D.C. Mun. Regs. tit. 6, r. 6-B3605

Current through Register Vol. 71, No. 49, December 6, 2024

Rule 6-B3605 - EVALUATION OF PERFORMANCE - LINE ATTORNEYS

3605.1 Each supervisor shall prepare a written evaluation for every line attorney under his or her supervision annually, within twenty (20) days after the end of the rating period. Written evaluations shall be prepared using a form that is jointly approved by the Attorney General and the Director of the Mayor's Office of Legal Counsel.

3605.2 Each supervisor shall submit evaluations of line attorneys to his or her supervisor for review, comment, or revision. Each supervisor who reviews an evaluation shall complete his or her review within five (5) days of receipt of the evaluation and shall immediately return the draft evaluation to the supervisor who prepared it.

3605.3 The supervisor who prepared the evaluation shall complete any revision requested by his or her supervisor within seven (7) days of receipt of the evaluation.

3605.4 After completion of any revisions under Subsection 3605.3, the evaluation shall be reviewed by every supervisor in the chain of command from the line attorney up to the Attorney General, the Director, or the agency head, as applicable. Each supervisor within the chain of command shall complete his or her review within five (5) days of receipt of the evaluation and forward the evaluation, along with his or her comments for revision, up the chain of command. The final supervisor in the chain of command below the Attorney General, the Director, or the agency head shall, upon completion of his or her review, return the evaluation to the supervisor who prepared it for revision prior to transmittal to the Attorney General, the Director, or the agency head.

3605.5 As soon as practicable after the receipt of the evaluations, the Attorney General, the Director, or the agency head shall complete his or her review. In reviewing evaluations of line attorneys, the Attorney General, the Director, or the agency heard may consult with the supervisor who prepared the evaluation, any person who prepared an advisory evaluation, and the supervisors in the chain of command for the relevant unit.

3605.6 If the Attorney General, the Director, or the agency head decides that an evaluation should be changed, the supervisor who prepared the evaluation shall make all changes that are directed by the Attorney General, the Director, or the agency head within five (5) days of receipt of the Attorney General's, the Director's or the agency head's directive.

3605.7 Each supervisor shall review the evaluation with the line attorney evaluated within twenty (20) days of receipt of the approved evaluation from the Attorney General, the Director, or the agency head or within twenty (20) days after completion of any revisions directed by the Attorney General, the Director, or the agency head. Both the line attorney evaluated and his or her supervisor shall sign the written evaluation to confirm that it has been reviewed.

3605.8 If a line attorney disagrees with the written evaluation, he or she may appeal it within thirty (30) days of receipt to the appropriate review committee established by the Attorney General or the Director.

3605.9 The Attorney General and the Director shall each establish a Performance Evaluation Review Committee ("Committee") for line attorneys within their jurisdiction. Line attorneys employed by subordinate agencies and the Mayor's Office of Legal Counsel are within the Director's jurisdiction. The Attorney General and the Director shall each appoint nine (9) managing attorneys to their respective Committees, which shall sit in three-member panels as designated by the Attorney General and the Director.

3605.10 The Committees shall be empowered to review the basis for the direct supervisor's rating, conduct a hearing, receive written briefs, and issue a written decision which may approve, modify, or reject the performance rating. The line attorney shall initially provide the Attorney General or the Director (or their designees) with a notice of appeal, including any request for a hearing, within thirty (30) days of receipt of the evaluation. The Committee shall circulate the notice to the line attorney's direct supervisor and to every supervisor in the chain of command between the line attorney and the Attorney General, the Director, or the agency head.

3605.11 The Committees have the discretion to decide whether to grant any request for a hearing. If a request for a hearing is granted, the committee shall circulate a hearing notice to the line attorney and to every supervisor in the chain of command between the line attorney and the Attorney General, the Director, or the agency head, which provides:

(a) The place of the hearing and a hearing date and time no more than fifteen (15) days from the date of the hearing notice;

(b) That the line attorney may review, upon request to his or her direct supervisor, all materials upon which the evaluation is based;

(c) That the line attorney may be represented by an approved attorney, or other representative at the hearing; and

(d) That the line attorney has the right to testify and present evidence at the hearing.

3605.12 The hearing shall be closed except for the line attorney, his or her representative, the line attorney's direct supervisor, and every supervisor in the chain of command between the direct supervisor and the Attorney General, the Director, or the agency head. There shall be no discovery procedures except as provided in this section. An official record shall be kept of the hearing. The Committee may hold a pre-hearing conference in order to:

(a) Formulate and simplify the issues, including the elimination of frivolous claims or defenses;

(b) Obtain admissions of fact and of documents that will avoid unnecessary proof, stipulations regarding the authenticity of documents, and advance rulings on the admissibility of evidence;

(c) Obtain identification of all witnesses and documents, which identification shall be binding at the hearing, except as, in the discretion of the committee, the interests of justice warrant the addition of witnesses and documents at the hearing;

(d) Achieve settlement of the dispute;

(e) Dispose of any pending motions;

(f) Set reasonable limits on the time allowed for presenting evidence;

(g) Establish a post-hearing briefing schedule, which may permit written briefs or other documents to be filed by the line attorney, the line attorney's direct supervisor, and each supervisor in the chain of command between the line attorney and the Attorney General, the Director, or the agency head; and

(h) Address such other matters as may facilitate the just and efficient disposition of the matter.

3605.13 If the Committee decides, in its discretion, to reject any request for a hearing, in whole or in part, it shall so advise the line attorney, the attorney's direct supervisor, and each supervisor in the chain of command between the line attorney and the Attorney General, the Director, or the agency head. The Committee shall circulate a notice that schedules the filing of written briefs or other documents to the line attorney, the line attorney's direct supervisor, and each supervisor in the chain of command between the line attorney and the Attorney General, the Director, or the agency head. The Committee may schedule a meeting with the line attorney, the line attorney's direct supervisor, and each supervisor in the chain of command between the line attorney and the Attorney General, the Director, or the agency head in order to address the matters raised in the appeal.

3605.14 The Committee shall provide the line attorney, the line attorney's direct supervisor, and every supervisor in the chain of command between the line attorney and the Attorney General, the Director, or the agency head with a final written administrative decision within thirty (30) days of the conclusion of the appeal proceeding. The final written administrative decision shall be accompanied by notice of the right to appeal the decision to the Attorney General, the Director, or the agency head within thirty (30) days of receipt of the decision by the line attorney.

3605.15 The Attorney General, the Director, or the agency head shall circulate the line attorney's notice of appeal to the line attorney's direct supervisor and to every supervisor in the chain of command between the direct supervisor and the Attorney General, the Director, or the agency head.

3605.16 The Attorney General, the Director, or the agency head shall review the basis for the three-person committee's decision de novo, without taking any additional evidence. As part of this review, the Attorney General, the Director, or the agency head may permit written appellate briefs to be filed in accordance with a schedule established by the Attorney General, the Director, or the agency head. No oral arguments shall be permitted. The Attorney General, the Director or the agency head may, in the exercise of his or her discretion, hold a pre-briefing conference for the purposes, among others, of formulating and simplifying the issues, disposing of any pending motions, attempting to settle the dispute, establishing a schedule for the filing of written briefs or other documents, and addressing such other matters as may facilitate the just and efficient disposition of the appeal.

3605.17 The Attorney General, the Director, or the agency head shall provide the line attorney, the line attorney's direct supervisor, and every supervisor in the chain of command between the direct supervisor and the Attorney General, the Director, or the agency head with a final written administrative decision within a reasonable time after the final brief is filed. The Attorney General's, the Director's, or the agency head's decision shall be final and no further appeal shall be allowed.

3605.18 Each supervisor shall perform at least one (1) interim evaluation of every attorney under his or her supervision annually, in the ninth (9th) month of the rating period. An interim evaluation shall consist of an informal meeting to discuss the line attorney's performance under his or her Individual Accountability Plan. At his or her discretion, a supervisor may provide a written interim evaluation. Any written interim evaluation shall be provided to the attorney evaluated, but shall not be included in the attorney's official personnel file unless the supervisor rates the attorney as "needs improvement" or lower. At his or her discretion, or at the request of the Attorney General, Director, or agency head, a supervisor may perform interim evaluations no more frequently than once every three (3) months during the rating period. Interim evaluations rating a line attorney as "needs improvement" or lower may be changed by mutual agreement or by the filing of an appeal as provided in this section.

3605.19 Appeals from evaluations of line attorneys prepared for the rating period ending on August 31, 2014 shall be reviewed by the Attorney General and the Committee established by the Attorney General notwithstanding the attorney's transfer to a different agency prior to the conclusion of the review and appeal process.

D.C. Mun. Regs. tit. 6, r. 6-B3605

Final Rulemaking published at 47 DCR 7371 (September 28, 2000); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 50 DCR 3461 (May 2, 2003); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 51 DCR 1431 (February 6, 2004); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 52 DCR 11244 (December 30, 2005); as amended by Final Rulemaking 54 DCR 12269 (December 21, 2007); as amended by Notice of Emergency and Proposed Rulemaking published at 56 DCR 7495 (September 11, 2009)[EXPIRED]; as amended by Notice of Final Rulemaking published at 58 DCR 7649, 7650 (August 26, 2011); as Amended by Final Rulemaking published at 61 DCR 12182 (November 28, 2014)

Authority: Pursuant to the authority set forth in section 861 of the District of Columbia Government Comprehensive Merit Personnel Act of 1978, effective March 3, 1979( D.C. Law 2-139), as added by the Legal Service Establishment Amendment Act of 1998 (Legal Service Act), effective April 20, 1999 (D.C. Law 12-260), and as amended by the Legal Service Amendment Act of 2005 (Legal Service Amendment Act), effective October 20, 2005 (Title III(B) of D.C. Law 16-33; D.C. Official Code § 1-608.61 (2006 Repl.)).