Former top FCC lawyer Schlick heads to Google

Austin Schlick, the former general counsel for the Federal Communications Commission, will join Google's legal team, a company spokeswoman confirmed Wednesday.

Schlick is the latest top FCC official to head to the private sector. Meredith Attwell Baker, a Republican commissioner, left the FCC last year to join Comcast's Washington office, not long after voting to approve the company's purchase of NBC-Universal. 

Rick Kaplan, the chief of the FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, was hired by the National Association of Broadcasters earlier this month.

Google did not provide information about Schlick's new role at the company other than to say he will be on their legal team.

Schlick served as the commission's top legal adviser from July 2009 until June of this year. 

He defended the commission's regulations in court, including its data roaming requirements and net neutrality actions. A federal court overturned the FCC's attempt to enforce the principle of net neutrality against Comcast in 2010, and Verizon's challenge to the commission's net neutrality order is still pending.

Google is a vocal supporter of net neutrality, which bars Internet service providers from discriminating against legitimate websites. 

Before serving as general counsel, Schlick was the  chief of litigation for the state of Maryland and held various legal roles at the FCC. He has also served as an assistant solicitor general and argued seven cases before the Supreme Court. He was a partner in private practice and served as a clerk for Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. He is a graduate of Princeton University and Yale Law School.

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