Externship: Environmental Protection Agency (Quaglia)
Additional Information
Experiential CourseYes
Skills Training
Drafting Legal Documents
Other Professional Skills:
Grading
100% Other (Externships are graded Credit/No Credit)
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.
Meeting Times/Location
TBA
TBA
Category
Clinics/Externships
Credits
4.0
PLEASE SEE IMPORTANT ENROLLMENT PROCEDURES FOR EXTERNSHIPS AVAILABLE ON THE REGISTRATION INSTRUCTIONS PAGE.
The Office of Regional Counsel (ORC) for EPA Region III – Externship Opportunity
The Office of Regional Counsel (ORC) for EPA Region III provides legal counsel and representation to EPA and its programs in the Middle Atlantic region (PA, DE, MD, DC, VA, WV). Externs will be assigned to work with one or more of our practice groups, each of which focuses on a particular area of federal environmental law, such as Superfund (i.e., hazardous site cleanup), waste and chemical law, the Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Clean Air Act, or federal law on environmental crimes. Each extern will have an assigned supervisor, who is a senior lawyer, managing one of the practice groups. Each extern will also be assigned a mentor. Assignments may include drafting of legal documents and administrative pleadings; case-related legal research and writing; attendance at meetings with clients or outside counsel; and assistance with case development and with referrals to the DOJ. Externs can also avail themselves of educational opportunities offered to EPA lawyers and EPA Program staff. The externship will begin with a half-day orientation that will include a session on ethics in the federal workplace and professional responsibility. This is a four-credit externship and will require 12 hours per week.
HOW TO APPLY: By Wednesday, October 11, 2023, at 10AM, students must apply for this externship by emailing a statement of interest (does not need to be addressed to anyone), resume, most recent transcript, and a legal writing sample (prefer a memo to a brief, and if possible, something prepared for an internship as opposed to a class) to externships@law.upenn.edu with “EPA Application” in the subject line. Please combine all of your application materials into one pdf. The Penn Law Externship Program will forward students’ application materials to the EPA’s Office on your behalf. The EPA will contact students it would like to interview directly and will select the students to enroll in the externship. Before Advance Course Registration closes, students will receive an email letting them know if they were not selected for enrollment.
IN-PERSON BI-WEEKLY SEMINAR COURSE REQUIREMENT: Before the semester begins, students will receive an email to choose one of two seminar times and should plan their course and work schedules accordingly. Students may not switch the seminar day and time once they have committed to one of the options. The options are as follows:
Civil Externship Seminar The Civil Externship Seminar taught by Professor Kathryn Quaglia will meet beginning the week of January 22. Students will choose either Tuesday 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. or Wednesday 12 to 1 p.m.
Advanced Externship Seminar Students who have previously taken the Civil Externship Seminar with Professor Quaglia and who are registering for a second civil externship will take the Advanced Externship Seminar. The Advanced Externship Seminar will meet every other week beginning the week of January 16 and is offered on Tuesday 12-1 p.m. or Thursday 5:30-6:30 p.m.
Note that a student may only take the Advanced Seminar if the student has previously taken the Criminal Justice Externship Seminar with Professor Quaglia and is registering for a second criminal law externship or has previously taken the Civil Externship Seminar with Professor Quaglia and is registering for a second civil law externship. A student who has completed a civil externship who is then registering for their first externship at a criminal law placement must take the Criminal Justice Externship Seminar; a student who has completed a criminal law externship who is then registering for their first externship at a civil law placement must take the Civil Law Externship Seminar.
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.
Environmental Law Learning outcomes: Demonstrate a core understanding of environmental law; Perform legal analysis in the context of environmental law; Communicate effectively on topics related to environmental law; Demonstrate an understanding of how environmental law affects other areas of law.
Public Interest Learning outcomes: Demonstrate a core understanding of the varied legal aspects of public interest law; Perform legal analysis in the context of public interest law; Communicate effectively on topics related to public interest law; Demonstrate an understanding of how public interest law is connected to and affected by a wide variety of legal and regulatory structures and doctrines.