Joining the Department of Commerce’s Office of the General Counsel affords lawyers and non-lawyers alike with a view into every corner of the Department’s operations. OGC offers its team the opportunity to become experts in specific areas of trade and commerce law but also affords staff the chance to develop skills outside of their areas of expertise.
If you’re like us, making space on your calendar to find professional enrichment, let alone attend a session for CLEs, seems daunting. You know it will be time well spent, but it often feels like it’s time you can’t find. So when OGC Management asked us to Chair OGC’s Professional Development Committee (PDC), we knew we couldn’t pass it up. Here was an opportunity to lead a cross-cutting, interdisciplinary group in OGC and help others find those same development opportunities we were looking for ourselves.
Professional Development Committee
The PDC’s mission is to provide skills-based programming to OGC staff. As a staff-led committee, it is one of the many ways OGC employees are offered both exposure to the organization (through participation and leadership of the PDC) and professional development support (through skills-based programming opportunities).
PDC’s First Event of 2024
The PDC kicked off 2024 with a discussion with SCOTUSblog reporter Amy Howe, who shared with us her career path from attorney to journalism, her thoughts on perceived palace intrigue of the Court, and advice for attorneys practicing appellate advocacy. Amy’s discussion on the Court's trends over the years as well as their current operations were tremendously insightful and we couldn't have asked for a better speaker for our kick off event.
The Year Ahead
We have great plans for the PDC in 2024, starting with a brown bag series with various OGC offices and bureaus, revamped onboarding processes, and competitive and highly entertaining Trivia Nights!
Learn more about OGC
OGC leadership knows the importance of professional development for its staff. It is one of the many reasons the Department of Commerce’s OGC is such an attractive place for lawyers and paraprofessionals to come work. Learn more about the Office of the General Counsel, review employment opportunities, or submit a resume.
By Emma Hunter and Rachel Morris