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B-130441 1 (1978-04-12)

handle is hein.gao/gaobadsjk0001 and id is 1 raw text is: No distribution for 30 days per Mr. Bowlin, OCR 340 r COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES WASHINGTON, D.C. 20548 0110 3-130441 AP I 1 2 1978 The Honorable James Abourezk Chairman, Subcommittee on Admin- istrative Practice and. Procedure Committee on the Judiciary t United States Senate Dear Mr. Chairman: This is in response to your letter, with enclosures, in which you ask that we determine r,,hether the Justice Department has any statu- tory authority under Attorney General's Order 683-77 (January 19, 1977) to retain private legal counsel who are not under the supervision of the Attorney General to represent Federar-ployees in civil suits brought against them in their individual capacity. You also ask. if we determine that the Department is without such authority, that we describe the liability, if any, of the Department under its existing contracts with private legal counsel,, I and that we diseuss any =odif lea- tions which may be necessary to three Comptroller General decisions I dealing with retention of outside counsel. You point out that the Department of Justice does3 not base its authority to retain private counsel under Attorney Geners Order 683-77 on 28 U.S.C. S 515 (1970) and 28 U.S.C. § 543 (1970), under t which private legal counsel retained by the rDepartment must be under the supervision of the Attorney General. In answer to a numtber of specific questions submitted by your Committee to the Department, it appears that the Dtpartment relies instead -on sections 516 and 517 , of title 28 of the United States Code which, it feels, provide general broad authority to provide representation for Federal agencies or S enaployees in all matters in which the United States is interested. (See DEpartment answers to questions 5 and 6.) (You question whether authority to protect an interest of the United { States in a law suit encompasses the authority to hire private legal counsel who are not under the supervision of the Department of Justice. A legal memorandum included with your letter argues that the legis- lative history as well aa the judicial opinions interpreting 28 U. S. C. SS 515 and 543 (and their predecessors) demonstrate that these ( sections are the sole and exclusive authority for the Attorney General to retain private legal counsel, and that the sections relied Si upon by the Department, dealing more generally with the powers of the Attorney General, give no additional authority to retain private legal counsel. . ..V' : : : i .: ... . :. !!l ( .: : .:.': i . ! : !,::; ::~ !: .:i:ii: .:: : :!;:: : ' : : ! : : :: :..:...- . : : : .

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