Focus Areas
- Transportation contracts: draft, counsel and advise.
- Rail line acquisition, including relevant documents and regulatory requirements.
- Railroad rate reasonableness at the Surface Transportation Board.
- Rail line crossings, easements and other property issues.
- Railroads’ duty to provide service under the common carrier obligation.
- Federal preemption issues related to rail transportation.
- Rail line abandonments, including relevant documents and regulatory requirements.
- Trackage rights agreements, rail line leases, and other agreements related to rail operations.
- “Surface Transportation Board Adopts New Reciprocal Switching Rules to Address Inadequate Rail Service,” Thompson Hine Transportation Update, May 2024
- “STB Proposes to Improve Shipper Access to Reciprocal Switching to Address Inadequate Rail Service,” Thompson Hine Transportation Update, September 2023
- “Congress Takes Action on Rail Safety Following East Palestine Derailment,” Thompson Hine Transportation Update, March 2023
- “STB Denies Stay of Arbitration Program Opt-In Requirement; Permits Filing of New Petitions for Stay,” Thompson Hine Transportation Update, February 2023
- “STB Adopts New Processes to Make Rail Rate Relief More Accessible to Shippers,” Thompson Hine Transportation Update, January 2023
- “STB Proposes to Amend Its Emergency Service Regulations,” Thompson Hine Transportation Update, May 2022
- “The STB Denies CN Voting Trust,” Thompson Hine Transportation Update, September 2021
- “Executive Order Targets Rail, Ocean and Air Transportation Competition and Unreasonable Practices,” Thompson Hine Transportation Update, July 2021
- “STB Adopts New Demurrage Billing Rules,” Thompson Hine Transportation Update, April 2021
- “CP and KCS Submit Merger Prefiling Notification and Proposed Procedural Schedule,” Thompson Hine Transportation Update, March 2021
- “Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern to Merge,” Thompson Hine Transportation Update, March 2021
- “CSX Applies for STB Approval to Acquire Pan Am Systems,” Thompson Hine Transportation Update, March 2021
- “STB Rulemaking Could Reduce Captive Rail Shipper Protections,” Thompson Hine Transportation Update, January 2021
- “Railroads Seek Changes in Revenue Adequacy Determinations,” Thompson Hine Transportation Update, September 2020
- “STB Issues Final Rule on Market Dominance Pleadings,” Thompson Hine Transportation Update, August 2020
- “STB Issues Demurrage Policy and Direct-Billing Rule; Proposes Billing Requirement Modifications,” Thompson Hine Transportation Update, May 2020
- “STB Addresses Application of Demurrage Regulation to Rail Transportation of Exempt Commodities and Boxcar Shipments,” Thompson Hine Transportation Update, March 2020
- “INSIGHT: Freight Transportation—The Ring for State v. Federal Preemption Fights,” Bloomberg Environment, October 2019
- “STB Acts on Concerns Over Unreasonable Rail Demurrage and Accessorial Rules and Charges,” Thompson Hine Transportation Update, October 2019
- “STB Proposes Rail Rate Review Reforms and Announces Revenue Adequacy Hearing,” Thompson Hine Transportation Update, September 2019
- “STB Declines to Address Safe Harbor for Railroad Fuel Surcharges,” Thompson Hine Transportation Update, September 2019
- “Appeals Court Affirms Denial of Fuel Surcharge Class Certification,” Thompson Hine Transportation Update, August 2019
- “Hazardous Materials Shippers May Benefit from Recent Regulatory Changes,” Thompson Hine Transportation Update, November 2018
- “Is Less Ever More,” Drake Law Review, 2017
- “What to Consider if You Have a Rail Line on Your Property,” GlobeSt.com, July 2016
- “Preparing for STB’s Hearing on Rail Demurrage & Accessorial Charges,” Thompson Hine Webinar, April, 2019
- “How Long is the Jurisdiction Arm of the STB?,” The Association of Transportation Law Professionals, Transportation Forum XIII, Washington, DC, November 14, 2016
- Selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® 2022-2025 for Railroad Law and Transportation Law
- Recognized in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, Transportation, Nationwide, 2016 to 2019
- Listed as a Rising Star in The Legal 500 for Transportation: Rail and Road, 2023, 2024; recommended in The Legal 500, 2018, 2019, 2021 to 2024
Professional Associations
- Association of Transportation Law Professionals
Education
- University of Virginia School of Law, J.D., 2002
- University of Virginia, 1992,
B. Arch. Hist.
Bar Admissions
- Virginia
- District of Columbia
Court Admissions
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
- U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
- U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia
- Surface Transportation Board Adopts New Reciprocal Switching Rules to Address Inadequate Rail Service,
Transportation Update
, May 2, 2024 - STB Proposes to Improve Shipper Access to Reciprocal Switching to Address Inadequate Rail Service,
Transportation Update
, September 18, 2023 - Congress Takes Action on Rail Safety Following East Palestine Derailment,
Transportation Update
, March 7, 2023 - STB Denies Stay of Arbitration Program Opt-In Requirement; Permits Filing of New Petitions for Stay,
Transportation Update
, February 3, 2023 - STB Adopts New Processes to Make Rail Rate Relief More Accessible to Shippers,
Transportation Update
, January 9, 2023 - STB Proposes to Amend Its Emergency Service Regulations,
Transportation Update
, May 3, 2022 - STB Hearings Include Reciprocal Switching; STB Proposes Small Rate Case Rules,
Transportation Update
, November 18, 2021 - The STB Denies CN Voting Trust,
Transportation Update
, September 1, 2021 - Executive Order Targets Rail, Ocean and Air Transportation Competition and Unreasonable Practices,
Transportation Update
, July 12, 2021 - STB Adopts New Demurrage Billing Rules,
Transportation Update
, April 9, 2021