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Home  ▶  Fellowships  ▶  For Law Students  ▶  Application Requirements

Application Requirements

The Peggy Browning Fund

I.  Introduction

II.  Eligibility

1. Applicant must be a first-year or second-year student in good standing at one of the law schools on our List of Participating Law Schools.
    
2. See the fellowship descriptions for each respective Mentor Organization for any additional eligibility requirements, which may vary from one organization to another.  Some require one or more of the following: specific language skills, a labor law course, or having completed two years of law school. 

1. Applicant must be a student in good standing at a participating law school in proximity to the fellowship location. 
    
2. Applicant must have completed at least one year of law school before the start of the fellowship. 

III. Application Requirements

1. The application package must include at least a cover letter, completed application forms, and resume. 
2. See the fellowship descriptions for each respective Mentor Organization for any additional requirements, which may vary from one organization to another.  Some require one or more of the following: an additional writing sample, specific language skills, a labor law course, or having completed two years of law school. 
3. Complete the application on the PBF website and add required attachments. The application package will be sent  simultaneously to PBF and to the selected mentor organizations. 
4. Deadline:  Applications for Summer Fellowships must be received by  PBF no later than Friday, January 13, 2012.  We strongly encourage you to submit your application as soon as  possible rather than waiting until the deadline. 
5. For a summer fellowship, students may apply to a maximum of five mentor sites.   

1. The application package must include a cover letter, completed application forms, and resume. 
2. Complete the application on the PBF website and add required attachments. The application package will be sent simultaneously to PBF and to the Chicago Newspaper Guild.  
3. Deadline: Applications for the 2012-2013 School-Year Fellowship will be accepted on a rolling basis until the position has been filled.  We strongly encourage you to submit your application as soon as possible. 

IV.  Stipends

1. The total stipend payment for the ten-week Summer Fellowship is $4,500 (unless otherwise indicated).  In many cases Mentor Organizations supplement the stipend.  Refer to each respective fellowship description for details. 
2. The maximum stipend for the 2012-2013  Chicago School-Year Fellowship is $4,500.  This is based on a Fellow working 15 hours/week for 11 weeks each semester.  The work schedule will be flexible, based on the needs of the Mentor Organization and the Fellow. 
3. In most cases, Peggy Browning Fund Fellows  will receive stipend payments directly from the Mentor Organizations.  In a few other rare cases (e.g., NLRB or other government positions), students will receive stipend payments in installments directly from The Peggy Browning Fund.  
4. Fellows will be responsible for paying applicable taxes on the stipends they receive.

V.  Roles and Expectations

1. Publicize our programs extensively among their respective student populations.
2. Support the Fund’s annual National Law Students Workers’ Rights Conference to the extent possible (e.g., through covering some or all costs for their respective students to attend, taking ads in the event's program book, providing facilities, helping organize a fund-raiser, etc.).

1. Perform work assigned by Mentor Organization. 
2. Complete the entire fellowship.  The stipend will be reduced pro-rata for any portion of a fellowship not completed.  
3. Complete a Final Fellowship Report (a two-page form and brief essay summarizing the fellowship experience). 
4. Attend a one-day (expenses paid) Wrap-up Workshop (a program evaluation session) in early Fall, 2012, scheduled in conjunction with the Fund’s annual National Law Students/Workers’ Rights Conference. 
5. Help publicize PBF programs among their peers at school and in the labor movement.

1. Mission:  The Mentor Organization's mission must include the protection of workers' rights.  Only organizations that represent workers, labor organizations, or their interests will be accepted into the program.  Examples include:  labor organiations; offices of the National Labor Relations Board; other government agencies, fedral or state, that address labor or employment issues; not-for-profit, public interest organizations that advocate for workers; law firms that represent labor organizations and/or workers and that practice in areas of traditional labor and/or employment law.
    
2. Equal Opportunity:  The Mentor Organization must be an Equal Opportunity Employer.  
    
3. Management and Supervision:  All Mentor Organizations will be expected to do the following:
   
   a.  Provide the Fund with a Fellowship Description. 
   
   b.  Interview applicants and select fellowship candidates in a timely manner, in accordance with guidelines and schedule set by the Fund.  All fellowship awards are to be made by PBF, not by the mentor organization.  Target Date for selection:  February 3, 2012.  We recognize that extenuating circumstances may necessitate an extension, but we expect each organization to make every effort to reach this target, for the benefit of the students as well as other mentor organizations.
   
   c. Provide appropriate orientation, work assignments, professional supervision by an attorney and regular feedback to the PBF Fellow throughout the fellowship.
   
   d. Give PBF a Mentor's Feedback Report by August 15, 2012.
    
4. Work Experience:  The mission of the Peggy Browning Fund is to educate law students on the rights and needs of workers.  To that end, the Fund expects all Mentor Organizations to provide PBF Fellows with varied work assignments that expose them to as wide a variety of legal and advocacy work as possible, consistent with the mission of the Mentor Organization.  The Fund will assess the Mentor Organization's Fellowship Description, and will monitor the actual experience of the PBF Fellow, to determine if the Mentor Organization is offering and providing the Fellow with a diverse and challenging educational experience in the area of workers' rights.  The Fund suggests that the Mentor Organization should provide the Fellow with a variety of legal work which includes, to the extent possible within the mission of the organization, the following:
   
   a.  Work on actual pleadings and litigation documents, in addition to memoranda on legal issues;
   b. Attendance at and participation in administrative and legal proceedings, if possible;
   c. Contact with workers and clients;
   d. Participation in public events organized and sponsored by the Mentor Organization;
   e. Opportunities for netowkring with other mebers of the legal and workers' rights communities, including seminars and workshops.
    
5. Fellowship Stipend:
   
   a. Fellows must be paid at least the minimum stipend amount set by PBF (currently $4,500).
   
   b. Some mentor organizations cover the full stipend or supplement the amount provided by PBF.  In such cases, the stipend must match what the mentor organization pays other students for doing comparable work.  The mentor organization agrees to provide stipend or matching funds, if applicable, to PBF as agreed upon, no later than May 1, 2012, or to the Fellow during the fellowship.
    
6. Other:  Provide funding for Fellow(s) attending Fellows' Wrap-Up Workshop adn PBF's anual National Law Students Workers Rights Conference. (Not applicable to non-profit organizations and government agencies participating in PBF fellowship program.)

  D. The Role of The Peggy Browning Fund

1. Establish fellowships with Mentor Organizations. 
    
2. Establish and maintain liaison with participating law schools.
    
3. Coordinate the fellowship application process (e.g., produce application handbook, publicize the program among law schools,  on website and via other means;  consult with students about their applications, consult with Mentor Organizations regarding applicants, award fellowships). Fellowship awards will be made only by PBF, not by mentor organizations.
    
4. Provide networking opportunities to Fellows, through such means as networking/fundraising events, alumni connections, introductions to labor leaders and labor lawyers, etc.
    
5. Consult with Fellows and with Mentor Organizations regarding any problems that may arise during the fellowship. 
6. Coordinate and lead Fellows' Wrap-Up Workshop, a networking and program evaluation session held each fall after fellowships have been completed (scheduled in conjunction with PBF's annual National Law Students Workers' Rights Conference).  Mentors are also invited and encouraged to attend.

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