AFL-CIO Fellowship Program

The Legal Department of the American Federation of Labor and Congress
of Industrial
Organizations ("AFL-CIO") is offering a one-year fellowship beginning
in September 2008. The
fellowship offers an excellent opportunity for recent law school
graduates to work with experienced
union-side lawyers on a wide variety of issues.
The AFL-CIO is a voluntary federation of 55 national and international
unions which represent
10 million working women and men in the United States. The AFL-CIO
works on a variety of fronts to
improve the lives of working families, to secure social and economic
justice in the United States, and to
protect the interests of working people in the global economy. The
AFL-CIO and its affiliates have been
instrumental not only in negotiating good pay and benefits for union
members, but also in the enactment
and enforcement of laws that protect important rights for all workers,
such as Title VII of the Civil Rights
Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, and the Family and
Medical Leave Act.
The Legal Department works on a wide range of litigation, policy,
regulatory and legislative
matters, and assists with organizing campaigns, corporate governance
issues, and other AFL-CIO
initiatives. The Legal Department also administers the Lawyers
Coordinating Committee, a national
organization of union-side attorneys, which issues various
publications and holds educational conferences
on a regular basis.
The AFL-CIO Fellow will work with lawyers in the AFL-CIO Legal
Department and with other
union lawyers around the country on a wide range of activities. The
Fellow will assist experienced
lawyers working on cases and regulatory matters that affect the labor
movement and the rights of
workers. The AFL-CIO's litigation caseload includes cases in the U.S.
Supreme Court, the U.S. Courts
of Appeals, the NLRB and a small number of state appellate suits. In
addition, the AFL-CIO Legal
Department frequently presents the views of the labor movement on
federal regulatory initiatives
affecting workers. Whenever possible, the Fellow will be given the
opportunity to participate in meetings
with union lawyers and to attend oral arguments. The AFL-CIO Fellow
will also participate in Lawyers
Coordinating Committee activities, including preparation for attorney
conferences, outreach to new labor
lawyers and law students, and regular opportunities to attend LCC
meetings and conferences.
The fellowship salary is in the range of $55,000 to $60,000 depending
on experience. Benefits
include excellent medical and dental insurance plus paid vacation.
Recent law graduates, judicial clerks, and third-year law students are
welcome to apply.
Applicants should have excellent legal research and writing skills and
enjoy legal research and appellate
work. Applicants should also have a commitment to workers' rights and
a desire to practice union-side
labor law. The AFL-CIO is an equal opportunity employer and encourages
all qualified applicants to
apply.
To Apply: Applicants should send a cover letter explaining their
interest in the fellowship, a current
resume, a transcript, a short writing sample, a letter of reference
and a list of two additional references to
the attention of Jonathan Hiatt, AFL-CIO General Counsel, 815
Sixteenth Street, NW, Washington, DC
20006. The application process is rolling and will remain open until
the successful candidate is selected.
Telephone inquiries are discouraged.