United Mine Workers of America
Washington, DC
The United Mine Workers of America has a long tradition of aggressive leadership in the struggle for workers' rights. The UMWA is responsible for creating a significant portion of existing labor law, both through litigation and legislation. The UMWA takes credit for implementation of the 8-hour day in 1898, collective bargaining rights in 1933, health and retirement benefits in 1946 and mine safety and health protections in 1969, and again in 1977 and 2006. While the core of its membership has long been coal miners throughout the United States and Canada, membership is growing in other industries, including clean coal technologies, health care and the public sector.
The Legal Department consists of five attorneys, four of whom work in the Headquarters Office and one in Charleston, WV. In addition to the Peggy Browning Fellow, the UMWA generally employs one or two law clerk interns each summer. Legal work regularly includes organizing, negotiations, contract enforcement, plant closings, safety and health law, and internal union affairs. In addition to providing legal advice and helping with the creation and implementation of Union policies, UMWA attorneys engage in a large quantity of litigation in state and federal courts, as well as before state and federal administrative agencies. The lawyers work closely with all of the UMWA departments; our interns and Fellows share the same broad exposure and experience.
The Peggy Browning Fund Fellow will gain substantial research and writing experience, working with staff attorneys and one or two other law clerk/interns to support the UMWA and its membership. All the law clerk interns, including the Peggy Browning Fellow, have the chance to work with all the in-house lawyers, thereby learning different substantive areas of the law and experiencing diverse styles of lawyering. Experienced UMWA lawyers are always available to provide guidance and supervision, when needed. The Fellow will prepare a variety of written materials, including some that can be used as writing samples for later jobs.
Our law clerk interns have significant responsibility. For example, one recent legal intern wrote half of an NLRB representation brief, while another drafted part of a federal appeals-court brief, and another was responsible for briefing an administrative safety and health case, among many other projects. Aside from the more traditional legal work, recent interns also had the opportunity to attend meetings of the Union's International Executive Board, participate in contract negotiations, assist with a rally of miners on The Hill, help with a Congressional hearing, observe a deposition, attend the district court argument in a case the intern helped brief, and meet with the Union President and a high-level representative of the U.S. Department of Labor. Each year these possibilities change according to the Union's specific work, but every summer seems to offer our interns at least some unconventional work tasks and opportunities.
The UMWA relies on its legal staff to further the Union's mission as a progressive force for change. Summer law clerk interns are given great legal experience, with exposure to a variety of subjects and tasks. Like staff lawyers, threcent interns have been very satisfied with their work experience at the UMWA and the Union is committed to continuing this tradition. In fact, the UMWA was highlighted in America's Greatest Places To Work With A Law Degree. For more information about the United Mine Workers of America, visit the UMWA web page: http://www.umwa.org.
The UMWA will supplement the basic stipend, so the Peggy Browning Fellow will receive a total ten-week stipend of $5,000.
In addition to the basic application requirements (cover letter, application form, essays, resume), applicants for this fellowship must also include a legal writing sample.
Address cover letter to:
Judith Rivlin, Esq.
Associate General Counsel
United Mine Workers of America
18354 Quantico Gateway Drive, Suite 200
Triangle, VA 22172
703-291-2400
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