Professional Responsibility Advisory Office

PRAO Organizational Chart

In 1994, the Department recognized the need for a program dedicated to resolving professional responsibility issues facing Department attorneys. As a result, the Department established the Professional Responsibility Officer Program. After passage of 28 U.S.C. 530B (the McDade Amendment) which applied state, District of Columbia, and territorial rules of professional conduct to federal attorneys, the Department established the Professional Responsibility Advisory Office (PRAO) on April 19, 1999. As an independent component within the Department, PRAO reports to the Deputy Attorney General.

PRAO’s primary mission is to provide advice and training to Department attorneys and Assistant United States Attorneys with respect to professional responsibility and choice-of-law issues.

The major functions of PRAO are to:

• Provide advice and litigation support to Department leadership and attorneys on issues relating to professional responsibility. PRAO gives advice and recommendations on matters including, among others, complex, high profile, and sensitive issues, criminal and civil investigations and litigation; national security matters; and internal management decisions impacted by conflicts of interest. PRAO also produces comprehensive advice memoranda on recurring professional responsibility issues affecting Department attorneys for nation-wide distribution.
   
• Provide nation-wide professional responsibility training to Department leadership and attorneys, via live (in-person or remote) sessions conducted for components, offices, and the National Advocacy Center, as well as pre-recorded training available on the Justice Television Network, learnDOJ, and West Legal Education Center.
   
• Participate in policy development and strategic initiatives within the Department, including participating on working groups focused on providing practical guidance to the field.
   
• Serve as liaison to the District of Columbia Bar, as well as other state, territorial, and national bar organizations, in matters related to the interpretation, revision and implementation of rules of professional conduct.
   
• Assist Department attorneys accused of professional misconduct and coordinate with the litigating components of the Department to defend attorneys against allegations that they failed to meet their professional responsibility obligations.
   
• Perform such other duties and assignments as determined by the Attorney General or the Deputy Attorney General.