University of Colorado at Boulder Law School Professor Philip J. Weiser, associate dean for research, and executive director of the Silicon Flatirons Center for Law, Technology and Entrepreneurship, has accepted an appointment as deputy assistant attorney general for international, policy and appellate matters at the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division.
His appointment will start in July. Before joining Colorado Law and CU's Interdisciplinary Telecommunications Program in 1999, Weiser served as a senior counsel to Joel Klein, assistant attorney general in charge of the antitrust division.
"We are proud that Phil has the opportunity to serve in this important position," said David Getches, dean of the law school. "His talents as a strategic thinker, administrator and leader will be missed at CU, but they will be put to good work in Washington. During his leave of absence, the law school will ensure that the Silicon Flatirons Center and our strength as a leading center for technology and entrepreneurial law continue to develop."
Weiser has held visiting professorships at New York University, the University of Pennsylvania and Princeton University. He is a graduate of Swarthmore College and the New York University School of Law.
Over the years, he has taught and written in the areas of competition policy and technology law, establishing himself as one of the nation's leading experts in these areas. He recently served as the lead agency reviewer of the Federal Trade Commission for the Presidential Transition Team and serves as a co-chair of the Colorado Innovation Council.
"The opportunity to serve with Christine Varney, President Obama's choice to lead the antitrust division, and return to the Justice Department is just too compelling to pass up," Weiser said. "It is difficult to leave so many friends, an institution I cherish and a center whose development has been a labor of love. I am very confident that the Silicon Flatirons Center will continue to flourish under the leadership of Colorado Law Professors Paul Ohm and Brad Bernthal, ITP Professor Dale Hatfield and others who will ensure the center continues to make powerful impacts in telecommunications policy, information policy/intellectual property and entrepreneurship."