What We Do

The Office of General Law advises the Secretary and other senior Department leaders and coordinates with lawyers in the Operating Administrations on critical legal issues associated with the management and operation of the Department. The Office of General Law is responsible for providing counsel in the following areas:

• Equal employment opportunity and other civil rights matters, including the Americans with Disabilities Act and Rehabilitation Act of 1973; 
• Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and Disadvantaged Business Enterprise / Airport Concession Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program matters;
• Employee ethical conduct, conflicts of interest, and political activities, including coordinating the financial disclosure program and providing ethics training to all Department employees;
• Federal personnel and employment, including administrative litigation before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Merit Systems Protection Board and providing legal guidance on issues ranging from employee disciplinary matters to reasonable accommodation requests;
• The Federal Vacancies Reform Act;
• Information technology investment and capital planning;
• Real property and asset management; 
• Research and intellectual property, including providing legal guidance on matters related to research and development, technology transfer, patent, trademark, copyright, data rights, and associated litigation issues; and
• Advice to the Office of Drug and Alcohol Policy and Compliance on drug and alcohol testing and control issues.

Who We Are