Bryan Schwartz Law Welcomes Kelsey Kinoshita as the 2026-2027 Joseph V. Kaplan Workers’ Rights Fellow

Bryan Schwartz Law Welcomes Kelsey Kinoshita as the 2026-2027 Joseph V. Kaplan Workers’ Rights Fellow

Bryan Schwartz Law is excited to welcome Kelsey Kinoshita as the 2026-2027 Joseph V. Kaplan Workers’ Rights Fellow. Ms. Kinoshita earned her law degree from the New York University School of Law in 2025. Prior to starting at Bryan Schwartz Law, Ms. Kinoshita served as the inaugural Legal Fellow at the NYU Law Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Center, where she managed legal leadership training for NYU Law student Fellows and advanced sex equality under state constitutions alongside the Marcy Syms Equality Initiative.

Ms. Kinoshita brings a strong background in legal and policy advocacy and community engagement for workers’ rights. As a law student in the NYU Law Reproductive Justice Clinic, she advocated for the rights of workers experiencing menopause and perimenopause. As the NYU Law Review of Law and Social Change Journal Colloquium Editor, she planned a two-day colloquium that brought together students and practitioners to discuss workers’ rights, community-building, and social movements.

Speaking to these experiences, Ms. Kinoshita says, “I want to protect workers’ rights so they can live with dignity. I’m thrilled to join the team at Bryan Schwartz Law to ensure our legal protections are a reality.”

In addition to the aforementioned experiences, during her time at NYU Law, Ms. Kinoshita also served as Advocacy Chair of Law Women and defended marginalized communities’ rights through the Racial Justice & Abolition Clinic. In recognition of her outstanding clinical work, Ms. Kinoshita received the Ann Petluck Poses Memorial Prize. During her summers, Ms. Kinoshita interned at Chinese for Affirmative Action and at the ACLU Women’s Rights Project. Ms. Kinoshita is also the recipient of the Japanese Bar Association Elmer Yamamoto Civil Rights and Public Interest Scholarship.

The Joseph V. Kaplan Workers’ Rights Fellowship is named for Joseph V. Kaplan, Esq., a founder of Passman & Kaplan in Washington, D.C., a law firm dedicated to workers’ rights for over 30 years, where Mr. Schwartz first began private practice. Mr. Kaplan died in 2020 from complications of COVID-19.

“Joe was the person who taught me what it means to be a strong and passionate advocate for workers,” said Mr. Schwartz of the fellowship. “We lost Joe and so many others to COVID-19, but it is a fitting tribute to him that the next generation of civil rights lawyers be trained in his honor.”

“Bryan Schwartz Law’s work confronting discrimination and protecting workers’ rights is inspiring and exactly the kind of transformative justice work I hope to pursue in my legal career,” Ms. Kinoshita said. “I look forward to digging into this work and upholding Mr. Kaplan’s amazing legacy.”

Since 2009, Bryan Schwartz Law has dedicated itself to continuing the struggle for civil rights and equal employment opportunities, and helping Americans from every background to achieve their highest career potential. The firm focuses on individual, class, and collective actions involving discrimination and retaliation, harassment, denied disability accommodations, whistleblower reprisal, wage and hour violations, federal employees’ rights, and severance negotiations.