As the General Counsel of the Department of Commerce, Cameron Kerry is the principal legal advisor to the Secretary of Commerce and third ranking secretarial officer. President Obama nominated him on April 20, 2009 and he was confirmed unanimously by the United States Senate on May 21, 2009.
He serves as chief legal officer of the Department and oversees the work of over 325 lawyers in 14 offices who provide legal advice to all components of the Department. Kerry is the Department’s chief ethics officer, and co-chairs the Secretary's Internet Policy Task Force, which brings together Commerce agencies with expertise on the internet in the 21st century global economy.
During his tenure as General Counsel, Kerry has been engaged in the wide range of issues facing the Department of Commerce as it seeks to lay a new foundation for economic growth. He has been a leader on work across the US government on patent reform and intellectual property issues, privacy and security, and efforts against transnational bribery, including co-chairing the National Science and Technology Council Subcommittee on Commercial Data Privacy that produced the Administration's privacy blueprint, Consumer Data Privacy in a Networked World: A Framework for Protecting Privacy and Promoting Innovation in the Global Digital Economy. Kerry has travelled to the People’s Republic of China several times and serves as the co-lead in the Transparency Dialogue with China and the US chair of the US-China Legal Exchange.
Previously, Kerry was a partner in the Boston office of Mintz Levin, a national law firm. In over 30 years of practice, he has been a communications lawyer and litigator in a range of complex, developing areas such as telecommunications, environmental law, toxic torts, privacy, and insurance regulation. Prior to joining Mintz Levin, Cameron was an associate at Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering and a law clerk for Judge Elbert Tuttle of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Kerry has taught telecommunications law as an adjunct professor at Suffolk University Law School and written and presented on communications, evidence, and environmental issues in a variety of industry and academic settings. Cameron was a senior advisor and national surrogate for the 2004 Democratic presidential campaign, and has served on boards of nonprofits involved in civic and political engagement and sports.
Kerry received his B.A. cum laude from Harvard College and his J.D. magna cum laude from Boston College Law School where he was Executive Editor of the Law Review and winner of the school's moot court competition.
He and his wife, Kathy Weinman, have two daughters. Their home is in Massachusetts.
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