The Center for Tax Law and Employee Benefits offers a student externship program with The New England Pension Assistance Project (the “NEPAP”). In exchange for work assignments with the NEPAP, students in the NEPAP externship program (each, an “Extern”) will earn law school credit.

The NEPAP is a regional, not-for-profit organization to provide assistance to individuals having trouble understanding or obtaining their pension benefits. It also provides administrative support for the Massachusetts Pension not Posies Coalition which links Massachusetts grassroots advocacy groups, not-profit and public agencies, and individuals working to improve the economic security of women in retirement. It provides research on pension policy and pension availability.

The purpose of the NEPAP externship is to provide employee benefits students with a participant-focused experience that will assist them in their later practice of employee benefits law. Externs will be supervised by Jeanne M. Medeiros or another NEPAP attorney identified by Jeanne M. Medeiros and experienced in employee benefits law (“NEPAP Attorney”).

Details of this NEPAP externship program are as follows:

(1) It is supervised by Professor Kathryn Kennedy, a full-time faculty member (the “Program Director”) in conjunction with a NEPAP Attorney.

(2) Each Extern will receive a copy of the Student Handbook prepared by the school’s Clinical Externship Program and must abide by its requirements. Externs are required to keep a journal regarding the types of projects engaged in, to be submitted to the Program Director at the conclusion of the semester.

(3) Students interested in applying to the program must have taken Fundamentals I and II courses (EB 361 and EB 362) and be enrolled as a candidate for the LL.M. degree program in employee benefits. Students must be in good academic standing in order to apply. The NEPAP requires a copy of the student’s law school transcript and a relevant writing sample. Students should also be prepared to provide professional recommendations. Interviews will then be scheduled with the NEPAP Attorney prior to selection of a qualified extern.

(4) An initial NEPAP on-site visit will be conducted by the Program Director prior to selecting the first Extern. On-going visits will be made as the Program Director and NEPAP determine necessary and/or convenient. The Program Director will keep in phone contact with the NEPAP Attorney on a regular basis during the term of the externship.

(5) The classroom component of the externship consists of weekly or bi-weekly meetings between the Extern and the Program Director to update her on the Extern’s progress in the program.

(6) Summaries of the Extern’s assignments will be placed in the Extern’s student file. At the conclusion of the semester, the NEPAP Attorney will prepare a formal written evaluation (sample copy attached) of the Extern’ s proficiencies and deficiencies in legal skills and general traits, to be placed in the Extern’s student file.

(7) Each Extern is assigned to a NEPAP Attorney, who is responsible for the Extern’s orientation; verification of hours worked; introduction to other NEPAP staff; assignment of work; and final evaluating of performance (listing of responsibilities attached).

(8) Formal written evaluation of the Extern’ s performance is made at the end of each summer and forwarded to the Program Director. Externs also must meet with the Program Director for an exit interview to assess the externship experience. Copies of the Extern’s formal evaluation and the results of the exit interview are kept in the Extern’s student file.

(9) Extern duties are based on NEPAP’s current priorities, may change from time to time, and include but are not limited to: legal research and writing related to participant benefit claims and appeals, developments within the pension benefits field, and related legislative and regulatory matters. Externs shall be afforded as wide a variety of experiences as is consistent with NEPAP’s overall workload, current priorities, and the Extern’ s capabilities.

(10) Externs are required to complete 200 hours per semester for 4-semester hours of school credit or 150 hours per semester for 3-semester hours of school credit.

(11) The number of students participating in the NEPAP externship will vary depending on its need. One extemship position is anticipated for the spring of 2007.

(12) List of current field placement supervisor with address(es) and phone number(s):

Jeanne M. Medeiros, Esp.

New England Pension Assistance Project

Gerontology Institute, U. Mass Boston

100 Morrissey Blvd.

Boston, MA 02125

617.287.7332 or Jeanne.Medeiros@umb.edu

(13) The educational objectives of this externship are as follows: to provide Externs with practical experience in a specialized area of employee benefits law by becoming familiar with the pension assistance activities of the NEPAP; to further develop practical lawyering skills to include research, writing, document review and application of law and policy.

(14) The Program Director will have periodic email/phone meetings with Externs during the summer and a final exit interview. At the conclusion of each semester, the Program Director reports to the Dean and Professor Kandaras (director of the Clinical Education Program) by a written memorandum as to the results of each student’s experience.