General Counsel
Mitch Tannenbaum is General Counsel for the Maine Public Utilities Commission.
Steve Mitnick is Editor-in-Chief of Public Utilities Fortnightly and President of Lines Up, Inc.
PUF: How did you become the General Counsel?
Mitch Tannenbaum: I started at the Maine PUC in 1985. I was right out of law school, so it was my first legal job, and I've been a member of the legal division ever since. In 2002, I was made Deputy General Counsel, so I worked closely with the General Counsel until she retired in 2014. Then I took the position.
PUF: What does the General Counsel do?
Mitch Tannenbaum: I supervise nine attorneys. We have a Deputy General Counsel. We also have three senior attorneys and staff attorneys. I provide legal advice to the Commission and represent the Commission in court and before the State legislature. I also work as a Hearing Examiner on cases before the PUC, focusing mostly on electricity proceedings. I do a little of everything.
When you start here you may get assigned to smaller cases that aren't controversial, then you'll get assigned as a second attorney on bigger cases. Eventually, you'll be assigned as lead attorney on major cases.