EB 390 (3-4 credit hours)

Professor Kennedy supervises this externship program and thus her pre-approval is required. 

PREREQUISITES:  

EB 361: Fundamentals I of Retirement Plans;
EB 362: Fundamentals II of Retirement Plans;
Tax 333: Tax Employee Benefits Research;
Must Have completed 10 credit hours in the
LLM program before applying.  

The Center for Tax Law and Employee Benefits wishes to begin sponsorship of a student externship program with the Pension Rights Center (the “PRC”). In exchange for work assignments with the PRC, Students in the PRC externship program (each, an “Extern”) will earn law school credit.

The PRC is a national, not-for-profit organization dedicated solely to protecting and promoting the pension rights of American workers, retirees and their families. The externship will occur within the PRC’s National Pension Assistance Resource Center (“National PARC”) that provides consultation and technical assistance (including representation, as appropriate) to a federally funded network of pension counseling programs, public interest and private bar attorneys, and individual plan participants who cannot find assistance elsewhere, National PARC’s work covers both private and public employer-sponsored pension and retirement savings plans.

The purpose of the PRC 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 John Hotz, Deputy Director for the PRC or another PRC attorney identified by Mr. Hotz and experienced in employee benefits law (“PRC Attorney”).

Details of this PRC 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 PRC 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 completed the prerequisites 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. Students who are admitted to the practice of law in at least one jurisdiction and who have at least one full year’s post-J.D. experience in the practice of law, preferably in a related field and preferably demonstrating a commitment to the public interest will be given preference, but students without bar admission or less than one year of legal experience will be considered. The PRC requires a copy of the student’s law school transcript, a relevant writing sample and a professional recommendation (upon request). Interviews will then be scheduled with the PRC Attorney prior to selection of a qualified extern. 

(4) 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.

(5) Summaries of the Extern’ s assignments will be placed in the Extern’ s student file. At the conclusion of the semester, the PRC 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.

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

(7) 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.

(8) Extern duties are based on PRC’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 PRC’s overall workload, current priorities, and the Extern’ s capabilities.

(9) Externs are required to complete 200 hours per summer for 4-semester hours of school credit.

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

John Hotz

Deputy Director

Pension Rights Center

1350 Connecticut Ave., N.W., Ste 206

Washington, D.C. 20036

202.296.3776 and ihotzpcnsionrights.org

(11) Students selected to participate in this program will work closely with Pension Rights Center attorneys and personnel. The Pension Rights Center is the country's only consumer organization dedicated solely to protecting and promoting the rights of American workers, retirees, and their families. It works in conjunction with the Pension Information and Counseling Project that has projects in Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Texas and Wisconsin. The educational objectives of this externship include practical experience in developing research, writing, and drafting skills; to learn practical lawyering skills of document review; and to be involved in consumer outreach efforts.

Deadline for application: February 1

(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.