WASHINGTON — The American Psychological Association has named Deanne Marie Ottaviano as general counsel, charged with providing advice on the wide range of legal issues the organization faces in its day-to-day operations.
Ottaviano, who joins APA from Arent Fox LLP, where she had been a partner and practiced for the past 24 years, has extensive experience as both general counsel and outside counsel for dozens of nonprofit, professional and trade association clients, primarily in the automotive, retail and health care fields. She has represented clients in a variety of contexts, including general commercial matters, insurance recovery and risk management techniques, anti-trust claims and securing governance rights. She was also chair of the firm’s pro bono committee.
“Deanne Ottaviano brings an impressive breadth of nonprofit experience, as well as many years of complex general litigation,” APA Interim CEO Cynthia D. Belar, PhD, said in announcing the appointment. “She will play a critical role for APA as chief legal counsel and a senior adviser on an array of issues.”
Ottaviano is also immediate past president of the Board of Trustees of the Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia.
Before joining Arent Fox in 1992, Ottaviano clerked for two years with Arnold & Porter LLP. From 1986-1990, she was legislative assistant to then-Rep. Dan Glickman, D-Kan.
Ottaviano holds a JD from Georgetown University and has been admitted to the state bars of the District of Columbia, New York, New Jersey and Maryland, and to the federal bars of the U.S. Supreme Court, the D.C. Circuit, the 11th Circuit and U.S. District Courts of D.C., Maryland and New Jersey.
The American Psychological Association, in Washington, D.C., is the largest scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States. APA's membership includes more than 117,500 researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. Through its divisions in 54 subfields of psychology and affiliations with 60 state, territorial and Canadian provincial associations, APA works to advance the creation, communication and application of psychological knowledge to benefit society and improve people's lives.