ABA Standard 304 governs credit for field placements, including arrangements by which an individual faculty member supervises one or more students engaged in a part-time field placement other than through the Law School’s established Co-op Program, Credit for Co-op, or the Public Service Externship. What follows are NUSL guidelines for Independent Field Placements:
1. Scope: ABA Standard 304 covers has several requirements, including: substantial lawyering experience and/or lawyering tasks; supervision by a licensed attorney or qualified individual; a detailed written understanding among the student, faculty member, and site supervisor; a method for selecting, training, evaluating, and communicating with site supervisors; regular contact between the faculty and site supervisor; evaluation of each student’s educational achievement by the faculty member; sufficient control and documentation to ensure the standards are met; credit commensurate with the student’s time and effort; and student completion of sufficient prerequisites or sufficient contemporaneous training to assure the quality of the student educational experience.
2. Course Name: Any such credit-bearing placement will be recognized by reference to a course named “Independent Field Placement,” to differentiate it from other types of independent studies.
3. Supervision: Independent Field Placements must be supervised by full-time faculty (“Faculty Supervisor”) and directly supervised by the placement site supervisor (“Placement Supervisor”). See ABA Standard 304(a)(6) and (d)(i). The student is responsible for setting up all aspects of the independent field placement, including finding the placement within which to work and finding the faculty member who will supervise the placement. The Faculty Supervisor must keep records to document steps taken to ensure compliance. See ABA Standard 304(d)(iv). See Site Supervisor Evaluation Form.
4. Credits: Independent Field Placements must earn a minimum of two (2) credits and may not exceed four (4) credits per academic year, to be agreed upon by the student and Faculty Supervisor.
5. Credit Hours: Student must complete 50 hours per credit. The amount of hours per credit is consistent with the number of hours assigned per credit for co-op placements that confer academic credit and public externship field placements. The total hours completed must be confirmed by the Placement Supervisor and the Faculty Supervisor at the end of the semester. The hours will also be documented, as described below under “Written Work.”
6. Written Work: Students must engage in regular reflection; the Faculty Supervisor will review and provide feedback contemporaneously. Students will complete a minimum of six bi-weekly reflections and one final reflection paper at the end of the semester. All reflections will include an update of the student’s hours worked per week. ABA Standard 304(a)(5).
7. Honorifics: Consistent with other law school courses, students will be evaluated by the Faculty Supervisor and receive a grade of High Honors, Honors, Pass or Marginal Pass for Independent Field Placements. See ABA Standard 304(d)(iii). The Faculty Supervisor can and should include feedback from the Placement Supervisor in the evaluation of the student.
8. Student Meetings with Faculty Supervisor: At a minimum, student and Faculty Supervisor will hold three meetings, ideally at the beginning, middle, and end of the semester. See ABA Standard 304(a)(4) and (d)(iv).
9. Faculty Communication with Placement Supervisor: At a minimum, the Faculty Supervisor must communicate with the Placement Supervisor at three points during the semester, preferably beginning, middle and end. See ABA Standard 304(d)(ii). At the beginning of the semester, the student, Faculty Supervisor, and Placement Supervisor will execute the attached Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), required by all other field placements receiving NUSL academic credit. ABA Standard 304(d)(i). See Sample MOU.
10. Student Meetings with Placement Supervisor: At a minimum, the student should have one weekly meeting with their Placement Supervisor. For placements earning 2 credits, the meetings may be bi-weekly. See ABA Standard 304(a)(4) and (6).
11. Qualified Placements: The independent field placement must provide substantial lawyering experiences under the supervision of a licensed attorney or an individual otherwise qualified to supervise. See ABA Standard 304(d). The placement must be in the public or judicial sector. The restriction to public and judicial sectors is consistent with the policy for co-op placements that confer academic credit and public externship field placements.
12. Compensation: An independent field placement may compensate the student. Sufficient care should be taken to ensure that the placement is an educational experience, regardless of compensation.