Use of Boot Camps and Orientation Periods in Externship and Clinics: Lesson Learned from Criminal Prosecution Clinic

Clinical faculty and externship supervisors often desire for students to "hit the ground running" in their field placement experiences in order to make maximum use of the limited time available for learning. This article proposes a solution to a chronic dilemma in clinical legal education: how to use a classroom component to prepare students effectively for concurrent work in an externship or clinic. Part I of this article discusses the author’s own boot camp experiences, both as a law student and later as a law professor. Part II lays out the challenges in structuring a classroom component for a clinical or externship course. Part III turns to the specifics of front-loaded instruction, discussing different types of boot camps and the advantages and disadvantages of each model. Part IV discusses two areas of possible, future direction for boot camps.