In late July, Jennifer A. Abruzzo was confirmed as the new general counsel (GC) of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The vote was 51-50 and required Vice President Kamala Harris to cast the tie-breaking vote.

Like previous general counsels, one of Abruzzo’s first priorities was the issuance of a memorandum (GC 21-04) to all the NLRB’s regional offices entitled “Mandatory Submissions to Advice.” As the name implies, the memo requires that whenever any issue identified in the memo arises in a region, the case must be sent for disposition to the Division of Advice, an adjunct of the GC’s office located in the NLRB’s Washington, D.C., headquarters. The Advice submission memo is a key document for any GC. It identifies the GC’s priorities, and provides a roadmap for the policy initiatives and changes an incoming GC intends to effectuate by presenting to the five-member Board for eventual decision. Since that Board now enjoys a plainly pro- labor majority, the GC’s submission wish list is very likely to eventually become law.