William B. Cowen Named Regional Director for Region 21

Washington, D.C. – National Labor Relations Board Chairman Mark Gaston Pearce and General Counsel Richard F. Griffin, Jr. announced that William B. Cowen has been named the new Regional Director for the Agency’s Region 21 Office in Los Angeles. In his new position, Mr. Cowen will be responsible for enforcing one of the nation’s primary labor laws covering private sector employees in Southern California.
Mr. Cowen began his career at the Board in 1979. He served in various capacities throughout the Agency at both Headquarters and in the field until he left to enter private practice in 1985.
In private practice, he was an attorney and principal of Institutional Labor Advisors, LLC which he founded in 1997. He was also founding member of Cowen and Associates in McLean, VA, which he established in 1996. Prior to this, Mr. Cowen was a partner with Coleman, Coxson, Penello, Fogleman & Cowen, P.C. from 1992 to 1996 and served as an attorney with Thompson and Hutson from 1985 to 1992.
Mr. Cowen was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve as a Board Member from January 22, 2002 to November 22, 2002. He then acted as Executive Assistant (Chief of Staff) to NLRB Chairman Robert J. Battista. Since 2006, Mr. Cowen has served as the Board’s Solicitor.    
Mr. Cowen holds a B.A. degree in Mathematics from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH, graduating in 1976, and he received a Masters of Theological Studies degree from Wesley Theological Seminary in 2005. Mr. Cowen received his J.D. degree from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, Cleveland State University, in 1979. 
Mr. Cowen and his wife, Catrina Yong Cowen, will be relocating to Southern California from Arlington, Virginia.
The National Labor Relations Board is an independent federal agency vested with the power to safeguard employees’ rights to organize and to determine whether to have unions as their bargaining representative. The Agency also acts to prevent and remedy unfair labor practices committed by private sector employers and unions.