Mr. Avery received his A.B. in Economics from Princeton University (magna cum laude) in 1965, and his J.D. from Harvard University in 1968. Prior to joining Slover & Loftus, he was counsel and assistant general counsel to the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (AMTRAK). He blames his lifelong interest in railroads on the fact that he grew up in Elmhurst, Illinois, near the Chicago & North Western Railway's main line.

Mr. Avery specializes in representing the interests of rail-dependent shippers and short lines in their dealings with large railroads. His representations include litigation before the courts and regulatory agencies, including the Surface Transportation Board (STB) and the Department of Transportation, as well as advising and assisting in the negotiation and structuring of their clients' business transactions with large railroads.

Mr. Avery's work on behalf of short lines has included advice and representation on labor matters arising under the Interstate Commerce Act, the ICC Termination Act, and the Railway Labor Act, including district court and appellate litigation.

Mr. Avery is also active in the firm's energy regulatory practice, representing electric utilities and natural gas pipeline customers before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the courts.

Mr. Avery is a member of the District of Columbia Bar, and is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court and the United States Courts of Appeals for the DC, Second, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh Circuits. He is a member of the American Bar Association. He has been a speaker and panelist before professional conferences, and has published articles on railroad-shipper issues in Public Utilities Fortnightly and other publications.

Mr. LeSeur received his B.A. (summa cum laude) from Dartmouth College in 1974 and his J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center in 1979. Upon graduation from Georgetown, Mr. LeSeur joined the Washington, D.C. law firm of Slover & Loftus as an associate. He became a partner in 1985. Mr. LeSeur has successfully represented firm clients in a number of different practice areas, including:

ICC/STB. Mr. LeSeur was the lead counsel in several complex litigations involving utility rail build-outs, including the WFEC Case and the AECI case. He has also represented several utilities that have constructed private rail lines to obtain competitive rail service. Mr. LeSeur assisted in numerous parts of the landmark San Antonio Rate Case and more recently has served as lead counsel in two STB maximum rate cases (the Minnesota Rate Case and the NSP Rate Case). Mr. LeSeur has also represented firm clients in rail merger proceedings, including the UP/SP Merger Case, and in a number of significant ICC/STB rulemaking proceedings, including the Market Dominance Case and the Expedited Procedures Case.

Court Litigation/Arbitration. Mr. LeSeur's principal court cases have included Missouri Mining, Inc. v. ICC, a case where the Eighth Circuit upheld an ICC decision permitting new rail line construction; Burlington Northern v. Public Service Co. of Oklahoma, a case where the Tenth Circuit upheld a major coal transportation contract arbitration award in favor of the utility coal shipper; and Association of American Railroads v. STB, a case where the D.C. Circuit upheld changes in the STB's market dominance rules. Mr. LeSeur was also the lead counsel for PSO in the arbitration leading up to the award confirmed by the Tenth Circuit in Burlington Northern.

Commercial Negotiations. Mr. LeSeur has represented firm clients in numerous negotiations of coal transportation contracts, coal supply contracts and other commercial contracts. As part of these representations, Mr. LeSeur has counseled clients on all phases of the negotiations, including strategy, contract drafting and obtaining requisite governmental approvals.

Legislation. Mr. LeSeur has represented firm clients in a number of legislative matters, including the legislation that created the STB in 1995, various amendments to the Clean Air Act, and Federal Coal Tax legislation. His legislative practice has included the drafting of legislative language, testifying before Congressional committees and advising clients on legislative strategy.

Other. Mr. LeSeur has lectured on many topics, including utility construction of private and common carrier rail lines, Clean Air Act issues impacting coal burning utilities and STB rate case matters. He is a former Chairman of the Transportation Law Committee of the American Bar Association (Young Lawyers Division).

Mr. Dowd received his B.A. (cum laude) from the State University of New York at Albany in 1978, and his J.D. from the American University in 1981.

As a part of Slover & Loftus for over 25 years, Mr. Dowd has specialized in the representation of corporations, cooperatives, states and municipalities in rail transportation and utility fuel supply matters. His experience extends to commercial negotiation, arbitration, and litigation in civil courts as well as before regulatory agencies.

Mr. Dowd has been active on behalf of electric utilities in most of the significant rail merger and rail coal rate cases arising before the former Interstate Commerce Commission and the Surface Transportation Board since the late 1970s. These include the ground-breaking San Antonio rate litigation, the BN-Santa Fe, and UP-SP mergers, and settled coal rate cases brought by utilities such as Dayton Power & Light and Arizona Electric Power Cooperative. Mr. Dowd was lead counsel in the first coal rate complaint case decided by the STB - the 1996 West Texas Utilities case -- and represented the State of New York and Consumers Energy Company in connection with the acquisition and division of Conrail. He also has assisted electric utilities in all regions in connection with the development and implementation of strategies for the economic procurement of fuel supply and transportation services.

Mr. Dowd has played a major role in the evolution of legal and regulatory standards affecting the growth of the short line railroad industry. In addition to assisting entrepreneurs in establishing new short line railroads, Mr. Dowd acted as lead counsel in a number of cases before the ICC, STB and the federal Courts of Appeals which further defined the nature of the relationships between small railroads and their employees.

Among Mr. Dowd's published articles is "Break the Bottleneck: Recent Decisions Ensure That Bottleneck Rates Remain a Problem on the Rails." (Legal Times, August 18, 1997)(co-authored with Robert D. Rosenberg). He is also a frequent presenter at rail transportation and electric utility-related conferences.

Mr. Rosenberg received his A.B. from Brown University in 1978 (magna cum laude, Departmental Honors, and Phi Beta Kappa), and his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1981.

After graduating from law school, Mr. Rosenberg served as Legislative Counsel to Congressman Thomas E. Petri (R-Wisc.) for one year.

Mr. Rosenberg's areas of practice at Slover & Loftus involving transportation and energy matters include: coal transportation and coal supply matters; railroad rate relief for captive shippers; damages and related economic analysis; price adjustments under long-term contracts (including the rail cost adjustment factor) and related productivity changes; establishment, construction, and operation of rail-related facilities (including common carrier determinations); regulation and deregulation of electric utilities (including transmission open access requirements); antitrust; and administrative law. Mr. Rosenberg's activities include litigation, arbitration, negotiation, drafting, and counseling.

Mr. Rosenberg's publications include: Break the Bottleneck: Recent Decisions Ensure That Bottleneck Rates Remain a Problem on the Rails. (Legal Times, August 18, 1997)(co-authored with Kelvin J. Dowd); "Who Wins in a Competitive Power Market: Gas?, Coal?, Or Rail and Mining Interests?" (Public Utilities Fortnightly, April 1, 1997); and "Reducing Coal Transportation Costs" (Public Utilities Fortnightly, October 11, 1990).

Mr. Mills received his B.A. in American Studies from Amherst College in 1965, and his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School in 1968.

Mr. Mills has been a member of Slover & Loftus since 1995. His practice consists primarily of the representation of coal and other shippers in fuel acquisition and transportation matters, as well as in Surface Transportation Board proceedings including rate and competitive-access cases, rulemakings, and rail merger cases.

Prior to joining Slover & Loftus, Mr. Mills enjoyed a 25-year career with the former Chicago and North Western Railway Company based in Chicago. Mr. Mills spent nearly 20 years in C&NW's Law Department, where he was responsible for regulatory, line construction/abandonment/sale, and passenger matters. Mr. Mills had primary responsibility for implementation of C&NW's successful project to extend its lines into the Powder River Basin of Wyoming in the early 1980's, thereby bringing competitive rail service to that important coal-producing region. He was also responsible for the negotiation of the first purchase-of-service agreement between a Chicago-area commuter railroad and the Regional Transportation Authority of the State of Illinois.

In 1989, Mr. Mills moved to the business side of the railroad as Assistant Vice President-Energy Marketing, with responsibility for the marketing of C&NW's rail transportation service for Powder River Basin coal. He remained a senior member of C&NW's Energy Marketing Department until he joined Slover & Loftus in 1995, following C&NW's acquisition by the Union Pacific Railroad.

During the course of his railroad career, Mr. Mills gained extensive knowledge of railroad freight and passenger operations as well as the western coal mining industry. His railroad experience brought a new perspective to Slover & Loftus, particularly in its representation of shippers in commercial negotiations with railroads.

Mr. Pergolizzi received his B.A. from Villanova University in 1981, and his J.D. from Wake Forest University School of Law in 1984. Prior to joining Slover & Loftus he served as a Visiting Fellow at the Columbus School of Law at the Catholic University of America.

Mr. Pergolizzi's practice at Slover & Loftus has focused on the litigation of rail transportation and coal supply contract disputes before federal and state courts, and commercial arbitration panels. This litigation has covered a variety of matters, including disputes relating to price renegotiation and price reopener provisions, compliance with service standards, and utility bankruptcy.

Mr. Pergolizzi also maintains an active regulatory practice before the Surface Transportation Board. This practice has included representation of utility shippers in maximum rail rate litigation and rail merger proceedings. In addition, Mr. Pergolizzi has represented a number of short-line railroads in their formation and receipt of necessary regulatory approvals.

Mr. Kolesar received his B.A. in Physics from Cornell University in 1988, and his J.D. from the University of Notre Dame in 1991.

Since joining Slover & Loftus, Mr. Kolesar has participated in a wide variety of matters before the Surface Transportation Board (formerly the Interstate Commerce Commission), the federal and state trial and appellate courts, and arbitration panels. Mr. Kolesar's involvement with the firm's active STB practice has included the representation of coal-burning utility shippers in both rate reasonableness proceedings (under the Board's stand-alone cost procedures) and rail merger proceedings, and the representation of rail carriers in a number of matters related to the authorization and abandonment of common carrier rail service. Finally, Mr. Kolesar participates in the firm's natural gas practice before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Mr. Pfohl received his B.A. from the University of Notre Dame in 1989, and his J.D.(cum laude) from the Columbus School of Law at the Catholic University of America in 1997, where he was a member of the Catholic University of America Law Review. Prior to joining Slover & Loftus as a legislative specialist and then as an associate, Mr. Pfohl served for five years as a legislative assistant for Congressman George J. Hochbrueckner (D-NY) covering transportation, energy, and other issues.

During his time with Slover & Loftus, Mr. Pfohl has been actively involved with legislative issues on Capitol Hill, including the ICC Termination Act. He has also worked on the major rail mergers of the past few years, and he has pursued the interests of coal shippers with regards to the building of new rail lines into western coal states.

Mr. Pfohl is the author of "Who Should Pay for Agency Adjudication? A Study of $200,000 Filing Fees at the Surface Transportation Board," 25 Transp. L.J. 57 (1997), and "Congressional Review of Agency Rulemaking: the 104th Congress and the Salvage Timber Directive," 14 J. L. & Pol. 1 (1998).

Mr. Jaffe received his B.A. (cum laude) in Political Science from The American University in 1991, and his J.D. from the George Washington University Law School in 1998, where he was a member of the Moot Court and Trial Court Boards. Prior to joining Slover & Loftus, Mr. Jaffe worked for an electric utility association for four years and on Capitol Hill for two years.

During his time with Slover & Loftus, Mr. Jaffe has worked on a number of matters, including actions before appellate courts and the Surface Transportation Board. Mr. Jaffe is also active in the firm's energy practice, particularly the regulation of electric utilities before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Ms. Pisanelli received her B.A. from Bates College in 2001, and her J.D. from the Columbus School of Law at the Catholic University of America in 2005, where she served as Lead Articles Editor of the Catholic University Law Review and received the Dean's Award for leadership.

During her time at Slover & Loftus, Ms. Pisanelli has been active in the litigation of rail transportation and coal supply contract disputes, especially those relating to the failure to provide service. Ms. Pisanelli also specializes in the establishment of new short line and terminal switching railroads, including related Federal Railroad Administration other regulatory compliance matters, insurance requirements, and carrier interchange arrangements. Ms. Pisanelli has also assisted clients in other matters before the Surface Transportation Board, including requests for clarification of railroad service limits arising from the Conrail control transaction and standards for trackage rights/reciprocal switching under the competitive-access provisions of the law.