NEWS
Federal Communications Commission
News Media Information 202 / 418-0500
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Washington, D. C. 20554
TTY: 1-888-835-5322
This is an unofficial announcement of Commission action. Release of the full text of a Commission order constitutes official action.
See MCI v. FCC. 515 F 2d 385 (D.C. Circ 1974).
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
NEWS MEDIA CONTACT:
June 17, 2011Neil Grace, 202-418-0506
Email: neil.grace@fcc.gov
FCC CHAIRMAN JULIUS GENACHOWSKI NAMES ZACHARY KATZ AS CHIEF
COUNSEL; SHERRESE SMITH AS SENIOR COUNSEL & LEGAL ADVISOR; AND
AMY LEVINE AS SPECIAL COUNSEL & LEGAL ADVISOR
Washington, D.C. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski announced today the appointment of ZacharyKatz as Chief Counsel & Senior Legal Advisor. Mr. Katz will succeed Rick Kaplan, who recently
became Chief of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau. As Chief Counsel, Mr. Katz will manage the
Commission's overall policy agenda, and will be responsible for policy coordination among the Bureaus
and Offices. In addition, he will continue to have specific responsibility for wireline, international and
Internet issues, including universal service reform, Open Internet, and satellite matters.
In addition, Chairman Genachowski announced that Sherrese Smith, currently a Legal Advisor, will also
become Senior Counsel; and Amy Levine, currently Special Counsel, will also take on a new role as a
Legal Advisor. In her role as Senior Counsel & Legal Advisor, Ms. Smith will oversee the Media,
Consumer, and Enforcement bureaus. Ms. Levine will take on new responsibilities overseeing the
Wireless Telecommunications Bureau and Office of Engineering & Technology, adding to her portfolio
that currently includes spectrum auction policy and public safety issues.
Chairman Genachowski said
, "I am delighted that these outstanding professionals will take on newroles and responsibilities as we continue advancing the Commission's vital agenda to generate jobs,
innovation and economic growth on behalf of the American people. Each of them brings unique, deep
and diverse strengths to our work. I look forward to relying on each of them, as well as the other senior
members of our strong team."
Mr. Katz
currently serves as a Legal Advisor to Chairman Genachowski after serving as Deputy Chief ofthe Commission's Office of Strategic Planning and Policy Analysis. He joined the FCC in 2009 from the
White House Counsel's Office and previously practiced law at Munger, Tolles & Olson in Los Angeles,
focusing on transactional and litigation matters involving intellectual property. Mr. Katz served as a law
clerk for the Honorable Kim M. Wardlaw of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit after
receiving his law degree from Yale, where he was Editor-in-Chief of The Yale Law Journal and active in
the Jerome N. Frank Legal Services Organization. Before law school he worked with technology
companies at a strategy consulting and investment firm in Silicon Valley.
Ms. Smith
currently serves as a Legal Advisor to Chairman Genachowski. Prior to that appointment, shewas most recently Vice President and General Counsel of Washington Post Digital. Before that, Ms.
Smith was a member of the Intellectual Property group at Arnold and Porter. She currently serves on the
board of the ABA's Forum for Communications Law, has served on the board of the Media Law
Resource Center Institute and was a co-chair of the Copyright Committee of the ABA. Ms. Smith is a
frequent lecturer on media, publishing, internet and intellectual property issues and is a faculty member
for the Practicing Law Institute.
Ms. Levine
currently serves as a Special Counsel to the Chairman with a focus on matters concerningpublic safety, spectrum and accessibility, including spectrum auction policy; creation of a nationwide,
interoperable public safety broadband network; and deployment of E911 and NG911 technologies. Ms.
Levine most recently served as principal communications policy advisor to Congressman Rick Boucher,
former Chairman of the Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet, and
Congressman John Dingell, former Chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, in the U.S.
House of Representatives. Previously, she was Legislative Counsel to Senator Claire McCaskill and
practiced law at Covington & Burling in the firm's communications and media law group. Ms. Levine
clerked for Chief Judge Jerry Buchmeyer in the Northern District of Texas.
-- FCC --





