EXT: US Attorney's Office Criminal Division (Quaglia)
Faculty
|
|
| Kathryn Quaglia Curricular Director of Externships and Adjunct Professor of Law kquaglia@law.upenn.edu |
Additional Information
Experiential CourseYes
Skills Training
Oral Presentations
Team Projects
Drafting Legal Documents
Grading
100% Other (Class include five sessions, one hour each, throughout the semester. )
No
Class meets in person.
Course Continuity
Students are encouraged to stay home if you are ill or experience flu-like symptoms. If you miss a class for any reason, it is still your responsibility to make up the work missed.
I offer the following to students who miss class due to illness:
- If you are absent due to illness or some other unavoidable circumstance, email me and I can make PowerPoint slides or other class materials available to you.
- Students who must miss for illness or other emergencies must contact the professor for a mandatory make-up assignment.
Meeting Times/Location
TBA
TBA
Category
Clinics/Externships
Credits
4.0
*THE APPLICATION PERIOD FOR APPLYING TO THIS EXTERNSHIP CLOSED ON MAY 13, 2026*
This externship is for students interested in federal criminal law and federal prosecution. Students will work with Assistant U.S. Attorneys in each one of the Units within the Criminal Division: Violent Crime, Narcotics and Organized Crime, Economic Crimes, Health Care and Government Fraud, National Security and Cyber Crime, Corruption and Civil Rights, Appeals, and Asset Recovery and Financial Litigation. Students will assist in the prosecution of a wide range of serious federal felony offenses occurring within the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Students will be required to successfully complete a federal background check which will begin right after the student is notified of being selected for the externship.
Students will be expected to help research case law, draft legal memoranda and briefs, and review and analyze evidence in preparation for criminal charges, court hearings, and trials. Students will also have the opportunity to observe all manner of court hearings and jury trials before federal district court and magistrate judges.Prior experience is helpful but not needed.
A security clearance must be obtained prior to the start of the semester's work. Obtaining a security clearance can take up to 8 weeks. Selected students will need to provide their Social Security Card, Passport, and/or Birth Certificate to facilitate the clearance process.
Externship Seminar Requirements: To receive academic credit for this externship, students will be enrolled in an in-person, semester-long Civil Externship Seminar that meets at the Law School during the same semester as the field placement. Students will meet as a group for one hour every other week during the semester for a total of five meetings. In addition, students will meet individually with the professor mid-semester and at the end of the semester. A few weeks before the semester begins, students will receive a Qualtrics Survey to choose one of two seminar times and should plan their course and work schedules accordingly. The Civil Externship Seminar begins the first week of classes and students will choose either Tuesdays from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. or Wednesdays from 12 to 1:00 p.m. Students may not change their seminar time once the semester has started.
Students who previously completed an externship and are doing another externship will be placed in an Advanced Externship Seminar. Those students must notify Professor Kathryn Quaglia at kquaglia@law.upenn.edu for a Qualtrics survey after course schedules have been released to arrange a convenient class meeting time.
Grading: The externship seminar and the field placement are combined for one Credit/No Credit grade. To receive credit, students must satisfy the field placement credit hours and all externship seminar requirements.
Credit Restrictions: No more than 14 semester hours (of the 22 co-curricular semester hour maximum) can be earned in externships (both Gittis and ad hoc externships). Students are not permitted to enroll in a Clinic and Externship in the same semester, or in two Externships in one semester. International JD students must seek and be approved for CPT (Curricular Practical Training) credit for the externship well before the start of the semester. Students should review important externship registration information: Enrollment Procedures for externships
Skills Learning outcomes: Demonstrate an understanding of the individual course skill; Demonstrate the ability to receive and implement feedback; Demonstrate an understanding of how and when the individual course skill is employed in practice.
Criminal Law and Procedure Learning outcomes: Demonstrate a core understanding of criminal law and procedure; Perform legal analysis in the context of criminal law and procedure; Communicate effectively on topics related to criminal law and procedure; Demonstrate an understanding of the role criminal law and procedure play in society and their impact on other areas of law and society.