Office of the General Counsel Biographies

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General Counsel, Charlton L. Allen

President Donald J. Trump designated Charlton L. Allen as General Counsel of the FLRA on August 20, 2026.  

Mr. Allen has nearly 3 decades of legal, public-service, and leadership experience as an attorney, mediator, public administrator, judicial officer, and published writer.  

Mr. Allen served as a Commissioner of the North Carolina Industrial Commission from 2014 to 2021 and, beginning in February 2016, served for approximately 3 years as its Chairman. As Chairman, he served as the Commission’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Judicial Officer, overseeing its administrative and adjudicatory functions. As a judicial officer, Mr. Allen authored hundreds of opinions and orders involving workers’ compensation, tort claims, claims under North Carolina’s eugenics compensation program, and other matters within the Commission’s jurisdiction.

During his chairmanship, Mr. Allen led significant initiatives involving agency modernization, regulatory reform, enforcement, and opioid policy. He created the North Carolina Workers’ Compensation Opioid Task Force and led the development of comprehensive rules governing opioid utilization, related prescriptions, and pain management. The initiative addressed the risks created when workers entered the compensation system with legitimate injuries and, through prolonged exposure to prescription opioids, became vulnerable to dependence, addiction, overdose, and death.  

The Commission also substantially increased enforcement against noncompliant employers during Mr. Allen’s chairmanship. In FY 2014–15, the last full fiscal year before he became Chairman, the Commission collected approximately $993,000 in compliance penalties and filed 100 criminal charges against noncompliant employers. By FY 2017–18, compliance penalty collections exceeded $8 million, criminal charges had risen to 688, and 974 noncompliant employers were brought into compliance with workers’ compensation insurance requirements.

During his term as Chairman, average workers’ compensation insurance rates declined substantially, including average reductions of approximately 8.3 percent, 12.5 percent, and 17.2 percent in successive rate cycles.

His tenure also included comprehensive reviews of the Commission’s workers’ compensation and State Tort Claims Act rules, improvements to case-management technology, greater use of electronic communications, and broader administrative modernization intended to improve efficiency and public access.

Before and after his service on the Commission, Mr. Allen practiced law in North Carolina and served as a mediator. His professional experience has included private practice, adjudication, dispute resolution, public administration, and regulatory enforcement. His published writing has addressed law, public policy, history, politics, and culture.

Mr. Allen earned both his undergraduate degree and Juris Doctor from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

---Charlton Allen, of North Carolina, to be General Counsel of the FLRA for the a 5-year term expiring August 23, 2031.

Deputy General Counsel, James J. Daley

James J. Daley has over 16 years of senior level experience in employment and labor law.  He began his career working as the head staff for the Iowa State Senate Business and Labor Committee, served as Mayor of Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, and served as the Chairman of the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission.  Mr. Daley has supervised legal and policy operations, led complex labor negotiations, served as an Arbitrator in labor disputes, and is a recognized subject matter expert in employment and labor law.  Mr. Daley graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 1997 and obtained his J.D. from Drake University Law School in 2000.  He is admitted to the State Bar of Wisconsin.

Assistant General Counsel for Appeals, Cabrina S. Smith

Cabrina S. Smith became the Assistant General Counsel for Appeals in January 2017.  Her responsibilities include assisting the General Counsel and the Deputy General Counsel in determining the validity of appeals of Regional Offices' case dispositions and Freedom of Information Act disclosure determinations.  Cabrina is also responsible for conducting Quality Reviews of Regional Offices case-processing procedures.  Before joining the OGC as Assistant General Counsel for Appeals, Cabrina began her career as an Attorney in the Washington Regional Office in 2003, until she transferred to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Labor Relations (LR) Litigation Division in 2006.  In 2010, Cabrina became Director of the FAA LR Litigation Division, before returning to the FLRA in 2015 to serve as Chief of the Authority's Office of Case Intake and Publication.  Cabrina graduated from Northwestern State University and obtained her J.D. degree from Howard University.  

Assistant General Counsel for Representation, Alternative Dispute Resolution, and Case Handling, William Kirsner

William (Bill) Kirsner was hired as an Assistant General Counsel in the FLRA OGC in August 2023. Prior to that appointment, Mr. Kirsner began his work at the FLRA as a General Attorney in the Dallas Regional Office in 1995, and became the Senior Dispute Resolution Specialist in that Office in 1999, during which time Mr. Kirsner was actively involved in OGC nationwide training initiatives. Mr. Kirsner served in that role until August 2012, when Mr. Kirsner became the Regional Attorney in the FLRA Boston Regional Office - a position that he held until November 2018 when he became Regional Attorney for the Washington Region. Mr. Kirsner graduated from Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut with a degree with High Honors in History, and from the Ohio State University, College of Law, with a degree with Honors in Law.

Atlanta Regional Office

Regional Director, Brent S. Hudspeth

Brent Hudspeth was appointed Regional Director for the Atlanta Regional Office in April 2024. Mr. Hudspeth had been the Regional Attorney for the Atlanta Regional office since June 2012. Mr. Hudspeth began his career with the FLRA in 1991, after previously practicing labor and employment law in the private sector. Mr. Hudspeth earned a Bachelor of Business Administration, a Bachelor of Science in Journalism, a Master of Business Administration, and a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Mississippi.

Regional Attorney, Jack W. Roberts

Jack W. Roberts was appointed Regional Attorney for the Atlanta Regional Office in June 2026.  A lifelong Atlantan, Mr. Roberts began his career as an attorney with the FLRA in 2016 and twice-previously served as Atlanta's Acting Regional Attorney.  Mr. Roberts earned a Bachelor of Arts in History from Brown University and a Juris Doctorate from Emory University School of Law.  

Denver Regional Office

Acting Regional Director, Jessica Bartlett

Regional Attorney, Michael Quintanilla

Michael Quintanilla was appointed Regional Attorney for the Denver Regional Office in March 2019. Michael began his career with the FLRA at the Dallas Regional Office in June 2002 and served as Regional Attorney of the Dallas Region from January 2017 until transferring the Denver Region in October 2018, after the closure of the Dallas Regional Office. Michael received a Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies from Southwest Texas State University, and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Houston Law Center.

San Francisco Regional Office

Regional Director, John S. Pannozzo, Jr.

John S. Pannozzo, Jr. was appointed Regional Director for the San Francisco Region in September 2016.  Previously, Mr. Pannozzo had been the Regional Attorney for the San Francisco Region from 2012 until his appointment as the Regional Director.  Mr. Pannozzo began his career with the FLRA at the Boston Regional Office in 1984, and transferred to the Los Angeles Region in early 1985.  He moved to a private sector firm in Oakland, California in 1988, and returned to the FLRA as an attorney in the San Francisco Region in 1992.  He served as a Senior Attorney from March 2001 through July 2012.  He earned a Bachelor's Degree from the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, a J.D. from New England Law in Boston, Massachusetts, and a Master's Degree in Labor Law from Georgetown University Law Center.

Regional Attorney, Yolanda Shepherd

Yolanda Shepherd was appointed Regional Attorney in the San Francisco Regional Office in October 2016.  Ms. Shepherd began working as an attorney in the San Francisco Region in 1989 and had served as a Senior Attorney since 2001.  Ms. Shepherd served as the Acting Regional Attorney in San Francisco on three occasions prior to her permanent appointment to this position.  Ms. Shepherd received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Political Science from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, and a Juris Doctor degree from the DePaul University College of Law, Chicago, Illinois.

Washington Regional Office

Regional Director, Jessica Bartlett

Jessica Bartlett was appointed Regional Director for the Washington Region in December 2016.  Jessica began her career at the Washington Regional Office in 2003 and then she transferred to the Federal Aviation Administration where she was responsible for many facets of labor litigation. In 2009, Jessica returned to the FLRA where she served as a Senior Attorney and Acting Regional Attorney. In 2010, Jessica became the Regional Attorney for the Washington Regional Office and served in that position until she was appointed to be Acting Regional Director of this Office in July 2015. Jessica graduated from Mary Washington College and then obtained a J.D. degree from George Mason University.

Regional Attorney, Holly Pope

Holly Pope was appointed Regional Attorney for the Washington Regional Office in June 2026.  Holly began her legal career with the FLRA in 2016 and worked with the WRO until 2020.  She also worked with the Department of the Labor Dallas Regional Solicitor's Office as an attorney until she returned to the WRO in 2023.  Since 2024, Holly served twice as the WRO's Acting Regional Attorney.  Holly received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Washington in Seattle and her Juris Doctorate from Chicago-Kent College of Law.