THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release December 21, 2000
PRESIDENT CLINTON NAMES JAMES A. DORSKIND
AS GENERAL COUNSEL AT THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
President Clinton today announced the recess appointment of James A.
Dorskind to serve as General Counsel at the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Mr. Dorskind was nominated to the United States Senate on October 25, 2000.
Mr. Dorskind, of Oakland, California, was designated Acting General
Counsel at the Department by the President on September 14, 2000.
Previously, Mr. Dorskind served in the Department as the General Counsel
for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and as the
Departmental Executive Secretary. Mr. Dorskind came to Commerce from the
White House, where he served as Deputy Assistant to the President and
Director of Correspondence. Previously, he was of counsel to the law firm
of Friedman, Ross & Hersh, P.C., a principal at Friedman, Ross & Dorskind,
P.C., and an associate at Friedman, Sloan, & Ross, P.C. He also was an
associate at the law offices of Morrison and Foerster. In 1992, Mr.
Dorskind worked with the Clinton/Gore Campaign as the Special Assistant to
the Northern California Campaign Directors.
Mr. Dorskind received a B. A. with distinction in all subjects, in
Psychology, with a minor concentration in law and society, from Cornell
University and a J. D. from the Boalt Hall School of Law at the University
of California at Berkeley.
The General Counsel serves as the Department?s chief law officer and
legal adviser to the Secretary of Commerce, the Under Secretaries, the
Assistant Secretaries and other officers of the Department. The General
Counsel is responsible for supervising and coordinating the development of
the Department?s legislative program, as well as; developing and
articulating the views of the Department on pending legislation, and
fulfilling its legislative clearance responsibilities with other government
agencies. In addition, the General Counsel oversees regulatory policy
within the Department and advises the Secretary of Commerce on any
regulatory matters.
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