With President Donald Trump's reported pick to head the Federal Trade Commission yet to be officially nominated or confirmed, acting chair Maureen Ohlhausen continues to name acting officials for important posts.
Wednesday, Sept. 6, Ohlhausen said she had tapped Ian R. Conner, who has been a partner at law firm Kirkland & Ellis, to be the acting deputy director of the FTC's Bureau of Competition. The appointment is effective Sept. 18.
In July, Ohlhausen named Bruce Hoffman acting director of the Competition Bureau.
The Competition Bureau enforces antitrust laws, including vetting mergers, a duty it shares with the Justice Department.
Related: Ex FTC Chair Ramirez Joins Law Firm
Before entering private practice, Conner was a trial attorney in the Justice Department's antitrust division.
According to website Law360.com, Conner helped secure mergers involving AT&T's purchase of Leap Wireless and Delta's purchase of Northwest, earning him a spot on the site's 2014 list of the top competition lawyers under 40.
(Photo via Jeff Kubina's Flickr. Image taken on June 20, 2017 and used per Creative Commons 2.0 license. The photo was cropped to fit 16x9 aspect ratio.)
