Charles D. Ferris obit

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With immense sadness, we announce the death of the firm’s Name Member and former Washington, DC office head, Charles D. Ferris. Charlie passed away peacefully on February 16, 2024, in the presence of his beloved family.

A longtime aid to Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield, Charlie played a key role in the enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Voting Rights Act of 1965, and Lyndon Johnson's Great Society legislation.

In 1977 Charlie was nominated by President Jimmy Carter to chair the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) where he served until joining Mintz as a Name Member in 1981.

During his 32-year career at Mintz, from 1981-2013, Charlie was instrumental in establishing the firm’s Communications practice and growing its Washington, DC office.

We are grateful for Charlie’s countless contributions to our clients, our people, our culture, and the communities that Mintz serves. We will remember him as a distinguished lawyer, trusted colleague, and cherished friend.

A longtime staffer for Majority Leader Mike Mansfield on the Senate Democratic Policy Committee, he played a key role in the enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Voting Rights Act of 1965, and Lyndon Johnson's Great Society legislation.

Following Mansfield's retirement, Ferris briefly worked for House Speaker Tip O'Neill before being nominated by President Jimmy Carter to chair the Federal Communications Commission in 1977. He would serve for the remainder of Carter's term. During his tenure, the agency initiated a program of nationwide telecommunications deregulation, which was later continued during the Reagan administration.

Ferris was born in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts to Henry Joseph and Mildred Mary (née MacDonald) Ferris. His father worked for Boston's metropolitan transit authority and his mother as a telegrapher for Western Union. He attended Boston College High School and Boston College, leaving the latter in 1954 with a Bachelor of Arts in physics. Upon graduation, he was hired by Sperry Corporation as a research physicist.

Faced with the prospect of being drafted into the United States Army, Ferris applied for Navy officer candidate school in 1954 and entered active service the following year. Eventually he attained the rank of lieutenant (junior grade) and was made chief engineer on the destroyer USS Brinkley Bass (DD-887). From 1958 to 1960 he was on assignment as an assistant professor of naval science at Harvard University, teaching celestial navigation and marine engineering to Reserve Officers' Training Corps cadets. At night, Ferris attended Boston College Law School, receiving his J.D. degree in 1961.