See also: The U.S. Armed Forces: Diversity Starts at the Top
Department of the Navy
General Counsel Alberto J. Mora
Alberto J. Mora has been general counsel of the Department of the Navy since 2001. As the position also oversees Marine Corps lawyers, Mora is also the chief legal officer for the Marine Corps (which is actually a division of the Navy).
Previously, Mora was of counsel to Greenberg Traurig, specializing in international law. He also served in the U.S. State Department as a foreign service officer, posted to the U.S. Embassy in Lisbon, Portugal, and he served in the George H. W. Bush administration as general counsel of the United States Information Agency. Mora is a graduate of Swarthmore College and the University of Miami School of Law. He's proficient in Spanish, Portuguese, and French.
The office of the General Counsel of the Navy consists of approximately 580 civilian attorneys, plus 30 uniformed Navy and Marine Corps Judge Advocates located throughout the United States and overseas. It also includes about 50 intellectual property attorneys.
The office's objective is to help the Navy and Marine Corps fulfill their missions through practical and objective legal advice and counsel, effective advocacy, and creative problem-solving, drawing on sound legal analysis, corporate experience, and teamwork. The legal service provided by office of general counsel attorneys throughout the department is timely and responsive to its client needs, enabling clients to exercise the full range of discretion available under the law.
Department of the Air Force
General Counsel Mary L. Walker
Mary L. Walker is the general counsel of the Air Force and the chief legal officer of the Department of the Air Force and its 1,300 attorneys.
Prior to assuming the office in 2001, Walker was a partner with Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison LLP, based in San Francisco, where she specialized in environmental and national resources law and litigation.
A graduate of the University of California, Berkeley and Boston University School of Law, Walker has held several positions in the federal government, including: assistant secretary for environment, safety and health of the Department of Energy; deputy solicitor of the Department of the Interior; and principal deputy assistant attorney general of the environment and resources division of the Department of Justice.
The general counsel's office renders legal advice and assistance to all elements of the Air Force, but the cornerstone of its responsibility is a close relationship with the secretary of the Air Force and his principal assistants. The major areas of the office's responsibilities are: fiscal law, ethics, and civilian personnel; dispute resolution; international affairs; military affairs; installations and environmental law; acquistion law; and contractor responsibility.
From the March/April 2004 issue of Diversity & The Bar®