Bart Lounsbury named LLNL general counsel

Bart Lounsbury has been selected as Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s general counsel, effective Aug. 23, 2026.

In this role, Lounsbury will lead the Office of the General Counsel, providing strategic advice, representation and support on legal matters affecting the Laboratory. He and his team will provide the legal expertise necessary to support LLNL’s national security mission, protect and utilize intellectual property and facilitate regulatory compliance and ethical conduct.

“I am confident that Bart will be a tremendous asset to the Laboratory and the LLNS Board of Governors,” said LLNL Director Kim Budil.

Lounsbury joins LLNL from the University of California (UC) Office of the General Counsel, where he has served since 2014. Most recently, he was managing counsel for national laboratories and business transactions, supervising attorneys across multiple practice areas, including corporate, finance, international transactions, procurement, tax and nonprofit and charitable-giving matters.

In his UC national laboratories role, Lounsbury managed and collaborated on matters involving Department of Energy prime contracts, regulatory compliance, corporate governance, academic and public-private partnerships, litigation, labor and employment and public records. He also supported UC’s mission-focused oversight of its affiliated national laboratories through the LLNS Board of Governors, the Triad Board of Directors and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Contract Assurance Council. In addition, he led the negotiations to establish a new 20-year ground lease for the UC Livermore Collaboration Center at LLNL and supported UC in the successful bid and transition efforts for the National Nuclear Security Administration contract to manage Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Lounsbury holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School, a master of urban planning from the Harvard Graduate School of Design and a bachelor’s degree in French literature from Harvard College. He is a member of the California Bar.

Lounsbury succeeds Katherine Kettler, who has served as acting general counsel since February, providing critical leadership, support and expertise to the Laboratory during this time of transition. Kettler will assume the role of deputy general counsel on Aug. 24, 2026.