SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

Surface Transportation Board Chairman Robert E. Primus today announced that Anika Sanders Cooper has been appointed the agency’s General Counsel.  Ms. Cooper has served as Acting General Counsel since January 2024.  The Office of the General Counsel provides legal advice to the Board, defends Board actions in court (usually in the U.S. Courts of Appeals) and manages the agency’s ethics, FOIA and records managements functions.

“Anika has been a valued member of the STB team for nearly twenty years,” said Chairman Primus.  “The agency has greatly appreciated her consistent work to advance and uphold our mission, and we will continue to rely on her skill and insight in serving the public interest.  I look forward to working with Anika in this new capacity.”

Ms. Cooper joined the STB in 2006 as an attorney in the Office of the General Counsel. She has held several leadership roles at the agency and has been the Deputy General Counsel since 2017.  Before joining the STB, Ms. Cooper worked at the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia in civil antitrust enforcement, and practiced antitrust law at a leading Washington, D.C. law firm.

Ms. Cooper earned a law degree from Yale Law School, and holds a Bachelor of Arts from Hampton University.

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