The Legal 500

Within Corporate restructuring, tier 7

Wiley Rein LLP’s four-partner strong team is ‘smart, experienced and possesses the in-depth understanding of the bankruptcy code and its judicial process necessary to prosecute an effective restructuring’. It also benefits from expertise on the contentious side and ‘the ability to accurately predict the litigation process providing the client with the knowledge necessary to confidently make decisions’. Although it lacks a foothold in New York, the firm has a deeply entrenched presence in the mid-Atlantic area and has been involved in virtually every major bankruptcy case filed in the Washington DC region over the past 20 years. Team head Jason Gold has an exceptional reputation and is ‘calm and deliberate in court, but does not back down from an argument or allow himself to be intimidated’. Gold is leading on the firm’s current representation of LG Electronics as a major creditor in Circuit City’s bankruptcy. As part of the work, the team is representing LG in the defense of claims made by City Circuit seeking over $69m in alleged preferential transfers and other alleged obligations. Dylan Trache was also involved in this matter and is praised for his ‘impeccable research skills and his understanding of the court process’. Valerie Morrison is lauded for her ability in a number of sectors, including media, healthcare and automotive bankruptcy issues and ‘combines impeccable research skills with a creative mind to envision ways to succeed that, although unique, are grounded in solid principles of bankruptcy law’.

Within Copyright, tier 4

Wiley Rein LLP provides ‘superior service’ in the copyright law space, recently representing leading hi-technology companies in copyright infringement cases. Led from Washington DC, practice head Bruce Joseph is a litigator whose ‘negotiation abilities are superior’. Joseph successfully represented Verizon Wireless before the ASCAP, which granted judgment that wireless technology devices do not require a public performance license for downloading or playing of music ringtones. Joseph and ‘excellent litigator’ Andrew McBride were counsel to Ericsson in litigation, which was also in relation to setting license fees for music performances implicated in ringtones. The team is also defending T-Mobile against an allegation of illegal file sharing through its multimedia messaging service. Thomas Kirby successfully achieved a $15m-plus copyright infringement settlement for publishers of professional newsletter and periodicals, in relation to subscribers multiplying a single electronic subscription into many. Kirby is also defending Supermedia, a major media and publishing company which sells print and internet advertising to SMEs, against alleged infringement of hundreds of yellow pages advertisements.

Within Telecoms and broadcast: regulatory, Wiley Rein LLP is a first tier firm,

Wiley Rein LLP’s ‘expertise in FCC matters is the best. It is able to get things done, and brings expertise and energy to the tasks’. The 48-partner group handles regulatory and appellate work as well as litigation and big-ticket transactions. The integration of regulatory and public policy has been the cornerstone of the team’s structure; matched by only a few communications boutiques, which are unable to match the firm’s level of resources. The team, which includes a blend of attorneys with backgrounds at the commission and young talent, is recommended for ‘difficult projects where specialized expertise and scalability are important’ and is praised by clients as ‘outstanding on all counts’. Former FCC chairman, firm founder and communications practice head Richard Wiley is recognized throughout the industry as a ‘leading practitioner’, and in 2010, the team was further strengthened by the arrival of litigator William Consovoy from the Supreme Court. Flagship clients in each sector are able to retain teams of specialists, lawyers with decades of FCC dealings and ancillary litigation and appellate expertise. The team has consistently wins mandates as regulatory counsel on high-profile mergers. Michael Senkowski, chair of the telecommunications practice, and Nancy Victory represented Verizon Wireless in its $28.1bn acquisition of Alltel, in the most significant merger in the telecommunications industry in recent years, making Verizon Wireless the largest US mobile phone service provider. The team handled all regulatory aspects of the deal, notably securing FCC approval of the transaction in under five months. The team is frequently the first stop for carriers on FCC matters. Helgi Walker successfully represented Comcast in appealing the FCC’s first network neutrality enforcement. Wiley and his team are representing companies including Newspaper Association of America, Belo, Gannett, Morris Communications and Clear Channel Communications in connection with proposed revisions to FCC multiple ownership rules, including elimination of the ban against common ownership of a newspaper and a broadcast station in the same local market, both before the FCC and in ongoing litigation before the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. The group assists numerous banks with media company restructuring, notably representing JPMorgan Chase Bank as administrative agent in connection with the bankruptcy of the Tribune Company. Andrew McBride, who is commended for his ‘excellent presentations to appellate courts, excellent analytical work’, is representing Verizon Wireless in continued proceedings of the Murray v Motorola litigation regarding the alleged health effects of radiofrequency emissions. ‘Excellent litigators’ Joshua Turner and John Barry are also recommended. Other clients include, Ericsson, Nokia, Motorola, Viacom/CBS, AT&T and Goldman Sachs.