The attorneys and paralegals of the Administrative Law Division of the Office of General Counsel provide the Commissioners, and the agency's Bureaus and Offices, with legal advice on a broad range of communications and general administrative law issues. They also provide the public with legal information on such matters.
The Division reviews all draft Commission decisions for legal sufficiency. Division staff provide legal advice to the Commission concerning a wide array of statutes, regulations, and procedures, including, for example, the Communications Act of 1934, as amended by the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the Administrative Procedure Act, the Freedom of Information Act, the Privacy Act, the Regulatory Flexibility Act, the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Government in the Sunshine Act, the Contract with America Advancement Act of 1996, negotiated rulemaking and alternative dispute resolution, the Commission's procedural rules, procurement issues, the agency's ex parte and ethics rules (including receipt of gifts by the Commission and its employees, reimbursed travel expenses, and lobbying disclosure). The Division staff is available to answer inquiries from the public concerning these matters.
The Division also drafts all Commission decisions involving matters on review from Administrative Law Judges, Freedom of Information Act applications for review, and regulatory and filing fee applications for review.
Joel Kaufman is Associate General Counsel and Division Chief. Debra Weiner is Deputy Associate General Counsel and Deputy Chief. Diane Griffin Holland and Marilyn Sonn are Deputy Associate General Counsels. Assistant General Counsels in the Division are Maureen Duignan, David Horowitz, William Scher, and Marcus Maher, and Assistant General Counsel for Ethics in the Division is Patrick J. Carney.
