The Charles E. Joseph Employment Law Scholarship awards $1,000 to a law student preparing for a career as a plantiffs’ employment lawyer.
Working Now and Then recently announced the winner of its Charles E. Joseph Employment Law Scholarship. The $1,000 scholarship, which supports law students considering careers in plaintiffs’ employment law, will go to Stanford Law student Hannah Begley for the 2019/2020 academic year.
“I am extremely grateful to have received the Charles E. Joseph Employment Law Scholarship, says Begley. “It helped turn my dream of fighting for the rights of low-income workers into a reality.”
Currently completing her second year at Stanford, Begley shows great promise for a career in employment law. Begley is the co-director of the Workers’ Rights Pro Bono Project, where she offers free employment law advice to low-income workers in East Palo Alto.
Begley has also earned multiple prizes for her outstanding performance at Stanford, where she has taken classes in employment law, employment discrimination, and plaintiff-side legal ethics. This summer, Begley will be a summer associate at Altshuler Berzon LLP, one of the leading plaintiff-side public interest law firms in the country.
“As a first-generation college and law student, I rely on scholarships to help finance my public interest summer work,” Begley says. “I really appreciate the support of Working Now and Then, which will allow me to work at a private public interest law firm this summer on employment law and labor law issues.”
The Charles E. Joseph Employment Law Scholarship also recognized incoming Michigan Law student Dillon Jones as the runner-up. As a researcher at the Cornell University Worker Institute Fellowship, Jones has analyzed the impact of the gig economy on workers.
Charles Joseph founded the first Working Now and Then scholarship in 2018. “Employment law has been good to me,” explains Joseph, “and I want to encourage others, even in a small way, and let them know I care about what they are doing.” The scholarship will continue to fund law students interested in workers’ rights on an annual basis.
As part of the submission process, a field of highly qualified applicants submitted essays describing the biggest challenges facing workers’ rights. Begley impressed the committee with her essay, which emphasized the shortage of legal aid attorneys.
Working Now and Then will publish Begley’s essay, along with essays from Jones and several other applicants. The series, titled Law Students on Workers’ Rights, will begin publication in late May 2019.