Ronald Meisburg, General Counsel (GC) to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), plans to leave the Board eight weeks shy of the end of his term in order to enter private practice. A former management-side lawyer, Meisburg was seated via recess appointment as a Board member in 2004, and as General Counsel in 2006. Meisburg, after the Senate confirmed his nomination in August 2006, was to serve as GC until August 14, 2010. His vacancy will allow President Obama to appoint his own choice to fill this position, which has been held by a Republican since 2001. In March, Obama used the recess appointment process to seat Democrats Craig Becker and Mark Pearce as NLRB members.  Republican nominee Brian Hayes was not similarly seated, and has yet to receive a Senate confirmation. The sole remaining Republican member, Peter Carey Schaumber, will complete his term on August 27, 2010.

Although a significant amount of controversy surrounded Obama’s choice of former union general counsel Becker as an NLRB member, the general counsel pick could be equally contentious, given the enforcement power that accompanies the position. The NLRB traditionally makes changes to labor law through its rulings and the general counsel determines which cases are put before the NLRB. Therefore, which cases the general counsel chooses to pursue are a critical component with regard to what issues the NLRB will have an opportunity to decide. The selection of the person who determines which cases will be considered is likely to be as controversial as the selection of individuals who ultimately will decide those cases. At this point, however, there is no clear front-runner as Meisburg’s replacement. In a letter to NLRB employees, Meisburg announced that Deputy General Counsel John Higgins will take over any new cases presented to the Board.