WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) - President Barack Obama has nominated a member of North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper's staff to the Federal Trade Commission.

Obama on Tuesday nominated Julie Brill, who came to the North Carolina Department of Justice after 21 years in the Vermont Attorney General's Office. He also nominated California attorney Edith Ramirez.

Brill would serve for seven years if confirmed by the Senate. U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., applauded the nomination.

"Julie Brill's nomination will be a tonic for an FTC that too often over the last decade has languished while consumers' interests have given way to special interests," said Leahy, the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

"Vermont has a vibrant record of consumer and privacy protection second to none, and Julie Brill did a masterful job in defending and renewing those rights."

Brill was part of the consumer protection and antitrust division of the Vermont Attorney General's Office from 1988-2009. She is currently the senior deputy attorney general of Cooper's Consumer Protection Division.

"I am especially encouraged by her expertise on antitrust and privacy issues," Leahy said. "Though these issues directly affect every American, they have not had the FTC's full attention for far too long."

From Legal Newsline: Reach John O'Brien by e-mail at jobrienwv@gmail.com.