A veteran of the Federal Communications Commission has been appointed as chief of the FCC’s enforcement bureau. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski today announced the appointment of P. Michele Ellison, who will take the helm of the Enforcement Bureau effective Sept. 28, 2009.  

 

 “Protecting and empowering consumers through effective and timely enforcement of the Commission’s rules and policies is a top priority for the FCC,” Genachowski said in a statement issued this morning. “Michele is a talented leader with vast communications experience and sound legal judgment and I look forward to working with her in her new capacity.”

 

The Enforcement Bureau is the primary organizational unit within the FCC that is responsible for enforcement of provisions of the Communications Act, the Commission’s rules, Commission orders and terms and conditions of station authorizations. Major areas of enforcement that are handled by the Enforcement Bureau include: consumer protection enforcement; local competition enforcement; and public safety and homeland security enforcement, according to FCC officials.

 

Genachowski is the head of a federal agency that has become more critical to the nation’s economy and quality of life as Internet communications, VoIP and other technologies have become more advanced, cheaper and more widespread. He could not be reached for immediate comment. It is unclear whether Ellison will play a significant part in the National Broadband Plan for America. The broadband initiatives funded in the act are intended to accelerate broadband deployment in “unserved,” “underserved” and rural areas and to strategic institutions that are likely to create jobs.

 

However, Ellison will likely play a major role in the wireless inquiries, which are now squarely the target of the FCC that could have significant impact on consumers. In fact, three separate wireless “Notices of Inquiry” are under way: a so-called “truth-in-billing” investigation, a notice on the state of competition in wireless, and an inquiry into ways to “encourage innovation and investment” in the field all are on the FCC’s to-do lists – initiatives Ellison will likely be directly involved.

 

Ellison is currently deputy general counsel, a position she has held for the last 12 years, and most recently served as acting general counsel of the FCC through July 2009. 

 

In addition to her other duties, she also was named transition counsel to Commissioner Mignon Clyburn.  Ellison joined the Office of the General Counsel in 1995 and has had a “rich and varied” practice at the agency, from her initial years of handling complex FCC litigation before the federal courts to her current focus on competition policy in the context of mergers and acquisitions and on spectrum and fraud matters involving billions in auctions and universal service funds, FCC officials said.

 

Ellison also has provided leadership in other policy areas, including co-chairing the Commission’s Localism Task Force, leading a task force on expanding communications opportunities to small businesses and developing countries, and serving as senior advisor to former Chairman Kennard on a variety of agency-wide substantive and operational matters.  

 

Before joining the commission, she was a partner with the law firm of Williams and Connolly, with a litigation practice. Ellison began her career as a law clerk for the Honorable Damon J. Keith in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Detroit, Mich. and for the Honorable Paul R. Webber III in the Superior Court for the District of Columbia. She received a B.A. in political science from Duke University and a J.D. cum laude from Howard University Law School.

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