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The outdoor classroom at VLS.

Clinics and Experiential Programs

Many students spend more than a full semester engaged in a combination of clinical and other experiential courses. Before they graduate, more than 70 percent of our students choose to put theory into practice in a variety of different ways each year—from on campus clinical work to externships in law firms, corporations, nonprofits, courts, and government offices, at home and abroad. Twelve VLS faculty teach our clinical and experiential programs, which offer students a wealth of practical, hands-on opportunities to deepen the knowledge and skills they acquire in class.

Students who gain real-world experience not only become better prepared to practice law but often have an immediate positive impact at the community, regional, or even the national level. Recently, our Environmental and Natural Resources Law Clinic students helped restore protection for the endangered gray wolf in the Northeast, South Royalton Clinic students helped children in need and externship students contributed while apprenticing at sites as diverse as the First, Second, and Ninth U.S. Court of Appeals; the Vermont Attorney General’s Office; the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee; the National Wildlife Federation; the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome; and New Hampshire Legal Aid.

Semester in Practice

Through these full-time, semester-long clinical externships, VLS students apprentice in legal practice with mentor attorneys at government agencies, nonprofits, corporations, and law firms in the U.S. and abroad.

Environmental and Natural Resources Law Clinic   New window icon

South Royalton Legal Clinic

At this campus-based clinic staffed by four full-time faculty, students have the opportunity to represent clients in actual civil cases dealing with matters ranging from children’s rights to housing and immigration.

Judicial Externships

This semester-long practicum places students in judges’ chambers, where students learn about the process of judicial decision making by observing the function of a court. Students work closely with a supervising judge to develop legal skills such as writing, research, and analytical skills.

Part-time JD Externships

Our externships place VLS students in a variety of legal settings—from private firms and corporations to the judiciary, government agencies, and nonprofits—where they develop research, writing, and practical skills under the direction of an attorney-mentor.

MELP and LLM Internships

Our externships place VLS students in a variety of legal settings—from private firms and corporations to the judiciary, government agencies, and nonprofits—where they develop research, writing, and practical skills under the direction of an attorney-mentor.

Legislative Clinic

Both JD and MELP students can undertake internships in the legislature in nearby Montpelier, performing legal research and drafting legislative documents under close supervision. Many VLS graduates go on to work for the Vermont legislature.

Mediation Fieldwork

After intensive training and observation, VLS students participate in civil dispute mediations taking place in both Vermont and New Hampshire small claims courts.