Working With OGC

This article appeared in the OGC Adviser, Vol. 3, No. 3, April 1979. GAO divisions commented on the working relationships they have developed with the Office of the General Counsel (OGC). The point made most frequently was that OGC is a resource for wide-ranging assistance in all aspects of work performed at GAO. The divisions stressed the importance of early contact and close informal working relationships between the audit and legal staffs. There was concern over OGC review procedures, however, and the divisions believed that OGC needs to streamline its internal processes, especially for audit report clearance reviews and formal memo-writing. The three main concerns are lack of timeliness, excessive layers of review, and "reversals" up the line of positions taken informally by staff attorneys. In reply, OGC explained its review process and audit report clearance procedures. In order to ease the problem of final clearance, OGC suggested that lawyers and auditors should work closely during the audit process. Attorneys can recognize controversial issues or identify legal issues that are not readily apparent to the audit staff. Thus, early contact between auditors and OGC in the development of issues can go a long way toward minimizing the impact of the review process. The importance of intra-agency training and orientations is recognized, and OGC believes more can be done to work the lawyers into audit training and orientation programs.