Join us in the Externship Program and start building a strong foundation for your legal career today. Experience firsthand how the skills and principles you learn in the classroom come to life in practice. Emory Law's Externship Program offers you the opportunity to gain invaluable work experience across various types of practice settings. This helps you discover which suits you best and build relationships that will support you as you begin your legal career.
Experiential Learning Mission
Externships offer a truly educational experience, deeply rooted in the history of the legal profession. In early colonial times, apprenticeships, known as "articles of clerkship," were the foundation of legal education for two centuries. This method was later replaced by the case method pioneered by John Norton Pomeroy in the 1860s. Today, the American Bar Association (ABA) recognizes the importance of this form of experiential learning for your success.
Emory Law students must fulfill the Six-Credit Experiential Learning Requirement as per ABA Standard 303 and the ABA’s Guidance Memo. Completing an externship for credit hours instead of financial compensation at one of our hundreds of approved placement sites throughout Georgia and beyond is a fantastic way to meet this requirement.
As an extern at a corporation, small firm, government office, or public interest organization, you will develop essential skills for a successful legal career. The Externship Program allows you to engage with the ethical and practical issues attorneys and judges face daily. You will find that members of the bar, regardless of their practice area, are dedicated to serving their clients, upholding the rule of law, and maintaining the highest standards of excellence. You will also learn the importance of continually improving your skills and knowledge throughout your career to become a better lawyer.
Moreover, if you exceed the required hours during an externship with a designated nonprofit, prosecution, or public defender placement, you can count those extra hours as pro bono service. This not only fulfills many state bar requirements but also reinforces the core values of the legal profession. For more information, visit our Pro Bono Program.
The Externship Program Office is here to guide you through the five stages of the Externship Process.
Let us know how we can help build your career.
Externship Student Testimonials
A'Lyrika Bowens 25L
Jacqueline Graves 24L
Jordan Pool 24L
Adam Shepherd 24L
Daniel Xu 24L
Externship Program Office Staff
Derrick Howard
Professor of Practice and Director, Externship Program and Professionalism Program
Externship Program Faculty
Randy Cadenhead
His career of over 30 years as counsel at Cox Communications and BellSouth Corporation included practice areas in corporate law, privacy law, and public interest practice. He has served in multiple professional leadership roles in Atlanta and is licensed to practice in both Georgia and Florida.
Adam Hames
He has an extensive background having represented the state of Georgia in federal and state trial and appellate courts. He acted as lead counsel in numerous high profile and precedent setting cases, including over 95 cases resulting in published opinions by the Georgia Supreme Court and U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. He has specialized in non-death penalty murder appeals and habeas corpus petitions in state and federal court. His time at the Attorney General's Office provided invaluable training in criminal law, habeas corpus, and appeals.
Amanda Galifianakis
Professor Galifianakis practices law as in house counsel for Apple Inc. In this role, she advises the company on financial services matters. Prior to working at Apple, she spent more than 7 years developing and supporting a compliance and legal program for GreenSky Inc., an Atlanta-based fintech company that conducted an IPO in 2018 and then a sale to Goldman Sachs in 2022.
Corey Hirokawa
Corey Hirokawa 00L is the Assistant Director of Emory Law’s Center for Public Service, where she directs student pro bono opportunities and serves as the staff advisor to the Emory Public Interest Committee (EPIC).
After graduating from Emory Law in 2000, Hirokawa worked as a civil litigator at Bondurant, Mixson & Elmore LLP with focus on public interest and civil rights litigation, class actions, and appeals. She then served as general counsel for several emerging technology companies before joining Emory Law full-time in 2023.
Shiriki Cavitt Jones
She currently serves as Commercial Transactions Attorney Director for Coyote Logistics, LLC, a UPS Company, where she is responsible for working with Coyote’s business stakeholders to handle data privacy matters and negotiate complex commercial and IT agreements, including identifying and analyzing potential business risks and recommending risk mitigation strategies.
Shiriki obtained her Bachelor of Arts in English (cum laude) in 2001 from Dartmouth College and her Doctor of Jurisprudence from Vanderbilt University School of Law in 2004.
Alkesh Patel
Professor Patel brings a decade of experience practicing in contracts, commercial law, construction and real estate. He currently is the Section Chief of Business and Finance in the Commercial Litigation Division at the Georgia Attorney General’s Office. In this role, he represents a number of state entities, including the Georgia Department of Administrative Services (DOAS), the University System of Georgia, and the Georgia Lottery Corporation. Alkesh oversees a group of 10 attorneys and is responsible for overall contract litigation and transactional work for the various agencies of the State. In addition, Alkesh has been involved in the review of hospital transactions pursuant to the Georgia Hospital Acquisition Act.
Debbie Segal
Her experience practicing for over 30 years began with Atlanta Legal Aid where she served as Executive Director of Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation. She ultimately became Pro Bono Partner with the law firm of Kilpatrick Townsend. During her career, she supported public interest and the legal needs of women through a number of organizations including leadership roles with the ABA. Although officially retired, she continues to represent victims of domestic violence and is active with the Emory Public Interest Committee. She received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) in 2019 for her efforts.
Jim Thompson
He joined the BellSouth Corporation Legal Department in 1985 and was part of the newly formed federal regulatory group at BellSouth practicing before the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Jim transitioned to handling litigation in-house, principally in the State of Georgia. He became part of the Complex Litigation group in 2001. Jim continued in this group until his retirement from the AT&T Legal Department in 2022 as Assistant Vice President Senior Legal Counsel. For over 30 years of his career, Jim supervised students in the Emory University School of Law Externship Program. He has also been involved in pro bono activities throughout his career, most recently with the Housing Court Assistance Center (HCAC) of the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation where he was awarded HCAC Volunteer Lawyer of the Year in 2023.
Ailya Zaidi
Since 2013, she has developed a civil litigation practice with the United States Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration where her areas of focus include administrative law, environmental law, ethics, employment and contracts. She is an active member of the Georgia Bar.
Prior to joining the federal government, Ailya served as the Assistant Director of Academic Success at Mercer Law School. During law school, Ailya served as an extern with the Honorable Hugh Lawson, Senior U.S. District Judge, Middle District of Georgia.