The Office of General Counsel (OGC) is responsible for all aspects of legal counsel and representation of the APA. It is also responsible for the selection and supervision of outside legal counsel.
The OGC is responsible for legal issues related, but not limited to:
Contracts entered into by APA,
Intellectual property rights,
Antitrust, corporate, tax, education, election, and employment law, among others.
The OGC also conducts legal risk management activities to avoid legal exposure to APA, its employees, and its governance members. The OGC’s staff is available to all APA employees and governance members to consult on legal issues or questions that arise in the course of performing their duties for APA.
APA legal counsel advises the Council of Representatives, the Board of Directors, and all other APA governing bodies on business and policy issues with legal implications, as well as the laws regulating non-profit corporations like the APA and APA Services, Incopens in new window. The office also provides legal services on legal matters affecting APA’s divisions.
Additionally, the OGC works with psychological experts and outside legal counsel to prepare amicus curiae (“friend-of-the-court”) briefs in appellate-level court cases by sharing psychological science with the courts. The office also provides staff support for APA’s Amicus Curiae Expert Panel, which evaluates amicus requests and acts as a resource for the organization on psycho-legal issues. Additionally, the OGC promotes the interface between psychology and the law through interdisciplinary collaboration and occasionally partnering on amicus briefs or other projects with professional groups such as the American Bar Association, the National Association of Social Workers, and the American Psychiatric Association.