Externships in Mexico
The Mexico City program is an excellent program that offers placement opportunities with human rights programs or law firms. The program begins with an orientation under the guidance of law faculty at the Universidad Panamericana located in the heart of the city.
Orientation is specially designed to include presentations aimed at first- and second-year U.S. law students. The lecturers are law professors or experienced business lawyers. The program includes: introduction to the Mexican legal system, introduction to human rights law in Mexico, human rights abuses connected to the criminal justice system, how a global law firm works, and aspects of Mexican business law practice and corporate law. Orientation also includes a number of important legal site visits such as the Supreme Court, both houses of Parliament, Cámara de Diputados, and lunch with elected officials.
Possible law firm placements include Ernst & Young, Jones Day, Greenberg Traurig and Holland & Knight. Possible human rights NGO placements include Centro PRODH, La Comisión National de Derechos Humanos (CNDH), a federal government human rights research and complaint-receiving agency, Comisión Mexicana por la Defensa y Promoción de Derechos Humanos (CMDPDH), Instituto para las Mujeres en la Migración (IMUMI), and Centro Nacional de Derechos Humanos (Cenadeh). Externships at NGO placements may require the ability to speak Spanish.