Faculty Profile

James Lager
Lecturer

Phone: 301-405-4072
E-mail: jlager@rhsmith.umd.edu
LinkedIn Profile

Jim Lager is the Deputy Ethics Counselor to the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) and is GAO's principal advisor and investigator on conflicts of interest, ethics, personal and organizational independence, and manager of GAO’s ethics and financial disclosure programs. Jim has substantial experience as a labor and employment lawyer, representing private and government clients in trial and appellate courts, and as a lead congressional investigator examining violation of federal campaign laws. Jim is also GAO’s subject matter expert on copyright, a skilled facilitator, and teaches courses in ethics, leadership development, and communications styles among others, in both classroom and virtual settings.

Jim received a Juris Doctorate from the Washington College of Law/American University, and a Masters of Science in Organization Development from American University/NTL Institute for Applied Behavioral Science. His recent publications include: "Governments Demand Compliance, Ethics Demands Leadership," Journal of Public Affairs 10(216-224) (2010), "Overcoming Cultures of Compliance to Reduce Corruption and Achieve Ethics in Government," McGeorge Law Review 41(1) (2009), and the author of a chapter, "Beyond Compliance," in the Ethical Leadership: Global Challenges and Perspectives (C. Millar and E. Poole, eds. 2011). His essay "Have a Problem with Compliance?" published in the October 2009 edition of PA Times, American Society for Public Administration, was awarded the H. George Frederickson Best Article Award.