Markets Wired

Federal Trade Commission Chairman William E. Kovacic today announced that Stephen J. McGuire, Chief Administrative Law Judge for the FTC, is retiring after 31 years of public service. Judge McGuire, who was appointed by former FTC Chairman Timothy J. Muris in 2003, will become Vice President for Compliance & Ethics at the University of Louisville Hospital in his hometown, Louisville, Ky.

“We thank Judge McGuire for his distinguished career of public service and for his many valuable contributions to the Federal Trade Commission. We will remember him for the thoughtful, conscientious approach he took in fulfilling his duties as a manager and a judge.” Chairman Kovacic said. “We wish him the best of success in this exciting new appointment.”

Among the FTC cases that Judge McGuire presided over are the Rambus, Inc. matter, which involved alleged monopolization and restraint of trade in the global DRAM computer memory industry and disclosure rules for international standard-setting organizations, and the Evanston Northwestern Healthcare Corporation matter, which was the first hospital post-merger antitrust proceeding in the era of managed care. He also adjudicated several consumer protection matters, including the Telebrands Corporation matter, involving deceptive business practices.

Judge McGuire previously served as an administrative law judge with the Environmental Protection Agency, the Patent & Trademark Office, and the Social Security Administration, and as senior attorney and hearings examiner with the Department of Interior Board of Contract Appeals. He also served as an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mediator in hundreds of environmental cases. Judge McGuire received a certificate in Strategic Management in Regulatory and Enforcement Agencies from Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government; he was president of the Exchange Club of Washington, D.C.; and he spoke at ADR conferences across the nation, including the Attorney General’s Inter-Agency ADR Task Force meetings and the New York Bar Association ADR conference. He is a graduate of the National Judicial College in Reno, Nevada.

Appointed under the authority of the Office of Personnel Management, Administrative Law Judges are independent decision makers who hold pre-hearing conferences; resolve discovery, evidentiary, and procedural disputes; decide motions to dismiss or for summary decision; and conduct adversarial evidentiary hearings on the record before issuing an initial decision.

The Federal Trade Commission works for consumers to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide information to help spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint in English or Spanish, visit the FTC’s online Complaint Assistant or call 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357). The FTC enters complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to more than 1,500 civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad. The FTC’s Web site provides free information on a variety of consumer topics.

(McGuire)