Peggy Browning Fund Forum

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Peggy Browning Fund

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Feb 04, 2011 7:02 pm

Did anyone else apply? Results yet?

Anonymous User
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Re: Peggy Browning Fund

Post by Anonymous User » Sat Feb 05, 2011 3:36 pm

I applied but haven't heard back.

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Re: Peggy Browning Fund

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Feb 14, 2011 12:28 am

I got an offer from the FLRA through the Peggy Browning Fund. Got the call Tuesday morning. Trying to decide between that, Federal Defender Capital Habeas Unit in Philly, and the Financial Clinic in NYC (less prestigious, but more client contact/interesting work).

Any thoughts? There is a good chance I will pursue a career in labor law after graduation, but I have five years of labor-related work experience already and am thinking I should try something else for my 1L summer.

Anonymous User
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Re: Peggy Browning Fund

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Feb 14, 2011 12:32 am

Anonymous User wrote:I got an offer from the FLRA through the Peggy Browning Fund. Got the call Tuesday morning. Trying to decide between that, Federal Defender Capital Habeas Unit in Philly, and the Financial Clinic in NYC (less prestigious, but more client contact/interesting work).

Any thoughts? There is a good chance I will pursue a career in labor law after graduation, but I have five years of labor-related work experience already and am thinking I should try something else for my 1L summer.
If you are serious about labor law, I'd take the fellowship. I was a Peggy Browning fellow, and the organization carries some weight, plus you'll get all kinds of opportunities to network with people who could get you labor law jobs.

democrattotheend

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Re: Peggy Browning Fund

Post by democrattotheend » Tue Feb 15, 2011 6:11 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:I got an offer from the FLRA through the Peggy Browning Fund. Got the call Tuesday morning. Trying to decide between that, Federal Defender Capital Habeas Unit in Philly, and the Financial Clinic in NYC (less prestigious, but more client contact/interesting work).

Any thoughts? There is a good chance I will pursue a career in labor law after graduation, but I have five years of labor-related work experience already and am thinking I should try something else for my 1L summer.
If you are serious about labor law, I'd take the fellowship. I was a Peggy Browning fellow, and the organization carries some weight, plus you'll get all kinds of opportunities to network with people who could get you labor law jobs.
Can you PM me?

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Wystan

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Re: Peggy Browning Fund

Post by Wystan » Wed Feb 16, 2011 7:37 am

Anonymous User wrote:I got an offer from the FLRA through the Peggy Browning Fund. Got the call Tuesday morning. Trying to decide between that, Federal Defender Capital Habeas Unit in Philly, and the Financial Clinic in NYC (less prestigious, but more client contact/interesting work).

Any thoughts? There is a good chance I will pursue a career in labor law after graduation, but I have five years of labor-related work experience already and am thinking I should try something else for my 1L summer.
Before reach out any decision think about it once again. Ok good luck..

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Re: Peggy Browning Fund

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Feb 17, 2011 10:22 pm

In response to the original question, when you will hear back depends entirely on the organizations that you applied to. From what I remember, there wasn't a strict deadline that the employers had to make hiring decisions by. I had my first PBF interview within a week or so of sending in applications. Some employers I got interview offers from after the target date for hiring selections.
Anonymous User wrote:I got an offer from the FLRA through the Peggy Browning Fund. Got the call Tuesday morning. Trying to decide between that, Federal Defender Capital Habeas Unit in Philly, and the Financial Clinic in NYC (less prestigious, but more client contact/interesting work).

Any thoughts? There is a good chance I will pursue a career in labor law after graduation, but I have five years of labor-related work experience already and am thinking I should try something else for my 1L summer.
Tough call. On one hand, if you're interested in labor, there is no better credential than being a PBF. On the other hand, if you want to try any other field of law that is not employment-related, 1L summer is the best time to do it and possibly even your last chance.
After I did my 1L summer in labor law, having had a couple years of labor-related work experience and related degree, I tried applying to several organizations in entirely unrelated fields that I had a genuine interest in. I never got an interview offer from those organizations while I got offers from at least four-fifths of the labor-related orgs that I applied to. Between my pre-LS background and my first internship, I think I definitely pigeon-holed myself to the extent that these other orgs didn't strongly consider me at all. I was lucky that I was able to get a part-time paralegal gig during the school year with a non-labor law practice, but part of me wishes that I'd had at least one full-time experience to become immersed in a new field.

Aside from that point, if you're relatively certain that you're going to want to make a career in labor law, I would take this offer unless you could somehow guarantee that you can get a PBF next year. The FLRA is a GREAT place to work according to my friends in the agency and the job satisfaction surveys that the federal agencies do. It would give you a massive leg up for any openings in the future there. Working at the FLRA would also give you pretty unique experience since federal employee labor law is a small niche in itself that few labor lawyers have experience with.

If you do decide to take the PBF but are still interested in other fields of law, make sure to take advantage of clinics, externships, or other part-time legal work. Labor law is a very small, and perhaps shrinking, field. It's to your advantage to have SOME experience in a different area because it can be a difficult field to break into. As an attorney exclusively practicing traditional labor law, I sometimes worry what might options might be if I lose this job and have a difficult time finding another labor job for some reason. But, on the other hand, I have much better job prospects in non-legal positions than perhaps attorneys from other fields of law.

Good luck on whatever you decide!

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