Our mission is to provide legal services, based on the highest professional and ethical standards, that support and facilitate the achievement of HUD's mission of strengthening our nation's communities, promoting affordable housing, dismantling the barriers to home ownership, expanding homeownership opportunities for all Americans, particularly low-and moderate income families, ending chronic homelessness and vigorously enforcing fair housing, civil rights and anti-discrimination laws. We seek to provide our clients with the highest quality legal services on a daily basis and to exceed our clients' expectations, in a caring, competent, convenient, cost-effective and professional manner.

Our Commitments

To accomplish our mission and be recognized as a leader at HUD in providing high quality services and further contributing to the mission and success of HUD, our commitments are:

• To enforce HUD's laws and regulations consistently, fairly and effectively.
• To be selective and prioritize what we do.
• To be timely in responding to clients.
• To maintain open and regular communication with our OGC colleagues and in-house clients.
• To be cost-effective.
• To use new technology and management innovation to maintain a position of leadership.
• To encourage professional development, training, mentoring and education to support our mission.

Our Core Values

We value the following:

• Commitment to public service.
• Commitment to HUD's success.
• Excellence and continuous and never-ending improvement in all that we do.
• Integrity, honesty and trust.
• Respect for each other in the Office of General Counsel and with whom we interact.
• Our in-house clients, each other and our outside counsel and other advisors and service partners.
• Commitment to serving others with care, compassion and respect including persons targeted by HUD programs.
• Creativity, innovation and a willingness to embrace new ideas and challenges and to be a catalyst for change.
• Performance, measurable results and acceptance of accountability.
• Legal professionalism, including adherence to the legal canons of ethics.
• A passion for our profession.

Our Philosophy

The philosophy of the Office of General Counsel is based on our values. We expect all day-to-day decisions made by everyone in the Office of General Counsel to reflect our mission and values. We are guided by the following principles:

• Be consultative and collaborative with those affected by your actions, particularly with those who may disagree.
• Disagree openly if you have a contrary opinion, but do not be disagreeable.
• Communicate openly and without ambiguity.
• Be well-informed and knowledgeable in our work and keep abreast of new developments.
• Think and be deliberate in our analysis by using the resources we have to solve a problem.

• Listen and ask questions.

• Provide answers to clients' questions.
• Take a position.
• Be innovative and motivated to continually evaluate ways to perform our duties and functions more effectively and efficiently.
• Delegate as appropriate.
• Cultivate a culture of accountability and adherence to the highest standards of ethics.
• Reward significant contributions through recognition.
• Be honest, fair and consistent in all of our interactions and relationships.
• Demonstrate a commitment and appreciation for diversity.
• Be active in our communities by supporting and participating in efforts to assist people in need of our talents and experience.
• Treat others with respect and be sensitive to their needs as well as the needs of the Office of General Counsel and to HUD.
• Celebrate the accomplishments of others.