Practice Areas & Industries: Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP

Practice/Industry Group Overview

Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP has a diversified telecommunications practice with experience in domestic and international matters. Attorneys in the group concentrate their practices in telecommunications and information services law.

Services Available

Regulatory Litigation on Behalf of Telecommunications Providers

Sutherland has an active regional telecommunications regulatory practice with a particular focus on Georgia. Our attorneys have appeared before the Georgia Public Service Commission ("GPSC") in telecommunications regulatory matters for more than a decade participating in virtually every major administrative proceeding during that time. Our experience ranges from the early equal access proceedings, traditional base rate cases and initial open network architecture ("ONA") investigations to the most recent regulatory litigation involving operational support systems ("OSS") and digital subscriber line ("DSL") services. We were involved in the passage of Georgia's Telecommunications Competition and Development Act of 1995 and have represented telecommunications providers of all types in obtaining authority to construct facilities in Georgia and operate as interexchange and local exchange carriers subject to the jurisdiction of the GPSC and other states in the region.

Our attorneys have negotiated interconnection agreements under Sections 251 and 252 of the Act covering the entire BellSouth region. We have also arbitrated interconnection agreements before the state commissions of Georgia, Florida, North and South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee and Louisiana and have participated in various "generic" investigations in those states. We have also been involved in much of the very contentious litigation in the region relating to Section 271 of the Act.

Our experience includes negotiations and litigation not only with BellSouth, but also with many of independent incumbent telecommunications carriers in the BellSouth region. Our attorneys have made presentations on telecommunications matters to numerous trade associations and have been featured panelists at programs sponsored by the Georgia Center for Advanced Telecommunications Technology and at the Southeastern Association of Regulatory Utilities Commissioners ("SEARUC").

We have also obtained all necessary certifications and licenses for telecommunications providers of all types throughout the BellSouth region.

In addition to appearing before state regulatory commissions, our attorneys have assisted clients in matters relating to franchise agreements and right of way disputes. We also represent telecommunications providers in negotiations with and litigation against customers in contract and tariff disputes.

Our representation of major business users also includes the representation of an increasing number of clients who have been subject to substantial claims of liability for fraudulent calling over their communications systems. In these cases, we have advised clients concerning approaches to minimize asserted claims of toll fraud liability and also approaches to protect against future claims of liability.

Appellate Litigation on Behalf of Telecommunications Providers

In addition to our extensive appellate litigation experience on behalf of many types of clients, we have concentrated on appellate matters under the Telecommunications Act of 1996 ("Act") for providers of telecommunications services. For many years, we have represented Interexchange Carriers ("IXCs") and Competitive Local Exchange Carriers ("CLECs") in the state and federal courts throughout the BellSouth region. Our attorneys have participated in appeals from regulatory decisions of the Georgia Public Service Commission from as early as the landmark MemoryCall decision to the most recent appeals of arbitration decisions under Section 252 of the Act.

We have participated in virtually every significant appeal to the federal district court in the region under Section 252 of the Act. We have both brought appeals to the district courts and joined various state regulators defending orders on appeal. As part of these efforts, we have worked closely with counsel for many states as well as providers of telecommunications services. Most recently, in an effort closely coordinated with counsel for state regulators in Alabama, our attorney's appeared before the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit on behalf of several CLECs in appeals brought from orders of the district courts of Alabama and Georgia relating to intercarrier compensation under interconnection agreements for the exchange of internet service provider traffic. In addition to the 11th Circuit, we currently represent clients in Section 252 appeals before the district courts in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia and in the United States Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit.

Services Relating to Television and Radio Broadcast Properties

The group represents owners and applicants for television and radio broadcast properties before the FCC, including applicants seeking authority to establish new stations and applicants seeking to reorganize, assign or transfer existing stations. We have participated in many complex acquisitions and other transactions involving broadcast properties, including bank financing, refinancing, and bankruptcy reorganizations.

Objective: Effectiveness, Quality, and Efficiency

The objective of our telecommunications practice group is to represent our clients as effectively and as efficiently as possible, regardless of the type or size of the matter undertaken. To do this, we utilize the appropriate level of knowledge and experience to ensure both quality work and efficiency. Where appropriate, members of the telecommunications group work with lawyers in other areas of the firm's practice, and, cooperatively with outside economic and technical experts, to ensure that interdisciplinary legal and other skills are brought to bear in the most efficient way to meet our client's objectives.