Washington, D.C., partner Barry Cutler was invited to address the American Bar Association's Section of Antitrust Law's National Consumer Protection Conference held June 18-19, 2009, at the Georgetown University Law Center.
Cutler, who was Director of the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Consumer Protection from 1990 to 1993, moderated "The Bureau Directors' Roundtable: The Exercise of Regulatory Discretion in Response to Protestations of Consumer Harm."
The panel addressed the following topic/questions:
The Bureau of Consumer Protection regularly closes investigations under Part 2 of its Rules of Procedures even though there is evidence that a Section 5 violation has occurred. Reasons offered for such closings include claim discontinuation, honest mistake, or substantial compliance with the law. What other factors might influence the FTC's decision whether to proceed? To what extent does the public interest weigh on the decision? What are some of the tougher closing decisions made in recent memory?