Obituaries

Seth D. ZinmanLabor Department Lawyer

Seth D. Zinman, 71, who worked as a lawyer for the Department of Labor's Office of the Solicitor for 45 years, died of leukemia May 6 in hospice care at a friend's house in Washington. He was a longtime resident of Arlington County.

Mr. Zinman joined the Labor Department in 1961 and worked his way up through the ranks. He was appointed associate solicitor for legislation and legal counsel in 1975.

In that role, he was responsible for drafting significant federal laws designed to protect American workers. Among the laws were the McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act, amendments to the National Labor Relations Act that broadened coverage to the nonprofit hospital care industry, the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act amendments of 1975 and 1977, and the Black Lung provisions of the Federal Coal Mine and Safety Act.

As associate solicitor, he advised several secretaries of labor during major labor disputes and work stoppages subject to the Taft-Hartley and Railway Labor Acts. He also served as the department's senior career ethics officer and the principal legal adviser to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For many years, he represented the Labor Department as a member of the Administrative Conference of the United States.

From 1990 until he retired last year, he served as a senior lawyer. He was a charter member of the Senior Executive Service.

Mr. Zinman received the Philip Arnow Award, the Labor Department's highest honor, and the Justice Tom C. Clark Award, given by the Washington chapter of the Federal Bar Association. Throughout his career, he was known as an outstanding mentor to lawyers in the Labor Department.

A native of Hartford, Conn., Mr. Zinman graduated from Wesleyan University and Harvard Law School.

He had a lifelong passion for music, particularly ragtime. He maintained an extensive collection of recordings and books on the subject. He was planning to deliver a series of lectures on ragtime for the Arlington Learning in Retirement Institute at George Mason University before his illness was diagnosed.

There are no immediate survivors.

-- Yvonne Shinhoster Lamb