• September 30, 2008

Expanding its legal team, Facebook has hired former White House lawyer Ted Ullyot as vice president and general counsel.

Most recently of law firm Kirkland & Ellis, Ullyot helped coordinate the response to the investigation into the leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity and served as chief of staff to former U.S. Atty. General Alberto Gonzalez, according to a Los Angeles Times story.

He won't be the only Facebook employee with executive branch experience. In March, the social network hired Sheryl Sandberg, former chief of staff at the Treasury Department under the Clinton Administration, as its chief operating officer from Google.

Among the legal matters that Facebook is dealing with is a potential class action over its much-maligned Beacon program, which tells members about their friends' purchases on retail sites. Whether Facebook can be held legally liable for privacy violations, however, is not clear.--Mark Walsh