During a speech at Georgetown University Law Center this afternoon, David Vladeck, director of the consumer protection bureau at the Federal Trade Commission, said his agency should "be placed on equal footing with the other consumer protection agencies."
He said that means the FTC should get expanded civil penalty authority, as well as independent civil litigation authority. Currently, the Department of Justice brings many FTC-related civil cases.
Vladeck joked that in order to wrestle some of the litigation responsibilities away from Justice, he’ll likely have to face off with Attorney General Eric Holder on the basketball court.
Vladeck also announced that Charles Harwood, director of the FTC’s Seattle regional office, will come to D.C. to serve as his deputy director in the consumer protection bureau. Eileen Harrington, acting director of the bureau before Vladeck started, will also stay on as a deputy.
Looking ahead, Vladeck said the bureau will continue to handle cases at an aggressive pace. He said lawyers there will be sorting through a lot of cases involving economic fraud. He said they will also be keeping close tabs on advertising issues.
Vladeck was speaking at Georgetown—where he was a law professor prior to joining the FTC—to kick off an American Bar Association conference on consumer protection.
Comments