Judge Loretta Preska of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on Friday approved the appointment of the Honorable Barbara S. Jones to serve as the Independent Review Officer for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Independent Disciplinary Office. Jones replaces former U.S. Attorney General Benjamin Civiletti who retired in October.

Jones is currently a partner at Bracewell Law in New York where her practice focuses on corporate compliance and internal investigations. She previously served as a judge in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

The Independent Review Officer was established in the Final Order approved by Judge Preska in February 2015 that ended the government’s 25-year consent decree with the union. The Final Order states that the Independent Review Officer is “experienced, effective, and completely independent of the IBT, and free from any actual or apparent conflict of interest. No individual may serve as an IBT Disciplinary Officer absent a reputation for honesty, integrity, impartiality, and independence, and unless he or she is an attorney with substantial prior experience with enforcing labor laws or with government investigations, or has substantial prior experience as a federal or state judge.”

The Final Order created a five year transition period in which the selection of the Independent Disciplinary Officers is made jointly by the union and the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York and approved by the Court.

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