STB creates Office of Chief Counsel

The Surface Transportation Board (STB) yesterday announced the merger of its two legal offices, the Office of Proceedings (OP) and the Office of the General Counsel (OGC), into the Office of Chief Counsel (OCC).

The combination of the offices will streamline and improve drafting and review procedures, STB officials said in a press release. The board also appointed interim delegations to the new OCC.

Previously, the OGC would provide legal advice to the board on defensibility and defended the agency in court. The OP would draft agency decisions, process filings and decisions and administer the board's recordations database. The OCC will be responsible for all of these items, as well as encompassing the board's chief of passenger rail and investigations.

Anika Cooper will serve as chief counsel. She will continue to serve as general counsel, but also hold responsibilities previously held by the director of the OP.