Regulatory & Appellate Litigation
Our lawyers have national reputations for their appellate work and are especially known for their technical and administrative law expertise. We are skilled advocates and excellent strategists who remain focused on our clients’ business goals.
Our team’s successes include
- Convincing the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit to overturn the FCC’s rules for subsidizing telephone service to rural and high-cost customers on behalf of Qwest Communications and SBC (now CenturyLink and AT&T). The decision overturned the basis for a $300 million federal program and was written up in the American Lawyer as one of the most significant litigation victories of the year.
- Persuading the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to overturn a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission order replacing an electric utility’s board of directors.
- Bringing a successful D.C. Circuit challenge to an FCC order changing the rights of broadcast license holders and authorizing the unlicensed deployment of broadband-over-power-line equipment.
- Obtaining access for The Washington Post to former Maryland Governor Parris Glendening’s appointment calendars and telephone records. The case in the Maryland Court of Appeals was the first decision by a state supreme court recognizing a public right of access to such documents.
- Authoring the Supreme Court brief successfully defending the Family and Medical Leave Act as a valid abrogation of the states’ Eleventh Amendment sovereign immunities.
