| |
Review court-martial records, records of
investigation, and nonjudicial punishment
appeals
Provide advice on all legal matters, including
legal assistance
Maintain liaison with local, state, and federal
courts and law enforcement agencies
When appropriate, provide advice on admiralty
matters, international law, environmental law,
labor law, litigation, and jurisdictional questions
NLSOs provide the previous services as requested
by commands when the requesting command does not
have the necessary legal personnel assigned. Functional
responsibilities do not include business and commercial
law matters under the cognizance of the Office of
General Counsel.
Each NLSO has five major
departments within its organizational structure:
Military Justice, Command Services/Administrative
Law, Claims, Command Administration, and Legal
Assistance.
Additional or fewer departments may he
necessary as determined by local conditions.
When a detachment or branch office is assigned to
an NLSO, these offices provide the services required to
help the parent NLSO meet its responsibilities. The
detachment acts as an extension of the parent NLSO and
is directly responsible to the CO of the parent NLSO.
SHIP, STATION, OR STAFF JUDGE
ADVOCATE OFFICE
In addition to NLSOs and their detachments, you
may work at a ship, station, or an SJA office, usually at
the convening authority (CA) or officer exercising
general court-martial jurisdiction (OEGCMJ) level.
OEGCMJs are the reviewing authorities for the CAs
placed under their jurisdiction. These offices are
usually small, independent offices. They provide the
primary legal advice and services required by the
commands to which they are assigned or, as in the case
of reviewing authorities, are the offices that handle all
reviewing requirements for the CAs under their
command. You may have one or two LNs assigned to
you, but it is just as likely that you maybe the only LN
at the command. Most of the work in these offices
concerns military justice and investigations, but you
should also know how to handle claims and legal
assistance.
ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES
When you begin work in a new billet, whether it be
in an NLSO or an SJA office, one of your first jobs is to
learn as much as possible about your organization. You
should learn what the primary functions of your office
arc and what duties it performs as well as its relationship
to the overall command organization. After you
understand the function of your office; for example,
claims, military justice, or legal assistance, you will see
how your own duties, and those of your subordinates,
fit into these functions.
Thinking of your office in relation to your ship or
station, you should study the ship or station
organization, and the names, titles, and ranks of those
above your office in the chain of command. You should
know which other offices relate to yours in their duties.
You also should learn what reports arc due and in what
form. To understand the Navywide program of which
you are a part, study the publications related to your
work. Remember, as the supervisor it will be ultimately
your responsibility to be sure each of your subordinates
is knowledgeable in these areas as well.
OFFICE MANAGER
Traditionally, an office manager’s job has been
viewed as the planning, organizing, directing, and
controlling of his or her operations so the activity can
carry out its mission.
Many modern management authorities consider this
concept inadequate because it fails to recognize the
major role people play in achieving the objectives of the
activity. To get the job done, managers organize, direct,
and attempt to control the activities of people.
Therefore, many management authorities prefer a
concept of a manager as someone who is responsible for
matching the interests and needs of the people with those
of the activity or command. Assuming enough
resources are available, managing people is the central
and most important managerial task.
ASSIGNING PERSONNEL
After interviewing your personnel and reviewing
their service records, you should have a good idea of
their experience level, past performance, and
knowledge of the duties associated with the LN rating.
All LNs are expected to perform the duties of their
rating at the rate level they hold. This is a necessary
condition of naval organizations, but it should not
prevent you from remembering that each individual has
14-2
|
