Any NLRB attorneys here?

[Anonymous]

I have an interview with Region 5 (DC office) for a Field Attorney position. Anyone have insight on how it is to work there? Can you move to other divisions easily (e.g., appellate)?

[Anonymous]

Whatever the case, ALWAYS side with the union.
Big corporations (such as Boeing) are bad, bad, bad...

[Anonymous]

I thought appellate was hiring fairly recently?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Whatever the case, ALWAYS side with the union.
Big corporations (such as Boeing) are bad, bad, bad...

OP here. I have been representing management for the last 10 years, and I disagree with you. Some of the time management is bad, some of the time unions are bad. All that corruption stuff isn't just a myth.

PP, any idea whether someone would have a shot at moving from private practice straight into appellate? (someone who mostly does trial work and appellate work at the Board level but not in court very often) That seems like a really cool gig.

[Anonymous]

Don't know if appellate is hiring now or soon, but other litigating divisions may be. There has been a lot of shuffling around with retirements and reorganizations and the retirements will continue for a while.

As for moving once you're in, it's fairly common, but you'll be expected to put some time in where you were hired (unless you have connections where you're going and they really want you).

[Anonymous]

How is the NLRB hiring process? Do you have to make sure you have all the magic words and KSAs and all that horseshit, or do they look at your actual experience?

[Anonymous]

I worked in this office when I was in law school almost 15 years ago, so obviously my experience is seriously outdated, yet I feel compelled to share. I decided I would never work for the Federal government after working there. It was the most dysfunctional office I have ever seen. Fortunately I learned afterwards that not all federal law offices are like that one (and I landed somewhere entirely different). At the time, the work ethic was pretty much non-existent and the bulk of the employees there were as eccentric as they come. The word "wacko" comes to mind. I hope it has changed significantly since then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I worked in this office when I was in law school almost 15 years ago, so obviously my experience is seriously outdated, yet I feel compelled to share. I decided I would never work for the Federal government after working there. It was the most dysfunctional office I have ever seen. Fortunately I learned afterwards that not all federal law offices are like that one (and I landed somewhere entirely different). At the time, the work ethic was pretty much non-existent and the bulk of the employees there were as eccentric as they come. The word "wacko" comes to mind. I hope it has changed significantly since then.

You do realize there are many different divisions in one federal agency? It's not "a law office"? So the division you worked in might have been not fun or wacko or whatever, but that doesn't make the entire federal government dysfunctional.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Whatever the case, ALWAYS side with the union.
Big corporations (such as Boeing) are bad, bad, bad...

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I worked in this office when I was in law school almost 15 years ago, so obviously my experience is seriously outdated, yet I feel compelled to share. I decided I would never work for the Federal government after working there. It was the most dysfunctional office I have ever seen. Fortunately I learned afterwards that not all federal law offices are like that one (and I landed somewhere entirely different). At the time, the work ethic was pretty much non-existent and the bulk of the employees there were as eccentric as they come. The word "wacko" comes to mind. I hope it has changed significantly since then.

You do realize there are many different divisions in one federal agency? It's not "a law office"? So the division you worked in might have been not fun or wacko or whatever, but that doesn't make the entire federal government dysfunctional.

PP could have been talking about appellate, as there was some discussion about that division (but it's unclear). I would be surprised if that were true, though. From what I have seen, at least of the Field Examiners and Field Attorneys, the quality is very high. They generally know what the hell they are doing, and they stick to their time targets, for the most part, which are pretty tight. It isn't like the EEOC, where a case will sit on someone's desk for 9 months and get lost under other paperwork. I know people who work for the EEOC, and I have heard bad things (and seen them) about the people working for that agency.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I worked in this office when I was in law school almost 15 years ago, so obviously my experience is seriously outdated, yet I feel compelled to share. I decided I would never work for the Federal government after working there. It was the most dysfunctional office I have ever seen. Fortunately I learned afterwards that not all federal law offices are like that one (and I landed somewhere entirely different). At the time, the work ethic was pretty much non-existent and the bulk of the employees there were as eccentric as they come. The word "wacko" comes to mind. I hope it has changed significantly since then.

You do realize there are many different divisions in one federal agency? It's not "a law office"? So the division you worked in might have been not fun or wacko or whatever, but that doesn't make the entire federal government dysfunctional.

Wrong. PP here. NLRB is a big agency but the Washington Regional office is a very small office composed of just a handful of attorneys. Like I said, it was a LONG time ago and it is probably much different now.

[Anonymous]

I was just at the DC regional office, and the Resident Officer running the joint seemed really weird and eccentric (although I didn't really talk to him; just observed him.)

I have dealt with investigators in the DC office several times, and investigators in the Baltimore office (the main regional office) many, many, many times and I do notice a difference in quality - the Baltimore folks are noticeably better. Not sure if there is a difference in work ethic.
I have a ULP hearing in a few months in the DC office, so let's hope they live up to the nonexistent work ethic rumor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was just at the DC regional office, and the Resident Officer running the joint seemed really weird and eccentric (although I didn't really talk to him; just observed him.)

I have dealt with investigators in the DC office several times, and investigators in the Baltimore office (the main regional office) many, many, many times and I do notice a difference in quality - the Baltimore folks are noticeably better. Not sure if there is a difference in work ethic.
I have a ULP hearing in a few months in the DC office, so let's hope they live up to the nonexistent work ethic rumor.

Interesting. I'm the PP who worked there 15 years ago. Funny that you say that. I don't know who the current person in charge is but one of my funniest stories about the people there is the guy who kept a big pile of shoes in his office. He would commute in sneakers and then change into his work shoes. He would grab a left shoe and a right shoe - it didn't seem to matter if they matched. So funny. He was a very nice guy, but yeah, eccentric. Everyone was so kind and welcoming, but it was an odd place. I actually think the attorneys cared about their work, but yeah, they didn't have the solid work ethic that we have in my current fed law office. I proofread a brief for them and they didn't seem interested in correcting the typos or grammatical errors I found.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was just at the DC regional office, and the Resident Officer running the joint seemed really weird and eccentric (although I didn't really talk to him; just observed him.)

I have dealt with investigators in the DC office several times, and investigators in the Baltimore office (the main regional office) many, many, many times and I do notice a difference in quality - the Baltimore folks are noticeably better. Not sure if there is a difference in work ethic.
I have a ULP hearing in a few months in the DC office, so let's hope they live up to the nonexistent work ethic rumor.

Interesting. I'm the PP who worked there 15 years ago. Funny that you say that. I don't know who the current person in charge is but one of my funniest stories about the people there is the guy who kept a big pile of shoes in his office. He would commute in sneakers and then change into his work shoes. He would grab a left shoe and a right shoe - it didn't seem to matter if they matched. So funny. He was a very nice guy, but yeah, eccentric. Everyone was so kind and welcoming, but it was an odd place. I actually think the attorneys cared about their work, but yeah, they didn't have the solid work ethic that we have in my current fed law office. I proofread a brief for them and they didn't seem interested in correcting the typos or grammatical errors I found.

Funny. I worked with a guy at another agency who wore a CCCP lanyard around his neck. Of course, he was an eccentric weirdo. The DC resident officer is Mark Baptiste-Kalaris (had to look his name up). He seems like someone who has been with the agency for life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whatever the case, ALWAYS side with the union.
Big corporations (such as Boeing) are bad, bad, bad...

+1

Two geniuses. You do realize that unions also break rules and engage in illegal behaviors, correct? This is America, and all corporations, employees, and unions are entitled to legal representation.