About

The Office of Chief Counsel (OCC) provides internal and external customers independent legal counsel and business advice on a myriad of areas including, but not limited to, general civil law, general intellectual property law, financial assistance, government ethics, environmental law, human resources, and real property law.  OCC is also responsible for matters pertaining to the Freedom of Information Act, the Privacy Act, and portions of the Energy Employees’ Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act. OCC provides legal advice on litigation, personnel security hearings, and employment law matters before the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission and Merit Systems Protection Board.

General Law: The OCC’s General Law Division (GL) is specifically responsible for providing advice on government financial assistance instruments and contracts, ethics, employment law, Freedom of Information Act, Privacy Act, and issues related to large management and operating contracts. GL attorneys review multi-million-dollar funding opportunity announcements as well as other solicitations and contracts for relevant legal issues. In addition, GL attorneys represent DOE before the Senior Procurement Executive for solicitation and award protests; they also support the Department of Justice in litigation matters. Further, GL attorneys and staff review agreements with other federal agencies and non-federal entities. In the area of labor and employment law, OCC serves as legal counsel in labor arbitrations and represents the DOE before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Merit Systems Protection Board.

Regulatory Law: OCC’s GL attorneys advise site offices on legal issues relating to the environment, safety, security, health, real estate, multi-party funded construction contracts, and historic preservation issues. They also manage cases filed under the Federal Tort Claims Act and DOE laboratory contractor agreements with the United States Enrichment Corporation.

Technology Transfer:  OCC’s Intellectual Property Law Division (IPL) provides comprehensive legal support for technology transfer activities and major DOE initiatives, addressing issues relating to licensing, patent waivers, procurement contracts, financial assistance awards, Strategic Partnership Projects, Agreements for Commercializing Technology, and Cooperative Research and Development Agreements. Additionally, IPL provides comprehensive copyright law support to the Office of Scientific and Technical Information and site offices nationally.

Intellectual Property Management: OCC’s IPL provides comprehensive intellectual property management supporting thousands of awards.

Patent Protection: IPL provides full service in invention evaluation, patent drafting and patent prosecution services to protect the Government’s interesting in valuable inventions.