Christopher L. Irving is the Vice President of Consumer, Government & Legal Affairs for Publishers Clearing House in Port Washington, New York. In this capacity he is responsible for directing Government and Consumer Affairs relations for the multi-channel direct marketing company with annual sales in 2006 reported by Crain's New York to be in excess of $500 million. The New York City Green Book confirms that Irving joined Publishers Clearing House in 1994 after 7 years with the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs where he served as Assistant General Counsel from 1984 through 1992 litigating cases under the New York City Consumer Protection Law in the areas of marketing and advertising law. In 1992 he was appointed by Commissioner Mark Green as Consumer Advocate for the Department and served in that capacity until 1994. From 1990 through 1994 he was the department's chief liaison to the United Nations responsible for the handling and resolution of all delegate consumer complaints. He was the Department's voting representative on the Appeals Panel of the New York City Environmental Control Board during the period of 1988 - 1999. The Martindale-Hubbell legal directory lists Irving as a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross and the Franklin Pierce Law Center. As of September 2006 he was serving as an acting member of the following organizations: Direct Marketing Association's Consumer/Government Dialogue, National Consumers League, Alliance Against Fraud in Telemarketing, National Association of Consumer Agency Administrators, Direct Marketing Association's Committee on Governmental Relations, National Fraud Information Center Task Force on Fake Check Fraud, National LifeSmarts Consumer Challenge Judge and the NY Bar Association Committee on Consumer Affairs. Irving authored "A Critical Review of Protecting the Consumer and The Smart Consumer" for the 1996 ACI Journal of Consumer Law, Policy and Research. According to Nielsen media, Mr. Irving has presented consumer information regarding direct marketing, advertising and consumer education on television before mdeia outlets such as the CBS Evening News, MSNBC Internight, NBC Dateline, NewsHour with Jim Lehrer and NPR’s MarketPlace. Irving has been interviewed in over 200 national and local newspapers and magazines including The New York Times, USA Today, Miami Herald, Wall Street Journal, Newsday, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Newsweek, Consumer Reports and Advertising Age. He is a frequent speaker at consumer gatherings and seminars and has presented before groups including the Consumer Federation of America Consumer Assembly, National Association of Consumer Agency Administrators Annual Conference, Direct Marketing Association's Business & Regulatory Dialogue Series, DMA Annual Conference, AARP Annual Conference and the Congressional Consumer Senior Forum with Representative Patrick Kennedy.
