Frank Dolce Fellowship

The Frank Dolce Activist Fellowship is a position at WNYCOSH committed to defending and advancing the rights of working people
Frank Dolce Activist Fellowship logo

Frank Dolce was an activist, professor, and attorney who championed the rights of working people and the cause of social justice. This paid summer Fellowship, administered by the Western New York Law Center and the Western New York Council on Occupational Safety and Health (WNYCOSH), seeks to honor his legacy by training law students to follow in his footsteps.

For nearly a quarter century, the Law Center has provided free assistance in civil cases to people unable to afford legal representation. Since 1979 WNYCOSH has helped workers — especially low-wage workers — understand their legal rights on such issues as wage theft, discrimination, and unsafe working conditions.

Fellowship Overview and Responsibilities

The Dolce Fellow will have an office at the Law Center and work with its lawyers and the WNYCOSH staff, to protect the rights of workers, assist on Law Center cases, and appear in court as part of the Law Center’s CLARO program. The CLARO program provides legal assistance to individuals on various issues associated with burdensome debt, including collections, garnishments, frozen bank accounts, court cases or judgments involving credit card, medical, or student debt, as well as legal issues associated with utility bills, lines of credit, charge accounts and home foreclosures. Supervised by Law Center attorneys, the Fellow will have the unusual opportunity to appear in court in cases being litigated.

The Dolce Fellow may also advance workers’ rights, by assisting on such issues as wage theft, discrimination, unsafe working conditions and other workplace legal issues.

The Fellow will need to make a 10 week commitment, work a 35 hour week and be paid $15 an hour.

Desired Experience & Qualifications

This Frank Dolce Activist Fellowship is open to law students who will have completed their first semester of law school before the fellowship commences.  The fellow should possess the following:

  • Excellent research, writing, and communication skills
  • A strong commitment to worker issues, workers’ rights
How To Apply

Submit a resume and cover letter and respond to the questions below. Send responses to Joseph Kelemen, Executive Director, the Western New York Law Center at jkeleman@wnylc.com and Germain Harnden, Executive Director of WNYCOSH, at germain@wnycosh.org. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis.

Frank Dolce Fellowship Questionnaire (Please limit responses to 150 words)

  1. What professional and life experiences will inform your work at the WNYCOSH Worker Center?
  2. What do you see as the relationship between law and activism?
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