Deputy General Counsel
Department of Veterans Affairs

 "Jack" Thompson has spent his entire professional career with VA, beginning in 1973 as an attorney with the Board of Veterans Appeals. In 1977 he joined the Office of General Counsel, where he has assumed positions of increasing responsibility.

In 1985, he was appointed Assistant General Counsel in charge of the legal staff responsible for all advice regarding VA's multi-billion-dollar compensation, pension and life-insurance programs. Among other work, this staff prepared most of the precedent opinions of the General Counsel and was responsible for advocating the Department's interests in appeals taken from the U.S. Court of Veterans Appeals (now, U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims) to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Mr. Thompson was appointed Deputy General Counsel in November 1998. As Deputy, he is responsible for day-to-day management of the office’s headquarters and field staffs of over 600 employees, including nearly 400 attorneys.

He has won numerous awards throughout his career, including both the Meritorious Executive and Distinguished Executive Presidential Rank Awards.