Judge Etchingham has been Associate Chief Judge in San Francisco since December 2012.  He was a federal ALJ at the Office of Administrative Law Judges/DOL for 8 years before transferring to the NLRB in January 2011.  In that capacity, he primarily decided and mediated cases under the Longshore & Harbor Workers Compensation Act and various whistleblower statutes. Prior to that position, he served as a judge with SSA.  He previously spent 15 years in private practice, specializing in commercial litigation and bankruptcy, including cases before the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB).  He is a CPA and also taught employment and business law courses.  A native of the Chicagoland area in NW Illinois, he obtained his B.S. degree from Augustana College and his J.D. degree from the University of California, Hastings College of Law.