James Lager Directory Page

Jim teaches ethics-related courses for auditors and accounting students, and a collaborator to Ethicalsystems.org, a nonprofit organization dedicated to using behavioral science to improve ethical culture and behavior, and a member of the Heterodox Academy, which advocates for viewpoint diversity and constructive disagreement in higher education. Jim is also the Chief Ethics Advisor at the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO), where he manages GAO’s ethics and financial disclosure programs, advises leadership and staff on conflicts of interest, ethics, personal and organizational independence, and on other matters. Jim has substantial experience as a labor and employment lawyer, representing private and government clients in trial and appellate courts, and as an investigator in various contexts, including serving as a lead congressional investigator examining violation of federal campaign laws.

Jim received a Juris Doctorate from the Washington College of Law/American University, and a Master of Science in Organization Development from American University/NTL Institute for Applied Behavioral Science. A frequent speaker on behavioral ethics, his publications include “Toward a More Perfect Objectivity” (with Professor Tammy Waymire), Internal Auditor (2022) (paywall), “Beyond Compliance,” in the Ethical Leadership: Global Challenges and Perspectives (C. Millar and E. Poole, eds. 2011), “Governments Demand Compliance, Ethics Demands Leadership,” Journal of Public Affairs 10(216-224) (2010), and “Overcoming Cultures of Compliance to Reduce Corruption and Achieve Ethics in Government,” 41 McGeorge L. Rev. 63 (2009). His 2009 essay: “Have a Problem with Compliance?” was awarded the H. George Frederickson Best Article Award by the American Society for Public Administration.