University of Miami School of Law students continue to forge new paths to areas of public interest law. On October 17 and 18, Khari Taustin, HOPE Carlton Fields Scholar and HOPE Project Leader,  attended The Peggy Browning Fund’s 10th Annual National Law Students’ Workers Rights Conference.  The 2008 conference covered an array of topic ranging from discussions on pending legislation that favors more progressive labor rights, to concepts of labor more globally, to addressing the ways in which legal strategies can be employed to organize workers.  The National Labor College housed nearly 175 law school students who travelled from all over the country to the Washington, D.C conference. 

The Peggy Browning Fund is a nonprofit organization established in memory of Margaret A. Browning.  Browning was a prominent labor attorney and member of the National Labor Relations Board appointed by President Clinton in 1994. The Fund's seeks to provide law students with diverse, challenging work and educational experiences in the area of workers' rights and the annual conference is just one of the ways The Peggy Browning Fund is so successful in achieving that goal.

At the conference, Keynote Speaker Ed Ott, Executive Director of the New York City Central Labor Council, opened the morning with a  motivational speech illustrating not only his commitment to seeking improvement in the field of worker rights, but also his  enthusiasm about the wave of lawyers and advocates poised and ready to take to the next steps toward improving the workplace.  " While his message carried a great deal of the passion that fueled the day, it was encouraging and rewarding to be surrounded by students, academics, lawyers and activists with a common charge," said Taustin.

The Fund’s commitment to educating students is a real one.  Regardless of the background that brought the student to participate, the sessions were able to speak to the interests of those who had worked in the industry for years, as well as those who were only recent participants in some labor rights activity  Students had the opportunity to see union campaign successes in a film, Where Do You Stand: Stories From An American Mill.  Panel discussions followed composed of  key players from the film in the union success; David Prouty, Chief Labor Counsel, Fred Feinstein, and Denis Walsh as well as with the film’s director/producer, Alexandra Lescaze.  But students were also actively engaged, while in session, in learning about the ways in which labor plays into the global world. They had opportunities to brainstorm and learn from experts over lunch and dinner. " The conference was invigorating", said Taustin. "Everyone was committed to an ideal and to a common pursuit."