Law Professor to Lead FTC's Consumer Unit (updated)

The Federal Trade Commission yesterday named Georgetown University law professor David Vladeck as director of the agency's Bureau of Consumer Protection. Vladeck is co-director of Georgetown Law Center's Institute for Public Representation, a program for civil liberties, open government and regulatory litigation. Previously, he spent nearly 30 years with the Public Citizen Litigation Group. As that group's director, he argued a number of First Amendment and civil rights cases before the Supreme Court, and more than 60 cases before the federal courts of appeal and state courts of last resort, the FTC said. The appointment comes a month after several public interest and consumer advocacy groups asked FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz to quickly fill the post, which has been called the commission's most powerful consumer protection role. The groups, including the Electronic Privacy Information Center and the Consumers Union, said the agency's oversight of a broad range of issues, from marketing practices to identity theft protection, will have significant impact as consumers increasingly rely on technology and digital communication. The new chief, they said, should have a "track record as a genuine champion of consumer rights." Vladeck's first priority will be dealing with the rise of consumer financial fraud as a result of the economic downturn.

Richard A. Feinstein, who was appointed Director of the Bureau of Competition, is rejoining the agency from a partnership at Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP, where he focused on antitrust litigation and counseling. He was formerly an Assistant Director in the Bureau of Competition's Health Care Services and Products Division, focusing on antitrust enforcement, including anticompetitive practices and mergers involving health care providers and payers, and anticompetitive conduct in the pharmaceutical industry. Feinstein worked previously at McKenna & Cuneo, LLP, and he was a trial attorney and supervisor in the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.