Residency Placements
Welcome to the Student Portal for Residency Placement Information
Elon Law 2L students “go out on Residency” during their Winter or Spring Trimesters. This experience, formally known as a Residency-in-Practice, provides students with legal training in the field under the supervision of a licensed attorney or a judge in an approved governmental, judicial, nonprofit, corporate or law firm setting. Academic rigor is ensured through faculty-guided reflection and discussions.
General information about the 2023 residency requirement can be found here.
Important information and forms for students completing residencies & externships
For Current 2L Students
The number of hours of work required at your field placement depends on the number of credits you are taking.
7 credits = 315 hours over 10 weeks or 31.5 hours per week
8 credits = 360 hours over 10 weeks or 36 hours per week
Dates of Residency – See Academic Calendars
- May vary based on holidays, weather closings, sick days, etc. Generally, Winter Trimester residencies begin in early January and end in mid March; Spring Trimester residencies run from late March/early April through early June.
For Current 1L Students
There are three paths to securing a Residency-in-Practice: 1) The Judicial Residency May Match; 2) The Independently Arranged Residency; and 3) The Fall Residency Match.
1. The Judicial Residency May Match
Judicial Residencies are an unparalleled opportunity to improve and enhance your legal research and writing skills, to learn about the justice system from the inside, to network, and to build your resume. We are fortunate to have judicial residency opportunities with federal and state judges who require applicants be at the top of their class and opportunities with specialty courts that require candidates to have strong writing skills and an interest in the subject matter. If you did well in Legal Method and Communication, consider a Judicial Residency.
To pursue a Judicial Residency in North Carolina, review the 2023 Judicial Residency Catalog (password protected). You may apply for up to four placements. The application process involves two steps, both of which must be completed by APRIL 20. First, complete an application, available here. The SECOND STEP is to post the required application materials to your profile in Pathways. To the extent that you are required to prepare and submit a cover letter, please post on your Pathways profile and title which judge your cover letter is for so that as we access the information, we know which cover letter and other materials we should submit on your behalf. Double check that the cover letter includes the correct salutation and that spelling and grammar are correct. Many of the judges require a resume and a writing sample and cover letter. Consider having others review your materials before sending them. The Office of Career & Student Development provides assistance.
To pursue a Judicial Residency in states OTHER than North Carolina follow the instructions for an Independently Arranged Residency. Students who participate in the Judicial Residency May Match but do not receive an offer may proceed along either of the other paths to obtain their Residency.
WHEN: Judicial Residency matches are generally confirmed by the end of your 1L year, hence the name “Judicial Residency May Match.”
Questions? Contact Assistant Professor Kathy Conner at kconner2@elon.edu or visit her office (A223).
2. The Independently Arranged Placement
Students may independently arrange placements outside of North Carolina or within North Carolina provided they are OUTSIDE OF THE METROPOLITAN AREAS OF CHARLOTTE, THE TRIAD, AND THE TRIANGLE and NOT listed in the most recent catalog of participating sites.
Thus, STEP ONE of your search for an Independently Arranged Residency is to review the Residency Catalog (password protected) to get an idea of the Residencies that are offered. Residency placement availability may also change from year to year.
If none of the opportunities in the Residency Catalog interests you AND your desired Residency placement site is OUTSIDE OF CHARLOTTE, THE TRIAD, AND THE TRIANGLE, STEP TWO is to find an experienced attorney or judge who is willing to supervise you in a Residency. To qualify as a Residency, the placement location must provide opportunities for you to engage in substantial lawyering experience reasonably similar to the experience of a lawyer advising or representing a client or engaging in other lawyering tasks under direct attorney or judicial supervision. The supervising attorney must have a minimum of four (4) years of full-time practice experience and must not be a member of your family. Information about the expectations of Residency Field Supervisors, found here, should be shared with any prospective supervisors.
If you have already have a prospective host residency placement in mind, jump to PRE-CHECK below.
- Nonprofits, governmental agencies, and in-house counsel offices that advertise for unpaid interns are good candidates for a Residency placement. They often have a history of working with similar law school programs. Internship listings received by the law school are posted in Symplicity, which also contains a wealth of information on how to get an internship and evaluations by Elon students of places they have worked.
- A number of websites serve as year-round clearinghouses for organizations looking for student interns. You can find the links to these websites in Career Resources on Symplicity. For your convenience, here is a list of some of the best national and international internship online databases:
- PSJD is an initiative of NALP and includes an online clearinghouse for law students and lawyers to connect with public interest job listings and career-building resources. Includes Public Interest positions nationally & internationally. Registration is free.
- Arizona Handbooks contains both the GOVERNMENT HONORS AND INTERNSHIP HANDBOOK, detailing entry level honors programs and summer legal internship opportunities with federal government and the PUBLIC POLICY HANDBOOK, a listing of policy internships, programs, clerkships, and fellowships divided by state. Obtain password from OCSD.
- CEI Internships is an individually researched internship site that gathers information directly from employers interested in hiring college and law students. The law student information is organized in books by practice area and state. You can find information on Legal Services Internships, Women’s Rights Internships, Green Law, Internships on International Affairs, Washington Internships on Law and Policy, to name a few. Obtain password from OCSD.
- Internships.com is billed as “the world’s largest internship marketplace bringing students, employers and higher education institutions together in one centralized location.” Endorsed by Forbes as a top-10 internship search tool.
- USAJOBS: Pathways Internship & Recent Graduate Program is for currently enrolled students and recent graduates from qualifying educational institutions or programs who seek dynamic federal internships and career development programs with training and mentorship.
- PRE-CHECK: BEFORE contacting any potential independent placement site, you MUST check with the Office of Career & Student Development or the Director of Residencies (Assistant Professor Katherene Conner, kconner2@elon.edu) to determine whether you may contact the site. This STEP insures that you are not interfering with a relationship already established by Elon with that site and, in certain high-profile placement locations best contacted by Elon Law directly, that you are not undermining your chances of securing a Residency.
Once you have an interested and qualified attorney or judge, STEP THREE is to submit an application for approval. The application has two parts. The link to Part One, which students complete, is available here. Once this part of the application is submitted, the Director of Residencies will send Part Two to the prospective field supervisor identified in Part One.
WHEN: The DEADLINE for submitting an application for an Independently Arranged Residency is AUGUST 31. Students without an independently arranged residency by this date MUST go through the Residency Match in September. Extensions of time will only be granted where the placement has been secured (or is likely to be secured) and the paperwork is in process.
The Director of Residencies will notify students who apply for an independently arranged Residency of her decision or of the need for more information on a rolling basis. To prevent a denial, be sure to follow all the parameters above.
Questions? Contact Assistant Professor Kathy Conner at kconner2@elon.edu or visit her office (A223).
3. The Fall Residency Match
All 2Ls who do not secure a Residency placement through the Judicial Residency Match or through the Independently Arranged Residency process MUST be matched with a Residency placement through the Fall Residency Match. Details about this Match are to be announced. To get a sense of the placements that will be available, check out the Residency Catalog (password protected).
During the Fall Match, students will indicate a preference for a practice area of available host placement. Students will rank their interests and the Director of Residencies will endeavor to match students consistent with their preferences. Some host placements will accept students based upon resume and other credentials, while others may conduct interviews. In either event, all students will be matched with a host placement by the end of the Fall Term of their 2L year.
WHEN: Fall Term, 2L year.
Questions? Contact Assistant Professor Kathy Conner at kconner2@elon.edu or visit her office (A223).