Mizzou Law Clinics & Externships
Credit for Competitive Mock Trial and Arbitration Teams
Students who compete on behalf of the School of Law on select competitive mock trial and arbitration teams receive academic credit for their work. The teams for which students can receive credit are the Missouri Attorney General’s Cup, Labor and Employment, Arbitration, Thurgood Marshall Mock Trial, and National Trial Competition. Other competitions can be approved for credit by the faculty from time to time. Students should check with the competition coach to verify whether credit is available.
A student may receive a maximum of three credits for participation in competitions for which they are selected, with a limit of one credit per each semester. While students are not prohibited from participating in numerous competitions, the number of credits counted and earned is capped. Students may not receive credit for participating in competitions during their first year.
Child and Family Justice Clinic
Entrepreneurship Legal Clinic
The law school’s Entrepreneurship Legal Clinic (ELC) was launched in the fall of 2015 to provide clinical opportunities for students to work with small and start-up business clients. The clinic, directed by attorney Donald Seitz, assists members of the university and Mid-Missouri communities seeking to start businesses by providing supervised legal services involving entity planning and formation, governance issues, employee issues, intellectual property analysis, governmental regulations and contract drafting.
Externship Program
The Externship offers students an opportunity to develop the skills necessary to bridge the gap between law school and law practice. Through the Externship, students prepare for “effective and responsible participation in the legal profession” (ABA Std. 301) by applying the core concepts learned in law school courses to the challenges presented in the actual, in-office practice of law.
Criminal Practice Clinic
The Criminal Practice Clinic is a newly formed clinic set to begin in Spring 2025 (with a prerequisite “Missouri Criminal Practice” simulation course taught in Fall 2024). For more information, contact director Chelsea Mitchell (mitchellche@missouri.edu)
Semester-in-Practice ExternshipThe Semester-in-Practice Externship offers students an opportunity to be fully immersed in the practice of law before graduating from law school. Third-year students in their final semester of law school receive full-time practical experience for an entire semester at a nonprofit organization, legal services organization or government agency. Students work directly with supervising attorneys, spending a semester applying the core concepts learned in law school courses to the challenges presented in the actual practice of law.
South Africa Externship
The South Africa Externship offers students who enroll in the South Africa Study Abroad Program an opportunity to work with a local nonprofit or governmental agency, or other entity. Participating students have the opportunity to apply the skills learned in the classroom in an international setting. Through the South Africa Externship, students apply the core concepts learned in law school courses to the challenges presented in the actual practice of law in a foreign jurisdiction.
Veterans Clinic
Students at the University of Missouri School of Law Veterans Clinic help veterans and their families secure disability benefits.
Student work is done at the Board of Veterans’ Appeals level and before the Court of Appeals for Veterans’ Claims. Students are supervised by an experienced attorney at each step and will have the opportunity to work in a law firm atmosphere within the law school serving real client needs. Law students interested in personal injury, civil litigation or administrative law will benefit from the skills taught in this clinic.