The National Labor Relations Board has opened up a newly reorganized one-stop shop for its in-house legal services.
The NLRB moved a number of its related offices to the new Division of Legal Counsel at its Washington, D.C, headquarters, the labor and employment watchdog announced Thursday. Led by Associate General Counsel Margery Lieber, the division has an Ethics, Employment and Administrative Law Branch; a Contempt, Compliance and Special Litigation Branch; and a Freedom of Information Act Branch. The division also includes the NLRB’s lead technology counsel, Rachel See.
“The consolidation eliminates duplication of functions, improve[s] the delivery of services, streamline[s] operations and integrate[s] services,” the NLRB said in a statement.
The Ethics, Employment and Administrative Law Branch focuses on labor relations, government contracting, Federal Tort Claims Act, ethics, and employment and personnel legal issues. The Contempt, Compliance, and Special Litigation Branch handles legal proceedings against the NLRB. And the Freedom of Information Act Branch manages FOIA request processing and appeals.
To form the Division of Legal Counsel, the Ethics, Employment, and Administrative Law Branch offices include labor relations and special counsel from the Division of Operations Management, the government ethics program from the Administration Division, and the bar ethics program from the Division of Enforcement Litigation. The Contempt, Compliance, and Special Litigation Branch picks up the Special Litigation Branch, as well as the Contempt Litigation and Compliance Branch, from the Enforcement Litigation Division. The Freedom of Information Act Branch takes FOIA responsibilities from the Research and Policy Planning Branch in the Division of Advice, the Office of Appeals in the Enforcement Litigation Division, and the Solicitor’s Office. And the Division of Legal Counsel brings on the lead technology counsel from the Division of Enforcement Litigation.
The Division of Legal Counsel is organized under the Office of General Counsel, which also includes the Operations Management, Enforcement Litigation, and Advice divisions. Acting GC Lafe Solomon leads the Office of General Counsel.
Solomon was President Barack Obama’s nominee for the Senate-confirmed NLRB GC post. But Obama this month withdrew his nomination and instead recommended Richard Griffin Jr., who has served as an NLRB member since January 2012. Solomon spent more than three years as the nominee for the position. He faced Republican opposition over a complaint he filed as acting GC against The Boeing Co., which built a new plant and tried to move work on a new airplane from Washington state to anti-union South Carolina. After Boeing compromised, the complaint was dropped.
