FCC Names Degani New Acting General Counsel

Nicholas Degani has been named acting FCC general counsel. It is an interim appointment following the departure of Jennifer Tatel, who was only named to the acting post last month. The chairman signaled Degani's post was also temporary.

General counsel is the FCC's chief legal advisor.

Tatel had already been planning to exit the FCC to join a law firm when she took over as acting general counsel, according to sources, but postponed that move to fill in after the exit of General Counsel Brendan Carr to become the third Republican FCC Commissioner.

Related: FCC Names Diversity Committee Members

“I’m pleased that Nick has agreed to take on this temporary role as acting general counsel," said the chairman. "Nick is a tremendous asset to the agency and his knowledge and experience will be critical in this position. I would also like to thank Jennifer for her excellent work and for agreeing to delay her departure date from the FCC so that there could be a smooth transition following Brendan Carr’s confirmation as Commissioner.  I wish her all the best moving forward.”

Degani had been senior counsel to the chairman, and before that his wireline legal advisor. He is a graduate of Harvard Law and Yale undergraduate.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.