Neal Berinhout – GC Powerlist
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United States 2019

Neal Berinhout

Vice president and associate general counsel | AT&T Services

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United States 2019

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Neal Berinhout

Vice president and associate general counsel | AT&T Services

About

Following an extensive spell in private practice, in 2000 Neal Berinhout joined the Cingular Wireless legal department initially as chief litigation counsel. At the time Cingular Wireless was a joint venture formed by SBC and BellSouth, and after Cingular acquired AT&T Wireless in 2004, Cingular became the largest wireless company in the US. Eventually, Cingular’s two parents merged under the name AT&T and Cingular became part of AT&T. Berinhout continued to be responsible for litigation involving the wireless business and in 2015 transferred from Atlanta to the AT&T global headquarters in Dallas, and assumed his current role as vice president and associate general counsel responsible for all AT&T litigation. During his in-house career in Atlanta, he served on the board of directors of Georgia First Amendment Foundation and on the board of directors of Georgia Appleseed Center for Law and Justice. ‘This was an experience that allowed me to address significant legal and policy issues impacting the public, expanding my knowledge and work beyond the telecommunications related issues I encountered in my in-house position’ says Berinhout. Amongst his other achievements, in 2002, he initiated and led a multi-year strategy to develop a highly consumer-friendly arbitration program, ensuring that it could be enforced anywhere in the country. ‘Through a series of cases culminating in a 2011 US Supreme Court decision, AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion, we established the nationwide enforceability of an arbitration provision requiring individual adjudication, notwithstanding conflicting state law policies favouring class actions’ explains Berinhout. According to Berinhout, the media reported that the Concepcion decision was a “game-changer” and was one of the most important business-related Supreme Court decisions “in a very long time”. Recognised for the work done to accomplish and advance this, he was named to the inaugural list of 50 Litigation Trailblazers & Pioneers in the industry press and, subsequently, to a simialar inaugural list of 48 ADR Champions. Through this project he realised one of his professional goals: ‘improving the civil legal process through effective legal reform’ explains Berinhout.

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