Corporate Counsel Externship Program

SMU Dedman Law is home to the premier corporate counsel externship program in the country.

More than 900 SMU Dedman law students have completed the Corporate Counsel Externship Program since its start in 2013. Many of them now work in-house at corporate legal departments at Microsoft, Keurig Dr Pepper, AT&T, Yum! Brands, and Goldman Sachs.

SMU is in a unique situation with so many corporate headquarters in here,” said Stephen Yeager, who is assistant dean for student affairs at SMU Dedman and founder of the externship initiative along with Professor Marc Steinberg. “The program puts students in real-life situations where they have educational opportunities unobtainable in the classroom.” “We realized that the in-house world was virtually unknown to law students,” he said. The sweet spot for lawyers going in-house used to be in their fifth to seventh years of practice. Now it is two to three years.”

Externship with the George W. Bush Presidential Center

After a semester of working as a legal extern for the George W. Bush Presidential Center, Ashley Hutcheson finally got to meet the man himself! She says it was such an honor to speak with the former President and First Lady about their days in the White House, their present work at the Bush Foundation, and how they relax in their personal time (a lot of painting and biking). Hutcheson says she is so grateful for this experience and calls it a highlight of her time in law school!

Externship with Hunt Consolidated

Kyle Mason and Emmanuel Nwakibu, externs with Hunt Consolidated.