FTC Advertising Practices Division Chief of Staff Phyllis Marcus Joins Global Competition Group

WASHINGTON ― Hunton & Williams LLP continues the expansion of its advertising, consumer protection, and privacy practices with the arrival of Phyllis Hurwitz Marcus, who most recently served as Chief of Staff of the Division of Advertising Practices at the Federal Trade Commission. Marcus will join the firm’s global competition group as counsel in Washington.

“Phyllis’s FTC experience combines advertising and consumer protection enforcement with a unique background in privacy law, areas that are vitally important to our clients,” says D. Bruce Hoffman, head of the firm’s global competition practice. “Phyllis worked on advertising substantiation and consumer deception investigations, litigation and policy. On the privacy front, she took on the lead role in enforcing — and later overhauling — the FTC’s rules implementing the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (known as COPPA).”

Lisa Sotto, head of the firm’s global privacy and cybersecurity practice, adds: “Companies struggle with COPPA compliance every day — for example, how to determine the age of website users and how to obtain VPC (verifiable parental consent). Phyllis, who championed COPPA while with the FTC, is the best authority to guide them through the regulatory process.”

A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, Marcus received her law degree from the University of Michigan. Following graduation she held a judicial clerkship with Judge John C. Eldridge of the Maryland Court of Appeals. After her clerkship, she entered private practice, then served as legal director for a nonprofit organization before joining the FTC in 1998.

The Hunton & Williams competition team includes several former FTC lawyers, including former FTC Deputy Director of the Bureau of Competition Bruce Hoffman and former Acting Assistant Director of Advertising Practices Melvin H. Orlans. The global privacy and cybersecurity practice group assists organizations in managing privacy and data security risks associated with the collection, use and disclosure of consumer and employee personal information.