Mr. Sean L. Dalton is Assistant Deputy General Counsel in the Fiscal, Ethics & Administrative Law Division, and has been with the division since February 2022. He serves as legislative counsel, coordinating legal review of the Department’s legislative proposals and activities on behalf of the Office of General Counsel.
Before joining SAF/GC, Mr. Dalton spent twelve years at the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), serving as Executive Officer (a non-career Senior Executive Service position), Acting General Counsel, and Special Assistant to the Chairman of the agency. As a member of the NTSB’s Go-Team, he launched with investigators to the scenes of such accidents as the 2018 crash of an 18-passenger limousine in Schoharie, NY; the 2015 derailment of Amtrak 188 in Philadelphia, PA; and, the 2013 crash of UPS cargo flight 1354 on approach to Birmingham, AL. Prior to joining the NTSB, Mr. Dalton served as Chief of Staff for two Members of the U.S. House of Representatives, and has extensive experience in federal appropriations and legislative drafting.
Mr. Dalton is a member of the North Carolina State Bar and District of Columbia Bar. He resides in Alexandria, VA, with his wife and three children.
EDUCATION
1993 Bachelor of Arts degree with Honors in Political Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
1996 Juris Doctor, University of North Carolina School of Law, Chapel Hill, NC
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
- February 1997 – April 2002, Legislative Counsel and Director, U.S. Rep. Charles H. Taylor (NC-11), Washington, DC
- April 2002 – March 2004, Government Affairs Representative, Ball Janik LLP, Washington, DC
- March, 2004 – December 2006, Chief of Staff, U.S. Rep. Charles H. Taylor (NC-11), Washington, DC
- January 2007 – March 2009, Chief of Staff, U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey, MD (GA-11), Washington, DC
- June 2009 – May 2017, Special Assistant, National Transportation Safety Board, Washington, DC
- May 2017 – November 2017, Acting General Counsel, National Transportation Safety Board, Washington, DC
- November 2017 – October 2021, Executive Officer, National Transportation Safety Board, Washington, DC
- October 2021 – February 2022, Senior Counsel, National Transportation Safety Board, Washington, DC
- February 2022 – July 2023, Associate General Counsel, Office of the Air Force General Counsel (Fiscal, Ethics & Administrative Law Division), Pentagon, VA
- July 2023 – Present, Assistant Deputy General Counsel, Office of the Air Force General Counsel (Fiscal, Ethics & Administrative Law Division), Pentagon, VA