Hannah Dean, rising 3L at the Thomas R. Kline School of Law of Duquesne University, has spent this summer interning at Justice at Work in Pittsburgh, Pa., as part of her prestigious Peggy Brown Fellowship. Dean was selected for this competitive fellowship in labor and employment law out of an impressive pool of applicants. This year only 117 law students nationwide were accepted into the program from applications totaling more than 3,950.
The Peggy Browning Fund is a nonprofit organization established in memory of Margaret
A. Browning, a prominent labor attorney and Member of the National Labor Relations
Board. The Peggy Browning Fund’s mission is to educate and inspire the next generation
of advocates for workplace justice. Those chosen for the fellowship excel in law school
and have demonstrated a commitment to workers’ rights through previous “educational,
organizing, work, volunteer, and personal experiences.”
According to a press release from the Peggy Browning Fund, Dean was selected to be part of the program as a “tribute to Hannah’s outstanding qualifications.” Dean is a nontraditional law student, having spent several years working in the public interest field before entering law school. She was involved in immigrant rights advocacy in New Orleans, where she focused on improving language access in city services and public schools. Dean worked as a legal assistant and interpreter, and through those experiences witnessed how, “corporations and our immigration system put workers in vulnerable positions and the ripple effect that unstable or unsafe work has on their health and housing access.” Her experiences led to her decision to attend law school and to her commitment to contribute to the movement for worker and immigrant justice.
Dean also wants to make sure people know their rights as employees before entering the workforce. “When they get their first job, many people do not know their rights as employees or how they are protected against common workplace issues like wage theft or safety violations. Understanding their rights can help protect employees when those issues arise, either in their own employment experience or someone else’s. This knowledge can also help people see when employee exploitation is happening in their community,” said Dean.
The mission at Duquesne Kline School of Law, “Salus populi suprema lex (The welfare of the people is the highest law)”, resonates with Dean and she continually strives to embody it in her work.
“I think of Duquesne Kline’s motto as encompassing an essential part of any attorney’s work. Our legal education is a privilege, and it creates a responsibility for lawyers to contribute meaningfully to their community through pro bono work, civic engagement, and advocacy,” said Dean.
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