(a) The Professional Responsibility Advisory Office is headed by a Director appointed by the Deputy Attorney General. The Director shall be responsible to, and report directly to, the Deputy Attorney General and shall be a member of the Senior Executive Service.

(b) The Professional Responsibility Advisory Office shall:

(1) Advise Department of Justice attorneys on specific questions involving professional responsibility, including compliance with 28 U.S.C. 530b (“Section 530B”), which requires certain federal attorneys to comply with state rules of ethics.

(2) Assist or support training and informational programs for Department attorneys and client agencies concerning Section 530B and other professional responsibility requirements, including disseminating relevant and timely information.

(3) Assemble, centralize and maintain ethics reference materials, including the codes of ethics of the District of Columbia and every state and territory, and any relevant interpretations thereof.

(4) Coordinate with the relevant litigating components of the Department to defend attorneys in any disciplinary or other proceeding where it is alleged that they failed to meet their ethical obligations, provided that the attorney made a good-faith effort to ascertain the ethics requirements and made a good-faith effort to comply with those requirements.

(5) Serve as a liaison with the state and federal bar associations in matters relating to the implementation and interpretation of Section 530B, and amendments and revisions to the various state ethics codes.

(6) Perform such other duties and assignments as deemed necessary from time to time by the Attorney General or the Deputy Attorney General.

(c) Nothing in this subpart shall be construed as affecting the functions or overriding the authority of the Office of Legal Counsel as established by 28 CFR 0.25.