Federal Trade Commission

Bio, via Heritage Foundation:

lden F. Abbott became Rumpel Senior Legal Fellow and Deputy Director of the Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at The Heritage Foundation in April 2014. He previously served as Director of Patent and Antitrust Strategy for BlackBerry, and in a variety of senior government positions, including director of antitrust policy for the Federal Trade Commission; Acting General Counsel of the Commerce Department; Chief Counsel for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration; and senior counsel in the Justice Department. Alden is also an Adjunct Professor at George Mason Law School, a member of the Leadership of the American Bar Association’s Antitrust Section, and a Non-Governmental Advisor to the International Competition Network. Alden was a Visiting Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford University, in 2005, and a Wasserstein Fellow at Harvard Law School in 2003. He is active in the Federalist Society. Alden lectures and publishes on antitrust, economic regulation, international trade, and intellectual property policy. He blogs regularly at Truth on the Market, a leading website specializing in antitrust and regulation. He speaks French, Spanish, and Italian. Alden holds degrees from Harvard Law School (J.D.), Georgetown University (M.A. in Economics), and the University of Virginia (B.A.). Abbott and his wife reside in McLean, Virginia, and have one adult son.

Bio, via White House:

Mr. Chopra is currently a Senior Fellow at the Consumer Federation of America, where he focuses on consumer protection issues facing young people and military families. From 2010-2015, he served at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as Assistant Director, where he oversaw the agency’s work on student financial services issues. The Secretary of the Treasury also appointed him as the agency’s student loan ombudsman. In 2016, Mr. Chopra served as Special Adviser to the Secretary of Education. Prior to his government service, he was an associate at McKinsey & Company, where he served clients in the financial services and consumer technology sectors. Mr. Chopra holds a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and a master’s in business administration from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He was also the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship. He resides in New York.

Bio, via Bloomberg:

Dr. Jay Ezrielev serves as Executive Vice President of Compass Lexecon LLC. Dr. Ezrielev served as Vice President of Competition Policy Associates, Inc. Dr. Ezrielev specializes in economic, financial, and statistical analyses of antitrust, intellectual property, and contract dispute matters. He has experience analyzing airline, electric utility, pharmaceutical, telecommunications, financial services, tobacco products, chemicals, and other industries. He has performed economic analyses of mergers, alliances, market definitions, entry barriers, and other matters involving allegations of monopolization, vertical foreclosure, predation, price fixing, and exercise of market power. His work entailed supporting litigation and regulatory review in the US, the EU, Australia, and New Zealand. Prior to joining Competition Policy Associates, Dr. Ezrielev served as a Senior Economist at Competition Economics, Inc. Dr. Ezrielev also has extensive experience working as an engineer and software developer at firms such as Siemens and Goldman Sachs. Dr. Ezrielev graduated with a degree in electrical engineering from Rutgers University, obtained an M.S. in electrical engineering from Rutgers, and a Ph.D. in economics from New York University.

Bio, via Federal Trade Commission:

ara Isa Koslov has been appointed Interim Chief of Staff to the Chairman, after nearly two years as Acting Director of the Office of Policy Planning. She had been OPP Deputy Director since March 2011, and previously served as an attorney advisor to three Commissioners. She joined the Commission in 1997, as a staff attorney in the Bureau of Competition, following several years in private practice. Koslov is an honors graduate of Harvard Law School and Brown University.

Bio, via FTC:

Federal Trade Commission Chairman Joseph J. Simons announced today that he has selected Gail F. Levine to be a Deputy Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition, effective Oct. 15, 2018. “We are delighted to welcome Gail to the Front Office of the Bureau of Competition,” said Bureau of Competition Director Bruce Hoffman, who previously served with Levine at the FTC. “Gail’s deep experience in antitrust and intellectual property law, and her expansive legal background, including prior service at both the FTC and the Department of Justice, will be great assets to the agency as it enforces federal antitrust laws on behalf of America’s consumers,” he added. Levine will join the Bureau’s other Deputy Directors, Marian Bruno and Ian Conner, and Acting Deputy Director Haidee Schwartz. Her experience at the FTC included serving as an Attorney Advisor to Chairman Deborah Majoras, as Deputy Assistant General Counsel, and as Assistant Director of the Office of Policy Planning. Levine also was a trial lawyer in the Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. Levine clerked on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, and graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, where she was an editor of the Harvard Law Review. She is currently serving as Director of U.S. Competition Law at Uber Technologies, Inc., and previously was Vice President and Associate General Counsel at Verizon Communications Inc.

Bio, via FTC.Gov:

Most recently, she was a co-founder of Zenbanx, a Silicon Valley financial technology start-up. Earlier in her career, Cathy served as head of Corporate Relations for ING DIRECT USA and as the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. During her earlier tenure at the Federal Trade Commission Cathy spearheaded the launch and promotion of the National Do Not Call Registry. Cathy has also served as EVP of the Direct Impact Company, VP of Devillier Communications, an Associate with Cassidy & Associates, and Director of Business Development for the Dallas and Washington offices of Jones Day. Additionally, Cathy was a visiting scholar at the East China Institute of Politics and Law in Shanghai, China, where she developed and taught graduate level courses designed to convey the concepts of the United States criminal justice system. Cathy began her career with the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a counter-intelligence specialist, focusing on the Soviet bloc nations. Following the FBI, she served at the Department of Justice’s National Institute of Justice. Cathy received her bachelor’s degree in history from Manhattanville College, Purchase, New York, and her master’s degree in Eastern European history from Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.

Bio, via FedScoop.com:

Erie Meyer, a co-founder of the U.S. Digital Service, is returning to the federal government. Meyer, who spent the past year working with Code for America, has accepted a role as a “technologist” in the office of Commissioner Rohit Chopra at the Federal Trade Commission. Chopra, a Democrat, is apparently the first commissioner to establish and fill this role. Meyer’s job, it seems, will be focused on helping Chopra and team reach a deeper level of understanding of technology’s role in the various industries regulated by the FTC. “It’s tough for government to hold industries accountable without understanding how they truly work,” Chopra tweeted, by way of announcing the hire. “That’s why I’m thrilled that Erie Meyer has joined the FTC as my office’s Technologist.” Chopra is brand new to the FTC himself — he was sworn in at the beginning of May. Earlier in his career Chopra helped found the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau after the enactment of the Dodd Frank Act, and served as the bureau’s assistant director. He also served as a special adviser to the secretary of Education during the Obama administration. Throughout his career, Chopra has focused on the student loan market, and helping to develop new tools for student loan borrowers. Meyer also has a background at CFPB. She got her start in government on the bureau’s Tech + Innovation Team before becoming a senior adviser to then-U.S. CTO Todd Park in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. After that, Meyer went on to co-found USDS.

Bio, via White House:

Mr. Phillips currently serves as Chief Counsel to Senator John Cornyn of Texas, the Republican Whip. Since 2011, he has advised Senator Cornyn on issues including antitrust, constitutional law, consumer privacy, fraud, and intellectual property. Prior to his service in the Senate, Mr. Phillips worked as a litigation associate at Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, in New York City, and Steptoe & Johnson LLP, in Washington, D.C. He served as a law clerk for Judge Edward C. Prado of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Mr. Phillips began his career at Wasserstein Perella & Co., an investment bank in New York City. A Massachusetts native, Mr. Phillips received his A.B., magna cum laude, from Dartmouth College and his J.D. from Stanford Law School, where he won Moot Court. Mr. Phillips and his wife, Sarah, have three children.

Bio, via FTC.Gov:

“I am very pleased to welcome Bilal Sayyed back to the FTC to join to our leadership team. His valuable knowledge and experience in both antitrust and consumer protection law will help the Federal Trade Commission continue to effectively promote competition and protect American consumers,” Ohlhausen said. “We are very grateful to Tara Koslov, who has served, with great distinction, as Acting Director of the Office of Policy Planning since June 2016.” During her tenure as Acting Director, Koslov received the Chairman’s Award, the highest award of the Commission. The Office of Policy Planning helps the Commission develop and implement long-range competition and consumer protection policy initiatives and advises staff on cases raising new or complex policy and legal issues. Sayyed, who teaches antitrust and competition law at George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School, joins the agency from Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP. He was previously a partner at McDermott Will & Emery and Kirkland & Ellis. Sayyed served as an Attorney Advisor in the Office of Policy Planning from 2004 to 2005, and as an Attorney Advisor to FTC Chairman Timothy J. Muris from 2001 to 2004. Sayyed earned a bachelor's degree from Case Western Reserve University, and a J.D. from George Mason University School of Law.

Bio, via White House:

Mr. Simons is currently a partner and co-chair of the Antitrust Group at the law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP. He was previously in charge of antitrust enforcement at the Federal Trade Commission, serving as Director of the Bureau of Competition from 2001 until 2003. Among his accomplishments, Mr. Simons was responsible for overseeing the re-invigoration of the FTC’s non-merger enforcement program. Under his leadership, the Bureau initiated over 100 investigations and produced more non-merger enforcement actions in one year than in any other year in the prior two decades or since. Mr. Simons is also a co-developer of “Critical Loss Analysis,” a technique for market definition that has been incorporated into the Department of Justice and FTC Merger Guidelines, as well as applied in numerous court decisions. Mr. Simons received his A.B. in Economics and History from Cornell University in 1980 and his J.D., cum laude, from Georgetown University Law Center in 1983.

Bio, via White House:

Ms. Wilson is an antitrust and consumer protection practitioner currently serving as Senior Vice President for Regulatory & International Affairs at Delta Air Lines. For over twenty years, Ms. Wilson has been an advocate of the fundamental principle that competition – not regulation – is the best protection for consumers and the strongest prescription for a healthy economy. Before joining Delta, she was a partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP in Washington, D.C. During the George W. Bush Administration, she served as Chief of Staff to FTC Chairman Timothy J. Muris. Both in government and private practice, she has contributed to the sound development of competition law and policy. She has served in the ABA Antitrust Section Leadership, as an advisor to the U.S. government in connection with the International Competition Network, and as Special Assistant to James F. Rill, Co-Chair of the International Competition Policy Advisory Committee. Ms. Wilson received her J.D. from Georgetown University and her B.A. from the University of Florida. She co-founded The Grapevine, a women’s network for D.C. antitrust and consumer protection professionals. She and her husband live in Virginia and have two daughters.