FTC Exec to Join Wilson Sonsini

Lydia B. Parnes, director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection at the Federal Trade Commission, will ankle the agency after 27 years to join the Washington, DC office of Palo Alto, California’s Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, as part of their consumer regulatory practice.

FTC Chairman William Kovacic has tapped Eileen Harrington, the bureau’s deputy director, to serve as acting director. The Bureau of Consumer Protection enforces consumer protection laws and trade regulation rules, investigates business practices, sues law violators, develops rules to protect consumers and provides consumer and business education.

As Bureau director, Parnes helped lead many of the bureau’s efforts, including the National Do Not Call Registry and the Telemarketing Sales Rule.

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati is a leader in the fields of corporate governance & finance, mergers & acquisitions, private equity, securities class action litigation, employment law, intellectual property, and antitrust. It has offices in Austin, New York, Palo Alto, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Shanghai, and DC.