Agency General Counsels Project

As the primary legal advisors for federal agencies, general counsels play a critical role in shaping agency action so that the federal government can effectively and lawfully deliver to meet people’s needs. The Agency General Counsels Project examines the role of agency general counsels, their deputies, and career attorneys within general counsels’ offices in order to better equip future general counsels to empower their principals and other agency staff to enact the policies and take the actions they want while ensuring that these clients act within the bounds of the law; and manage large teams of mostly career attorneys to balance these twin imperatives. The Project is developing a best practices guide and other products to prepare general counsels and their high-level deputies entering a future administration to hit the ground running. It will also identify and cultivate lawyers who have the substantive knowledge and proactive orientation to fill these important roles.