On November 8, 2017, the U.S. Senate confirmed Peter Robb to a 4-year term as the next General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board. Robb previously served as an NLRB attorney, but has been in private practice for the past 30+ years.

The Senate voted 49-46 along party lines. Before Robb’s confirmation, Jennifer A. Abruzzo had served as Acting General Counsel since Richard Griffin’s term expired on October 31, 2017.

The new NLRB General Counsel will be responsible for investigating and prosecuting unfair labor practice cases and overseeing the NLRB field offices.

Meet the New NLRB General Counsel

Peter B. Robb most recently practiced labor and employment law with Downs Rachlin Martin PLLC in Vermont since 1995. He previously practiced with Proskauer Rose LLP.

From 1981-1985 he served as chief counsel to NLRB Member Robert P. Hunter (R). Before that, he had been an NLRB field attorney and a supervisory attorney with the Federal Labor Relations Authority.

Robb received his B.A. from Georgetown University and his J.D. from the University of Maryland School of Law.

About Jennifer Abruzzo

Jennifer Abruzzo became the NLRB’s Deputy General Counsel on November 4, 2013. That was the same day that Richard Griffin began his 4-year term as General Counsel. Before that, she held other positions in the General Counsel’s office. In total, Abruzzo has spent more than 20 years with the National Labor Relations Board. Her other positions have included Field Attorney, Supervisory Field Attorney, and Deputy Regional Attorney in the Miami, Florida office. She also served as Deputy Assistant General Counsel in the Division of Operations-Management in Washington, D.C.

Abruzzo is not known to have taken any significant action during her one week as Acting General Counsel.

Rosemary Collyer is the only woman to have served as NLRB General Counsel in a non-acting capacity. She held the position from 1984-1989. She is now a Senior United States District Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and the Presiding Judge of the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

Status of NLRB Transition

Robb’s confirmation as the new NLRB General Counsel completes the initial transition from the Obama-era Labor Board. The General Counsel operates independently from the 5-member National Labor Relations Board, but has considerable influence over the cases brought to the Board for adjudication.

With two Trump appointees (William Emanuel and Marvin Kaplan) already serving on the Board, the 3-2 Republican majority will likely get to work rolling back many positions taken by their recent pro-labor predecessors.

However, NLRB Chairman Philip Miscimarra has announced he will not accept a new term when his expires in December. This will create a third Labor Board vacancy in President Trump’s first year in office.  Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP partner John Ring and California attorney/politician Mike Stoker have been mentioned as potential nominees.

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