27-Aug-10 9:00 AM CST

Attorney and Former FTC Director Thomas Cohn Shares Observations on the Legal Aspects of Marketing and Advertising

Co-Hosts Ray Schilens and Brad Forsythe interview Thomas Cohn, attorney at Venable LLP. Thomas focuses his practice on advising clients on the legal and practical aspects of compliance with Federal Trade Commission regulations and industry self-regulation programs as well as representing clients during investigations and enforcement actions. His clients include a wide variety of online and offline advertisers and marketers, and his practice covers federal and state consumer protection and privacy laws and regulations, including newer ones such as the FTC's ID Theft Red Flags Rule. Mr. Cohn draws on experience gained during his 17-year tenure at the Federal Trade Commission, where he worked as Regional Director for the Northeast Region, as a litigator in the Division of Marketing Practices, and as legal advisor to the Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection.

Prior to joining Venable, Mr. Cohn served as Director of the Federal Trade Commission's Northeast Region, supervising its professional and support staff and leading multi-agency law enforcement efforts against various anticompetitive, unfair and/or deceptive practices. He was also responsible for numerous local and regional outreach efforts to educate consumers, business groups, and law enforcement agencies about fraud identification and avoidance as well as how to comply with antitrust and consumer protection laws enforced by the FTC, such as the Telemarketing Sales Rule and the CAN SPAM Act. Some of the FTC antitrust cases Mr. Cohn supervised were Rite Aid/Brooks/Eckerd [drugstore merger] and Colegio de Optometras de Puerto Rico [price fixing]. He also oversaw numerous consumer protection enforcement actions, such as BlueHippo [computer financing] and Bookspan [Do Not Call].

In addition to serving as Director of the Northeast Region, Mr. Cohn spent five years in the FTC's Division of Marketing Practices, where he litigated fraud and rule violation cases and coordinated test shoppings of funeral homes for compliance with the Funeral Rule. He played a key role in the development and implementation of the Funeral Rule Offenders' Program, an innovative, self-regulatory alternative to traditional law enforcement. In another role, as Legal Advisor to the Director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection for four years, he reviewed law enforcement recommendations, Congressional testimony, and other matters for the Director.

For entertaining advice join hosts, Ray Schilens and Brad Forsythe, for a lively and informative discussion.