Practical semester law

WHO? Bachelor students of the degree programmes "Law, Personnel Management and Personnel Psychology" and "Business Law"

• WHEN? Regularly in the 4th and 7th semester (start from 1 March in the summer semester or from 1 September in the winter semester OR by arrangement after the respective examination period)
• HOW LONG? Minimum duration: 22 weeks, maximum duration: 26 weeks

WHO? Bachelor's students on the "Law, Financial Management and Taxation" degree programme

• WHEN? Regularly in the 5th and 7th semester (start from 1 March in the summer semester or from 1 September in the winter semester OR by arrangement after the respective examination period)
• HOW LONG? Minimum duration: 22 weeks, maximum duration: 26 weeks

An information event on the practical semesters takes place once a semester. Attendance is compulsory! Students receive an invitation by email 1 year before the regular completion of the 1st internship semester. The next date is in winter semester 2025.

You can find the presentation for the last information event in summer semester 2025 under "Downloads & Forms".

1. Practical semester
- Participation in the practical semester information event (proven by a list entry)
- at least 61 credit points (CP) must be available

2. Practical semester
- at least 149 credit points (CP) must have been achieved
- Certificate of the 1st practical semester

The following is also important for admission:
- timely registration for the internship semester (see point "Registration")
- valid internship semester contract
- Supervision by a university professor from the Faculty of Law

When should I start looking for a job? We recommend that you apply for interesting positions around nine to six months before the start of your internship. If you would like to do yourinternship abroad, you should plan about a year in advance.

What do I need to consider when looking for a job? The internship semesters serve to prepare you for your future career. The internship position should therefore give you the opportunity to acquire business and legal knowledge and to participate in solving practical tasks. You can find the content requirements and possible fields of activity depending on the specialisation in the training guidelines. These can be found as Appendix 1 in the practical semester regulations. In addition, the work placement centre must ensure that you are supervised by a professionally qualified member of the company and provide you with a workplace.

How do I know if a company is already recognised as a work placement location? Please contact the Career Service to find out whether the desired company is already recognised for an internship semester. If this is not the case, you will need to contact the internship semester officer Oliver Kahl by email to enquire about recognition. In your enquiry, please include your degree programme, information about the internship and your area of work.

Do you need support in preparing your application documents or looking for a job? Contact the Career Service and arrange a personal counselling appointment.

Once you know which practical placement you will be working in and what your own activities will be, you will look for a supervising lecturer and ask them to take over the supervision from the university. Every professor in the Faculty of Law is available to supervise the first internship semester; when choosing a supervisor for the second internship semester in connection with your final thesis, please note the relevant subject specialisations of the lecturers. Have their confirmation confirmed on the registration form.

If you fulfil the admission requirements (or assume that this will be the case in time) and have found a supervising teacher, you can conclude the required contract with the practice placement. The centre usually offers its own contract.

Tips: Make sure that a cancellation period is specified there, that you are released from work for university visits and that a supervisor at the internship location is specified. Alternatively, we offer you a contract template that contains everything you need to know.

You must register for the internship semester at the university before starting work. To do this, send the registration form to the Career Service or the Student Service Office for Law and have your admission to the internship semester confirmed. After your supervising teacher has signed the form, send the complete registration form with the contract back to the Career Service or the SSB. Details can be found in the process description.

Registration deadline: 15 February (internship semester in the summer semester) or 15 July (internship semester in the winter semester)

Important note on provisional registration: If you are unable to provide all the information on the registration form by the registration deadline, simply complete it as far as possible and send it by email by the deadline. The missing information and, if applicable, the missing contract should be submitted by the start of the practical semester at the latest.

A written report in the form of a practical report must be preparedon the 1st practical semester. The report must be uploaded to the supervising lecturer in the Moodle practical semester course 3 weeks after completion of the 1st practical semester and will be assessed on the certificate form.

Unless otherwise specified by the supervising university lecturer, the "Guidelines for the preparation of law theses", which you can download from the website of your faculty, apply to the preparation of the report.

The following form and scope must also be observed:
- The report must be written as an academic achievement and is graded, but the grade is not included in the overall grade of the Bachelor's certificate.
- 7-8 text pages
- Table of contents and, if applicable, a bibliography
- Description of the position at which the practical period was completed
- Description of the activities carried out and their integration into the workflow of the supervising organisational unit
- Description of a project carried out or a focal topic
- Evaluation of your own activities with regard to your further studies
- Summary of the intended and achieved results
- Evaluation of the relevant preparatory literature if relevant

The 1st practical semester is recognised by
- Completion of the practical report, which is graded at least 4.0 overall
- Submission of the written proof of activity to the Student Service Centre

You can find the form for certification of the 1st internship semester in the Downloads & Forms section.

For recognition of the 2nd internship semester , only send a written proof of activity to the SSB or the Career Service

What are the minimum content requirements for the work placement certificate?
- specific period of the internship
- Key points on the activities
- Signature on business stationery

In exceptional cases, working student activities can be recognised as internships under the conditions of §12 of the internship regulations. To apply, please refer to the checklist for crediting the 1st and 2nd internship semesters. The documents must be submitted in full. Send this informal application to the internship semester representative Oliver Kahl.

Since the BPO 2020, it is only possible to apply for credit for working student activities in the future. The justified exceptional case requires the approval of the Chair of the Examination Board.

Practical Semester Regulations Faculty of Law (PDF, 595.79 KB) (opens in a new window), (not accessible)

Presentation at the information event (PDF, 4.27 MB) (opens in a new window), (not accessible)

Registration and certificate 1st internship semester (PDF, 483.15 KB) (opens in a new window), (not accessible)

Registration for 2nd internship semester (PDF, 479.65 KB) (opens in a new window), (not accessible)
For subsequent certification of the 2nd internship semester, only proof of activity (internship certificate or similar) must be submitted to the SSB.

Internship semester contract template (PDF, 113.75 KB) (opens in a new window), (not accessible)

Inter-faculty contract template English (PDF, 26.59 KB) (opens in a new window), (not accessible)

Checklist for the recognition of a working student activity (PDF, 59.14 KB) (opens in a new window), (not accessible)

Process description 1st internship semester (external link, opens in a new window)

Process description 2nd internship semester (external link, opens in a new window)

Do you have any questions about BAföG, Career Service advice, library loans, minimum wage and legal regulations, compulsory internship certificate for your application, semester ticket, company list or insurance in connection with your internship?

You can find frequently asked cross-faculty questions and our answers on the "Compulsory internship" overview page .