For the past 14 years, she has served in the FCC’s Office of General Counsel as an Ethics Counsel. In 2018, she led the agency’s ethics team as Assistant General Counsel for Ethics.
Now, this 31-year Commission veteran will serve as its new Administrative Law Judge.
Succeding Richard Sippel as the Commission’s ALJ is Jane Hinckley Halprin.
The move comes as Sippel, who had been poised to review Sinclair Broadcast Group’s now-scuttled merger with Tribune Media, formally retired on December 1.
“Jane has done tremendous work at the FCC, and I congratulate her on this new role,” said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. “The good judgment she displayed working on ethics issues at the agency for over a decade will serve her well as our Administrative Law Judge.”
Pai also thanked Sippel for his 32 years of service as an Administrative Law Judge at the FCC. “He served this agency with honor and distinction, and I wish him well in retirement,” Pai said.
For Halprin, the move to an ALJ post caps a career at the FCC that began in 1987, as a staff attorney in the former Common Carrier Bureau. Since then, Halprin has occupied positions in the former Mass Media Bureau, the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, and the Office of General Counsel.
Now, she will oversee the office responsible for conducting the hearings ordered by the Commission, such as that ordered by Pai in July to investigate Sinclair’s desired merger with Tribune and associated divestitures to individuals and entities with close ties to Sinclair.
This still may occur, and it would now fall under Halprin’s jurisdiction.
An Administrative Law Judge also acts on interlocutory requests filed in the proceedings such as contested discovery requests.
Administrative Law Judges are appointed by a vote of all Commissioners.
