OALJ Org Chart
What We Do
FERC Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) resolve contested cases as directed by the Commission, either by serving as a Presiding Judge, conducting a hearing, developing a record, rendering an initial decision, or by serving as a Settlement Judge and facilitating a negotiated resolution by settlement.
ALJs perform various other Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) procedures as directed by the Commission, including mediation, arbitration, and facilitation.
Some matters before the Commission are set for hearing before Administrative Law Judges (ALJs). The ALJ will issue an Initial Decision and the Commission will issue a final order for the proceeding. Appeals of Commission orders and regulations are heard in Federal Courts. FERC also facilitates settlements as an alternative to litigation.
Who to Contact:
Legal Matters:
Jeremy Hessler, Supervisory Attorney
Jeremy.Hessler@ferc.gov
Telephone: 202-502-8655
Administrative Matters:
Sharli Silva, Managing Attorney
Sharli.Silva@ferc.gov
Telephone: 202-502-8719
Motions Directed to The Chief Judge
All motions directed to the attention of the Chief Judge should be sent to the following people:
Chief Judge Carmen A. Cintron
Carmen.Cintron@ferc.gov
Jeremy Hessler
Jeremy.Hessler@ferc.gov
Sharli Silva
Sharli.Silva@ferc.gov
Brandon Flick
Brandon.Flick@ferc.gov
Katherine Rogers
Katherine.Rogers@ferc.gov
Directory of Judges
Chief Administrative Law Judge
About
Judge Carmen A. Cintron was appointed to the FERC in December 1999. Prior to joining the FERC Judge Cintron was Hearing Office Chief of the Atlanta North Office of Hearings and Appeals, Social Security Administration. As Hearing Office Chief, Judge Cintron was the chief management official responsible for the operations of a hearing office comprised of nine Administrative Law Judges, two Senior Administrative Law Judges and a support staff of fifty employees (attorneys, paralegals and technicians). She became an Administrative Law Judge in April 1994 appointed to the San Jose, California Hearing Office with the Social Security Administration.
Judge Cintron was an attorney at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for 14 years. For 12 of those years she served in the FCC’s Common Carrier Bureau. Judge Cintron also worked as a Trial Attorney for the Puerto Rico Justice Department in the Federal Litigation Division. In addition, she worked in the Puerto Rico House of Representatives as Legal Advisor to the Judiciary Committee on Civil Law.
Judge Cintron has a bachelor's degree in business administration, magna cum laude and a Juris Doctor degree, cum laude, from the University of Puerto Rico. She was the recipient of the Resumil Award for the highest cumulative average in criminal law. While in law school, she was an intern in the U.S. Attorney's office in San Juan, Puerto Rico. She also worked in the Clerk's office in the U.S. Federal District Court for Puerto Rico implementing the Speedy Trial Act for both the Puerto Rico and Saint Thomas Federal District Courts.
Judge Cintron is a member of the bars of the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, and is admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court for Puerto Rico, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, the U.S. Ct. of Appeals for D.C. and the U.S. Supreme Court. In April 2014, she was appointed to serve a two-year term as a volunteer arbitrator for the DC Bar Attorney Client Arbitration Board Fee Arbitration Service. She served two terms as a Hearing Committee member and subsequently as a Board member from 2009-2012 of the Board on Professional Responsibility of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. She served as the Mount Vernon representative to the Fairfax County Commission on Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation. Previously she served as an officer of the D.C. Hispanic Bar Association.
Contact Information
Telephone: 202-502-8500
Suite: 11F-1
Name | Email Address | Telephone | Suite |
---|---|---|---|
Sharli Silva, Managing Attorney |
sharli.silva@ferc.gov | 202-502-8719 | 11F-5 |
Jeremy Hessler, Supervisory Attorney Advisor |
Jeremy.hessler@ferc.gov | 202-502-8655 | 11F-7 |
Office Fax Number | 202-219-3289 |
Administrative Law Judges
About
Judge David H. Coffman was sworn in as a FERC Administrative Law Judge in September 2006. Prior to receiving this appointment, he served as a Supervisory Administrative Law Judge in the Arlington, Virginia Region of the Office of Medicare Hearings and Appeals, Department of Health & Human Services.
Judge Coffman began his legal career at the Department of Justice, where he received an award for outstanding service as a prosecutor of white-collar crime. After a brief stint in private practice, he joined FERC, where he eventually served as Deputy Assistant General Counsel for Enforcement, and later argued appeals for the Solicitor's Office.
Judge Coffman received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Southern Methodist University, where he was named to Phi Beta Kappa, and a Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School. After graduating from law school, he served in the U.S. Army, attaining the rank of First Lieutenant and receiving a Bronze Star with an Oak Leaf Cluster for meritorious service as Commander of a detachment of Army correspondents in Vietnam.
Judge Coffman is a member of the Texas and District of Columbia Bars, and is admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court and other federal courts.
Contact Information
Telephone: 202-502-6504
Suite: 11F-17
Name | Email Address | Telephone | Suite |
---|---|---|---|
Michelle Castaline, Law Clerk |
michelle.castaline@ferc.gov | 202-502-8862 | 11F-14 |
Hamid Manneh, Paralegal Specialist |
hamid.manneh@ferc.gov | 202-502-8617 | 11F-28 |
About
Judge John Dring is a graduate of Georgetown University Law Center (J.D. 1979), and Georgetown University School of Foreign Service (B.S.F.S 1974). He served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1967-1971.
Judge Dring was sworn in as an Administrative Law Judge at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in November 2005. Prior to joining the FERC, Judge Dring served as an Administrative Law Judge at the Social Security Administration.
Prior to his appointment as a judge, he supervised and managed the review process of appellant cases filed with the U.S.D.A. National Appeals Division. Judge Dring also has 15 years experience with an interstate natural gas pipeline company. He began his federal government career as a staff member in the U.S. House of Representatives and in the U.S. Senate.
Contact Information
Telephone: 202-502-6860
Suite: 11F-17
Name | Email Address | Telephone | Suite |
---|---|---|---|
Lauren Sakin, Law Clerk |
lauren.sakin@ferc.gov | 202-502-6435 | 11F |
Faith Wade, Paralegal Specialist |
faith.wade@ferc.gov | 202-502-8827 | 11F |
About
Judge Patricia M. French was appointed as an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission by Chairman Kevin J. McIntyre in September 2018.
Prior to this appointment, Judge French served as an Administrative Law Judge with the U.S. Social Security Administration in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Before becoming an ALJ, Judge French served as an attorney in private practice specializing in energy law. Judge French also held positions as Chief Compliance Officer, Assistant General Counsel and Lead Counsel for major energy firms. Earlier in her career, Judge French served as Assistant Attorney General for the State of Rhode Island specializing in issues related to state-regulated utilities, electric and gas rate matters and telecommunications competition. She also served as a Hearing Officer for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ Department of Public Utilities on energy issues.
Judge French is a member of the bar of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maine and Utah. She is admitted to practice before the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the District of Columbia and First Circuits and the U.S. District Courts of New Hampshire and Utah.
Judge French is a graduate of Wells College (Bachelor of Arts degree. with honors) and the Boston University School of Law (J.D., with honors).
Contact Information
Telephone: 202-502-8003
Suite: 11F-37
Name | Email Address | Telephone | Suite |
---|---|---|---|
Hiba Ahmed, Law Clerk |
hiba.ahmed@ferc.gov | 202-502-6127 | 11F-40 |
Janine Leath, Paralegal Specialist |
janine.leath@ferc.gov | 202-502-8842 | 11F-24 |
About
Judge Steven A. Glazer is a graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (B.S. in Economics and B.S. in Civil Engineering, 1974) and New York University School of Law (J.D. 1977). He began his career as an attorney for the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Hearings and Appeals and thereafter engaged in private practice in several fields, including energy law, communications, real estate law, antitrust law and litigation.
Prior to his judicial appointment, Judge Glazer served in the U.S. International Trade Commission from 1991 through 2005 as a Staff Attorney with the Office of Unfair Import Investigations and as an Attorney-Advisor with the Office of Administrative Law Judges and Dispute Resolution. At the U.S.I.T.C., he specialized in intellectual property litigation, with a focus on patents and trademarks, in unfair import proceedings before Administrative Law Judges pursuant to Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930. Judge Glazer is registered as a patent attorney with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
In 2005, Judge Glazer was first appointed as a Supervisory Administrative Law Judge for the Office of Medicare Hearings and Appeals of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He became an Administrative Law Judge for the Commission in September 2006.
Judge Glazer is a past President of the Federal Administrative Law Judges Conference, a professional association for the administrative law judiciary. He has also served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law.
Contact Information
Telephone: 202-502-6487
Suite: 11F-7
Name | Email Address | Telephone | Suite |
---|---|---|---|
Katherine Rogers, Law Clerk |
202-502-8248 | 11F | |
Adrian Gause, Paralegal Specialist |
adrian.gause@ferc.gov | 202-502-6081 | 11F-6 |
About
Judge Patricia E. Hurt was appointed a FERC Administrative Law Judge by Chairman Norman C. Bay on May 18, 2016. Prior to this appointment, Judge Hurt was an Administrative Law Judge with the Office of Disability Adjudication and Review at the Social Security Administration, presiding first in Michigan and later Virginia.
She began her career in energy working in the market planning and the rates and regulatory affairs departments for a major gas utility. After obtaining her law degree, Judge Hurt served as an attorney advisor in the Office of Administrative Law Judges at the Commission before moving into the energy practice of a top ten multinational law firm, where she represented utilities, rural electric cooperatives, industry associations, and independent power producers in a variety of regulatory, transactional, and litigation matters.
Judge Hurt returned to government service in 2005, serving as a trial attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice, first in the Civil Rights Division and later the Civil Division. She was called back to FERC in 2007, when she became an attorney advisor to former Commissioner Philip D. Moeller. She later moved into the Office of Administrative Litigation (OAL) as a trial attorney. While in OAL, Judge Hurt performed a 2010 detail as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney, prosecuting misdemeanor crimes in the District of Columbia.
Judge Hurt is admitted to practice before the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the District of Columbia, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth, and Eleventh Circuits, and is a member of the Bars of Virginia and the District of Columbia.
Judge Hurt is a graduate of George Mason University (B.S. 1988), Wake Forest University (M.B.A. 1990), and the Columbus School of Law at the Catholic University of America (J.D. 1999).
She has had extensive training in negotiation and mediation, both during her schooling and post-graduate, including attending Harvard University programs on negotiation and mediation in 2008 and 2009.
Contact Information
Telephone: 202-502-8528
Suite: 11F-35
Name | Email Address | Telephone | Suite |
---|---|---|---|
Mary Emerson, Law Clerk |
mary.emerson@ferc.gov | 202-502-6262 | 11F-38 |
Janine Leath, Paralegal Specialist |
janine.leath@ferc.gov | 202-502-8842 | 11F-24 |
About
Judge Suzanne Krolikowski is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (B.S. in Civil (Environmental) Engineering and B.S. in Humanities (Literature), 1988) and the University of North Carolina (M.A. in Ecology, 1992, and J.D., 1995). After law school, she clerked at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, first for the Honorable J. Calvitt Clark, Jr., and then as the court’s pro se law clerk under the Honorable Rebecca Beach Smith, Chief Judge.
After working for the judiciary, Judge Krolikowski served as an attorney-advisor for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of General Counsel, where she counseled agency clients and participated in defensive litigation in several areas, including pesticide, administrative, endangered species, and Indian law. She then served for nearly ten years as a senior counsel to U.S. EPA’s Environmental Appeals Board, where she worked on complex environmental penalty and permit appeals, several of which involved coal, natural gas, and/or solar power generation facilities. In addition, she participated in the Board’s Alternative Dispute Resolution program as a neutral mediator. Judge Krolikowski also served as an attorney-advisor at the Department of the Navy's Office of General Counsel, primarily in the areas of real estate and environmental law.
In June 2015, Judge Krolikowski was appointed as an Administrative Law Judge for the Social Security Administration, serving in both Johnstown, Pennsylvania, and San Rafael, California. She became an Administrative Law Judge at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in October 2016.
Contact Information
Telephone: 202-502-6090
Suite: 11F-25
Name | Email Address | Telephone | Suite |
---|---|---|---|
Claire Valentine-Fossum, Law Clerk |
claire.valentine-fossum@ferc.gov | 202-502-8186 | 11F |
Faith Wade, Paralegal Specialist |
faith.wade@ferc.gov | 202-502-8827 | 11F |
About
Judge Jennifer M. Long was appointed as an Administrative Law Judge for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in October 2016. Before joining FERC, she served as an Administrative Law Judge and Commissioner, with trial and appellate jurisdiction, from 1997 to 2016. Judge Long also has extensive experience as a trained mediator, arbitrator, and trial attorney.
In 2012, Judge Long was appointed as an Administrative Law Judge with the Social Security Administration Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR). She served in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and subsequently Washington, DC, from September 2012 until September 2016. Before joining ODAR, Judge Long served as an Administrative Law Judge with the District of Columbia Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) from 2006 to 2012. Shortly after beginning her tenure at OAH, she became a Principal Administrative Law Judge. In this capacity, she established the agency’s Rental Housing Jurisdiction, trained judges, instituted the agency’s formal mediation program, and testified at oversight hearings. She presided at hearings, conducted mediations, and issued decisions involving multiple agencies including regulatory, housing, public works, public benefits, and public schools.
In 1997, she was appointed as a Commissioner to the District of Columbia Rental Housing Commission, which is an appellate tribunal. She presided at appellate hearings, and issued complex decisions and orders, which were affirmed by the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. She also drafted, amended, and rescinded regulations. Commissioner Long served three consecutive terms from 1997 to 2006.
Before serving as a Commissioner and Administrative Law Judge, she served as an Assistant Public Defender and Arbitrator in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After serving as a public defender for several years, she transitioned to private practice, where she continued to practice law and serve as an arbitrator.
Judge Long taught Appellate Advocacy for more than a decade in the Charles Hamilton Houston Law School Preparatory Institute, held at the Georgetown University Law Center. She also taught Administrative Law at the Howard University School of Law, Paralegal Studies Program.
Judge Long received a Bachelor of Arts degree, cum laude, from Howard University in 1985, and she graduated from Georgetown University Law Center in 1988. In 2011, she earned The Certificate in Judicial Development - Administrative Law Adjudication Skills from The National Judicial College. Judge Long is admitted to practice law in the District of Columbia, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and before the Supreme Court of the United States. Judge Long is a member of the National and International Associations of Women Judges, and she is a member of the Judicial Council Divisions of the National Bar Association and the Washington Bar Association.
Contact Information
Telephone: 202-502-8844
Suite: 11F-29
Name | Email Address | Telephone | Suite |
---|---|---|---|
Kathryn Gantley, Law Clerk |
kathryn.gantley@ferc.gov | 202-502-6330 | 11F |
Adrian Gause, Paralegal Specialist |
adrian.gause@ferc.gov | 202-502-6081 | 11F-6 |
About
Judge Andrea McBarnette was appointed a FERC Administrative Law Judge by Chairman Norman C. Bay on September 6, 2016. Prior to this appointment, Judge McBarnette served as an administrative law judge with the Social Security Administration in Baltimore, MD. Prior to that, she was an assistant U. S. Attorney for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and the U.S. Court of Appeals. Judge McBarnette has also worked in private practice where she litigated civil cases involving intellectual property, employment law and securities fraud.
Judge McBarnette is a 1997 graduate of Georgetown University Law Center. She earned a bachelor of political science degree from Stanford University. She is a member of the Bars of New York and the District of Columbia.
Contact Information
Telephone: 202-502-6008
Suite: 11F-27
Name | Email Address | Telephone | Suite |
---|---|---|---|
Jennifer Enos, Law Clerk |
jennifer.enos@ferc.gov | 202-502-6247 | 11F |
Janine Leath, Paralegal Specialist |
janine.leath@ferc.gov | 202-502-8842 | 11F-24 |
About
Judge Stephanie Nagel was appointed as an Administrative Law Judge at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission by Chairman Kevin J. McIntyre in September 2018. Prior to this appointment, Judge Nagel served as an Administrative Law Judge with the Social Security Administration in Charlottesville, Virginia. Before becoming an ALJ, she served first as an attorney advisor in the Office of Administrative Law Judges at the United States International Trade Commission, and later as attorney advisor to a member of the Commission of that agency. During her years in private practice, Judge Nagel represented domestic and international clients in intellectual property and corporate litigation.
Judge Nagel holds a juris doctor degree, cum laude, from Tulane Law School and a Bachelor of Arts degree, magna cum laude, from Dartmouth College. She is a member of the bars of Delaware (inactive) and the District of Columbia.
Contact Information
Telephone: 202-502-6301
Suite: 11F-23
Name | Email Address | Telephone | Suite |
---|---|---|---|
Kaci Poor, Law Clerk |
kaci.poor@ferc.gov | 202-502-8831 | 11F-16 |
Hamid Manneh, Paralegal Specialist |
hamid.manneh@ferc.gov | 202-502-8617 | 11F-28 |
About
Judge Andrew Satten was appointed as an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) by Chairman Neil Chatterjee in April 2019.
Judge Satten first joined FERC’s Office of Administrative Law Judges and Dispute Resolution (OALJ) in 2012. Prior to his ALJ appointment, he had been serving as OALJ’s Supervisory Attorney-Adviser, a role in which he managed OALJ’s staff of attorney advisers, law clerks, energy industry analysts, and legal interns. Since 2014, he has been an adjunct professor at The George Washington University Law School, teaching a course on energy and environmental law scholarship. Judge Satten also was selected to and completed FERC’s Leadership Development Program, FERC’s premier initiative for developing the agency’s future leaders.
Judge Satten is a graduate of The George Washington University Law School, where he served as the Senior Managing Editor of The George Washington Journal of Energy and Environmental Law. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is a member of the Virginia Bar.
Contact Information
Telephone: 202-502- 6703
Suite: 11F-7
Name | Email Address | Telephone | Suite |
---|---|---|---|
Brandon Flick, Law Clerk |
Brandon.flick@ferc.gov | 202-502-6068 | 11F-12 |
Lauren Carr, Paralegal Specialist |
lauren.carr@ferc.gov | 202-502-8517 | 11F |
About
Judge Steven L. Sterner is a 1984 graduate of Cleveland State University’s Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. He earned his Bachelor's degree in Political Science from Washington & Jefferson College. Judge Sterner is a member of the Ohio State Bar.
From 2005 until his arrival at FERC in March 2011, Judge Sterner was an Administrative Law Judge with the Office of Medicare Hearings and Appeals at the Department of Health and Human Services. Prior to that, Judge Sterner was a Hearing Officer at the Industrial Commission of Ohio, where he conducted administrative hearings concerning worker’s compensation matters.
Judge Sterner also served as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Ohio, where he was a trial attorney in the Worker’s Compensation and the Consumer Protection Divisions and argued before the Ohio Supreme Court. Before that he was an Assistant Director of Law for the City of Cleveland and was in private law practice. While in private practice, Judge Sterner represented major industrial clients, including serving as national asbestos trial counsel.
Contact Information
Telephone: 202-502-6553
Suite: 11F-23
Name | Email Address | Telephone | Suite |
---|---|---|---|
Thomas Steiger, Law Clerk |
thomas.steiger@ferc.gov | 202-502-6580 | 11F-36 |
Hamid Manneh, Paralegal Specialist |
hamid.manneh@ferc.gov | 202-502-8617 | 11F-28 |
Energy Industry Analysts
Name | Telephone |
---|---|
Matthew O. Murray | 202-502-8500 |
Olubode Sanni | 202-502-8500 |
Michael Bullard | 202-502-8500 |
Legal Internships and ALJ Clerkships in OALJ
Read more about Hiring Opportunities in the Office of Administrative Law Judges
List of Available Settlement Judges
To view a list of available settlement judges please visit the Administrative Litigation page and click the learn more tab under Settlements.
Contact Information
-
-
Jeremy HesslerSupervisory Attorney AdvisorTelephone: 202-502-8655Fax: 202-219-3289Email: Jeremy.Hessler@ferc.gov
-
Sharli SilvaManaging AttorneyTelephone: 202-502-8719Fax: 202-219-3289Email: Sharli.silva@ferc.gov
-
Office of Administrative Law Judges (OALJ)Fax: 202-219-3289
-
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
888 First Street, NE
Washington, DC 20426
United StatesTelephone: 202-502-6477Email: customer@ferc.gov