Pamela Gilbert
Pamela Gilbert | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 3, 1958 |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Tufts University New York University School of Law |
| Occupation | Attorney |
| Employer | Cuneo Gilbert & LaDuca, LLP |
| Spouse | Charles Lewis |
Pamela B. Gilbert(born October 3, 1958) is an American lawyer and has been a partner of the law firmCuneo Gilbert & LaDuca, LLPsince 2003, where she heads the firm's lobbying practice. Gilbert is a noted consumer rights advocate who has testified beforeCongressover fifty times and made dozens of appearances in the national print and electronic media.[1]Gilbert leads the Committee to Support Antitrust laws (COSAL), an organization supportive ofantitrustlegislation.[2]
Early career and education
[edit]Gilbert graduated magna cum laude fromTufts Universitywith a B.A. in Mathematics in 1980 and received herJ.D.degree from New York University in 1984. She was aRoot-Tildenscholar at NYU Law School.[3]
After law school, Gilbert served as Consumer Program Director at the U.S. Public Interest Research Group from 1984-1989 where she specialized in consumer protection issues. She led the effort for congressional enactment of legislation to protect children from toxic art supplies.[4]
From 1989-1994, Gilbert was Legislative Director and later Executive Director ofPublic Citizen's Congress Watch,a Washington-based consumer advocacy organization.[5]
Public service
[edit]Gilbert served as Executive Director of theU.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission(CPSC) from 1995-2001. In 2001 she left the government to serve as Chief Operating Officer of M&R Strategic Services, a national firm set up to lobby and conduct grassroots and media campaigns around public policy issues.
In 2009, after the election of PresidentBarack Obama,Gilbert headed thePresidential Transition Teamfor theConsumer Product Safety Commission.[6]
Post-government career
[edit]Gilbert represented the National Association of Shareholder and Consumer Attorneys to oppose efforts in Congress to change the rules for bringing class action lawsuits. Gilbert subsequently represented theCenter for Justice & Democracy,opposing efforts in Congress to impose Federal government restrictions on malpractice laws.
2007-2009
[edit]In 2007, Gilbert worked with public interest organizations and victims of Enron's collapse to persuade theSecurities and Exchange Commission(SEC) and theBush Administrationto adopt a position in a case pending before theU.S. Supreme Court–Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC v. Scientific-Atlanta Inc. and Motorola Inc.– that would ensure that people slighted by Enron could sue the investment banks that participated in the frauds that led to Enron's failure.[7]Gilbert's firmheld press conferences inWashington, D.C.and elsewhere, meeting with administration officials such as then-SEC ChairmanChristopher Cox.
On November 15 of that same year, Gilbert testified before the Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law of theHouse Committee on the Judiciaryon "Protecting the Playroom: Holding Foreign Manufacturers Accountable for Defective Products."[8]
In 2008, Gilbert worked with the Center for Justice and Democracy to bring before Congress families with children who developedlead poisoningfrom hazardous toys, to urge the passage of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement act of 2008. This landmark legislation placed limits on the amount of lead that can be used in children's products.
Also that year, Gilbert testified before theFederal Communications Commissionon behalf of consumers who were assessed fees for switching cell phone companies before their contracts expired. Her position was that such fees were unfair. She urged the FCC not to preempt state laws and state-based lawsuits intended to protect consumers from these allegedly unfair practices by cell phone companies.[9]
Over the course of three years from 2007–2009, Gilbert organized a coalition of over a dozen labor and nonprofit organizations to support legislation that would provide a pathway for the approval of generic versions of costly medicines. A version of this legislation was later incorporated in national health care reform policies.
In 2009, Gilbert worked with people injured by defects inChryslerandGeneral Motorsvehicles to urge theObama administrationand the automobile companies to modify their bankruptcy agreements to ensure that personal injury victims would have an opportunity to receive compensation. As a result, the agreements were modified to allow people injured in the future by vehicles manufactured before the bankruptcy to be compensated for their injuries.
2010
[edit]On February 4, 2010, Gilbert participated in awebcastsponsored byOMB Watchon "The Obama Administration and Public Protections."[10]
On behalf of the Committee to Support the Antitrust Laws, Gilbert worked with Congress and the Obama Administration to amend the Antitrust Criminal Penalty Enhancement and Reform Act to ensure that members of criminal antitrust conspiracies adequately cooperate with civil lawsuits in return for reduced damages.
On June 10, 2010, Pamela Gilbert was appointed to the board of directors of the AAI (American Antitrust Institute).[11]
2011–Present
[edit]On behalf of Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety (CARS), Gilbert led the successful lobbying effort to pass a federal law prohibiting rental car companies from renting or selling recalled cars until they are repaired. Gilbert worked with Mrs. Cally Houck, whose two daughters were killed in a rental car that caught on fire and crashed as a result of an unrepaired defect that had been subject to a safety recall. President Obama on December 4, 2015 signed into law the "Raechel and Jacqueline Houck Safe Rental Car Act" (H.R. 2198, S. 1173), sponsored by Reps. Capps, Jones, Schakowsky and Butterfield and Sens. Schumer, Boxer, McCaskill and others, as part of theFi xing America's Surface Transportation Act(FAST Act).
Gilbert represents SD3, LLC, which ownsSawStop,a table saw manufacturer whose table saws are equipped with technology that stops a spinning saw blade in milliseconds when it comes in contact with human flesh. Gilbert has worked with SawStop and a coalition of consumer protection groups in an effort to enact a mandatory safety standard so that all table saws contain injury mitigation technology to prevent amputations and other serious laceration injuries.[12]The CPSC published a notice of proposed rulemaking in 2011[13]and in 2015 the commission's staff urged adoption of the new requirement.[14]
Gilbert is working with a coalition of patients with diseases caused by asbestos exposure and their families to defeat the proposedFurthering Asbestos Claims Transparency (FACT) Act of 2015(H.R. 526, S. 357). The proposal would require asbestos trusts to file quarterly reports about the payouts they make and personal information on the victims who receive them in a publicly accessible database. Opponents argue that this would violate the privacy of victims and use trust funds to meet the new administrative requirements, making it more difficult for asbestos claimants to receive timely and full compensation.[15]
Notable writings
[edit]In 2008, Gilbert wrote a chapter entitled "Consumer Product Safety Commission: Safety First" forChange for America: A Progressive Blueprint for the 44th President,published by theCenter for American Progressand theNew Democracy Project.[16]
In 2010, Gilbert authored a chapter inMaterials on Tort ReformbyProfessor Andrew Popperof the Washington College of Law at American University.[17]
In 2012, Gilbert co-authored withVictoria Romanenkoa chapter in Private Enforcement of the Antitrust Laws in the United States (edited by Albert A. Foer and Randy M. Stutz). [18]
Controversy
[edit]In 2001, Gilbert stepped down as executive director of theConsumer Product Safety Commission(CPSC) after President Bush sparked a constitutional controversy by seeking to replace the leadership of the Commission, citing his powers underArticle Two of the United States Constitution.[19]Later, in 2008, Gilbert was mentioned as a possible appointee by PresidentBarack Obamato be Chairman of the Commission.[20]However, her nomination was criticized on the grounds that while she was executive director of the CPSC, the agency was known for its "strident enforcement efforts"[21]contrary to large business interests.
Personal life
[edit]Gilbert is married toCharles Lewis,Professor of Journalism atAmerican University,founder of theCenter for Public Integrity,and a former producer for60 Minutes.[22]With Lewis she raises two children, Cassandra and Gabriel.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^"Pamela Gilbert's profile at cuneolaw".Archived fromthe originalon 2010-06-17.Retrieved2010-10-30.
- ^"Leadership".COSAL - Supporting Antitrust Laws.Retrieved2022-01-28.
- ^"Pamela Gilbert's profile at cuneolaw".Archived fromthe originalon 2010-06-17.Retrieved2010-10-30.
- ^Hinds, Michael Decourcy (1988-11-05)."CONSUMER'S WORLD; Arts Materials To Get Labels On Hazards (Published 1988)".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Retrieved2021-02-07.
- ^"Pamela Gilbert".Cuneo Gilbert & LaDuca LLP.Archived fromthe originalon 2013-08-10.Retrieved2013-05-30.
- ^"Change.gov: The Obama-Biden Transition Team".Archived fromthe originalon 2011-11-02.Retrieved2010-10-30.
- ^Docket Sheet for Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC v. Scientific-Atlanta Inc. and Motorola Inc.
- ^"Gilbert's 2007 testimony before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative law".Archived fromthe originalon 2010-11-03.Retrieved2010-10-30.
- ^Testimony before the FCC 6/12/2008
- ^"The Obama Administration and Public Protections".Archived fromthe originalon 2010-10-27.Retrieved2010-10-30.
- ^"AAI Names Pamela Gilbert to Its Board of Directors".Archived fromthe originalon 2010-10-25.Retrieved2010-10-30.
- ^"Cuneo Gilbert & LaDuca LLP - Legislative Advocacy".Archived fromthe originalon 2010-09-03.Retrieved2013-05-29.
- ^Federal Register; Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
- ^CPSC report on table saw standards
- ^"One-Sided Bill on Asbestos Injuries".The New York Times.19 June 2013.Retrieved3 May2015.
- ^"Change for America: A Progressive Blueprint for the 44th President"(PDF).Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2011-06-12.Retrieved2010-10-30.
- ^"Gilbert, Pamela - The Human Face of Tort Reform"(PDF).Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2011-07-08.Retrieved2010-10-30.
- ^Chapter 15: Proposals for Reform
- ^"Justice.gov: PRESIDENT'S AUTHORITY TO REMOVE THE CHAIRMAN OF THE CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION".Archived fromthe originalon 2011-09-09.Retrieved2011-02-24.
- ^Discussion of Pamela Gilbert's qualifications as a nominee for Commissioner of the CPSC
- ^Arent Fox: New Administration and New Congress to Bring Major Changes to CPSC
- ^"About Us".