A desire to change the society we live in led Katrina to leave behind a career in business management and enroll in law school. Katrina felt drawn to public service, leading her to the Department of Labor’s Office of the Solicitor. During her last semester in law school, Katrina completed an internship with the Office of the Solicitor’s Philadelphia regional office, prompting her to seek ways to continue that work after earning her degree. The Solicitor’s Honors Program provided exactly that.
The structure of the Solicitor’s Honors Program ensures participants get real frontline experience of conducting sterling legal work for the Department of Labor. Throughout her time in the Honors Program, Katrina got to experience many of the areas the department covers. She was able to work with various agencies, including the Wage and Hour Division, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Employee Benefits Security Administration.
Within three months of joining the Honors Program, Katrina represented the department in an oral argument to before the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission. To her, being entrusted with an appellate argument so early in her career was a formative experience. Unique experiences like this allowed her to build and further develop her legal training and made her a better lawyer.
Katrina’s passion for worker protections has made her an excellent addition to SOL, where she started in 2016. The Solicitor’s Honors Program opened the door for mentorship by more experienced agency attorneys, which expanded her the legal knowledge and training she was already gaining through the program. The relationships she built continue to be essential to her work with the Solicitor’s Plan Benefits Security Division.
Katrina now uses her experiences to mentor new attorneys within the department. For her, it’s an opportunity to pay it forward, to connect with attorneys early on in their careers and to have an impact on the legal defense of workers’ rights far beyond her individual reach.