Service Employees International Union (SEIU)

Legal Department
Washington, DC

This is the 2024 fellowship description for this mentor organization. This position has been filled.

SEIU is a progressive, dynamic and growing labor organization representing over 2 million members in the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada, united by the belief in the dignity and worth of workers and the services they provide. We are dedicated to improving the lies of workers and their families and creating a more just and humane society.

Attorneys in SEIU’s Legal Department engage in innovative lawyering to further the organization's interests in organizing non-union workers, improving working conditions for all workers, engaging in political action, and achieving social justice. This includes legal work on a wide range of litigation, regulatory and legislative matters, and policy and advising on union governance issues, organizing campaigns, and other legal work in furtherance of working people and their communities.

Peggy Browning Fellows in the SEIU Legal Department conduct legal research and draft legal memoranda, work with attorneys on pending litigation, attend hearings and conferences, and meet with union leaders.

Fellows are generally assigned to work in the Legal Department in Washington, D.C.

Fellows are paid $25/hour.

We are interested in candidates with a demonstrated commitment to workers’ rights and social change. The successful applicant will have a strong academic background with excellent writing and researching skills. Completion of a basic labor law course is preferred but not required. Please note clerk positions are open only to current law students.

In addition to the basic application requirements (cover letter, application form, essays, resume), applicants for this fellowship must also include a brief writing sample and law school transcript (when available).

SEIU is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Address cover letter to:

Alvin Velazquez
Assistant General Counsel
SEIU
1800 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20036

www.seiu.org

* The Peggy Browning Fund dedicates this fellowship to the memory of Norm Gleichman, a very good friend of PBF and a dedicated labor lawyer and advocate, who died suddenly on January 11, 2013.  Norm was Deputy General Counsel of the Service Employees International Union, a position he held since 2002.  He was also an active member of the Peggy Browning Fund's Advisory Board, where his support, counsel and advice were invaluable.  In both roles, he served as a mentor to many law students and young lawyers starting out in careers dedicated to workers' rights.  For eight years before joining the SEIU's legal staff, Norm was a legal counsel with the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission.  Earlier, he did legal work for the Communications Workers of America, and practiced with the firms of Barr, Peer & Camens and Cafferky, Powers, Jordan & Lewis.  His career, prematurely cut short, was one dedicated to advancing social justice for working people.  He is sorely missed.