The New FTC: Should You Be Worried?

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Description

2021's Federal Trade Commission is taking its most aggressive posture in generations. "Revolutionaries have firmly taken over," opined former FTC Chair Tim Muris. From rescission of a policy current Commissioner's state represented FTC's "longstanding failure to pursue unfair methods of competition," to a bill before Congress to give the FTC broader power to impose monetary penalties, and beyond, keeping current on where the FTC is headed couldn't be more timely. Covington partners Laura Kim and John Graubert are well-positioned to give you their thoughts on what to look for in today's FTC. Laura served in the FTC for 12 years, primarily in the Bureau of Consumer Protection, which enforces against misleading or unfair advertising. John also has past service at FTC and co-chairs Covington's advertising and consumer protection practice group. Laura and John will give insights in a moderated conversation by CHPA's David Spangler.

Webinar Objectives

Trends in advertising enforcement.
Both what's in and prospects for H.R. 2668, a bill to provide FTC with greater authority to obtain injunctive and equitable relief in reaction to a Supreme Curt case issued in April finding FTC had over-reached in the past, and FTC's more aggressive posture in antitrust oversight.

Contributors

John Graubert

John Graubert has more than 30 years of experience in a wide range of complex antitrust and consumer law matters. John came to the firm after serving for ten years as Principal Deputy General Counsel of the Federal Trade Commission. John is co-chair of the firm’s Advertising and Consumer Protection practice group, an Adjunct Professor at the Georgetown University Law Center, and a vice-chair of the Federal Civil Enforcement Committee of the ABA Antitrust Section.
From 1998-2008, John served as Principal Deputy General Counsel (including several stints as Acting General Counsel) at the Federal Trade Commission. In that position John managed all litigation, legal counsel, policy studies, and administrative functions within the Office of General Counsel. He also advised the Commission and agency staff on antitrust and consumer protection matters and administrative law. He was involved in dozens of litigated matters for the Commission, including FTC v. Swedish Match, et al. (D.D.C. 2000) and FTC v. Schering-Plough, et al. (11th Cir. 2005), and received the A. Leon Higginbotham Award and the Award for Distinguished Service.
Laura Kim

Laura Kim draws upon her experience in senior positions at the Federal Trade Commission to advise clients across industries on complex advertising, privacy, and data security matters. She provides practical compliance advice and represents clients in FTC and State AG investigations. Laura advises on a wide range of consumer protection issues, including green claims, influencers, native advertising, claim substantiation, Made in USA claims, children's privacy, subscription auto-renewal marketing, and other digital advertising matters. In addition, Laura actively practices before the NAD, including recent successful resolution of matters for both challengers and advertisers. She co-chairs Covington's Advertising and Consumer Protection Practice Group and participates in the firm's Internet of Things Initiative.
Laura re-joined Covington after a twelve-year tenure at the FTC, where she served as Assistant Director in two divisions of the Bureau of Consumer Protection, as well as Chief of Staff in the Bureau of Consumer Protection and Attorney Advisor to former Chairman William E. Kovacic. She worked on key FTC Rules and Guides such as the Green Guides, Jewelry Guides, and the Telemarketing Sales Rule. She supervised these and other rule making proceedings and oversaw dozens of the Commission’s investigations and enforcement actions involving compliance with these rules. Laura also supervised compliance monitoring for companies under federal court or Commission order.
David Spangler

David Spangler leads the association’s team of eight across legal, government affairs, and policy functions. He has particular expertise in regulatory matters.

Spangler joined CHPA in 1984 as a legislative analyst. He subsequently served in a number of roles for the association in the president's office, project management, international affairs, and, after completing law school in 1995, the association's legal department. Spangler was named a vice president in 1997, and a senior vice president in 2006. His responsibilities were expanded to his current role in 2019.

Spangler is a member of the District of Columbia Bar as well as the American Society of Association Executives. He authored the chapter on OTC medicines in "Modern Pharmaceutical Industry: A Primer" (Jacobsen and Wertheimer, eds., 2009) and has served on a range of committees and working groups for the Food and Drug Law Institute and the Global Self-Care Federation. Spangler earned his Certificate in Organizational Management in 1991 from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Institute for Organization Management.