Work and Internship Opportunities
at the Workers' Rights Law Center

Staff Attorney/Litigation Director

The Workers’ Rights Law Center seeks a staff attorney (with potential for promotion to Litigation Director) to manage an active docket of labor and employment law and civil rights cases, including class action lawsuits. The candidate should possess 3-5 years of experience in the area of labor/employment law. The attorney will work closely with WRLC staff and co-counsel and report to the Executive Director. S/he will also support WRLC’s administrative and legislative advocacy and conduct legal trainings for advocates and other attorneys. Applicant should possess a demonstrated interest in low-wage worker issues and have a strong commitment to providing legal services to low-income populations. Must be admitted to practice in New York or be able to be admitted within a reasonable period of time. Fluency in Spanish is strongly preferred. Some background in immigration law a plus.

Compensation: Salary commensurate with experience, including a benefits package competitive with other non-profit legal services organizations.

Applications: Please send, fax or e-mail a resume and brief cover letter (no calls) to Workers’ Rights Law Center of NY, 101 Hurley Avenue, Suite 5, Kingston, NY 12401. Fax: (845) 331-6617. Email: mbhatt@wnylc.com Deadline January 15, 2010.

Fellowship Applicants Sought

The Workers' Rights Law Center of New York, Inc. ("WRLC") seeks a fellowship candidate to apply for a Skadden Fellowship, an Equal Justice Works Fellowship, and/or another fellowship to work at the WRLC office in Kingston, New York (around 90 miles north of New York City) beginning next year.

The WRLC is dedicated to confronting the injustices faced by low-wage immigrant and other workers in the Hudson Valley region in a way that is both effective and empowering to workers. There are three central components to the WRLC's work. First, the Center's staff provides free legal services to low-wage workers in employment and civil rights m atters. Second, the Center leads a community legal education program which helps educate workers about their rights in the workplace. Third, the Center's fledgling "Wage Justice" project works with Hudson Valley community groups – most of which are new, small, and struggling – to address the systemic workplace abuses that their immigrant worker members face.

All interested candidates should submit their resumes, writing samples, and lists of references to the WRLC by January 15, 2010. The WRLC will work with its selected candidate on his or her fellowship proposal, but applicants may also develop their own project ideas and present these ideas to the WRLC in their applications.

The WRLC is an equal opportunity employer. People of color are encouraged to apply. Spanish proficiency is preferred.

Please contact WRLC Executive Director Milan Bhatt for more information.

Testimonials of Summer Interns

Kiernan Joliat

This past summer, I spent six weeks at the Workers' Rights Law Center of New York, and it was not only one of the best legal experiences I've ever had, it was one of the best experiences of my life. From the very first day, the staff not only involved me in every aspect of their work, but truly made me feel as though I was making a valuable contribution.

If you are an intern at the WRLC, you won't be stuck in the library all summer researching for clients whose names you'll never know. Getting out of the office was one of the best parts of my summer experience; I was able to accompany the attorneys to hearings in federal and local courts, on visits to farms, and to outreach seminars around the Hudson Valley. When you do research and write memos and motions at the WRLC, you know that your work is making a difference; the chance I had to personally meet the named plaintiffs in a large class-action suit truly helped to put a human face on the plight of many low-wage and immigrant workers in this country.

My only regret about my time at the WRLC is that six weeks was not enough.

Gavan Meehan

I spent the summer after my first year of law school at the Workers' Rights Law Center of New York. The experience was truly unique and inspirational, and I would recommend it to any student seeking to become a skilled advocate in public interest law.

The best aspect of the summer was that from day one I felt part of a legal team, dedicated to the mission of confronting workplace injustice. The staff involved me in every aspect of the Law Center's life, including federal court hearings and settlement negotiations, client interviews, and outreach events and activities. On the academic side, I learned the intricacies of motion practice in federal and New York employment law, and the procedural mechanisms in discrimination and sexual harassment claims. I was also given the opportunity to compose several briefs and memoranda, constructed upon new and creative legal theories.

The work was always dynamic and educational. The staff, always sincere, caring, and joyful.

Without a doubt, my summer at the Workers' Rights Law Center was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. I am a better human being as a result, and I now have a sound foundation upon which I can pursue my career as a public interest lawyer.