The White House announced today that President Barack Obama intends to nominate Maureen K. Ohlhausen, a partner at Wilkinson Barker Knauer, LLP, to be a Commissioner at the Federal Trade Commission.  Ohlhausen joined Wilkinson Barker in 2009 and is a leading partner in the firm’s privacy, data protection and cybersecurity practice.

Her nomination would return Ohlhausen to the FTC, where she previously served for 11 years in various senior positions, most recently as Director of the FTC’s Office of Policy Planning from 2004 to 2008.  In that post, among other things, Ohlhausen headed the FTC’s Internet Access Task Force.  Ohlhausen previously was an attorney advisor for former FTC Commissioner Orson Swindle and an attorney in the FTC’s Office of General Counsel.  Before her FTC service, she was a law clerk for now-Chief Judge David B. Sentelle of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, where she also served as a staff attorney, and she clerked at the U.S. Court of Federal Claims for Judge Robert Yock.  Ms. Ohlhausen graduated with distinction from George Mason University School of Law and from the University of Virginia, where she was an Echols Scholar.

Ms. Ohlhausen has been on the adjunct faculty at George Mason University School of Law and is a Senior Editor of the Antitrust Law Journal.  She is a member of the American Bar Association Task Force on Competition and Public Policy and is a frequent author and speaker on competition law, privacy, and technology topics.

“We are extremely proud of Maureen and congratulate her on her nomination to be an FTC Commissioner,” said Bryan N. Tramont, Managing Partner of Wilkinson Barker.  “Maureen has been a tremendous leader in the firm’s growth.  We will miss her substantive knowledge and her practical and no-nonsense approach to advising clients, but we applaud her enthusiasm for returning to public service and are pleased that the FTC will gain such a dedicated and skillful practitioner.  We wish our good friend and colleague all the best in her new role.”

Wilkinson Barker Knauer, LLP is one of the largest law firms in the nation dedicated to the practice of communications and technology law.  The firm advises its clients, which range from global Fortune 100 companies to small start-ups, in regulatory, transactional, corporate and litigation matters involving all aspects of telecommunications, mass media and privacy law, as well as smart grid and energy regulation.  Wilkinson Barker Knauer is ranked as a “first tier” law firm by Chambers USA (Telecom, Broadcast & Satellite: Regulatory), Legal500 (Telecoms and Broadcast: Regulatory) and US News & World Report (Communications Law – both nationally and the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area).