MEET THE G&W LEGAL TEAM

G&W’s Legal Department supports the company’s North American operations and all corporate functions with legal matters, including negotiating, reviewing, drafting and interpreting transportation-related and strategic contracts on behalf of G&W and its subsidiaries (other than labor or real estate agreements); managing all litigation and claims (excluding freight claims) by and against G&W and its subsidiaries; and advising on compliance with company policies and applicable laws (including Surface Transportation Board matters, such as discontinuances and abandonments).

Allison Fergus General Counsel and Secretary

A Long Island, New York, native, Allison was appointed general counsel and secretary in October 2006. She joined G&W in November 2005 as senior counsel. She was previously an associate at Shearman & Sterling LLP in New York, where she practiced in the capital markets group. Prior to that, she worked in the treasury group of Omnicom Group Inc. and at JPMorgan Chase, formerly Chase Manhattan Bank. Allison earned a bachelor’s degree in finance and international business from Georgetown University and her juris doctorate degree from Fordham University School of Law.

How does G&W benefit from the legal department?

G&W benefits from having 24-hour-a-day access to our in-house staff attorneys who all have more than a decade of experience.

How would you describe your job to a friend?

In-house, we manage all things legal. This includes transactions, contracts, litigation and general problems that arise in an organization – whether it’s reviewing a contract to fix a copier or dealing with claims that come in – to sophisticated matters relating to million-dollar litigation or acquisitions and divestitures.

The legal department is a service provider to everyone out there running trains, and we try to provide that service in a professional manner leveraging the experience we’ve gained over the decades. We like to provide one-stop shopping – if you call one person in the legal department, if one of us can’t answer your question another one of us generally can. We have different areas of specialty that complement one another, and we are always trying to build our practice areas of expertise.

Favorite legal TV show (that’s not Law & Order): Dateline

Favorite season: Winter

Favorite vacation destination: Aruba

Favorite food: All things Mexican

Alfred Ricotta

Deputy General Counsel

Al started at G&W in November 2011. He graduated law school in 1999 and worked at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft in New York City until July 2004. He worked at another New York City law firm, Clifford Chance, until July 2010, when he became in-house counsel at Arch Chemicals in Norwalk. After 15 months, Arch Chemicals was acquired by another company and Al joined G&W. Al is a native New Yorker.

How does G&W benefit from the legal department?

I think G&W benefits from having counsel that has an intimate understanding of the rail industry and the regulatory framework that the company operates in. It also benefits in terms of cost savings – if we had to rely on outside counsel for everything we do, there would be significant costs involved that would far exceed our internal costs. And, at this point with the long tenure of the team, there’s a lot of institutional and industry knowledge that we have that would not be easily replicated by outside counsel.

How would you describe your job to a friend?

My job is to facilitate getting things done while at the same time protecting the company from exposure to liability – from violating the law to liability exposure to third parties.

Favorite legal TV show (that’s not Law & Order): The Practice

Favorite season: Summer

Favorite vacation destination: Beach

Favorite food: My mother’s lasagna

When Should You Contact the Legal Department?

Rule of Thumb: Have Legal review anything where we pay money or receive money!

● Trackage Rights and Operating Agreements

● Leases – Equipment or Rail Lines

● Haulage Agreements

● Detour Agreements

● Wireline, Pipe, Crossing and Rights of Entry

● Marks Agreements

● Independent Contractor Agreements

● Passenger-related Agreements

● Rail Transportation Contracts

● Track Leases

● Car Storage Agreements

Forms are available on G&W’s Crossties intranet site under the “Legal” filter of the “Policies” section FOLLOW THE MATERIAL CONTRACTS REVIEW POLICY

Catherine Pushchak Assistant General Counsel, Litigation

Cathy started her law career at Patton Boggs, a New York City law firm where she worked for six years, handling largescale litigation defense for big companies. She then joined G&W’s in-house Legal team, where she has worked the last 10 years. Cathy grew up in northern New Jersey and currently lives in Greenwich, Connecticut. She is married and has two children, George (6), who is obsessed with hockey and lacrosse, and Anna (4), who is also obsessed with hockey an enjoys unicorns and rainbows. Her dog, Lilli (8), is a chihuahua miniature pinscher mix. Cathy went to Syracuse University and Rutgers University Law School.

How does G&W benefit from the legal department?

We almost function as a law firm at the disposal of the railroads. The railroads know they can call us anytime and anywhere with any type of issue and we’ll take care of it and take care of it well. It’s the benefit of having your own personal law firm with everyone having their own area of expertise.

How would you describe your job to a friend?

I usually say I manage the litigation and claims for a railroad holding company, but my job is more than that. I’m a corporate defense litigation lawyer, and I work in-house representing a holding company and all of its subsidiaries.

Favorite legal TV show (that’s not Law & Order): How to Get Away with Murder

Favorite season: Winter

Favorite vacation destination: 1. Anywhere international, 2. Vail, Colorado, 3. Kennebunkport, Maine

Favorite food: Ukrainian pierogis

Thomas Cullen

Vice President, Corporate Counsel

Tom has been with G&W since February 2018. Prior to joining G&W, Tom worked as deputy general counsel for the nation’s largest asbestos abatement, demolition and emergency response contractor.

Tom was born and raised in Canada. He came to the U.S. to play college hockey at St. Lawrence University, where he met his wife, Sera. They have lived all over the U.S. since then (NY, NV, WA, FL, NC, ID, IL and CT). He received his law degree from the University of Miami School of Law. He and his wife have four children: Finn (20), Alexandra (19), Keegan (17), and Thatcher (16). They have lived in Rowayton, Connecticut, since 2009.

How does G&W benefit from the legal department?

The Legal Department is like having a dedicated law firm with a single client – G&W. We facilitate the smooth running of the business and help to embed good practices, mitigate risks, stay ahead of regulatory change and avoid costly mistakes in the long-run. The result is significant savings on legal fees.

How would you describe your job to a friend? Provide legal support to all facets of the freight railroad business with a focus on risk management.

Favorite legal TV show (that’s not Law & Order): Rake

Favorite season: Spring

Favorite vacation destination: Perth, Australia

Favorite food: Pizza