WNT Announces 2023 Employment Law Scholarship Winner
May 22, 2023
Genevieve Carlton, Ph.D.
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 awarded the fifth annual Charles E. Joseph Employment Law scholarship in May 2023. The $1,000 scholarship, which supports law students considering careers in plaintiffs’ employment law, will go to Otto Barenberg for the 2023/2024 academic year.
“I’m deeply grateful to have been selected by Charles and the scholarship committee,” says Barenberg, “and will dedicate the award to supporting my studies in labor and employment law.”
Otto Barenberg is currently earning his master’s in comparative social policy at the University of Oxford. Barenberg’s master’s thesis focuses on union membership and employer-provided benefits. In the fall of 2023, Barenberg will attend Harvard Law School.
“Ensuring justice in the workplace is crucial to achieving justice more broadly,” Barenberg says. “I plan to devote my legal career to advancing workers’ rights, and strongly believe that deepening workplace democracy is essential to ameliorating inequalities and achieving economic justice.”
A record-setting number of highly qualified current and incoming law students submitted applications for the 2023 scholarship cycle. The scholarship asks applicants to write an essay on the biggest challenge facing workers’ rights. Barenberg’s essay drew on his research into democracy and workers’ rights.
In his winning essay, Barenberg focused on the erosion of workplace democracy and the legal system’s role in weakening employment protections. The essay will be featured on the Working Now and Then blog.
“I plan to study labor and employment law,” Barenberg says. “I hope to work as a union-side labor lawyer and chart a career in service of a democracy that amplifies the voice of working people.”
Working Now and Then awarded the $1,000 scholarship to support Barenberg as he pursues his law degree.
“The Charles E. Joseph Employment Law Scholarship will help fund my law school tuition and defray the costs of devoting a career to workers’ rights,” says Barenberg. “By lessening the financial burden of law school, the scholarship will enable me to focus on being an effective advocate for working people.”
The scholarship supports future employment lawyers and attorneys fighting for human rights. It is named in honor of Working Now and Then founder Charles Joseph. Joseph created the scholarship to recognize exceptional law students with bright futures in the field.
“There are few opportunities like this for individuals aspiring to a career defending workers’ rights,” Barenberg notes. “It’s rare to encounter a scholarship that supports aspiring lawyers hoping to deepen democracy and defend workers’ rights.”
In 2023, the scholarship committee also recognized runner-up Ian Russell. Russell will attend the University of Connecticut School of Law in the fall.
“As a non-traditional law student with more than a decade of private and nonprofit sector work experience, I believe I am well-suited to advocate for working people’s rights,” Russell says. “I am also the proud son of two lifelong teachers’ union members and share their passion for both workers’ rights and education.”
Russell’s essay examined the power dynamics between employee and employer. It explores the ways power differentials leave employees afraid of retaliation.
The WNT Blog will publish essays from winner Otto Barenberg, runner-up Ian Russell, and several honorable mentions. The series, titled Law Students on Workers’ Rights, will begin publication in late May 2023.
In addition to the law student scholarship, the Working Now and Then Undergraduate Scholarship will award a $1,000 scholarship to an undergraduate student considering a career in employment law in December 2023.
Working Now and Then is a resource on workers’ rights. Charles Joseph, the founder of Working Now and Then, also founded the New York employment law firm Joseph & Kirschenbaum.