Democrat Al Franken has hired a chief of staff, signaling he is moving forward with setting up a Senate office even as the outcome of his 2008 Senate race against Republican Norm Coleman is still pending in Minnesota courts.

Drew Littman will serve as Franken’s top aide. A former policy director for Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Littman most recently headed his own consulting practice Littman Associates.

“With Drew leading our team, I know that my office will be able to uphold the Minnesota tradition of excellent and responsive constituent service,— Franken said in a statement.

According to the campaign, Littman served as head of Franken’s “informal transition team— and has a track record of consulting several Senators on how to set up their Capitol Hill offices.

A three-judge recount court ruled earlier this month that Franken had won the Minnesota Senate seat by 312 votes — a decision that Coleman appealed to the state Supreme Court. That trial is scheduled to begin on June 1.