Chairman Majoras Appoints FTC Energy Counsel

Federal Trade Commission Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras has appointed John H. Seesel to fill the new position of Associate General Counsel for Energy within the Commission's Office of the General Counsel. He will play a key role in reviewing and making recommendations on the Commission's energy-related work, including investigations and cases, legislative initiatives, advocacy comments, and studies and reports. Seesel will focus particularly on developments in the petroleum industry, and will initiate and coordinate the Commission's response. He also will serve as liaison with other federal and state agencies on energy issues.

"John is highly experienced and capable," said Chairman Majoras. "As our energy counsel, I am confident that he will contribute to maintaining the highest level of quality and efficiency in the agency's energy-related investigations, policy development, and legal and economic analysis."

Seesel, who joined the Commission's staff in 1975 as an attorney in the Bureau of Competition, has served as an attorney advisor to Commissioner Orson Swindle since 1997. He was an attorney advisor to Commissioner Roscoe B. Starek, III, from 1993 to 1997, and previously occupied various positions in Bureau of Competition management, including Executive Assistant to the Director and Deputy Assistant Director of a merger litigation division. He is a graduate of Harvard College and of the Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California at Berkeley. Seesel was a Deputy Attorney General for the State of California and a law clerk to the Chief Justice of California before joining the FTC staff.