Conor D. Dirks

Conor D. Dirks is a Partner at the law firm Shaw Bransford & Roth, where he has practiced law since 2013. Mr. Dirks litigates cases in federal district and appellate courts, and administrative forums such as the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board, Foreign Service Grievance Board, and U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

About Mr. Dirks

Mr. Dirks represents federal employees of all grade levels confronted with proposed disciplinary action, and also advises employees subject to federal investigations, including investigations conducted by Inspectors General, Congress, the Office of Special Counsel, or administrative investigations by the employee’s own agency.

In addition to his work on behalf of government employees, Mr. Dirks has successfully defended government agencies against EEO complaints, MSPB appeals of agency disciplinary actions, and Individual Right of Action (IRA) appeals.

Mr. Dirks represents and defends attorneys subjected to investigation of allegations of misconduct and disciplinary proceedings, including Department of Justice attorneys subjected to  Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) proceedings. He also represents individuals throughout the security clearance application and investigation process. In doing so, he helps individuals respond to and contest decisions to suspend or revoke their security clearance. 

Mr. Dirks has briefed questions of statutory interpretation and due process at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and has years of experience contesting federal government actions in U.S. District Court and federal administrative forums. 

Mr. Dirks also represents federal whistleblowers and has assisted employees in successfully disclosing wrongdoing at their agency to the Office of Special Counsel or to an Inspector General. He has also sought and received corrective action for employees subjected to whistleblower retaliation.

Mr. Dirks has advocated for clients in mediation, and is also a trained mediator and graduate of the mediation skills training at the U.S. Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. Mr. Dirks currently serves as a mediator in D.C. Superior Court Multi-Door Dispute Resolution mediation program.

Mr. Dirks also authors a weekly column for FEDmanager summarizing recent federal court opinions affecting the federal workforce. His column explains for non-attorneys recent legal developments that will impact disciplinary processes, performance evaluations, due process rights, and other issues relevant to public employment. In addition to his weekly FEDmanager column, Mr. Dirks also writes the Legal Brief, a comprehensive explanation of the biggest cases impacting federal workers, on a quarterly basis in the Federal Manager Magazine.

In law school, Mr. Dirks clerked at Shaw Bransford & Roth. Mr. Dirks also served as a clerk at the High Court of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, where he updated and modernized the Marshall Islands Rules of Civil Procedure, the Marshall Islands Rules of Criminal Procedure, and the Juvenile Rules to reflect changes in the United States Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and electronic discovery practices. As a clerk at the High Court, he helped craft decisions in cases involving government fraud, shareholder derivative actions, and family law, among others.

Areas of Practice

  • Federal Personnel and Employment Law

  • Private Sector Employers

  • Federal Agency (GSA Schedule) Legal Services

  • Security Clearances

  • FOIA and Privacy Act

  • Association Law

Mediation Practice

  • Certified – Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service

  • Mediator – D.C. Superior Court Multi-Door Dispute Resolution

  • Member – Community Mediation DC

Education

  • B.A., Kenyon College

  • J.D., Emory University School of Law

Bar & Court Admissions

  • Georgia

  • District of Columbia

  • U.S. Court of Federal Claims

  • U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

  • U.S. Supreme Court

Publications & Appearances

Significant Cases

  • Represented career senior executive in Esparraguera v. Department of Army, 101 F.4th 28 (2024), a due process challenge to performance-based demotion from Senior Executive Service to General Schedule position, culminating in landmark decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.  This landmark decision held that career SESers have a property right in their SES appointment and cannot be demoted to the General Schedule in a performance action without due process.  Prior to this landmark decision, career senior executives who were subjected to performance actions were demoted from their SES position to a General Schedule position without any due process.  In holding that an SES appointee had a protected property interest in her career SES status, the D.C. Circuit held a career senior executive could not be demoted to the General Schedule through a performance action without constitutionally adequate procedures consistent with the Fifth Amendment Due Process Clause, including notice and an opportunity to respond before the action takes effect. Mr. Dirks represented the SES appointee along with attorneys from MoloLamken LLP.

  • Principal brief writing for Court-appointed Amicus Curiae in Santos v. National Aeronautics & Space Admin., 990 F.3d 1355 (Fed. Cir. 2021) (determining for the first time that an agency must prove the justification for the institution of a performance improvement plan when the agency predicates removal on the employee's unacceptable performance).

  • Rubens v. Department of Veterans Affairs, MSPB No. PH-0707-16-0151-J-1, 2016 WL 526831 (Feb. 1, 2016) (reversing Deputy Secretary’s decision under newly enacted personnel statute to demote a Senior Executive Service Director to a General Schedule position)