First-Year Student Awarded National Fellowship: Paid Summer Internship with Local Union

Even before entering law school, while at Siena College, Fabrice Michel ’20 earned a spot as a legal fellow in Touro Law School’s Mortgage Foreclosure and Family Law Clinic, representing clients of Suffolk County. He then interned at a local health center for low-income Schenectady residents.

This summer, as a Peggy Browning Fellow, he spent 10 weeks working at SMART Local 83 in Clifton Park, N.Y., the union representing area sheet metal, air, rail, and transportation workers. Fabrice was among 80 law student awardees across the country from a pool of 400.

The Peggy Browning Fund awards students who excel at law school and have demonstrated a commitment to workers’ rights.

“I’m excited to explore all the avenues I can while in law school,” Fabrice said. “I’m in law school to one day use the law to help people, to address inequalities at an individual and systemic level.”

The Long Island native looks forward to his years in Albany after his undergraduate experience. “I like it here,” he said. “I’m open to moving anywhere, I’ll see where my career opportunities take me.”