NBJ PR Wire

PUC APPOINTS NEW GENERAL COUNSEL

Release Date: January 2, 2007

Contact: KRISTY WAHL

Carson City, Nev. - The Chairman of the Public Utilities Commission (PUCN), Don Soderberg, appointed Jan Cohen as General Counsel replacing Richard Hinckley who has accepted the position of General Counsel for Administration and Contracts at the Community College of Southern Nevada.

"Jan has a tremendous commitment to quality and detail," said Soderberg. "She will represent the Commission well in legal, administrative and legislative matters."

Ms. Cohen joined the PUC in 2001 as Assistant General Counsel and was appointed as a Hearings Officer in 2002 and has since served as both Hearings Officer and Assistant General Counsel. Ms. Cohen also served as acting General Counsel in January 2003 until May 2003. Prior to coming to the PUC, Ms. Cohen spent over seven years as an attorney with the Nevada Attorney General's office specializing in administrative law and open meeting law. Ms. Cohen also has several years of experience in private practice in the areas of commercial litigation, bankruptcy, and insurance defense. Ms. Cohen received a bachelor's degree in secondary education from Northwest Missouri State University, a master's degree in English from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and a juris doctorate from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln.

The General Counsel Division is responsible for representing the PUC's interests in all proceedings in state and federal court. In addition, the division represents the PUC's interests before various state and federal regulatory agencies, including the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The division also counsels commissioners and administrative attorneys on legal and policy issues. The division reviews and approves notices, orders, notices of agenda meetings, regulations, legislation and other legal documents prepared by administrative attorneys and the legal case manager. The division is also responsible for reviewing the PUC's administrative procedures to assure compliance with the Administrative Procedures Act as well as other statutes and regulations applicable to the commission.

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