FCC Commissioner O'Rielly to Name Robin Colwell as New Chief of Staff and Legal Advisor

Federal Communications Commission member Michael O’Rielly has announced his intention to hire Robin Colwell, currently legal advisor to Sen Tim Scott (R-SC), to be his new chief of staff and legal advisor for media issues. She will also handle all press inquiries. Colwell will start on December 15, 2014, assuming proper hiring procedures and clearances are approved by that date.

Colwell has extensive background in communications policy, having worked most recently as Legislative Counsel to Sen Scott, and Counsel to the Senate Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Tourism, Competitiveness, and Innovation, of which Sen Scott is the Ranking Member. She has served in the past as Counsel to former Sens Jim DeMint (R-SC) and Peter G. Fitzgerald (R-IL), as well as former Rep Connie Mack (R-FL). Before her time on the Hill, Colwell was an associate at Wiley Rein & Fielding, focused on telecommunications and technology transactions.

A Florida native, Colwell first came to Washington as a law clerk to Chief Judge H. Robert Mayer of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. She received her J.D. from the College of William and Mary School of Law and her B.S. from Florida State University.