Erin Hendrickson to Become Director of Externships
Erin Hendrickson, Kelly Professor of Excellence in Teaching and Professor of the Practice of Law, has been named Director of Externships at William & Mary Law School. Hendrickson succeeds Associate Dean and Professor of the Practice of Law Robert E. Kaplan, who retires this spring after 38 years at the Law School.
“Excellence defines Professor Hendrickson’s work at William & Mary, and I am grateful that she has agreed to take on this incredibly important administrative appointment,” said Dean A. Benjamin Spencer. “She knows first-hand the value of practical experience in becoming a lawyer and will put her knowledge to good use seeing that our students secure life-changing externships.”
As Director of Externships, Hendrickson will supervise a program that allows students to earn academic credit by externing in a legal or law-related setting and is governed by both the American Bar Association’s Standards and Executive Committee Regulations of the Association of American Law Schools. Externships combine the benefits of complementing traditional classroom education, enhancing practical skills, and exposure to a broad range of substantive and procedural law.
Each semester, William & Mary Law students can complete externships in diverse settings, such as government agencies, the judiciary, public service organizations, and private firms.
Hendrickson received her B.A. summa cum laude from St. Olaf College. She earned her J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley (Boalt Hall), where she served as publishing editor on the California Law Review.
Following law school, Hendrickson spent five years working for the Office of Chief Counsel of the Internal Revenue Service, representing the Agency in labor and employment matters before the Merit Systems Protection Board, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Federal Labor Relations Authority, and in arbitration.
Hendrickson has taught Legal Research and Writing since 2013. She was named Kelly Professor of Excellence in Teaching in 2023. The professorship is named in honor of the late Herbert V. Kelly, Sr., B.A. ’41, B.C.L. ’43, whose generosity enabled the creation of a term professorship to recognize and reward excellence in teaching.
She looks forward to her new administrative position, which begins this coming June.
“When I was a law student, many of my most meaningful experiences came from applying what I learned in the classroom to the ‘real world’ practice of law,” Hendrickson said. “I’m delighted to now have the opportunity to support our students as they embark on similar journeys, and I look forward to continuing Dean Kaplan’s tradition of excellence for our externship program.”