Gittis Externships consist of pre-approved/standing externships offered in government and non-profit organizations in the Philadelphia area. There are two types of Gittis Externships. In the first type of Gittis Externship, no applications are required by the placement sites and students enroll by bidding on these placements during the normal Advance Course Registration period (students do not need to find a faculty supervisor as one has already been assigned). Most Gittis Externships are open to both second and third year students; third year students are given enrollment priority in Gittis externships during the normal Advance Course Registration bidding process. In the second type of Gittis Externship, the placement site requires an application, and they select the students to enroll. Students are not permitted to apply for an Ad Hoc Externship at a Gittis Placement Site (applications for these placements must follow the Gittis application program).
Although the list of Gittis Externships can vary from semester to semester, recent Gittis Externships have included the placements listed below.
Community Legal Services
Conviction Integrity Unit of Phila. DA’s Office
Pennsylvania Innocence Project
Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office - Federal Litigation Unit and Appeals Unit
Senior Law Center
Women’s Law Project (fall semester only)
These placements have an early application deadline and require students to apply as opposed to enrolling via the Advance Registration lottery, and the placement site selects the students to enroll. For these externships, students must submit their application materials to the Penn Carey Law School’s Externship Program Office by a designated date.
Students will receive an email typically in October for Spring externships and May for Fall externships which has detailed information regarding application materials that are required for each placement site.
Students are not permitted to apply for an Ad Hoc Externship at a Gittis Placement Site (applications for these placements must follow the Gittis application program). Each semester the following specific application requirements are updated and linked below:
The Field Center (fall semester only - not offered 2023-2024)
The Wistar Institute (Students without IP-related backgrounds are welcome to apply!)
The Penn Carey Law School is pleased to be able to offer travel funding to assist students who choose to pursue externships with government and non-profit organizations. For qualifying Gittis and Ad Hoc Externships in Philadelphia and its surrounding counties reachable through the SEPTA public transportation system, the Law School will provide pre-paid SEPTA round-trips. These tickets will be available for pick up in the Student Affairs Office at the beginning of each month. Students accepting SEPTA tickets through this policy will be required to sign a form certifying that they are using the tickets to travel to externship placement sites. Use of tickets provided by the Penn Carey Law School and the externship travel policy are governed by the Code of Student Conduct.
Students do not have to submit an application for travel funding, and should direct any questions to the Externship Program.
