Maureen K. Ohlhausen, a Washington, D.C. attorney and former Federal Trade Commission staffer, will likely be returning to the agency as a Commissioner.
Yesterday evening, the White House announced President Barack Obama’s intention to nominate Ohlhausen to fill the position currently held by Commissioner William E. Kovacic. Kovacic’s term on the five-member Commission expires in September.
Ohlhausen is an attorney at Wilkinson Barker Knauer, LLP, where she is a partner in the firm’s privacy, data protection, and cybersecurity practice, according to the White House statement. She joined the law firm in 2009, shortly after leaving the FTC.
FTC Career
Ohlhausen served as Director of the FTC’s Office of Policy Planning from 2004 to 2008. In that role, she assisted the Commission in developing and implementing long-range competition and consumer protection policy initiatives and advised staff on cases raising new or complex policy and legal issues. Earlier in her FTC career, Ohlhausen was a staff attorney in the Office of Policy Planning, an attorney advisor for Commissioner Orson Swindle, and a staff attorney in the Office of the General Counsel.
“We are extremely proud of Maureen and congratulate her on her nomination to be an FTC Commissioner,” said Wilkinson Barker Managing Partner Bryan N. Tramont in a July 19 statement. “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,” Tramont added.
Ohlhausen is also 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. Ms. Ohlhausen received a B.A. from the University of Virginia and a J.D. from George Mason University School of Law.
