercial and financial matters.
The law firms also agree to assist in locating housing for the student for the duration of the internship and to provide, in advance of the student’s arrival, information about housing. Due to obstacles posed by the relevant immigration and labor laws, the law firms generally cannot pay the students for their work. Most, if not all of the firms will provide for the student’s housing and support during the internship. It should, however, be clearly understood by the law firms and the student, before the selection process is finalized, that this should not be expected initially on the part of the students.
Who is eligible:
The program is open to students in law schools that have designated a faculty member to assist in the facilitation of this program as described further below. Students who are eligible include those who will have finished their second year of law school in Spring 2015 and possibly those who will graduate in Spring 2015. While fluency or in the local language of the internship city is not required, proficiency is strongly recommended and applications from those with some level of proficiency will be favored over those without. In addition, weight will be afforded to students who demonstrate interest in international, transnational and comparative law through their choices in course work, extracurricular activities and pre-law school experiences. Academic achievement will also be weighed.
Law students who are selected will be expected to join the NYSBA as student members ($10) and its International Law Section (no additional charge). They should also be willing to start or become involved with a Law Student Chapter of the NYSBA at their law school during their third year.
Law students who accept are expected to sign and return a Liability Waiver and Hold Harmless Agreement which the NYSBA will provide. A signed form is a condition of participating.