Joey Shenton spent the summer of 2025 abroad, first studying international criminal law in The Hague, Netherlands, and then as an intern at the International Institute for Justice and the Rule of Law in Valletta, Malta.
During his six weeks in Malta, Shenton learned how criminal justice practitioners are addressing counterterrorism within the framework of the international rule of law.
He conducted research and discussed policy with practitioners from Africa, Southeast Asia and the Middle East, while observing differences in language and legal practices. The second-year Santa Clara University School of Law student said the summer programs offered him unparalleled insight into international legal systems, cultural interactions and academic analysis. He hopes to eventually practice international law, potentially as a Marine judge advocate.
“This kind of experience, to work in an extremely professional setting abroad, is very different,” Shenton said. “You get to see how a different part of the world really does function. I think it’s an invaluable experience and it’s a perspective that not a lot of people have.”
Shenton is among a cadre of law students who strategically use summer months to dive deeper into legal specialties, gain hands-on experience, travel and add unique skills to their resumes.
There is a range of summertime programs — whether virtual or in person, from academic courses to externships, domestic or abroad — offered by U.S. law schools that can help students maximize their learning and bolster their long-term career strategy.
The legal field, afield
Sara Brockmeyer, director of international programs at Santa Clara Law, said that summer coursework and externships abroad help students stand out in a competitive legal market.
“In this day and age, it’s really hard for employers to differentiate law school students from one another, and studying abroad is something that’s very unique,” Brockmeyer said. “The majority of students who study abroad in our programs are not going to live and work abroad after graduation. They’re going to be American attorneys living and working in America, but the skills they are gaining — the intercultural competence, the ability to navigate difficult situations, the ability to make friends with people and work with people from all different cultures — those are all skills that they build in study abroad programs. Those are skills that we know employers want in their lawyers and skills that are transferable even to the most localized practices like family law.”
Santa Clara Law is home to the largest American Bar Association-approved study abroad program in the country. For more than 50 years, the law school has sent students to legal and commercial hubs across Europe, Asia and Latin America to study global topics including business, human rights and environmental law. Last year, about 130 law students studied abroad through Santa Clara Law’s summer programs.
Law school can be a pressure cooker, Brockmeyer said, and even the early years of professional legal practice leave little time for travel.
“I want students to have adventure, and I think summer abroad in particular is a great way for students to reenergize themselves and get back in touch with why they went to law school, especially for students coming out of that first year, which is really brutal,” she said.
Andrew Horsfall, Syracuse University College of Law’s London-based study abroad program specialist, said a willingness to situate oneself in a novel area of legal practice in a foreign locale shows future employers a certain level of resilience.
“I mean, you have to be a bit brave to do a program like this,” Horsfall said. “I think it demonstrates a level of adventure, maybe maturity, and just an ability to kind of jump into something that you haven’t been fully prepared for in your first year of law school.”
Syracuse Law offers one of the nation’s longest-running summer externship programs in London, called LondonEx. The summer of 2026 will be the program’s 47th year. Approximately 15 law students participate in a one-week orientation and a six-week externship at placements such as the AIRE Centre charity, Withers Worldwide LLP law firm, Crown Court judges and the London offices of various barristers and solicitors.
Horsfall said one of the things that comes out in the first two or three weeks is just how pleasantly surprised the students are at the level of accessibility that they have to their mentors and just how good their mentors are.
“I think the students are in awe watching their mentors work, whether it’s arguing in court or presiding from the bench. They come to respect the level of preparation required and the level of detail necessary to do this work and do it well,” he said. “It leaves a meaningful impression on the students because they’re working with people who are operating at a very high level in their respective practices.”
LondonEx participants benefit from interactions with their mentors and each other in a dynamic city, building people skills.
“It’s a special program,” Horsfall said. “I think it’s described that way by many people. The one word that continues to come up is ‘transformative,’ which I think is true.”
Budgeting is, of course, a significant consideration for law students looking to study abroad.
The LondonEx program requires a program fee of about $1,200, tuition for five credits totaling around $11,605, and prearranged housing, which typically costs $5,000 for the seven-week period. And that’s before allotting for airfare, food and fun.
Horsfall said a summer abroad is ultimately about investing in a comprehensive legal education and future career.
“Having worked in the program for years, I have heard from students that it’s well worth the opportunity to invest in the skills and for the exposure that they get,” he said.
The summer abroad program at Santa Clara Law has a tuition of $1,500 per credit, which is purposely kept lower than some on-campus tuition rates to offset the cost of travel, according to Brockmeyer.
Santa Clara Law students selected as ambassadors to promote the school’s program can receive help with the cost of airfare.
Brockmeyer said she gives prospective study-abroad students a budgeting worksheet to estimate their expenses. She also wants them to consider their costs back home, such as a pet sitter, car loan or apartment lease while they’re away.
“While no one would ever say that it’s cheaper to study abroad than it is to live in the U.S., I do think that it can be made affordable,” she said.
Internet connection required
Of course, international travel isn’t the only route to summertime professional development.
For students seeking elective options closer to home, several U.S. law schools offer online and hybrid summer programs.
American University Washington College of Law offers summer programs in person on its Washington, D.C. campus, abroad in locations such as Geneva, London, Brussels and The Hague, as well as online, featuring both asynchronous assignments and real-time discussions and guest lectures.
Asha Scielzo, who directs American University Washington College of Law’s health law and policy program, coordinates two one-credit health law summer programs for classes comprised of about 25 students. They run fully remote on weekends. Tuition at the law school is $2,481 per credit hour.
“It’s not as big of a tuition lift, it’s not as big of a time lift, but they still feel like they got a chance to dig into a health law topic,” Scielzo said.
The classes are ideal for law school students who work during the summer, travel or participate in externships or internships.
“Even if you’re out of the country, as long as you have stable Wi-Fi, you can be there,” she said.
The American University Washington College of Law’s health law summer classes allow students from anywhere in the U.S. to immerse themselves in a health law topic they may not otherwise have time for in their schedule.
This summer’s topics will likely look at the law’s role in vaccines and telehealth, Scielzo said.
“There’s a lot of interest and demand for health law right now, but particularly in the last few years with COVID,” Scielzo said. “Knowing a little bit about the industry can get you pretty far.”
Tess Jacobsen is assistant director of the environmental, natural resources and energy law program at Portland, Oregon-based Lewis & Clark Law School.
While some in-person classes are typically offered each summer, Jacobsen said law students in the environmental law program are increasingly seeking online alternatives.
“We’re getting to where we have a little bit fewer in person because we found that a lot more of our students are doing summer externships, which is great and wonderful,” Jacobsen said. “So they tend to be more attracted to either the Zoom or the asynchronous online classes, where they’re able to take them from anywhere.”
Environmental law summer school classes at Lewis & Clark Law School are about $1,700 per credit.
The two- and three-credit classes, which typically have around 30 students, tend to focus on niche topics such as legal protections for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge or the Clean Air Act. Real-time Zoom presentations take place Monday through Friday during either morning or afternoon hours, allowing law students the rest of the day to pursue other activities.
“The idea is that the students are able to Zoom in from anywhere in the world,” Jacobsen said. “A lot of our students are able to coordinate it with their externship or with their work placement, where they can have time off during the morning for those two weeks because of the condensed timeline.”
The flexibility of an online structure also means Lewis & Clark Law School can beam in expert faculty from anywhere in the country without requiring them to travel to Oregon, Jacobsen said.
Another advantage: Summer coursework can lighten a law student’s academic load during the traditional school year, making them eligible to graduate early or take part-time semesters while still graduating within the conventional three-year timeframe.
“It opens up the possibility for students to take credits year-round,” Jacobsen said.
New vantages
Summer sessions offer law students not just an opportunity to delve into specific subject matters, but also a potential change of scenery.
Most ABA-accredited law schools welcome students from other ABA-accredited law schools to take their summer coursework.
Seattle University School of Law encourages future lawyers to attend its online and in-person Summer Institute for Technology, Innovation and Ethics to learn about the role of law in entrepreneurship. As part of the summer program, students can attend the online SITIE Annual Innovation and Technology Conference.
Steven Bender, who directs Seattle U Law’s summer initiative, said the courses and conference allow law students of any practice area to learn from professionals working at the frontier of technology’s uncharted legal territory.
“There are opportunities in every course to connect with innovators and lawyers,” Bender said. “It’s really about trying to figure out the role of the lawyer and the responsibility of the lawyer in areas without real legal guardrails as yet, particularly with new technologies like AI and blockchain.”
Seattle U Law’s summer program consists of a three-credit immersion course, which is primarily an all-day, in-person program held on campus over the course of a week, and three two-credit online courses, offered via Zoom twice a week for two hours each over the span of a month. Class size is kept between 15 and 20 students.
JD tuition at Seattle U Law is typically about $2,000 per credit.
The immersion summer course includes small-group breakout sessions where students analyze past corporate criminal trials, such as those of Elizabeth Holmes of the blood-testing company Theranos and Samuel Bankman-Fried of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX.
“We basically relitigate, and I found there’s a lot of important insights that come out of that representation in terms of getting into the mind of the entrepreneur,” Bender said.
Bender said summer law programs like his are a unique opportunity for students to think outside the box of the typical law school curriculum, ultimately leading to a more diverse range of future professional opportunities.
“Something that I would highlight in a cover letter to any law firm is to say that ‘I didn’t spend my summer in the library or doing nothing. I spent my summer immersed in a theme of lawyering and learning practical skills.’”
