GOVERNOR MALLOY ANNOUNCES NEW HEAD OF DEPARTMENT OF CONSUMER PROTECTION

(HARTFORD, CT) - Governor Dannel P. Malloy named William M. Rubenstein as the new Commissioner of the Department of Consumer Protection in a press conference held today at the Legislative Office Building.

"I am very pleased that Bill is joining our team," said Governor Malloy. "The Department of Consumer Protection has a broad mandate-spanning a range of marketplace regulation-from keeping the public safe from nefarious business practices and services to ensuring that professional licensure standards are maintained. Bill's exhaustive experience in public service, his success in the professional arena, and his work as a professor, leave me with no doubt that we have a commissioner who will be a diligent and thoughtful protector of, and advocate for, Connecticut residents."

"Returning to public service is a great opportunity, and I am excited to take on this new role on behalf of the citizens of Connecticut," said Rubenstein. "Particularly in these tough economic times, people in this state deserve to know there are people watching out for them. I look forward to working with Governor Malloy on these issues."

Currently, Rubenstein is a partner at Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider LLP in Hartford, where he works as a lead attorney on antitrust , intellectual property and trade regulation cases for Fortune 500 companies, and where he is the firm's ethics officer.

Rubenstein also served in the Antitrust and Consumer Protection Department in the Office of the Connecticut Attorney General from 1986-1997 where he handled consumer protection litigation and the development of enforcement policy. In 1996, as an Assistant Attorney General, Rubenstein was a member of the legal team that successfully represented the state in Connecticut v. Philip Morris, a Connecticut Superior Court case that resulted in an award of billions of dollars to the states from tobacco companies, and changed the way tobacco could be advertised and sold in the country.

In the early 1980s, Rubenstein was counsel for the Federal Trade Commission, where he garnered extensive experience on antitrust and unfair trade litigation.

Rubenstein was also an adjunct professor at the University of Connecticut School of Law where he taught Antitrust Law last spring.

He is married to Judith Eisenberg and lives in West Hartford.

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For Immediate Release: January 24, 2011
Contact: Juliet Manalan
860-524-7314 (office)

860-770-8298 (cell)
Juliet.Manalan@ct.gov