Bryan Schwartz Law Welcomes Sam Goity as a 2024-2025 Joseph V. Kaplan Workers’ Rights Fellow

Bryan Schwartz Law Welcomes Sam Goity as a 2024-2025 Joseph V. Kaplan Workers’ Rights Fellow

Bryan Schwartz Law welcomes Sam Goity as a 2024-2025 Joseph V. Kaplan Workers’ Rights Fellow. He joins the firm after graduating from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, where he received a law degree with Pro Bono Honors and a certificate in Public Interest & Social Justice.

During law school, Mr. Goity served as Editor in Chief of the Berkeley Journal of Employment and Labor Law, publishing articles that concern novel legal issues in the field of labor and employment. Mr. Goity also participated in and later helped direct the Berkeley Law Workers’ Rights Clinic, which offers free information to low-income working people about their legal rights. Additionally, both as a union steward and as a leader of the Berkeley Law and Organizing Collective, Mr. Goity worked to advocate for the rights of academic student-employees across the University of California system.

Mr. Goity spent the summer after his first year of law school as a legal extern for the National Labor Relations Board, investigating unfair labor practice charges filed by unions and employees. During his second year, he completed an internship with the East Bay Community Law Center’s Clean Slate Clinic, providing legal support to income-qualified individuals dealing with municipal fines and fees. He spent the following summer as a clerk at a labor law firm, where he assisted on matters involving a wide variety of issues related to workers’ rights.

Before attending law school, Mr. Goity obtained a bachelor’s degree in English from Carleton College. Mr. Goity is firmly committed to vindicating the rights of working people and holding powerful institutions accountable. He understands the extent to which one’s employment can dictate how well one can live one’s life. Being a paycheck away from not being able to pay rent or afford food can be some of the scariest moments in a worker’s life, especially when they have to care for a family. Helping individuals resolve these matters favorably can make an enormous difference in a person’s life, and Mr. Goity seeks to continue to do that work.

Mr. Goity’s 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. A Washington Post tribute to Mr. Kaplan is here.

“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.”

“I am grateful and eager for the opportunity to continue the work of empowering workers as a Joseph V. Kaplan Workers’ Rights Fellow,” added Mr. Goity, upon commencing the fellowship. “I look forward to honoring his legacy and embodying the principles that he stood for,” he said.

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.