Two Rutgers Law students are spending the summer at public interest labor law fellowships thanks to the Peggy Browning Fund.
Will Campbell ’18 is working in Washington D.C. at the International Brotherhood of Teamsters where he is part of the legal team of about a dozen attorneys. He said he’s been writing memos, working on arbitration and hopes to gain experience in employer negotiations before the summer is over.
Campbell also has a master's degree in labor and employment relations.
At Rutgers Law in Newark, Campbell is a member of the Rutgers Labor and Employment Law Society and one of the editors of the Rutgers Race & Law Review. He said he’s long had an interest in labor law. After earning his bachelor’s degree in labor studies at Rutgers New Brunswick, he also got a master’s degree in Labor and Employment Relations from the Rutgers School of Management.
“I’m getting practical experience with labor law and research and writing, which is so integral to any legal career,” he said.
Last summer, Campbell, 23, completed another Browning Fellowship with the Sheet Metal Workers’ Union Local 19, assisting with prevailing wage enforcement in the Delaware Valley.
Daniel Dowdy ’18, is the other Browning Fellowship winner. A student at Rutgers Law in Camden, Dowdy is spending his summer with Previant Law Firm S.C., a labor firm in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he is part of a team of seven other labor attorneys.
“Most of my time is spent representing labor unions,” he said. “Unionism has long been a value to this country and continues to be so.”
Dan Dowdy is one of the recipients of a Browning Fellowship this year.
Dowdy, 28, has put his passion for social justice into action. He is president of the National Lawyers’ Guild chapter at Rutgers-Camden, a student leader of the Voters’ Rights Project, director of the group of Rutgers Law School students providing pro bono work at the Pennsylvania Innocence Project, a staff editor of the Rutgers Journal of Law & Religion and will be an Eagleton Fellow in the 2017-2018 academic year.
While at law school, Dowdy has had a diverse array of experiences – from helping eligible incarcerated persons to vote to getting published in a journal on the subject of employment protections for followers of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. He is pursuing his interest of politics and will be an extern in the New Jersey Senate Majority Office in the fall.
“I chose Rutgers Law because it is very clearly the highest level of legal education any aspiring attorney can get at the best value,” he said. “Overall I could not be happier with my choice to come to Rutgers Law. I am a better person because of it and my career will exist and thrive on the launch pad given to me by Rutgers Law.”
According to its website, the Peggy Browning Fellowship Program provides stipends to law students who dedicate their summer to advancing the cause of workers' rights by working for labor unions, worker centers, labor-related not-for-profit organizations, union-side law firms and other nonprofit organizations. The 10-week summer fellowship program is available to first and second-year law student who intend to consider labor law as a career. The Peggy Browning Fund will be visiting both Rutgers Law campuses in the fall to make presentations about labor law and the fellowships.