The Honors Program of the Office of the General Counsel is designed for attorneys with exemplary records who are completing law school or judicial clerkships and are interested in joining the preeminent legal office involved in the development and implementation of Federal labor law and policy.
The Office of the General Counsel is charged with the responsibility of enforcing the nation's fundamental labor law, the National Labor Relations Act. Unlike almost all other Federal agencies, the Board enjoys independent litigating authority. Every day, attorneys with the Office of the General Counsel represent the Board and the General Counsel in proceedings before federal bankruptcy and district courts and federal courts of appeals. Our lawyers also play a leading role in providing guidance to the General Counsel and the Regional Offices throughout the country with respect to novel or difficult legal issues. Altogether approximately 75 non-supervisory attorneys are assigned to the Office of the General Counsel in our headquarters in Washington , D.C.
Attorneys in the Honors Program will spend their first two years handling a broad variety of assignments from the Office's Divisions and Branches. These Branches include the Appellate Court Branch, the Contempt Litigation and Compliance Branch, the Special Litigation Branch, the Regional Advice Branch, the Injunction Litigation Branch, and the Office of Appeals. In addition, Honors Program Attorneys may choose to take a detail to work in our Baltimore Regional Office investigating charges of unfair labor practices and overseeing secret-ballot elections.
There is great variety in the legal assignments available in the Offices of the General Counsel at Headquarters. An attorney in his or her two years in the Honors Program might draft a brief and argue an enforcement case before a U.S. Court of Appeals, make appearances before federal bankruptcy and district courts as a representative of the Board or General Counsel, draft legal advice memoranda concerning difficult or cutting-edge labor law issues, and review investigative files to determine the appropriateness of an appeal from a Regional Director's dismissal of an unfair labor practice charge. Honors Program participants will obtain a broad knowledge of labor law matters and civil practice, as well as significant court experience, that would be difficult to obtain in years of private practice. Moreover, participants will share the special pride that comes from representing the United States Government and engaging in public service.
After two years, participants in the Honors Program will be assigned to a specific office in the Office of the General Counsel. All efforts will be made to accommodate attorneys' preferences consistent with the needs of the Office.
Further information concerning the work of these offices can be found in the Honors Program Handbook ( Honors Program Handbook). Candidates interested in being considered for an entry-level attorney position under the Honors Program must submit applications for consideration no later than October 15, 2008. We invite you to apply by clicking on ( Honors Program Application).