Paul Hastings' Seth Zachary steps down as chairman next October and is succeeded by Frank Lopez, co-head, Securities and Capital Markets practice and partner, Leverage Finance practice, who's also elected managing partner, effective this month, along with FCC alumna Sherrese Smith, vice chair, Data Privacy and Cybersecurity practice and partner, Media, Technology and Telecommunications practice; managing partners Greg Nitzkowski and Ronan O’Sullivan ending their terms this month, and Nitzkowski continues as partner until January 2023, when he retires, and O’Sullivan stays as partner.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau hires Erie Meyer, returning to CFPB as chief technologist; she was senior adviser-policy planning to FTC Chair Lina Khan and the commission's chief technologist, and previously advised then-Commissioner Rohit Chopra; Chopra now leads CFPB (see this section, Oct. 13 issue) ... DCI Group adds to Digital and Social Media team: Laszlo Baksay, ex-U.S. Army, as a director; National Republican Congressional Committee alumnus Chris Billeter rejoins as a director; Catherine Summa from Engage as senior account executive; Chad DuBois from a foundation as account manager; and ex-intern Mia Walsh-Serpico becomes account associate.

Finsbury Glover hires Colleen Bell, ex-legislative director for Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., as managing director; separately, Finsbury Glover is combining with Sard Verbinnen "to create the world’s leading strategic communications firm" including "government affairs, corporate reputation, crisis management"; the deal is expected to be completed in Q4; leaders include George Sard, who joins Roland Rudd and Carter Eskew as co-chairmen; Alexander Geiser is global CEO; Mike Feldman and Paul Verbinnen are co-chairs, North America; and Andrew Cole is deputy global CEO and co-CEO, North America, with Joel Johnson, Paul Kranhold and Winnie Lerner.

Fordham Law School says its professor Olivier Sylvain becomes senior adviser to FTC Chair Lina Khan, advising "on rulemaking and emerging tech, among other issues"; his leave from Fordham is in 2022 ... Digital Media Association hires Kirsten Donaldson from Donaldson Law Group as DiMA vice president-legal ... Covington's Corporate Practice Group promotes Jessica Milner to of counsel, working on matters including technology and IP transactions.

Commissioner Rohit Chopra’s last day at FTC was Friday; Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says his first day at CFPB was Monday ... Womble Bond adds to Communications, Technology and Media team with hiring of Jeff Lanning from Lumen as of counsel ... Software & Information Industry Association adds to Policy team Divya Sridhar, ex-ExcelinEd, as senior director-data policy ... CTIA hires Trevor Jones from USTelecom as assistant vice president-government affairs ... Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission elects Commissioner John Coleman as vice chairman through 2022, succeeding ex-Vice Chairman David Sweet, whose term as commissioner ended Sept. 30.

International Association of Privacy Professionals promotes Caitlin Fennessy to vice president-chief knowledge officer, following departure of Omer Tene (see this section, Oct. 7); Tene becomes IAPP senior Westin fellow ... Center for a New American Security names Laura Brent, ex-NATO, to CNAS Technology and National Security Program as senior fellow, directing research for Digital Freedom Forum and "focusing on the geopolitical implications of emerging technologies."

Broadcasters Foundation of America President Jim Thompson retires, effective Dec. 31, 2022; Thompson and Tim McCarthy become co-presidents through then, when Thompson takes “an active consultancy role”; McCarthy most recently was ESPN senior vice president-general manager, audio play-by-play and general manager, New York and LA Radio ... Aura, digital security platform for consumers, taps Damien Atkins from WilmerHale as chief legal officer and general counsel.

AT&T hires Lin Whitehouse, ex-office of House Majority Whip; Jeremy Pederson, ex-USTelecom; Marc Gonzales, also ex-USTelecom; and James Robertson, ex-CTIA, all as assistant vice presidents-federal relations ... Goodwin adds Omer Tene, ex-International Association of Privacy Professionals, and Lore Leitner to Data, Privacy & Cybersecurity practice as partners, joined by associates Josephine Jay and Annabel Loose; the associates and Leitner join from Wilson Sonsini ... Covington promotes Jonathan Wakely to partner in practice advising clients on foreign investment and national security; he has worked on semiconductor, telecom, software, IT and other areas.

Covington promotes David Wildman to partner, Life Sciences practice; he works on technology, intellectual property and data transactions including IP licensing, machine learning and digital health ... Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission advances Amy Andrews to deputy director-chief financial officer and says Anna Gill, ex-state Parks and Recreation Commission, returns to UTC, now as director-consumer protection and communications.

In office of FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington and effective Oct. 11, Marco Peraza, ex-law clerk to 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Michael Brennan, joins as wireline adviser, replacing Carolyn Roddy, departing for International Bureau; wireless adviser Erin Boone adds title of chief of staff, a role Roddy has held; she tells us that at IB, she becomes special adviser/special counsel ... California Privacy Protection Agency picks Ashkan Soltani as executive director; he's distinguished fellow, Georgetown University Law School's Institute for Technology Law and Policy and the Center on Privacy and Technology.