The Center for Law and the Workplace offers the following:
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Encourages engagement with scholarship on law and the workplace through
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Presentations by scholars studying law and the workplace. These talks, coordinated with other relevant Berkeley centers, will be presented in a workshop series as part of an advanced seminar to develop a scholarly community of faculty and students working in this area. Talks will include presentations from both legal scholars and also empirical scholars whose work addresses work law related phenomenon and policy challenges.
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Talks by lawyers and policy officials engaged in legal practice. These are designed primarily for J.D. and LL.M. students who are interested in learning about the practice sector, but also JSP students interested in learning about current legal issues that might benefit from scholarly inquiry.
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Talks by students about their research. To develop research opportunities for students and to cultivate students engaged in work law scholarship, students will have opportunities to present their work in progress. An advanced pro seminar in work law designed to support students who are completing writing requirements or publishable papers in the work law area, or who are developing specific legislative proposals to address significant work related problems, will also be offered.
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An annual paper prize for the best student paper in work law at Berkeley.
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Brings together scholars from the academy, especially but not exclusively at Berkeley, and practitioners from the field to develop new understandings and models to address law and policy problems related to work.
The Center for Law and the Workplace creates an intellectual community among those who study work at the law school and connects them to researchers across Berkeley and to lawyers, activists, and policymakers. This approach of academic and practice cross-pollination is a proven strategy for generating innovative research and policy solutions. Working with scholars across the campus, the Center’s goal is generate and promote new policy proposals and legal reforms.
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Coordinates with pro bono, field placement, and SLPS opportunities for students to gain practice experience by cooperating with local organizations.
Working with Berkeley Law’s Career Development Office and with the Directors of the Field Placement Program and Pro Bono Program, CLAW will help students connect with non-profits engaged in direct services and policy work (including Legal Aid at Work, East Bay Community Law Center, Center for Workers Rights, the Impact Fund and many others), with unions, and with lawyers in firms and in-house counsel offices. These placements and connections are all the more important now in a shrinking legal market and a time of expanded demand for pro bono assistance with work related issues.
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Build community among faculty, students, community practitioners, and policymakers around law and work. We plan, beginning in 2021, to do the following:
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Annual conference or periodic small conference on particular issues
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Biennial workshop for junior faculty scholars
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Research advisory board to provide direct connection to emerging issues on the ground in work law