Fred Jacob
@fredbjacob.bsky.social
Dad, labor lawyer, GW Law adjunct prof, patriot, pannapictagraphist, he/his. W&M Law/Brandeis alum, first gen college. Opinions are my own and not the views of my employers. www.fredbjacob.com
From 1950 to today, we still strive for jobs we can be thankful for. Happy Thanksgiving to you all, and especially to the public servants who make the promise of a better life real for our country and its people every working day.
(Image courtesy of the National Labor Service, AJC Archives).
(Image courtesy of the National Labor Service, AJC Archives).
November 27, 2025 at 4:59 PM
From 1950 to today, we still strive for jobs we can be thankful for. Happy Thanksgiving to you all, and especially to the public servants who make the promise of a better life real for our country and its people every working day.
(Image courtesy of the National Labor Service, AJC Archives).
(Image courtesy of the National Labor Service, AJC Archives).
More dissents like this please. Short, punchy, and to the point.
October 22, 2025 at 10:55 PM
More dissents like this please. Short, punchy, and to the point.
Lawyer and labor friends:
Thursday! Thursday! Thursday!
At the Thunderdome! "The Role of Unions and Labor-Management Relations in Promoting American Democracy"!
Okay, not at the Thunderdome, but on Zoom! To register, email [email protected].
Thursday! Thursday! Thursday!
At the Thunderdome! "The Role of Unions and Labor-Management Relations in Promoting American Democracy"!
Okay, not at the Thunderdome, but on Zoom! To register, email [email protected].
October 21, 2025 at 1:55 AM
Lawyer and labor friends:
Thursday! Thursday! Thursday!
At the Thunderdome! "The Role of Unions and Labor-Management Relations in Promoting American Democracy"!
Okay, not at the Thunderdome, but on Zoom! To register, email [email protected].
Thursday! Thursday! Thursday!
At the Thunderdome! "The Role of Unions and Labor-Management Relations in Promoting American Democracy"!
Okay, not at the Thunderdome, but on Zoom! To register, email [email protected].
There’s a story about Chief Justice Burger criticizing lawyers who appeared before the Court with button down collars because they were too casual!
www.law.com/article/almI...
www.law.com/article/almI...
August 22, 2025 at 1:40 PM
There’s a story about Chief Justice Burger criticizing lawyers who appeared before the Court with button down collars because they were too casual!
www.law.com/article/almI...
www.law.com/article/almI...
So excited to read this 1968 biography of Senator Robert Wagner, the legislative father of the New Deal. It arrived on my doorstep yesterday thanks to unionized federal postal workers, whose representation wouldn’t have been possible without Senator Wagner’s National Labor Relations Act…
July 11, 2025 at 1:26 PM
So excited to read this 1968 biography of Senator Robert Wagner, the legislative father of the New Deal. It arrived on my doorstep yesterday thanks to unionized federal postal workers, whose representation wouldn’t have been possible without Senator Wagner’s National Labor Relations Act…
In 1958, NLRB Chair Boyd Leedom penned an article opposing judicializing administrative process by creating an Article III administrative court. Interesting stuff, given today’s debates.
Far cooler, though, is that the NLRB library’s copy of the article is autographed!
Leedom v. Kyne nerds unite!
Far cooler, though, is that the NLRB library’s copy of the article is autographed!
Leedom v. Kyne nerds unite!
July 7, 2025 at 4:01 PM
In 1958, NLRB Chair Boyd Leedom penned an article opposing judicializing administrative process by creating an Article III administrative court. Interesting stuff, given today’s debates.
Far cooler, though, is that the NLRB library’s copy of the article is autographed!
Leedom v. Kyne nerds unite!
Far cooler, though, is that the NLRB library’s copy of the article is autographed!
Leedom v. Kyne nerds unite!
I don’t know who put these in the break room, but my dentist and I thank you.
June 27, 2025 at 8:20 PM
I don’t know who put these in the break room, but my dentist and I thank you.
(Congress repealed this provision of the NLRA in 1959—perhaps because it was constitutionally questionable or perhaps because it had already done its job of rooting out communists from American labor.)
June 6, 2025 at 12:51 PM
(Congress repealed this provision of the NLRA in 1959—perhaps because it was constitutionally questionable or perhaps because it had already done its job of rooting out communists from American labor.)
This is how union officials filed an anti-communist affidavit with the NLRB in 1954, in case you were wondering. If they didn’t, their union lost its right to file for NLRB election petitions or unfair labor practice charges.
June 6, 2025 at 12:51 PM
This is how union officials filed an anti-communist affidavit with the NLRB in 1954, in case you were wondering. If they didn’t, their union lost its right to file for NLRB election petitions or unfair labor practice charges.
Labor law and NLRB stans, from the depths of the NLRB library, I bring you “Washington World” magazine’s September 1963 primer on the Labor Board.
I like the headline, “NLRB bans unfairness by boss or worker.” Just doing our jobs, ma’am.
I like the headline, “NLRB bans unfairness by boss or worker.” Just doing our jobs, ma’am.
May 30, 2025 at 1:14 PM
Labor law and NLRB stans, from the depths of the NLRB library, I bring you “Washington World” magazine’s September 1963 primer on the Labor Board.
I like the headline, “NLRB bans unfairness by boss or worker.” Just doing our jobs, ma’am.
I like the headline, “NLRB bans unfairness by boss or worker.” Just doing our jobs, ma’am.
Professors friends who teach Labor and Constitutional Law, here’s your next exam question for *both* classes, courtesy of the Seattle Chief of Police, circa 1935. @charlottegarden.bsky.social @matthewtbodie.bsky.social @alvinvelazquez.bsky.social @patsobkowski.com @cincyannie.bsky.social
May 23, 2025 at 1:19 PM
Professors friends who teach Labor and Constitutional Law, here’s your next exam question for *both* classes, courtesy of the Seattle Chief of Police, circa 1935. @charlottegarden.bsky.social @matthewtbodie.bsky.social @alvinvelazquez.bsky.social @patsobkowski.com @cincyannie.bsky.social
Adlaw nerds: contemporaneous coverage of Humphrey’s Executor, as found in a homemade scrapbook of labor unrest from 1935 tucked away in the NLRB library. @jedshug.bsky.social @emilysbremer.bsky.social @tphillips.bsky.social @kexelchabot.bsky.social @charlottegarden.bsky.social
May 21, 2025 at 12:55 PM
Adlaw nerds: contemporaneous coverage of Humphrey’s Executor, as found in a homemade scrapbook of labor unrest from 1935 tucked away in the NLRB library. @jedshug.bsky.social @emilysbremer.bsky.social @tphillips.bsky.social @kexelchabot.bsky.social @charlottegarden.bsky.social
As a 2L in law school, I wrote Justice Souter a fawning fan letter about his concurrence in a seminal free exercise case, Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye. Rather than ignore it, he actually responded—validating this young wannabe lawyer’s voice and encouraging me to keep speaking.
May 10, 2025 at 12:30 PM
As a 2L in law school, I wrote Justice Souter a fawning fan letter about his concurrence in a seminal free exercise case, Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye. Rather than ignore it, he actually responded—validating this young wannabe lawyer’s voice and encouraging me to keep speaking.
Despite the challenges for the NLRA ahead, and the changes to the NLRB they may bring, the Board and its dedicated workforce will continue to stand ready to protect those rights. I’m proud to be part of that mission.
April 12, 2025 at 11:58 PM
Despite the challenges for the NLRA ahead, and the changes to the NLRB they may bring, the Board and its dedicated workforce will continue to stand ready to protect those rights. I’m proud to be part of that mission.
Today is the 88th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision affirming the constitutionality of the National Labor Relations Act, providing American workers the right to workplace democracy.
April 12, 2025 at 11:58 PM
Today is the 88th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision affirming the constitutionality of the National Labor Relations Act, providing American workers the right to workplace democracy.
Calling @annapeppard.bsky.social: Nightcrawler cosplay @AwesomeCon DC.
April 6, 2025 at 8:28 PM
Calling @annapeppard.bsky.social: Nightcrawler cosplay @AwesomeCon DC.
So flattering to see my essay on the major questions doctrine called “clever” by the far-cleverer @beaubaumann.bsky.social in his new MQD round-up.
Here’s my piece; please send your thoughts: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
You should read Beau’s round-up too! www.yalejreg.com/nc/a-major-q...
Here’s my piece; please send your thoughts: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
You should read Beau’s round-up too! www.yalejreg.com/nc/a-major-q...
March 28, 2025 at 2:54 PM
So flattering to see my essay on the major questions doctrine called “clever” by the far-cleverer @beaubaumann.bsky.social in his new MQD round-up.
Here’s my piece; please send your thoughts: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
You should read Beau’s round-up too! www.yalejreg.com/nc/a-major-q...
Here’s my piece; please send your thoughts: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
You should read Beau’s round-up too! www.yalejreg.com/nc/a-major-q...
7m
Best Star Trek crew, wrong answers only.
Best Star Trek crew, wrong answers only.
March 20, 2025 at 8:19 PM
7m
Best Star Trek crew, wrong answers only.
Best Star Trek crew, wrong answers only.
Here's the paper: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers..... Please take a read & let us know what you think! @gracabi.bsky.social @desireelc.bsky.social @sharblock.bsky.social @mrsethharris.bsky.social @brishen.bsky.social @charlottegarden.bsky.social @nicolebporter.bsky.social @matthewtbodie.bsky.social
February 11, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Here's the paper: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers..... Please take a read & let us know what you think! @gracabi.bsky.social @desireelc.bsky.social @sharblock.bsky.social @mrsethharris.bsky.social @brishen.bsky.social @charlottegarden.bsky.social @nicolebporter.bsky.social @matthewtbodie.bsky.social
Congress wanted labor policy to be made by experts, not generalists. Courts have recognized the Board's delegated discretion for decades, which Loper Bright does not call into question.
February 11, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Congress wanted labor policy to be made by experts, not generalists. Courts have recognized the Board's delegated discretion for decades, which Loper Bright does not call into question.
We contend that the Board's special alchemy of common-law-style decisionmaking--which we call "iterative construction"--falls outside of the judiciary's de novo review.
February 11, 2025 at 6:04 PM
We contend that the Board's special alchemy of common-law-style decisionmaking--which we call "iterative construction"--falls outside of the judiciary's de novo review.