Venable counsel Rob Davis was quoted in two March 22, 2016 Law360 articles on the departure of Federal Trade Commissioner (FTC) Julie Brill who is heading into private practice. During her six years with the FTC, Brill was best known for her work on privacy and consumer protection issues as well as pushing the commission to take aggressive action on mergers and other antitrust issues. Her departure does not change the political makeup of the commission with Democrats holding two seats and Republicans one.
Speaking with Law360, Davis said the lone Republican on the commission would most likely be the dissenter in matters going forward. "I think at the margin, there may be some case where [Brill's] vote would have changed things, but I don't think it's going to change very much in terms of what kinds of cases this commission will bring."
In a second article, Davis said the fact that the FTC chair has the majority is key. "The only time interesting things really happen at the commission is when the chair doesn't have the majority. That's when things get weird. But that's not the case here."