Metro News Release

For immediate release: May 19, 2005

Carol O’Keeffe appointed general counsel for WMATA

Carol B. O’Keeffe has been appointed General Counsel for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) effective immediately.

Ms. O’Keeffe has worked at WMATA since 1993, most recently serving as Acting General Counsel for nine months, stepping into that role from Principal Deputy General Counsel, a position she held since joining Metro.

A Maryland resident, Ms. O’Keeffe supervises an office of 73, including 29 attorneys, each of whom has his or her own legal speciality. She oversees and provides input and guidance on topics ranging from joint development and procurement to labor and personnel issues. She interacts with every department within the Authority. A distinguished attorney with a long record of accomplishments with WMATA, one of her recent accomplishments was the successful negotiation of the Metro Matters Funding Agreement and the Local Funding Agreement for Metro Matters that will provide WMATA with approximately $1.3 billion in capital funds.

"These agreements provide the cornerstone for the improvement and expansion of both the Metrobus and Metrorail systems and required both legal skill and detailed financial understanding, and demonstrate Ms. O’Keeffe’s skill and versatility as the head of our Office of General Counsel," said Metro General Manager and CEO Richard A. White. "Ms. O’Keeffe’s ability to work through complex multi-party negotiations personifies her attributes of leadership, dedication and commitment."

Ms. O’Keeffe oversaw the recent changes to both Metro’s Public Access to Records Policy and the adoption of the new Privacy Policy and also participated in the negotiations with the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation and the Dulles Transit Partners that were necessary to lay the groundwork for expansion of service to Dulles.

Prior to coming to WMATA, Ms. O’Keeffe was in private practice with the firm of Levan, Schimel, Belman & Abramson, PA. Before that, she was a Senior Assistant County Solicitor for Howard County, MD, and clerked for the Hon. James Macgill in the Circuit Court for Howard County, MD. She is admitted to practice law in Maryland and the District of Columbia and admitted to practice before the bars of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, including Trial Bar; the U.S. Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit, District of Columbia Circuit; and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Ms. O’Keeffe, who captured Metro’s 2004 Carmen Turner Memorial Award for Extraordinary Achievement, earned her law degree from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1978.

News release issued on May 19, 2005.