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Clearwire has long been the U.S. wireless industry's most embattled carrier. In recent months, the money-losing company has also emerged as its crown jewel.

The company, which covers less than half the U.S. population with high-speed mobile Internet service, has teetered on the brink of bankruptcy. Now, both Dish Network and SoftBank are showing keen interest in Clearwire's huge stockpile of spectrum even as they battle for control of Sprint Nextel, a majority owner of Clearwire. The spectrum has become a prized asset thanks to a sea change in how people use their mobile devices. Without it, Dish and Softbank's opportunities to offer a new slate of wireless services could be limited. Rather than using the Clearwire spectrum to build a national network, SoftBank and Dish have said they would use the company's spectrum to provide additional capacity in areas where data use is highest. In dense areas, the fact that signals on Clearwire's spectrum don't travel very far isn't as much of a disadvantage, while the large amount of spectrum that Clearwire controls means it can carry a large amount of traffic.

Davis Polk & Wardwell has hired Jon Leibowitz, the former chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, a coup for the law firm as it bolsters its increasing presence in Washington.

Davis Polk, which is based in New York, plans to use Leibowitz’s expertise to advise its corporate clients on competition issues related to mergers and acquisition transactions, as well as to counsel companies in the burgeoning area of privacy law. Leibowitz raises the firm’s already considerable profile in Washington at a time when government policy affecting corporate America is increasing. As outside counsel for several of the country’s largest banks, for instance, Davis Polk has played a significant role in helping shape the new rules emerging from the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street overhaul law. In the enforcement area, Annette L. Nazareth, a former commissioner at the Securities and Exchange Commission, and Linda Chatman Thomsen, a former S.E.C. enforcement chief, are Davis Polk partners. Leibowitz is the latest in a string of senior government antitrust lawyers who have departed for private practice after serving in major posts during President Obama’s first term.

Federal regulators are unveiling draft rules to make cable and television menus accessible to the blind and visually impaired.

The proposal from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will require that users have an option have onscreen menus read out loud, helping the blind understand what's playing on different channels. Cable and satellite menus, as well as other devices, will have to comply with the new rule once it is finalized. The new proposal requires that 11 "essential functions" of TV are accessible, including adjusting volume, obtaining program and channel information and various configuration settings. The proposal is the FCC's last in a series of new rules to implement the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA), a 2010 law. The agency had previously issued rules making cellphones' Internet browsers and emergency TV alerts accessible to blind people, among other measures.

Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Edith Ramirez has named seven senior staff members.

1. Deborah L. Feinstein, who will serve as Director of the Bureau of Competition, joins the agency from Arnold & Porter, where she was a partner and Chair of the Antitrust Practice Group, with a focus on merger and acquisition matters, and conduct investigations. Among many accolades bestowed upon Feinstein, Global Competition Review named her global “Lawyer of the Year” for 2010. Feinstein began her career at Arnold & Porter and joined the FTC in 1989. She served as an Assistant to former Bureau of Competition Director Kevin Arquit and as an Attorney Advisor to former Commissioner Dennis Yao. She is an honors graduate of Harvard Law School and the University of California at Berkeley.
2. Jessica Rich has been appointed Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection, having served as Associate Director in charge of the Division of Financial Practices since January 2012. Rich was a Deputy Director of the Bureau from November 2009 to January 2012. In addition, she has served as the Acting Associate Director and Assistant Director of the Bureau’s Division of Privacy and Identity Protection, Assistant Director in the Division of Financial Practices, and counselor to the Bureau Director. She joined the FTC as a staff attorney more than 20 years ago, after starting her career in private practice in New York City. She is a graduate of New York University Law School and Harvard University.
3. Jonathan E. Nuechterlein will serve as General Counsel. He joins the agency from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr, where he was a partner and Chair of the Communications, Privacy, and Internet Law Practice Group. He previously was Deputy General Counsel for the Federal Communications Commission and an Assistant to the Solicitor General at the U.S. Department of Justice. Nuechterlein also clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter and U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Stephen F. Williams. He is a graduate of Yale Law School and Yale College.
4. Andrew I. Gavil will continue as Director of Policy Planning, having joined the Commission in September 2012. A professor at Howard University School of Law, he has written and spoken extensively in the U.S. and abroad on various aspects of antitrust law, policy, jurisdiction, and procedure. He is a graduate of Northwestern University School of Law and Queens College, CUNY.
5. Randolph W. Tritell will continue as Director of the Office of International Affairs, previously having led the FTC’s International Antitrust Division. He was formerly a staff attorney in the Bureau of Consumer Protection, Assistant to the Director of the Bureau, Attorney Advisor to former Commissioner Terry Calvani, and Executive Assistant to the Chairman. A former Weil, Gotshal & Manges partner, Tritell is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School and an honors graduate of the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
6. Jeanne Bumpus will continue to serve as Director of the Office of Congressional Relations. She previously was a principal advisor to Arizona Senator John McCain and served as Staff Director and Chief Counsel for the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Bumpus was formerly Legislative Counsel to Washington State Senator Slade Gorton. She is a graduate of the University of California Berkeley School of Law and the University of California, San Diego.
7. Heather Hippsley serves as Chief of Staff to the Chairwoman. Before starting her new role, Hippsley was Assistant Director for the Division of Advertising Practices for more than 10 years. She previously has served as Acting Deputy Director for the Bureau of Consumer Protection, Acting Associate Director for the Division of Advertising Practices, Assistant Director in the Division of Enforcement, and an Attorney Advisor to former FTC Commissioners Dennis A. Yao and Andrew J. Strenio, Jr. Hippsley is an honors graduate of Lewis and Clark School of Law and Georgetown University.