The Birth of a Therapeutic Courts Externship Program: Hard Labor but Worth the Effort

Authors

Gregory Baker, William and Mary Law School
Jennifer Zawid, University of Miami School of Law

First Page

711

Document Type

Article

Abstract

In this article, we focus on the use of externships to introduce law students to the concepts of Therapeutic Jurisprudence and problem solving courts (also referred to herein as therapeutic courts). We begin with an examination of the birth of William & Mary Law School's therapeutic courts practice externship, arguably the most comprehensive externship of its kind. Next, we will focus on an alternative model of a therapeutic court externship clinic, still in its infancy, at the University of Miami School of Law. Our goals are both simple and lofty. We want as many law students as possible to be exposed to the field of Therapeutic Jurisprudence and the concept of therapeutic courts. We have seen first hand that the benefits of such exposure are tremendous. Thus, we hope that by sharing our "birth stories" we will encourage other law schools to contemplate ways in which these paradigms can be incorporated into their own clinical curriculum. Finally, we hope to contribute to the growing scholarship about externship pedagogy by using our own experiences as text.

Recommended Citation

Gregory Baker & Jennifer Zawid, The Birth of a Therapeutic Courts Externship Program: Hard Labor but Worth the Effort, 17 St. Thomas L. Rev. 711 (2005).
Available at: https://scholarship.stu.edu/stlr/vol17/iss3/12