Erica Askin possesses a unique blend of traditional lawyering and on-the-ground experience in labor and employment, with more than 15 years of experience in the courtroom, at the negotiating table, and on the “shop floor.” Erica was the first woman Business Manager elected by the public employee members of a trades’ union local, the sole in-house counsel to a large private sector union local in Oregon, and a representative of a nurses’ union in right-to-work Florida during the height of the pandemic. Erica has most recently practiced as a plaintiff’s employment attorney.
As Business Manager, Erica committed herself to organizing low-wage contingent workers and supported the local’s successful campaigns to secure fair wages and better working conditions for a legion of previously contingent public employees in Oregon. Even in her work on behalf of individual clients as a plaintiff’s attorney, Erica drove home that their wins meant they could face the future empowered to stand strong for justice among their co-workers. Before becoming an attorney, Erica worked for anti-poverty community organizations in her home state of Florida, staffing a resource hotline, organizing lobbying events, and talking to people in their places of worship and at their homes about issues commonly affecting them.
Erica advises her clients on representation and grievance processes, bargaining and campaigns, legal compliance, and governance. She also serves as a litigator, representing unions and individuals in arbitration, before agencies, and in court. Among her accomplishments, Erica has trained and supported the leadership development of hundreds of union members throughout her career, enhancing her own leadership skills in the process. Erica understands that her union clients seek to build organization, and that building strong organization requires navigating both legal pitfalls and opportunities.
WHAT INSPIRES ME ABOUT MY WORK
"My life purpose is to achieve victory side-by-side with workers courageously standing up for fairness and justice. I believe it is our job as attorneys to do everything within our power to strengthen the labor movement and amplify workers' voices.”
AWAY FROM WORK
Erica values her moments with family and friends and enjoys creative writing, and city and nature sightseeing. Having recently moved to Philadelphia, Erica looks forward to getting involved in her community, focusing on women’s rights, land use/housing and economic opportunities.
PRESENTATIONS, WORKSHOPS AND PANELS
- Continuing Legal Education on Labor-Management Innovations: Preventing Harassment and Promoting Equity, “Organized Labor’s Efforts to Eradicate Gendered and Racial Violence at Work,” Oregon State Bar Conference, 2019
- Continuing Legal Education on New Challenges for Labor, Management, and Immigrant/Undocumented Workers, “Intersection of Immigration and Labor Law,” Oregon State Bar Conference, 2017