WASHINGTON � Federal Communications Commission general counsel Jon Sallet is exiting the commission. He will join the Justice Department, which divides communications merger review oversight with the FCC, as deputy general counsel for litigation in the antitrust division.
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Howard Symons, who helped shepherd the spectrum auction now underway, will replace Sallet as general counsel.
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The general counsel is the top legal advisor to the commission. Its attorneys represent the FCC before appeals courts, recommend decisions in adjudications, and helps provide the legal underpinnings for decisions like reclassifying ISPs under Title II.
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�I have had the opportunity of working with Howard many times on complicated and important communications issues and know from firsthand experience his significant abilities,��said FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. �Now that the Incentive Auction rules are in place and the auction is underway, we have the flexibility to ask Howard to transfer his considerable talents to become general counsel.�
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Symons has been vice chair of the FCC�s Incentive Auction Task Force. Before joining the FCC, Symons chaired the communications practice at Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo and was senior counsel to the House Telecommunication (now Communications) Subcommittee.
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A version of this article originally appeared on the website of Broadcasting & Cable, sister publication of Radio magazine.
