Background: Foundation for an Effective Consulting Practice
A Career in National Security Law, Policy, and Operations
Throughout my 33-year career with the Federal Government,
both inside and outside the Central Intelligence Agency, I have thrived on new
and varied challenges and experiences.
My practice today is building upon the expertise I’ve developed as
in-house counsel and expert on national security law, policy and operations, as
a litigation as well as legislative expert, as a policy advisor, and as a
senior manager in all these areas.
I advise corporate and
government clients on national and international security matters, operations,
and governance; provide business development assessments to enhance and develop
new business areas and opportunities; and develop and provide education and training
services.
I bring
with me a career steeped in handling sensitive matters. Working in a
classified environment required trust and discretion, integrity and adherence
to ethical standards, and sound judgment.
My conscientious, collaborative, versatile, and ethical
approach provide a solid basis for working effectively with government and
private sector leadership, operators, and staff. Building a Consulting Practice: Representative Engagements
The depth and breadth of
my experience, skills, and insights from government service are further
enhanced by recent engagements in the private sector – particularly
the
government contractor community. These have included:
Provision of consulting
services to assess organizational performance.
Counseling on and
facilitating business development opportunities.
Advising corporate officials, legal counsel, and individuals on options and approaches for dealing with legal
and other issues facing clients, regardless of whether national security implications are
present.
Clients Benefit From Expertise and Insights
Counseling
and Advocacy. Also informed by my legal training and solid
liberal arts education, I apply critical and novel thinking, leadership,
communication and interpersonal skills, and diplomacy to arrive at practical
solutions for difficult problems. These have enabled me throughout my
career to formulate sound conclusions and recommendations from both strategic
and tactical perspectives. Relevant experience has included:
Serving as in-house counsel
regarding the legality and propriety of sensitive operations and on risk
management at all levels before, during, and after operational approvals.
Advocating in
Government-wide efforts to develop national policies for the governance of
intelligence community operations.
Developing
litigation and legislative strategies when leading litigation and
legislation units, respectively.
Providing critical, timely
advice to enable sensitive human and technical operations, support
international negotiations, handle difficult personnel situations, and manage
or advise in other crisis management situations that required fast, decisive
action and sound judgment – including the ability to mediate effectively -- to
ensure success.
Leadership and Management. Time and again I have led efforts to
identify and address emerging policy and operational challenges and to initiate
and implement necessary change. In much of my career I have been at the
core of efforts to initiate and manage new capabilities, functions, and
organizational units.
I conceptualized, set up, and managed a new policy office to improve CIA
coordination and advocacy of complex issues. As the first director of the office, I oversaw development and coordination of
CIA positions on matters including intelligence community governance,
information sharing, privacy, legislation, personnel and acquisition
management, and CFIUS matters, for example.
My identification of
emerging issues led me to initiate establishment of the new position of chief
legal counsel for one of the 4 major CIA directorates. As the first such
counsel, I built a legal practice that handled challenging and seminal work on
matters such as promulgation of guidance on use of the Internet, provision of
guidance on privacy rights, support in establishment of the rules for
international tribunals, and development and implementation of policies and
practices to govern the merger of a major US intelligence collection and
analytic capability drawn from across government agencies.
After managing CIA
legislative efforts on intelligence community reform, I set up and managed the
new Office of Legislative Affairs for the Director of National Intelligence, and I developed processes for legal and
policy review of proposed legislation for the Office of General Counsel.
As an attorney and manager
I consistently identified and developed new opportunities for the provision of legal
and policy support by initiating
outreach and information activities. These
activities brought recent and emerging developments in the law and policy,
their attendant challenges, and the benefits of my offices’ services to the
attention and benefit of an ever-expanding client base eager to both avoid and
to solve problems effectively.
Communication, Collaboration, Discretion. Working persuasively and effectively with others has been essential in the positions I’ve held. Experiences have included:
Representing CIA and the
intelligence community in dealing with others both inside and outside the
intelligence community, the private sector, and with Congress on contentious
and confidential matters.
Engagement with officials
of foreign governments on international security matters and negotiations.
Advocating positions on
legislative matters and in litigation.
These experiences have
provided me the opportunity to build, maintain, and appreciate the value of
positive, collaborative relationships. I have been able to build
consensus, show flexibility and versatility, and effectively advise senior
leaders and operators.
W. George Jameson Founder & Principal Jameson Consulting
