Externship: Legislative & Lobbying (3063)

A government affairs career, as a form of non-adjudicative representation, is a rewarding non-traditional practice of law. Practitioners blend the traditional concepts of legal representation with the broader policy matters of legislative and administrative advocacy. During the course of the semester’s classroom component, students will explore various aspects of legislative & administrative representation and the benefits lobbying can bring clients. The goal of the course is to expose students to many of the government affairs / non-adjudicative advocacy career opportunities available to them.

Real life practice experiences will be brought to the students through the guest speaker forum as part of the classroom component. At a minimum, students will learn the “who, what, where, when & why” of a lobbying practice. They will be exposed to the realities of lobbying and passing legislation including practical matters such as accessing services from the Revisor of Statutes Office, client management, blending a traditional legal practice with a lobbying book of work, interaction with various participants in the legislative and regulatory arena, and how to best communicate to policy makers about various issues.

This externship is graded pass/fail. The course includes a classroom component and considerable fieldwork. For each credit registered, students will record 45 hours. Class meetings, research and complete assessments counts toward the hour commitment.

To facilitate placement, students must provide the professor with a copy of their resume and preferences for placement (e.g. state agency, legislator, law firm lobbying practice, trade association or other non-profit).

Self-selected placements are possible for students with connections at the Minnesota Capitol or within the lobbying community but must be coordinated with the adjunct professor and be consistent with the law school’s requirements. Students must communicate with the adjunct professor regarding self-placement options prior to the start of the semester to avoid duplicate placements.