2022 Employment Lawyer of the Year

To countless friends and advocacy partners, hundreds of clients, and First Shift Justice Project’s Board and staff, First Shift’s Executive Director and co-founder, Laura Brown, has long been lawyer of the year. On March 4th, the Metropolitan Washington Employment Lawyers Association (MWELA) agreed by naming Laura the 2022 MWELA Employment Lawyer of the Year. 

Laura’s dedication to parents and caregivers in the greater Washington area is inspiring. As Laura said when she accepted her award, it is “good to be recognized for hard work. This is the recognition I seek for our clients too. They work really hard for their families and deserve credit.” Laura’s humility and service makes this recognition even more special.

Laura’s vision and First Shift’s work have touched the lives of parents – and especially mothers – in low-wage jobs across the D.C. region who are both working and caring in extremely difficult times. First Shift helps workers assert their own workplace rights, educates workers, employers and health providers about workplace rights, and contributes substantially to systemic policy changes that touch the lives of tens of thousands of people. 

I first met Laura when she and Keira McNett founded First Shift and then again when First Shift played a leading role in fighting for – and winning – D.C.’s paid family and medical leave program. It is a fitting tribute to First Shift’s work that the law was expanded to provide 12 weeks of paid leave to all eligible Washington, D.C. workers beginning later this year, in the very week Laura received the MWELA award, and in no small part due to her ongoing work. 

Congratulations, Laura and First Shift! And here’s to many more years of groundbreaking work with tremendous impact!

Vicki Shabo

First Shift Justice Project Board Member

Senior Fellow, New America ‘s Better Life Lab