Mary C. Lawton Award To Ellen Hanson,
ICC Deputy General Counsel

At the Fall Meeting Awards Luncheon, the Section awarded the Mary C. Lawton Award for Outstanding Government Service to Ellen D. Hanson, Deputy General Counsel of the Interstate Commerce Commission. After graduating from the University of North Carolina Law School in 1975, Ms. Hanson joined the ICC as an entry level attorney in the Finance Section of the Office of Proceedings. In recognition of her hard work, incisive analysis, persuasive communication skills, and leadership ability she was quickly promoted up the ladder to Branch Chief, Deputy Director of the Office of Proceedings for the Finance Section, Associate General Counsel, and finally Deputy General Counsel in 1994.

Ms. Hanson's contributions to the ICC have been substantial. When she came to the agency, the rail industry was experiencing serious financial difficulties and was ripe for substantial structural changes, which resulted in the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976. As Chief of the Rail Branch in the Finance Section, it fell to Ms. Hanson to fashion the agency's implementation of substantial parts of that legislation. At the same time, she served in the capacity as Rail Merger Coordinator for the agency, skillfully directing the interdisciplinary work of all offices within the agency in reviewing the major rail consolidation proposals stimulated by the legislation.

The 1980s brought additional reform legislation affecting rail, trucking, and bus transportation, each act calling for a new approach to regulation, relying on market forces to the extent possible. Again, Ms. Hanson was a major force in fashioning revised administrative policies and procedures to reflect the agency's altered role. For example, Ms. Hanson authored, successfully defended, and applied to various individual cases the "Constrained Market Pricing" approach set forth in the Commission's Coal Rate Guidelines, an approach that has been lauded by courts and the academic community and has served as a model for other regulated industries. More recently, Ms. Hanson has shifted her focus as Congress moves toward closing the ICC and deciding what federal economic regulation of surface transportation continues to be needed. Ms. Hanson was a key member of an ICC task force that examined the nature and purpose of each ICC regulatory responsibility, the effectiveness of the regulatory activity, and the extent to which each activity should be maintained, eliminated, or restructured. Moreover, Ms. Hanson has played a critical role assisting the Commission, the Administration, and Congressional staff in analyzing legislative proposals and drafting legislative language.

Beyond the ICC, Ms. Hanson was a founding member and past president of the Women's Transportation Seminar, a professional organization started in 1977, which now has a membership of 2700 with chapters in 25 locations throughout the country.

Ms. Hanson's service on behalf of her agency and her profession is in the best tradition of government service and amply justifies her selection as the 1995 recipient of the Mary C. Lawton Award.