Leibowitz, Ohlhausen Confirmed as FTC Commissioners

This posting was written by John W. Arden.

Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Leibowitz and Maureen K. Ohlhausen were confirmed yesterday by the U.S. Senate to serve as FTC Commissioners. On voice votes, the Senate confirmed the nomination of Leibowitz to serve a second term as Chairman of the Commission and the nomination of Ohlhausen to serve as a Commissioner.

“My fellow Commissioners and I look forward to welcoming Maureen Ohlhausen as a new Commissioner,” said Leibowitz. “Her exception experience, knowledge, and leadership will be of great service to the Federal Trade Commission and American consumers.”

“I am humbled and grateful to the Members of the U.S. Senate for their confidence in my continued service at the nation’s premier consume protection agency,” he added.

Leibowitz has chaired the agency since 2009 and has been a commissioner since 2004. Under his leadership, the Commission has focused on stopping scams that prey on consumers during the economic downturn, preserving competition in the health care industry, restricting anticompetitive “pay-for-delay” patent settlements in the pharmaceutical industry, and promoting competition and innovation in the technology sector. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin and New York University School of Law.

Ohlhausen, a partner at Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP since 2009, was nominated to fill one of the two Commission positions reserved for Republicans. The other position is held by J. Thomas Rosch. At Wilkinson Barker, she has specialized in privacy, data protection, and cybersecurity. Prior to joining the firm, she spent 11 years at the FTC, as attorney advisor to Commissioner Orson Swindle, head of the FTC Internet Access Task Director of the Office of Policy Planning, and Director of the Office of Policy Planning.

She is a senior editor of the American Bar Association Antitrust Law Journal and has taught privacy law and unfair trade practices as an adjunct professor at George Mason University School of Law. Ohlhausen is a graduate of University of Virginia and George Mason University School of Law

FTC Chair Leibowitz Nominated for Second Term

This posting was written by Jeffrey May, Editor of CCH Trade Regulation Reporter.

The White House announced on March 4 that President Barack Obama intends to nominate FTC Chairman Jon D. Leibowitz for a second seven-year term at the Commission. The chairman's term expired last September.

Leibowitz was sworn in as a member of the Commission in September 2004. President George W. Bush nominated Leibowitz in April 2004. He was appointed during a congressional recess after his nomination—and the nomination of Deborah Platt Majoras to serve as the agency's chair—was stalled in the Senate.

Leibowitz was designated as FTC chairman by President Obama in March 2009.

Before his time at the Commission, Leibowitz served as vice president for congressional affairs for the Motion Picture Association of America from 2000 to 2004. Prior to that, he worked on Capitol Hill.

Leibowitz was the Democratic chief counsel and staff director for the U.S. Senate Antitrust Subcommittee from 1997 to 2000. He also worked for Senators Herb Kohl (D., Wis.) and Paul Simon (D., Ill.).

Senate Confirms Brill and Ramirez as FTC Commissioners

This posting was written by John W. Arden.

Julie Simone Brill and Edith Ramirez were confirmed by the Senate yesterday as Federal Trade Commissioners. Brill will serve a seven-year term, starting from September 26, 2009, while Ramirez will serve a seven-year term, starting from September 26, 2008.

“We look forward to welcoming the newly confirmed Federal Trade Commissioners Julie Brill and Edith Ramirez,” said FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz. “They are both exceptionally talented and committed, and will bring a wealth of experience, knowledge, and new energy to the Commission.”

The Chairman remarked how the announcement was “bittersweet” because of the imminent departure of Commissioner Pamela Jones Harbour.

“She has been a wonderful colleague and dedicated public servant over the years, and will be greatly missed,” Leibowitz said.

The two new Commissioners were nominated by the Obama Administration on November 17, 2009. Brill was nominated to succeed Commissioner Jones Harbour, whose term expired last September. Ramirez was nominated to serve the vacancy created by the departure of Commissioner Deborah Platt Majoras in March 2008.

Brill has served as Senior Deputy Attorney General and Chief of Consumer Protection for North Carolina since February 2009. Prior to that, she was an Assistant Attorney for Consumer Protection and Antitrust for the State of Vermont for more than 20 years. She is an adjunct faculty member at Columbia Law School.

Ramirez was a partner in the Los Angeles office of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges, specializing in intellectual property and complex litigation. She is a graduate of Harvard Law School, where she worked on the Harvard Law Review with President Obama.

For the first time in nearly two years, the Federal Trade Commission has a full complement of members. The addition of two new Commissioners brings the membership to three Democrats (Commissiioners Leibowitz, Brill, and Ramirez) and two Republicans (Commissioners William Kovacic and J. Thomas Rosch).

Senate Committee Hears from FTC Nominees

This posting was written by Jeffrey May, Editor of CCH Trade Regulation Reporter.

The two nominees to serve as commissioners at the Federal Trade Commission testified today before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.

Julie Brill, Senior Deputy Attorney General and Chief of Consumer Protection for North Carolina, and Edith Ramirez, a partner with Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges, LLP, told the committee of their accomplishments and their plans if confirmed as commissioners.

The committee also heard from persons nominated for other positions: David L. Strickland (nominated as Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration U.S. Department of Transportation), Nicole Y. Lamb-Hale (nominated as the Assistant Secretary for Manufacturing and Services, U.S. Department of Commerce), and Michael A. Khouri (nominated as Commissioner of the Federal Maritime Commission).

Brill, who had served for many years in the Vermont Attorney General’s Office, was proudly introduced by Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont. Brill said that her top priority, if confirmed as an FTC member, would be “focusing on economic scams that have been so pernicious to consumers during the economic crisis,” such as “get rich quick” scams.

Brill described what she would bring to the Commission as: “passion for aggressively protecting consumers, humility and grace in exercising authority, and the need to carefully balance the interests and concerns of businesses, consumers, and other stakeholders in legislative, regulatory and law enforcement initiatives.”

In light of Brill’s experience with state enforcement, the nominee said that she hoped to build upon the bonds that already exist between the FTC and the state attorneys general. She expressed her belief that the FTC has done a good job in the consumer protection area, especially lately.

In introductory remarks, Committee Chairman John D. Rockefeller, IV (West Virginia) said that Edith Ramirez would bring extensive experience in complex business litigation and that he appreciated her critical eye for mergers and business combinations which may potentially harm consumers.

Ramirez said that she was confident that her experience and background, including her activities in her community, would enable her to bring a fresh perspective to the issues confronting the FTC.

She said that “the Commission’s duty to combat deceptive and unfair business practices and to foster competition has never been greater, particularly in the areas that have the greatest impact on the daily lives of ordinary Americans such as financial services, healthcare, energy, and technology.”

Ramirez said that she would make it a priority to help ordinary Americans understand the role of the FTC and its consumer protection mission.