Copps Taps Michele Ellison to be Acting General Counsel

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Copps has picked Michele Ellison to be the FCC's Acting General Counsel. For the last twelve years, Ellison has served as the Deputy General Counsel. She currently oversees the transactions and merger review functions of the Office as well as the bankruptcy and fraud litigation portfolios. She joined the FCC in 1995 and since that time has provided leadership in many areas, including co-chairing the Commission's Localism Task Force, leading a Task Force on expanding communications opportunities to small businesses and developing countries, and serving as senior advisor to former Chairman Kennard on a variety of agency-wide operational matters. Prior to joining the Commission, Ms. Ellison was a Partner at Williams and Connolly in Washington, D.C. She clerked for the Honorable Damon J. Keith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and for the Honorable Paul R. Webber, III of the D.C. Superior Court. She received her J.D., cum laude from Howard University School of Law, and her B.A. from Duke University. She is a member of the communications and District of Columbia bars.