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Winston & Strawn Picks Up Bush's Solicitor of Labor
The National Law Journal
September 04, 2009
Former Solicitor of Labor Gregory Jacob has joined the Washington, D.C., office of Winston & Strawn as a partner in the labor and employment practice. Jacob served as the Department of Labor's chief legal officer, the third-ranking official in the department, in the Bush administration.
Last year, during Jacob's tenure, the department launched a controversial audit of all permanent labor certification applications filed by the prominent New York immigration law firm Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy to determine whether the law firm improperly instructed clients to contact the firm before hiring U.S. workers. Several months later, after Fragomen had sued, the department called off the audit on the grounds that its own prior rulings on the role of immigration attorneys in the application process were confusing.
Jacob has had a varied government career, including serving as senior adviser to the secretary of Labor, as special assistant to President George W. Bush for domestic policy, specializing in immigration and justice issues, and as attorney-adviser in the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, where he was awarded the Exceptional Civilian Service Award by the Defense Department.
"Greg brings a highly valued and diverse labor and employment background," said Thomas Mills, managing partner of Winston's D.C. office, in a statement. "His experience in both the public and private sectors will be an asset to our clients and a great addition to our labor and employment practice group, which is already known for its knowledgeable and sophisticated legal representation."
Jacob served as solicitor of labor from Dec. 19, 2007, to Jan. 20, 2009. Since leaving the department, he has been heavily involved in pro bono work protecting sexually abused children. He had a full-fledged trial in Bedford, Va., this past March; several remand hearings in Maui, Hawaii, following a major appellate win in February; and several filings in a developing case in Florida. Career Labor attorneys have been much involved in two of those cases, in part due to major changes Jacob made to the department's pro bono program while he was solicitor.
He also has been working with the office of Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., and a coalition of child advocacy groups on proposed changes to the federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act.
While in public service, Jacob performed pro bono work in state courts on behalf of abused children, and was awarded the 2005 Friend of Children Award for his work.
He is a senior editor of "The Green Bag," a law journal publishing short, readable and often entertaining legal articles.
This article first appeared on The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times.
