FTC Announces New Appointments To Agency Leadership Positions

Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Acting Chairwoman Rebecca Kelly Slaughter announced that she has selected Austin King to be the Associate General Counsel for Rulemaking. Replacing Mr. King, who previously served as one of the Acting Chairwoman’s attorney-advisors for consumer protection, will be Gaurav Laroia.

Last month, Acting Chairwoman Slaughter announced the formation of a new rulemaking group within the FTC’s Office of the General Counsel to allow the FTC to take a strategic and harmonized approach to rulemaking across its different authorities and mission areas. Mr. King will lead this group in its work to strengthen existing rules and to explore new rulemakings to prohibit unfair or deceptive practices and unfair methods of competition.

“Protecting America’s consumers from unfair and deceptive practices is more challenging than ever, so we need to harness all the tools at the FTC’s disposal, including rulemaking,” said Acting Chairwoman Slaughter. “I’m pleased to announce that Austin King will be moving to the Office of the General Counsel as Associate General Counsel to lead our new rulemaking group. In my office, I am equally pleased to welcome Gaurav Laroia as attorney-advisor for consumer protection.”

Mr. King has served as one of Acting Chairwoman Slaughter’s attorney-advisors for consumer protection since 2018. He joined the FTC from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, where he served as Counsel in the Legal Division’s Office of Law and Policy. He previously clerked for Judge Jed S. Rakoff of the Southern District of New York and for Chief Judge Robert A. Katzmann of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. He holds a J.D., summa cum laude, from New York University School of Law, an M.P.A. from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, and a B.S. from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Mr. Laroia will replace Mr. King as an attorney-advisor to the Acting Chairwoman on consumer protection matters and joins the FTC from Free Press, where he served as senior policy counsel. His work there focused on civil rights and technology issues, including privacy, algorithmic accountability, intermediary liability, and antitrust enforcement. Prior to his time at Free Press, he advocated for whistleblower rights on behalf of the Government Accountability Project and on national security surveillance oversight legislation as a legislative counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union. He has also worked for the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee. He earned both his J.D. and B.A. from George Washington University.

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