From Social Work to Labor Law: An Alumna’s Journey in Justice and Empowerment

As a self-described “practical person,” Erica Askin (BSW 2004) always wanted a hands-on career working directly with people. While at Florida State University as an undergraduate student, social work offered the hands-on experience and skills she sought. “I chose the Social Work program at FSU because it aligned with these values while also giving me the opportunity to be educated and mentored by really great professors and to gain new perspectives in a different region of Florida where I grew up,” said Askin.

Community organizing and policy were her initial calling; she worked for several years for anti-poverty and community organizations. Most prominently, she worked for Florida Impact, a non-profit working to end hunger in Florida. She staffed a statewide resource hotline for people in need and organized and lobbied in partnership with religious and community groups for anti-poverty legislation. She also researched and published guides for the organization’s membership on policy and legislative events.

While in law school at Rutgers University, Askin discovered her passion for workers’ rights, helping with workers’ compensation and making her first foray into labor law. . After graduating from law school in 2008, she served a year-long clerkship with a trial court judge.  Then, Askin once again felt compelled to serve “on the ground” with workers, moving to Oregon to work as an organizer and representative, then elected as business manager for a public sector union. She would later serve as in-house counsel for a local private-sector union.

Askin has also volunteered extensively, including with homelessness support groups and shelters, immigration counseling organizations, groups including the ACLU and the Rural Organizing Project in Oregon, and canvassing for campaigns related to policies that affect working people.

Now with more than 15 years of experience in protecting workers’ rights, Askin stepped into her most recent role as a lawyer for the labor, employment, workers’ compensation, and family law firm Willig, Williams & Davidson, in 2024. She focuses her practice on labor law, working closely with union clients, handling arbitrations, court litigation, mediation, collective bargaining and training leaders and union members, and advising the union regarding labor standards.

Her background in social work allows Askin to connect with clients to understand their challenges and interests.  “Overall, my role combines legal expertise with empathy and active listening, skills I learned through social work and that are fundamental for being a good labor lawyer,” she described. She said her education also helps her communicate effectively with her opposition and within the legal system.

Askin enjoys the complexity of her line of work and appreciates the community in her relationships with clients. She noted that with the great deal of uncertainty that comes with labor law compared to standard court litigation, decision-making becomes even more complex. She always keeps an eye on practical solutions and how each issue relates to the greater community.  “I am just one person working on a larger problem,” she said. “We have to make any loss into a win and use it to build resiliency. This is all part of a longer journey in a system that leans against workers or could shift unexpectedly.”

Askin learned many of her critical skills and principles through her social work education and practicum, including a fundamental principle of the social work systems theory paradigm – a paradigm that will always stick with her. “I always aim to win our cases, but I find myself just as focused on understanding and partnering with the real people behind them to make change,” Askin said. “When change for the better happens, that is the real victory.