At Willamette Law, externships are more than just resume builders, they are where legal education comes to life. As a leader in experiential education, the law school’s externship program is an opportunity to build practical skills, expand professional networks, and, in many cases, connect personal passion to meaningful legal work.
When Paril Patel JD’26 discusses his externship with Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB), it’s not a line on a resume. It’s a lens, one that brought his legal education into focus and helped him see more clearly who he is becoming as a lawyer and as an organizational storyteller. Externships are a powerful way to bring the law to life, to refine skills, and begin building a meaningful career. For students, Patel included, externships present the chance to align passion with practice.
Patel has always been a storyteller at heart, and when he picked up a camera at a young age, he never put it down again. Photography taught him to pay attention to the quiet details. When he came to law school, he wasn’t walking away from his passion, he was refining it.
“I came to law school to learn the art of telling people’s stories effectively. Not just to learn how to write a brief, but how to understand a person’s story and to tell that story when it matters and where it matters — whether it be inside the courtroom or outside in the real world,” he shares. “I am curious about the lens through which we tell a story to someone like a judge, or anyone who considers themselves a trier-of-fact.”
It is the storyteller in Patel that led him to apply to an externship at OPB, whose commitment to truth, integrity, and public service aligned with his own values. For someone who has dreamed of being a photojournalist, it felt like a convergence of interests: storytelling, public good, and the law.
Externships: where theory becomes tangible
Patel quickly learned that externships are where theory becomes tangible. At OPB, Patel’s work is wide-ranging and practical. He drafts and revises contracts, conducts intellectual property analysis and risk assessments, researches public policy questions, and much more.
“The law is both very wide and very deep,” Patel says. “Learning about the law in the classroom is valuable, but truly diving into it and following legal rabbit holes, problem-solving in real time, and learning from your fellow attorneys is where the growth happens.”
In Patel’s experience, the classroom teaches students how to read cases and how to begin to think and question like a legal counselor. “We aren’t taught how to memorize the law in law school,” shares Patel. “We’re taught how to think about the law and how to approach a problem.”
That flexibility and quick thinking has become one of Patel’s greatest strengths at OPB. Even when he encountered unfamiliar situations, he was able to think on his feet. His time in his externship reinforced that preparation in law school is more about resilience and curiosity than memorization.
At OPB Patel has found mentorship and support, and colleagues that have embraced his quirkiness alongside his legal knowledge. The environment has reshaped his understanding of what his future career could look like.
Finding direction through externships
Externships can be vital to helping students find direction. Patel does not have his future mapped out, in fact he is looking forward to keeping his options open. What he has gained, though, is clarity about his values of curiosity, humanity, and integrity. He also remains committed to telling people’s stories whether on paper, in the courtroom, or through his camera lens. The externship experience helped him see that a legal career does not have to fit into one specific definition, it can intersect different interests.
For students considering externships, Patel encourages intentionality. “Talk to mentors, reach out to the Office of Career Planning & Development, connect with former externs. Above all, go after what you are passionate about,” he says.
Tomas Hernandez, Assistant Dean for Career Planning & Development, offers a similar sentiment when he helps students navigate finding externships.
“The externship experience is one of the most vital for our students. It connects what you learn in the classroom with the work you will be doing after graduation,” Hernandez states.
Hernandez encourages students to prioritize externships when they are thinking about their law school experience. If there isn’t an obvious example of an externship that aligns with a student’s interests, the Office of Career Planning & Development can help.
“Just like with Paril finding something that aligns his passion for storytelling, his values, and his legal skills, we can help students find the right fit for them. Come in, talk to us, and let us help you get set up on the path for you,” says Hernandez.
For Patel, the camera he has carried since childhood remains a perfect embodiment of his legal education. Photography has taught him to frame a scene carefully and to look beyond what is obvious. His externship with OPB taught him that the law requires the same attention to detail and awareness.
Through externships, the study of law becomes more than just an academic pursuit, but rather a way of seeing the world.
Photo credit: Paril Patel.
