Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LLP
Svetlana S. Gans is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LLP where she helps clients navigate complex consumer protection, privacy, and competition related regulatory proceedings before the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), , U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division, State Attorneys General and other enforcement bodies. Ms. Gans also assists on litigation matters and provides strategic counseling and advice related to public policy issues.
Before joining Gibson Dunn, she served as the Vice President & Associate General Counsel at NCTA, the Internet & Television Association, where she helped lead the association’s consumer protection and competition policy work. Prior to joining NCTA, Ms. Gans served with distinction as Chief of Staff to Acting Chairman Maureen K. Ohlhausen at the FTC. As the agency chief of staff, Ms. Gans managed and oversaw agency operations, including bureau and office heads reporting to the Chairman, a seven-member office staff, and an agency budget of over $300 million. She also served as the Acting Chairman’s key advisor on consumer protection and competition investigations and litigation, working with a diverse team of attorneys and economists to preserve competition and protect U.S. consumers. She created, executed, and oversaw several strategic initiatives for the agency, including the agency process reform, regulatory reform, and data security transparency initiatives. Previously, Ms. Gans had the unique experience of serving in both litigating bureaus of the FTC: the Bureau of Competition and the Bureau of Consumer Protection.
Prior to her time in government, Ms. Gans worked as an antitrust associate at major law firms. Her practice focused on defending consumer product, financial services, and trade association clients in regulatory and private investigations alleging conspiracy and violations of antitrust and consumer protection laws.
Ms. Gans has been an active leader in the ABA Antitrust Law Section (“Section”) for two decades, and currently serves as the Section’s Marketing Officer. Ms. Gans helped create the Section’s Young Lawyer Representative Program, now in its 10th year, and the Section’s Law Ambassador Program, each aimed at developing and promoting the next generation of consumer protection and competition attorneys. Ms. Gans is also active in the Federal Communications Bar Association, currently serving as Co-Chair of the Diversity Pipeline Initiative and the Women’s Leadership Committee.
Ms. Gans received her law degree with high honors from the University of Denver College of Law. During law school, Ms. Gans served as a Judicial Intern to the Honorable John L. Kane, Jr. and as an Honors Program Paralegal for the United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division, Merger Taskforce. Ms. Gans earned her undergraduate degree cum laude from Boston University.
Senior Vice President, Regulatory Affairs, National Automotive Dealers Association
Paul D. Metrey is the Senior Vice President, Regulatory Affairs for the National Automobile Dealers Association. In this capacity, he directs a team of attorneys who represent dealer interests before, and educate dealers on regulations promulgated by, federal executive branch agencies that oversee dealer operations.
Mr. Metrey is the author and editor of numerous NADA publications, including the NADA/NAMAD/AIADA Model Dealership Voluntary Protection Products Policy and the NADA/NAMAD/AIADA Fair Credit Compliance Policy & Program. He frequently speaks to dealers, Automotive Trade Association Executives, dealership compliance professionals, and other industry groups on an array of regulatory topics. Mr. Metrey is active in several professional organizations and serves on the Governing Committee of the Conference on Consumer Finance Law.
Mr. Metrey joined NADA in 2001 as its Director, Regulatory Affairs. He previously served as an attorney with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and as an active-duty Army JAG officer, with assignments in Germany, The Netherlands, and Fort Meade, Maryland. He also served in a reserve capacity as the Chief, International Law Branch of the National Guard Bureau’s Legal Support Office. Mr. Metrey obtained a Juris Doctorate degree from Catholic University’s Columbus School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Virginia Tech.
Of Counsel, Covington & Burling LLP
The Honorable Paul J. Ray is currently Of Counsel at Covington & Burling LLP where he advises clients on regulatory opportunities and challenges and helps them formulate and execute advocacy strategies for their regulatory policy priorities before the executive branch and Congress.
During the first Trump Administration, Paul held various senior positions at the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) within the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, including as acting, and then Senate-confirmed, head of the office. As OIRA Administrator (the "regulations czar"), Paul supervised the review of hundreds of regulations from across the government, drafted numerous executive orders governing the regulatory process, and led the Administration’s regulatory reform effort. As a result of this experience, Paul is well-positioned to help clients understand and achieve regulatory policy priorities in the context of the government’s regulatory agenda and ongoing reform efforts.
Most recently, Paul was also the Director of the Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation. In that role, he supervised the formulation of the Foundation’s economic and regulatory policy recommendations and provided technical assistance to congressional committees and staff regarding legislative changes to the regulatory process. In addition to his role at The Heritage Foundation, Paul also served as a Senior Advisor at a strategic advisory firm. Before his time in government, Paul practiced law at a law firm in Washington, specializing in administrative law matters.
Prior to his role at the White House, Paul was Counselor to the Secretary at the U.S. Department of Labor. There he led departmental efforts in high-profile rulemakings and helped formulate the Department’s legal positions and strategy.
Paul served as a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito and as a law clerk to the Honorable Debra Livingston of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Paul is a thought leader in the conservative legal movement and is a frequent commentator and speaker on regulatory policy and reform matters, including at law schools, professional gatherings, and other venues. He is the Chairman of Innovations in Peacebuilding International and the Regulatory Process Working Group of the Federalist Society’s Regulatory Transparency Project and a public member of the Administrative Conference of the United States. Paul is also an adjunct lecturer at the Hillsdale College School of Government.
Associate Director, NERA Economic Consulting
Andrew Stivers specializes in the economics of consumer protection and privacy. He has developed and conducted analysis of novel and complex questions of consumer behavior and injury related to privacy, algorithmically driven practices, and cutting-edge promotion and advertising strategies.
Dr. Stivers has provided his economic expertise to companies in the top tiers of the video/audio streaming, retail platform, gig economy, gaming, and health data industries. He has also consulted with a broad range of established and growing businesses, including in the telecommunications, payments, investment, and food and supplement industries. Dr. Stivers helps clients achieve fair outcomes that are grounded in rigorous and accessible economic analysis.
Prior to joining NERA, Dr. Stivers was a senior official in the US Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Economics, where he oversaw economic analysis of all consumer protection and privacy matters. He advised the Bureau of Consumer Protection and Commissioners on hundreds of regulatory and law enforcement matters during his seven-year tenure leading this work at the Commission. Dr. Stivers was directly involved in developing economic analysis and standards for evaluating novel and consequential matters.
Prior to his leadership role at the FTC, Dr. Stivers served as the Director of the Division of Public Health Informatics and Analytics at the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, overseeing the Center’s statistical, epidemiological, and consumer research groups. His regulatory work for the agency included providing economic and behavioral analysis to consumer nutrition labeling initiatives. As an academic, Dr. Stivers focused his research on the regulation of information and language in the marketplace.
Dr. Stivers has written and presented on complex and wide-ranging economic topics, published economic papers, and presented keynotes and panel discussions on a variety of informational, privacy, data security, and consumer behavior topics. These include invited presentations at academic and regulator-sponsored conferences and workshops, including by the FTC and the Bank of Canada.
Chief Legal Officer and Policy Director, Cicero Institute
Jonathan Wolfson is the Chief Legal Officer and Policy Director at the Cicero Institute. Before joining Cicero, he led the Policy Office at the U.S. Department of Labor where he managed DOL's deregulatory efforts and oversaw DOL's internal policy development think tank. He previously was a litigator and regulatory attorney at an international law firm representing clients before state and federal courts across the country. Following law school he served as a law clerk to The Honorable Edith Brown Clement of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Before law school, Jonathan was a policy analyst at the White House Council of Economic Advisers.
Jonathan received an A.B. in Economics from Washington University in St. Louis and a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he was an Olin Law and Economic Fellow and won the John M. Olin Prize for best original law and economics research.
Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LLP
Svetlana S. Gans is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LLP where she helps clients navigate complex consumer protection, privacy, and competition related regulatory proceedings before the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), , U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division, State Attorneys General and other enforcement bodies. Ms. Gans also assists on litigation matters and provides strategic counseling and advice related to public policy issues.
Before joining Gibson Dunn, she served as the Vice President & Associate General Counsel at NCTA, the Internet & Television Association, where she helped lead the association’s consumer protection and competition policy work. Prior to joining NCTA, Ms. Gans served with distinction as Chief of Staff to Acting Chairman Maureen K. Ohlhausen at the FTC. As the agency chief of staff, Ms. Gans managed and oversaw agency operations, including bureau and office heads reporting to the Chairman, a seven-member office staff, and an agency budget of over $300 million. She also served as the Acting Chairman’s key advisor on consumer protection and competition investigations and litigation, working with a diverse team of attorneys and economists to preserve competition and protect U.S. consumers. She created, executed, and oversaw several strategic initiatives for the agency, including the agency process reform, regulatory reform, and data security transparency initiatives. Previously, Ms. Gans had the unique experience of serving in both litigating bureaus of the FTC: the Bureau of Competition and the Bureau of Consumer Protection.
Prior to her time in government, Ms. Gans worked as an antitrust associate at major law firms. Her practice focused on defending consumer product, financial services, and trade association clients in regulatory and private investigations alleging conspiracy and violations of antitrust and consumer protection laws.
Ms. Gans has been an active leader in the ABA Antitrust Law Section (“Section”) for two decades, and currently serves as the Section’s Marketing Officer. Ms. Gans helped create the Section’s Young Lawyer Representative Program, now in its 10th year, and the Section’s Law Ambassador Program, each aimed at developing and promoting the next generation of consumer protection and competition attorneys. Ms. Gans is also active in the Federal Communications Bar Association, currently serving as Co-Chair of the Diversity Pipeline Initiative and the Women’s Leadership Committee.
Ms. Gans received her law degree with high honors from the University of Denver College of Law. During law school, Ms. Gans served as a Judicial Intern to the Honorable John L. Kane, Jr. and as an Honors Program Paralegal for the United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division, Merger Taskforce. Ms. Gans earned her undergraduate degree cum laude from Boston University.
Senior Vice President, Regulatory Affairs, National Automotive Dealers Association
Paul D. Metrey is the Senior Vice President, Regulatory Affairs for the National Automobile Dealers Association. In this capacity, he directs a team of attorneys who represent dealer interests before, and educate dealers on regulations promulgated by, federal executive branch agencies that oversee dealer operations.
Mr. Metrey is the author and editor of numerous NADA publications, including the NADA/NAMAD/AIADA Model Dealership Voluntary Protection Products Policy and the NADA/NAMAD/AIADA Fair Credit Compliance Policy & Program. He frequently speaks to dealers, Automotive Trade Association Executives, dealership compliance professionals, and other industry groups on an array of regulatory topics. Mr. Metrey is active in several professional organizations and serves on the Governing Committee of the Conference on Consumer Finance Law.
Mr. Metrey joined NADA in 2001 as its Director, Regulatory Affairs. He previously served as an attorney with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and as an active-duty Army JAG officer, with assignments in Germany, The Netherlands, and Fort Meade, Maryland. He also served in a reserve capacity as the Chief, International Law Branch of the National Guard Bureau’s Legal Support Office. Mr. Metrey obtained a Juris Doctorate degree from Catholic University’s Columbus School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Virginia Tech.
Of Counsel, Covington & Burling LLP
The Honorable Paul J. Ray is currently Of Counsel at Covington & Burling LLP where he advises clients on regulatory opportunities and challenges and helps them formulate and execute advocacy strategies for their regulatory policy priorities before the executive branch and Congress.
During the first Trump Administration, Paul held various senior positions at the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) within the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, including as acting, and then Senate-confirmed, head of the office. As OIRA Administrator (the "regulations czar"), Paul supervised the review of hundreds of regulations from across the government, drafted numerous executive orders governing the regulatory process, and led the Administration’s regulatory reform effort. As a result of this experience, Paul is well-positioned to help clients understand and achieve regulatory policy priorities in the context of the government’s regulatory agenda and ongoing reform efforts.
Most recently, Paul was also the Director of the Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation. In that role, he supervised the formulation of the Foundation’s economic and regulatory policy recommendations and provided technical assistance to congressional committees and staff regarding legislative changes to the regulatory process. In addition to his role at The Heritage Foundation, Paul also served as a Senior Advisor at a strategic advisory firm. Before his time in government, Paul practiced law at a law firm in Washington, specializing in administrative law matters.
Prior to his role at the White House, Paul was Counselor to the Secretary at the U.S. Department of Labor. There he led departmental efforts in high-profile rulemakings and helped formulate the Department’s legal positions and strategy.
Paul served as a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito and as a law clerk to the Honorable Debra Livingston of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Paul is a thought leader in the conservative legal movement and is a frequent commentator and speaker on regulatory policy and reform matters, including at law schools, professional gatherings, and other venues. He is the Chairman of Innovations in Peacebuilding International and the Regulatory Process Working Group of the Federalist Society’s Regulatory Transparency Project and a public member of the Administrative Conference of the United States. Paul is also an adjunct lecturer at the Hillsdale College School of Government.
Associate Director, NERA Economic Consulting
Andrew Stivers specializes in the economics of consumer protection and privacy. He has developed and conducted analysis of novel and complex questions of consumer behavior and injury related to privacy, algorithmically driven practices, and cutting-edge promotion and advertising strategies.
Dr. Stivers has provided his economic expertise to companies in the top tiers of the video/audio streaming, retail platform, gig economy, gaming, and health data industries. He has also consulted with a broad range of established and growing businesses, including in the telecommunications, payments, investment, and food and supplement industries. Dr. Stivers helps clients achieve fair outcomes that are grounded in rigorous and accessible economic analysis.
Prior to joining NERA, Dr. Stivers was a senior official in the US Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Economics, where he oversaw economic analysis of all consumer protection and privacy matters. He advised the Bureau of Consumer Protection and Commissioners on hundreds of regulatory and law enforcement matters during his seven-year tenure leading this work at the Commission. Dr. Stivers was directly involved in developing economic analysis and standards for evaluating novel and consequential matters.
Prior to his leadership role at the FTC, Dr. Stivers served as the Director of the Division of Public Health Informatics and Analytics at the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, overseeing the Center’s statistical, epidemiological, and consumer research groups. His regulatory work for the agency included providing economic and behavioral analysis to consumer nutrition labeling initiatives. As an academic, Dr. Stivers focused his research on the regulation of information and language in the marketplace.
Dr. Stivers has written and presented on complex and wide-ranging economic topics, published economic papers, and presented keynotes and panel discussions on a variety of informational, privacy, data security, and consumer behavior topics. These include invited presentations at academic and regulator-sponsored conferences and workshops, including by the FTC and the Bank of Canada.
Chief Legal Officer and Policy Director, Cicero Institute
Jonathan Wolfson is the Chief Legal Officer and Policy Director at the Cicero Institute. Before joining Cicero, he led the Policy Office at the U.S. Department of Labor where he managed DOL's deregulatory efforts and oversaw DOL's internal policy development think tank. He previously was a litigator and regulatory attorney at an international law firm representing clients before state and federal courts across the country. Following law school he served as a law clerk to The Honorable Edith Brown Clement of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Before law school, Jonathan was a policy analyst at the White House Council of Economic Advisers.
Jonathan received an A.B. in Economics from Washington University in St. Louis and a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he was an Olin Law and Economic Fellow and won the John M. Olin Prize for best original law and economics research.
Internet Policy Counsel and Director of Appellate Litigation, TechFreedom
Corbin Barthold is TechFreedom's Internet Policy Counsel and Director of Appellate Litigation.
Corbin clerked for the Hon. Steven D. Merryday (M.D. Fla.) and the Hon. Robert H. Cleland (E.D. Mich.). After his clerkships, he became an associate, and later a partner, in the Los Angeles office of Browne George Ross LLP, where he engaged in high-stakes complex litigation. He then served as Senior Litigation Counsel at Washington Legal Foundation, a D.C. public-interest firm, where his practice focused on appeals involving administrative law, the separation of powers, antitrust, and tech policy.
Corbin received his J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law. He also holds a B.A., magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from the University of California, San Diego, and an Msc., with distinction, from the London School of Economics.
Partner, Sidley Austin LLP
William has more than three decades of experience in the fields of antitrust and consumer protection. Most of his experience has been in private practice, but from 2005 to 2009 he served as the General Counsel of the Federal Trade Commission.
In private practice, his engagements have involved evaluation and advice, regulatory filings, civil and criminal investigations, advocacy before federal and state enforcement agencies (most frequently the U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission), coordination with foreign counsel, negotiation and entry of consent orders, and federal court litigation. Notable representative matters have included the following public-record cases:
During Bill’s four-year term as General Counsel of the FTC, he served as the agency’s chief law officer. His responsibilities included advising the Commission on law and policy, representing the agency in federal and state courts, and coordinating with other agencies of government. Among his other activities while at the FTC, Bill:
Associate Director, NERA Economic Consulting
Andrew Stivers specializes in the economics of consumer protection and privacy. He has developed and conducted analysis of novel and complex questions of consumer behavior and injury related to privacy, algorithmically driven practices, and cutting-edge promotion and advertising strategies.
Dr. Stivers has provided his economic expertise to companies in the top tiers of the video/audio streaming, retail platform, gig economy, gaming, and health data industries. He has also consulted with a broad range of established and growing businesses, including in the telecommunications, payments, investment, and food and supplement industries. Dr. Stivers helps clients achieve fair outcomes that are grounded in rigorous and accessible economic analysis.
Prior to joining NERA, Dr. Stivers was a senior official in the US Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Economics, where he oversaw economic analysis of all consumer protection and privacy matters. He advised the Bureau of Consumer Protection and Commissioners on hundreds of regulatory and law enforcement matters during his seven-year tenure leading this work at the Commission. Dr. Stivers was directly involved in developing economic analysis and standards for evaluating novel and consequential matters.
Prior to his leadership role at the FTC, Dr. Stivers served as the Director of the Division of Public Health Informatics and Analytics at the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, overseeing the Center’s statistical, epidemiological, and consumer research groups. His regulatory work for the agency included providing economic and behavioral analysis to consumer nutrition labeling initiatives. As an academic, Dr. Stivers focused his research on the regulation of information and language in the marketplace.
Dr. Stivers has written and presented on complex and wide-ranging economic topics, published economic papers, and presented keynotes and panel discussions on a variety of informational, privacy, data security, and consumer behavior topics. These include invited presentations at academic and regulator-sponsored conferences and workshops, including by the FTC and the Bank of Canada.
Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LLP
Svetlana S. Gans is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LLP where she helps clients navigate complex consumer protection, privacy, and competition related regulatory proceedings before the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), , U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division, State Attorneys General and other enforcement bodies. Ms. Gans also assists on litigation matters and provides strategic counseling and advice related to public policy issues.
Before joining Gibson Dunn, she served as the Vice President & Associate General Counsel at NCTA, the Internet & Television Association, where she helped lead the association’s consumer protection and competition policy work. Prior to joining NCTA, Ms. Gans served with distinction as Chief of Staff to Acting Chairman Maureen K. Ohlhausen at the FTC. As the agency chief of staff, Ms. Gans managed and oversaw agency operations, including bureau and office heads reporting to the Chairman, a seven-member office staff, and an agency budget of over $300 million. She also served as the Acting Chairman’s key advisor on consumer protection and competition investigations and litigation, working with a diverse team of attorneys and economists to preserve competition and protect U.S. consumers. She created, executed, and oversaw several strategic initiatives for the agency, including the agency process reform, regulatory reform, and data security transparency initiatives. Previously, Ms. Gans had the unique experience of serving in both litigating bureaus of the FTC: the Bureau of Competition and the Bureau of Consumer Protection.
Prior to her time in government, Ms. Gans worked as an antitrust associate at major law firms. Her practice focused on defending consumer product, financial services, and trade association clients in regulatory and private investigations alleging conspiracy and violations of antitrust and consumer protection laws.
Ms. Gans has been an active leader in the ABA Antitrust Law Section (“Section”) for two decades, and currently serves as the Section’s Marketing Officer. Ms. Gans helped create the Section’s Young Lawyer Representative Program, now in its 10th year, and the Section’s Law Ambassador Program, each aimed at developing and promoting the next generation of consumer protection and competition attorneys. Ms. Gans is also active in the Federal Communications Bar Association, currently serving as Co-Chair of the Diversity Pipeline Initiative and the Women’s Leadership Committee.
Ms. Gans received her law degree with high honors from the University of Denver College of Law. During law school, Ms. Gans served as a Judicial Intern to the Honorable John L. Kane, Jr. and as an Honors Program Paralegal for the United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division, Merger Taskforce. Ms. Gans earned her undergraduate degree cum laude from Boston University.
Internet Policy Counsel and Director of Appellate Litigation, TechFreedom
Corbin Barthold is TechFreedom's Internet Policy Counsel and Director of Appellate Litigation.
Corbin clerked for the Hon. Steven D. Merryday (M.D. Fla.) and the Hon. Robert H. Cleland (E.D. Mich.). After his clerkships, he became an associate, and later a partner, in the Los Angeles office of Browne George Ross LLP, where he engaged in high-stakes complex litigation. He then served as Senior Litigation Counsel at Washington Legal Foundation, a D.C. public-interest firm, where his practice focused on appeals involving administrative law, the separation of powers, antitrust, and tech policy.
Corbin received his J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law. He also holds a B.A., magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from the University of California, San Diego, and an Msc., with distinction, from the London School of Economics.
Partner, Sidley Austin LLP
William has more than three decades of experience in the fields of antitrust and consumer protection. Most of his experience has been in private practice, but from 2005 to 2009 he served as the General Counsel of the Federal Trade Commission.
In private practice, his engagements have involved evaluation and advice, regulatory filings, civil and criminal investigations, advocacy before federal and state enforcement agencies (most frequently the U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission), coordination with foreign counsel, negotiation and entry of consent orders, and federal court litigation. Notable representative matters have included the following public-record cases:
During Bill’s four-year term as General Counsel of the FTC, he served as the agency’s chief law officer. His responsibilities included advising the Commission on law and policy, representing the agency in federal and state courts, and coordinating with other agencies of government. Among his other activities while at the FTC, Bill:
Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LLP
Svetlana S. Gans is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LLP where she helps clients navigate complex consumer protection, privacy, and competition related regulatory proceedings before the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), , U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division, State Attorneys General and other enforcement bodies. Ms. Gans also assists on litigation matters and provides strategic counseling and advice related to public policy issues.
Before joining Gibson Dunn, she served as the Vice President & Associate General Counsel at NCTA, the Internet & Television Association, where she helped lead the association’s consumer protection and competition policy work. Prior to joining NCTA, Ms. Gans served with distinction as Chief of Staff to Acting Chairman Maureen K. Ohlhausen at the FTC. As the agency chief of staff, Ms. Gans managed and oversaw agency operations, including bureau and office heads reporting to the Chairman, a seven-member office staff, and an agency budget of over $300 million. She also served as the Acting Chairman’s key advisor on consumer protection and competition investigations and litigation, working with a diverse team of attorneys and economists to preserve competition and protect U.S. consumers. She created, executed, and oversaw several strategic initiatives for the agency, including the agency process reform, regulatory reform, and data security transparency initiatives. Previously, Ms. Gans had the unique experience of serving in both litigating bureaus of the FTC: the Bureau of Competition and the Bureau of Consumer Protection.
Prior to her time in government, Ms. Gans worked as an antitrust associate at major law firms. Her practice focused on defending consumer product, financial services, and trade association clients in regulatory and private investigations alleging conspiracy and violations of antitrust and consumer protection laws.
Ms. Gans has been an active leader in the ABA Antitrust Law Section (“Section”) for two decades, and currently serves as the Section’s Marketing Officer. Ms. Gans helped create the Section’s Young Lawyer Representative Program, now in its 10th year, and the Section’s Law Ambassador Program, each aimed at developing and promoting the next generation of consumer protection and competition attorneys. Ms. Gans is also active in the Federal Communications Bar Association, currently serving as Co-Chair of the Diversity Pipeline Initiative and the Women’s Leadership Committee.
Ms. Gans received her law degree with high honors from the University of Denver College of Law. During law school, Ms. Gans served as a Judicial Intern to the Honorable John L. Kane, Jr. and as an Honors Program Paralegal for the United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division, Merger Taskforce. Ms. Gans earned her undergraduate degree cum laude from Boston University.
Associate Director, NERA Economic Consulting
Andrew Stivers specializes in the economics of consumer protection and privacy. He has developed and conducted analysis of novel and complex questions of consumer behavior and injury related to privacy, algorithmically driven practices, and cutting-edge promotion and advertising strategies.
Dr. Stivers has provided his economic expertise to companies in the top tiers of the video/audio streaming, retail platform, gig economy, gaming, and health data industries. He has also consulted with a broad range of established and growing businesses, including in the telecommunications, payments, investment, and food and supplement industries. Dr. Stivers helps clients achieve fair outcomes that are grounded in rigorous and accessible economic analysis.
Prior to joining NERA, Dr. Stivers was a senior official in the US Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Economics, where he oversaw economic analysis of all consumer protection and privacy matters. He advised the Bureau of Consumer Protection and Commissioners on hundreds of regulatory and law enforcement matters during his seven-year tenure leading this work at the Commission. Dr. Stivers was directly involved in developing economic analysis and standards for evaluating novel and consequential matters.
Prior to his leadership role at the FTC, Dr. Stivers served as the Director of the Division of Public Health Informatics and Analytics at the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, overseeing the Center’s statistical, epidemiological, and consumer research groups. His regulatory work for the agency included providing economic and behavioral analysis to consumer nutrition labeling initiatives. As an academic, Dr. Stivers focused his research on the regulation of information and language in the marketplace.
Dr. Stivers has written and presented on complex and wide-ranging economic topics, published economic papers, and presented keynotes and panel discussions on a variety of informational, privacy, data security, and consumer behavior topics. These include invited presentations at academic and regulator-sponsored conferences and workshops, including by the FTC and the Bank of Canada.
Associate Professor of Law and Director, Program on Economics & Privacy, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University
Associate Professor of Law James C. Cooper brings over a decade of public and private sector experience to his research and teaching. He served as Deputy and Acting Director of the Federal Trade Commission’s Office of Policy Planning, Advisor to Federal Trade Commissioner William Kovacic, and an associate in the antitrust group of Crowell and Moring, LLP. His research on vertical restraints, price discrimination, behavioral economics and antitrust, and privacy policy have appeared in top journals and are widely cited.
Professor Cooper has a BA from the University of South Carolina, received his PhD in economics from Emory University, and his law degree (magna cum laude) from Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University, where he was a Levy Fellow and a member of the George Mason Law Review.
He teaches Economics for Lawyers, Advanced Seminar on Law & Economics, and Digital Information Policy Seminar.
Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LLP
Svetlana S. Gans is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LLP where she helps clients navigate complex consumer protection, privacy, and competition related regulatory proceedings before the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), , U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division, State Attorneys General and other enforcement bodies. Ms. Gans also assists on litigation matters and provides strategic counseling and advice related to public policy issues.
Before joining Gibson Dunn, she served as the Vice President & Associate General Counsel at NCTA, the Internet & Television Association, where she helped lead the association’s consumer protection and competition policy work. Prior to joining NCTA, Ms. Gans served with distinction as Chief of Staff to Acting Chairman Maureen K. Ohlhausen at the FTC. As the agency chief of staff, Ms. Gans managed and oversaw agency operations, including bureau and office heads reporting to the Chairman, a seven-member office staff, and an agency budget of over $300 million. She also served as the Acting Chairman’s key advisor on consumer protection and competition investigations and litigation, working with a diverse team of attorneys and economists to preserve competition and protect U.S. consumers. She created, executed, and oversaw several strategic initiatives for the agency, including the agency process reform, regulatory reform, and data security transparency initiatives. Previously, Ms. Gans had the unique experience of serving in both litigating bureaus of the FTC: the Bureau of Competition and the Bureau of Consumer Protection.
Prior to her time in government, Ms. Gans worked as an antitrust associate at major law firms. Her practice focused on defending consumer product, financial services, and trade association clients in regulatory and private investigations alleging conspiracy and violations of antitrust and consumer protection laws.
Ms. Gans has been an active leader in the ABA Antitrust Law Section (“Section”) for two decades, and currently serves as the Section’s Marketing Officer. Ms. Gans helped create the Section’s Young Lawyer Representative Program, now in its 10th year, and the Section’s Law Ambassador Program, each aimed at developing and promoting the next generation of consumer protection and competition attorneys. Ms. Gans is also active in the Federal Communications Bar Association, currently serving as Co-Chair of the Diversity Pipeline Initiative and the Women’s Leadership Committee.
Ms. Gans received her law degree with high honors from the University of Denver College of Law. During law school, Ms. Gans served as a Judicial Intern to the Honorable John L. Kane, Jr. and as an Honors Program Paralegal for the United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division, Merger Taskforce. Ms. Gans earned her undergraduate degree cum laude from Boston University.
Associate Director, NERA Economic Consulting
Andrew Stivers specializes in the economics of consumer protection and privacy. He has developed and conducted analysis of novel and complex questions of consumer behavior and injury related to privacy, algorithmically driven practices, and cutting-edge promotion and advertising strategies.
Dr. Stivers has provided his economic expertise to companies in the top tiers of the video/audio streaming, retail platform, gig economy, gaming, and health data industries. He has also consulted with a broad range of established and growing businesses, including in the telecommunications, payments, investment, and food and supplement industries. Dr. Stivers helps clients achieve fair outcomes that are grounded in rigorous and accessible economic analysis.
Prior to joining NERA, Dr. Stivers was a senior official in the US Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Economics, where he oversaw economic analysis of all consumer protection and privacy matters. He advised the Bureau of Consumer Protection and Commissioners on hundreds of regulatory and law enforcement matters during his seven-year tenure leading this work at the Commission. Dr. Stivers was directly involved in developing economic analysis and standards for evaluating novel and consequential matters.
Prior to his leadership role at the FTC, Dr. Stivers served as the Director of the Division of Public Health Informatics and Analytics at the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, overseeing the Center’s statistical, epidemiological, and consumer research groups. His regulatory work for the agency included providing economic and behavioral analysis to consumer nutrition labeling initiatives. As an academic, Dr. Stivers focused his research on the regulation of information and language in the marketplace.
Dr. Stivers has written and presented on complex and wide-ranging economic topics, published economic papers, and presented keynotes and panel discussions on a variety of informational, privacy, data security, and consumer behavior topics. These include invited presentations at academic and regulator-sponsored conferences and workshops, including by the FTC and the Bank of Canada.
President, TechFreedom
Berin Szoka serves as President of TechFreedom. Previously, he was a Senior Fellow and the Director of the Center for Internet Freedom at The Progress & Freedom Foundation. Before joining PFF, he was an Associate in the Communications Practice Group at Latham & Watkins LLP, where he advised clients on regulations affecting the Internet and telecommunications industries. Before joining Latham's Communications Practice Group, Szoka practiced at Lawler Metzger Milkman & Keeney, LLC, a boutique telecommunications law firm in Washington, and clerked for the Hon. H. Dale Cook, Senior U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of Oklahoma. Szoka received his Bachelor's degree in economics from Duke University and his juris doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he served as Submissions Editor of the Virginia Journal of Law and Technology. He is admitted to practice law in the District of Columbia and California (inactive).
Partner, Kelly, Drye & Warren LLP
A member of the Executive Committee at Kelly, Drye & Warren LLP, John Villafranco provides litigation and counseling services, with a focus on advertising law matters and consumer protection. John is highly respected for consistently delivering comprehensive legal counsel that emphasizes risk analysis and sound business practices for corporations involved in advertising and marketing. On the regulatory side, clients tell the U.S. Legal 500 that John is “arguably the best advertising lawyer in the U.S.” and “consistently provides good advice and service.”
John’s litigation experience includes consumer class action defense in state and federal court, litigation with the Federal Trade Commission and State Attorneys General, and Lanham Act litigation involving telecommunications, fast food, dietary supplement and consumer product companies. Among John’s clients are technology service providers, wireless advertisers, cloud-based software companies, telecommunication companies, major retailers and direct marketers, as well as manufacturers of dietary supplements, degradable plastics, automobiles, tires, fuel and engine oils, home appliances and other consumer products.
In addition, John represents clients in advertising substantiation proceedings and investigations conducted by the FTC and State Attorneys General. Clients applaud John’s practical advice, telling Chambers that he “knows the FTC and the law better than anyone.” John also represents challengers and advertisers before the National Advertising Division (NAD) of the Council of Better Business Bureaus and the National Advertising Review Board (NARB). Moreover, he counsels clients regarding issues involving privacy, data security, electronic commerce, dietary supplement labeling, promotion and marketing, fair credit reporting, multi-level marketing, debt collection practices, truth-in-lending, health and safety claims, environmental marketing and standard certification.
John is considered an authority on a range of issues involving consumer protection law. He was Lead Editor on the Comments of the ABA’s Section of Antitrust Law on Competition and Consumer Protection in the 21st Century (2019) and is Chair of the Section’s Big Data Task Force (2019-20). He has also served as Editor-in-Chief of the ABA Consumer Protection Law Developments treatise; was Editorial Chair on a year-long project that culminated in a report entitled “Self-Regulation of Advertising in the United States: An Assessment of the National Advertising Division” (Apr. 2015); is an author and featured columnist on advertising law issues; and is a frequent speaker at ABA and FTC programs and other advertising law seminars.
Notably, John has conducted advertising law workshops for many corporations, including Sprint, DISH, AOL, 3M, Whirlpool, Burger King, BellSouth, R.J. Reynolds, XO Communications, Michelin, Bissell, Verizon, and Iovate Health Sciences, among others. In addition, he will chair the 2021 ABA Consumer Protection Conference, and previously chaired the 2019 ABA In-house Institute, 2011 and 2012 ABA Antitrust Section Spring Meeting, and the 2007 and 2009 ABA Conferences on Consumer Protection.
Deep Dive Episode 251 - FTC: Cost/Benefit Analysis of Proposed Rules – A Deeper Dive
Svetlana Gans, Paul Metrey, Paul J. Ray, Andrew Stivers, Jonathan Wolfson
Regulatory Transparency Project's Fourth Branch Podcast
Although primarily an enforcement agency, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued a historic number...
FTC: Cost/Benefit Analysis of Proposed Rules – A Deeper Dive
Svetlana Gans, Paul Metrey, Paul J. Ray, Andrew Stivers, Jonathan Wolfson
Although primarily an enforcement agency, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued a historic number...
Deep Dive Episode 203 – FTC’s Revolution Through Rulemaking
Corbin K. Barthold, William Blumenthal, Andrew Stivers, Svetlana Gans
Regulatory Transparency Project's Fourth Branch Podcast
The FTC is undertaking an ambitious and historic effort to craft de novo competition and...
FTC’s Revolution Through Rulemaking
Corbin K. Barthold, William Blumenthal, Svetlana Gans, Andrew Stivers
A Regulatory Transparency Project Webinar
The FTC is undertaking an ambitious and historic effort to craft de novo competition and...
Deep Dive Episode 119 – FTC Remedial Authority: Powers, Process, and Suggestions for Reform
James C. Cooper, Svetlana Gans, Andrew Stivers, Berin Szóka, John Villafranco
Regulatory Transparency Project Teleforum
How does the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) calculate consumer injury and civil penalties in consumer...