Pictured, from left: Prof. Cheryl Beckett, Kasi Walker, and Asst. Dean of Students John Sklut

Kasi Walker, a second-year law student, was recently awarded the WSBA Labor and Employment Grant.

The Labor and Employment Law Summer Clerkship Competition was implemented during the 2004-2005 academic year, with funding provided by the Labor and Employment Section of the Washington State Bar Association, along with the Schools of Law at Gonzaga University, Seattle University, and the University of Washington.

Professor Cheryl Beckett, faculty coordinator for the grant, said the grant was developed to give students an opportunity to gain hands-on experience in the field of labor and employment law. Funding limitations may otherwise make such experience unavailable.

Walker is from Tacoma, Washington, and majored in Secondary Education and History at Pacific Lutheran University. Her desire to know her rights as a worker led her to focus on employment and labor law.

This summer, she will volunteer with the Pierce County Center for Dispute Resolution, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, on workplace conflict issues and hopes to work in education on in Labor/Employment Law.

In November, Walker, along with grant recipients from Seattle University and the University of Washington, will address the WSBA Labor and Employment Section at its annual conference in Seattle, where they will be honored.