Daniel Fredrickson - University of Idaho College of Law

My semester-in-practice at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Boise was easily the most valuable and educational externship I had during law school. I would highly recommend it to any law student interested in either civil or criminal litigation.

For starters, an externship at the USAO exposes you to several different areas of law. On the criminal side, I helped on cases involving immigration violations, drug-trafficking, unlawful firearm possession, and tax fraud. And the civil cases were even more varied, including FOIA, immigration, bankruptcy, FTCA, and Bivens actions. There is also appellate work too. One of the highlights of my semester was helping draft a Ninth Circuit appellate brief. If you’re like me and still unsure what kind of law you want to practice, this is the perfect opportunity to experience a lot of areas of law.

I also got to do wide variety of legal work beyond just research. I drafted several motions, which were filed in both civil and criminal cases. I attended court hearings every week and even appeared in court for sentencings, change of plea hearings, and arraignments. I met every federal judge based in Boise. I participated in a mediation for a FTCA case, and I even helped on some civil healthcare fraud investigations.

Perhaps the most valuable part of my externship though was getting to work and build relationships with the AUSAs and staff. They are all incredibly kind, knowledgeable, and supportive. Overall, I didn’t think I ever wanted to work at the USAO, but after this externship, I would now feel very lucky if I ever got the chance to do so.

Daniel Fredrickson, University of Idaho College of Law