Commodity Futures Trading Commission announces Davis as general counsel

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced this week that Daniel J. Davis will serve as the new general counsel for the commission, effective March 6.

Daniel Davis

Davis joins CFTC from the law firm of Proskauer Rose LLP, where he was special counsel in the Labor and Employment Law Department.

“I’m delighted that Mr. Davis will bring his vast knowledge, keen intellect, and good judgment to the important work of the CFTC,” Christopher Giancarlo, CFTC acting chairman, said. “I welcome him to our agency, and I thank our acting general counsel, Rob Schwartz, for his exemplary service over the past several weeks.”

He began his legal career as a law clerk for Judge Douglas Ginsburg of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, after which he worked for Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP, where he was a member of the Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice, Labor and Employment Practice, and Litigation Practice.

From 2006 to 2007, he served as counsel to the assistant attorney general of the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Division. There, he argued various cases before federal appellate and district courts.

“I greatly appreciate the honor that acting chairman Giancarlo and the commission have given me to serve the commission in its mission to provide the proper oversight and regulation of the derivatives markets,” Davis said. “Congress has entrusted the commission with key responsibilities and I intend to assist the commission with the various legal issues it must address in fulfilling those responsibilities.”

Davis graduated magna cum laude from Brigham Young University in 1998 and obtained his J.D. with high honors from The University of Chicago Law School in 2002.