(The following is from Tom Tillet's Congressional Casework Guide. Mr. Tillet is a former District Chief of Staff of Congressman Joe Pitts, and a knowledgeable expert in casework management.)

Agency: Generic term that can mean a department, agency, commission, or other office of the federal executive branch.

Ask: Exactly what the constituent wants from the Member. The caseworker and constituent should be very clear what the ask is. The meeting should never end until the ask is clearly and mutually agreed on.

Casework: Contacting a federal agency on behalf of a constituent to resolve an issue, problem, or to obtain information. Typical casework would be asking for expeditious or expedited handling, expressing the Member‟s interest in the issue, or asking for a favorable decision within the rules and regulations of the particular agency. To be considered a case, an agency must be contacted in some manner. This is more important in office‟s that have a formal evaluation process so the supervisor is comparing apples to apples. Simply answering a question, providing an explanation, or directions is not a case.

Congressional: An inquiry or case, usually referring to a letter from the Member. As in – "yes, we sent in a congressional."

Constituent Service: Casework is a sub-set of constituent service that is more narrowly defined as helping an individual experiencing some type of issue with a federal executive branch agency. Constituent service is a broad term encompassing virtually everything a Member does for his constituents.

Congressional Research Service (CRS): Created in 1970. Operates as an "in-house think tank" for Congress. CRS is an incredible resource for caseworkers. Get used to using CRS. There is an entire Section in this Guide on CRS. Keep CRS in mind when you have a particularly complicated, nuanced, or unusual case. They are very prompt and very helpful. CRS is an important tool in your tool-box.

Final: The agency letter, e-mail (or possibly call) responding to the inquiry (case). As in -- ".....hey, did the final come in yet for that "MIC" case?"

Frequent Flyer (FF): A constituent who contacts, usually by phone, the office (most likely district) on a very regular basis. Some FFs do send in letters. Happily for the district staff, most FF letters get answered by the DC staff. A staffer (or always the intern) who is relatively low on the office food chain gets the FFs.

In the Barrel: Not being able to end the touch (contact with constituent) no matter what you try. If you work for a "never hang up" policy Member, good luck!

Legislative Liaison (LL): – Designated office for congressional inquiries in federal agencies. The staff there do the intake, and then go into the bowels of the bureaucracy to address your ask. Can also be called Governmental Affairs or Legislative Affairs. Almost all federal agencies have a LL office. Please note that it is possible certain smaller states or regional offices might not have a formally designated LL office, but except in very rare cases, there will be someone on the staff who wears the LL hat.

Member Interest in Case (MIC). Pronounced like "Mick."

Office Culture: A somewhat un-definable, nebulous, and informal list of unwritten rules, customs, and practices that sets the tone of the office; and inform behaviors, expectations, and relationships. A certain "office culture" might assume that agencies are always wrong, mendacious, and cannot be trusted; ergo, caseworkers are more aggressive, edgy, and direct with their LL contacts. In other words, is there an adversarial relationship, versus one of a "team" mutually trying to help the constituent? New caseworkers need to figure this out as soon as possible. The Member and senior staff of course have a huge impact on the office culture. The casework shop often reflects the Member.

PACF: Privacy Act Consent Form. Must obtain from the constituent in order to open a case. Agencies have become increasingly strict about getting one. Can be used by good caseworkers to determine how serious a constituent is regarding their problem.

Point of Contact (POC): Should include name, title, phone number, and e-mail address.

Shop: The staffer(s) who specialize in a certain aspects of the operation. Usually there is a Legislative (Leg) Shop, Casework Shop, and Communication (Comms) Shop. The Legislative Director (LD) runs the leg shop, and the Press Secretary honchos the Comms shop. The Comms shop is most likely a shop of one, unless the Member sees himself a Governor, Senator, or President, then there might be a Press Assistant too. Leg. Shop is most likely three to five staff, based in DC.

Standard Operating Procedure (SOP): Accepted, common office practices understood by all. Examples of SOP: (1) whenever an elected official calls, the DD takes the call, (2) at the end of every call the staffer says "....please feel free to contact me again if you feel Congressman ___________ can be of assistance."

Read In: Briefed on the case, made aware of the details.

Run/Ran the case: Open a case, can be past tense. "I ran a case for him."

Run the Trap: Make a phone call, send an e-mail, almost any type of contact with another person, most likely asking for a favor, information, or asking a question. As in – "Hey Bob, run a trap and find out when Speaker Ryan‟s bill on Members getting a 20% raise is gonna drop?"

Touch: Constituent call, walk-in, fax, letter, e-mail, web contact with Member. Can also be used as a noun to denote the constituent.