COMMUNICATION – Establish regularly scheduled check-ins and team meetings to ensure effective communication and camaraderie. When everyone is working remotely, it's more important than ever to establish a sense of normalcy by ensuring on-going communication among staff. INVOLVEMENT – Spend a few minutes before each meeting or check-in catching up with your remote employees. Ask a few questions about how they're holding up. It's important to put a more effort into your interpersonal connections when everyone is working remotely. APPRECIATION – Be generous with your praise. When a face-to-face thank you is not possible, it's even more important to remember to praise employees. If they've done a good job, tell them that you are grateful for their work. It may seem obvious, but a lot of supervisors forget the importance of showing gratitude to their employees.
The work of government lawyers is “critically important to the balance of the rule of law,” Virginia Solicitor General Toby Heytens said during his speech at the American Bar Association Government and Public Sector Lawyers Division’s Legal Skills Conference held Oct. 18 at the Omni Richmond (Va.) Hotel.
Read - ArticleThis simple question was the basis of the ABA’ s Government and Public Sector Lawyers Division’s (GPSLD) recent volunteer project at the Hunter Holmes McGuire Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Richmond, Virginia, on October 17. Hospital visitors were thankful for the simple gesture. But it was the government lawyer volunteers who were appreciative. The volunteers were grateful that they could bring a smile to the face of those who served our country. Several people approached the group and relayed moving stories of how they had been assisted by public lawyers. Government lawyer volunteers distributed information about lawyer referral services and pro bono assistance to those who asked for legal help. Thank you to former GPSLD council member Kristine Kassekert, who organized the project! Photo Caption L-R: Katherine Mikkelson and Bernadette Peele
The Government and Public Sector Lawyers Division's mission is to serve the nation’s public lawyers. By promoting integrity and excellence among public advocates, providing meaningful services not obtainable elsewhere, and by highlighting the extraordinary work of public lawyers, GPSLD works to enhance the position of public lawyers, create camaraderie within the public sector, and provide representation within the ABA for public lawyers.
GPSLD podcasts explore a variety of topics of interest to government lawyers or those seeking a public sector legal career. One podcast, "Compelling Conversations with Colleagues" is a series of interviews with a wide variety of public lawyers that examines how they obtained their position, their work duties and their career highlights.
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Laws pertaining to service animals, emotional support or comfort animals, therapy animals, and facility dogs are confusing. This webinar examines: Section 35.136 of the Americans with Disabilities Act which covers service animals, Reasonable accommodations as it pertains to housing and air travel under the Fair Housing Act and the Air Carrier Access Act for emotional support/comfort animals, How therapy animals differ from the above categories with generally no special rights of access, How facility dogs are used by prosecutor’s offices, Children’s Advocacy Centers, law enforcement, Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) programs and family courts including best practices when setting up a facility dog program.
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The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is a federal statute that governs which federal agency records are releasable to the public. This primer provides an overview of the federal FOIA and the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016, and will help those within and outside of the government understand the requirements involved in the disclosure of public records.
American Bar Association Government & Public Sector Lawyers Division 1050 Connecticut Avenue, NW Suite 400 Washington, DC 20036
GPSLD's International Pro Bono Committee provides members with information about pro bono opportunities around the world. The Hot Topics Committee monitors public law practice to determine if there are any issues that the division should investigate more deeply by, for instance, publishing an article, presenting a CLE program or sponsoring policy before the ABA House of Delegates. To join either or both committees email alison.hill@americanbar.org
