Litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution Practice Group Member, Bodman PLC
Mr. Rheaume is a member of Bodman's Litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution Practice Group. He represents clients involved in complex commercial litigation matters and serves as local counsel for national and international law firms.
Mr. Rheaume has been selected to the Michigan Super Lawyers® Rising Stars list since 2013 for business litigation. Prior to joining Bodman, he served as a law clerk to Justice Stephen J. Markman of the Michigan Supreme Court. Based on this experience, Mr. Rheaume is an integral team member of the firm's Appellate Law Practice Group. He has written appellate and amicus briefs in state and federal appellate courts, including the United States Supreme Court.
Mr. Rheaume is President of The Federalist Society-Michigan Chapter. He serves on the alumni board of the Sigma Chi Fraternity of Michigan State University. He is also a board member of the Detroit Economic Club's Young Leader Program.
Mr. Rheaume graduated from Michigan State University College of Law ranked first in his class. While there, he served as an associate editor on The Michigan State Law Review and received Jurisprudence Awards for outstanding achievement in Secured Transactions, Professional Responsibility, Insurance Law, Construction Law, Decedents Estates & Trusts, Bankruptcy, Negotiations, and Income Taxation.
Litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution Practice Group Member, Bodman PLC
Mr. Kangas is a member of Bodman PLC’s Litigation and ADR Group. He represents diverse clients in complex commercial disputes in both state and federal courts.
Prior to joining Bodman, Mr. Kangas clerked for Hon. Ralph B. Guy, Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and Hon. Stephen J. Murphy, III of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. As a law student, he interned with Chief Justice Robert P. Young of the Michigan Supreme Court and Hon. Robert H. Cleland of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
While in law school, Mr. Kangas served as Editor of the Michigan Journal of Gender and Law, as President of the Catholic Law Students Association, and as Publicity Chair of the Federalist Society. He also served as a volunteer Student Attorney with the University of Michigan Law School’s Unemployment Insurance Project. Following law school, Mr. Kangas was accepted into the Georgetown Center for the Constitution's Originalism seminar.
Prior to practicing law, Mr. Kangas founded a presentation consulting firm, advising professionals and organizations on persuasive and impactful presentation skills.
Managing Director & Head of Global Policy and Public Investment, DigitalBridge Investment Management
Jonathan S. Adelstein is a Managing Director and Head of Global Policy and Public Investment at DigitalBridge Investment Management. In this role, Mr. Adelstein works with all DigitalBridge portfolio companies on public policy and strategic regulatory matters and reviews policy impacts on potential investments.
Prior to joining DigitalBridge, Mr. Adelstein was President and CEO of the Wireless Infrastructure Association (WIA), where he represented over 200 businesses that build, own, and operate wireless infrastructure, including infrastructure owners, developers, carriers, and professional service firms.
Prior to WIA, Mr. Adelstein was nominated to positions by both President Barack Obama and President George W. Bush and confirmed unanimously for each by the U.S. Senate. Under President Obama, Mr. Adelstein headed the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service as Administrator. There, he led the investment of nearly $7 billion under the Recovery Act in rural broadband and water infrastructure and oversaw a $60 billion loan portfolio in rural electric, telecommunications, and water infrastructure. Under President Obama, Mr. Adelstein was appointed to the White House National Science and Technology Council, which coordinates science and technology policy across the Federal government, and the White House Business Council, leading Council meetings with business leaders across America.
Mr. Adelstein was nominated by President Bush and served as Commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from 2002 to 2009. At the FCC, he worked to achieve bipartisan progress on issues including spectrum auctions, broadband expansion, widening access to the Internet and media diversity.
Before the FCC, Mr. Adelstein served at the U.S. Senate, in a number of legislative staff positions, culminating as a senior policy advisor to the Senate Majority Leader.
Mr. Adelstein received an M.A. in History and a B.A., with Distinction, in Political Science from Stanford University. He instructed undergraduates in history as a Teaching Fellow at Harvard University and a Teaching Assistant at Stanford University. He is a graduate of Phillips Academy, Andover.
Senior Counsel Legal and Government Affairs, Sprint
Mr. Foster is a Senior Counsel, Government Affairs for the Sprint Corporation with a portfolio that includes Spectrum and International Regulatory matters. Prior to joining Sprint, Mr. Foster served for 11 years at the Federal Communications Commission in a variety of positions, the last of which being Assistant Bureau Chief of the International Bureau. Mr. Foster holds a B.S. from Syracuse University, a M.B.A. from The George Washington University and a J.D. from the Tulane School of Law.
Partner, Cooley
Rob McDowell advises telecommunications, media and technology clients on their most significant regulatory, legal and business matters. As a former commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and a highly regarded industry leader, Rob has been at the forefront of the most complex and groundbreaking issues facing telecommunications.
Mr. McDowell was first appointed to the FCC by President George W. Bush in 2006 and again by President Obama in 2009. He was unanimously confirmed both times by the US Senate. During his tenure, Mr. McDowell led efforts to expand consumer access to spectrum through his work on the two largest wireless auctions in US history at the time, played a key role in the 2009 digital television transition and led efforts to establish the first federal civil rights rule in a generation by creating a ban on racially discriminatory practices in broadcast advertising. He also worked extensively on several large and complex mergers, including Sirius/XM and Comcast/NBC-Universal.
He is an advocate for internet freedom, serving on the US delegation to the 2012 World Conference on International Telecommunications and exposing an international bid to regulate vital aspects of the Internet through multilateral treaty-based organizations. Mr. McDowell authored an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal opposing multilateral internet regulation that led to a resolution passed unanimously in the House and Senate, as well as the ultimate defeat of the international bid at a treaty negation in Dubai later that year.
Prior to the FCC, Mr. McDowell was senior vice president for CompTel, the Competitive Telecommunications Association, where he led advocacy efforts before several government agencies, the White House and Congress.
Mr. McDowell is often called upon for speaking engagements and frequently appears on TV and radio. He has written opinion pieces for many high-profile publications, including the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post.
General Counsel, National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners
Mr. Ramsay is the General Counsel for the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners. NARUC was established in 1889 and is composed of the governmental agencies of the fifty states engaged in, inter alia, the regulation of telecommunications services. As General Counsel, Mr. Ramsay manages the NARUC Policy Advocacy Department covering all policy, regulatory, and legislative matters. He is also responsible for addressing all association-related legal issues – both general law and regulatory.
During his 27 years with the association, Mr. Ramsay has always had first-chair responsibility for all the association's telecommunications litigation-related activity. This includes representing NARUC's positions (1) before the Federal Communications Commission, other federal agencies, and in the courts, and (2) in discussions with, inter alia, the Office of the United States Trade Representative, the European Community, and various industry associations. Mr. Ramsay also represents the association’s interests in other fora serving, e.g., as a member of both the Separations and Universal Service Federal-State Joint Board staffs and the Section 706 Federal State Joint Conference.
Before joining NARUC, Mr. Ramsay acquired significant experience in public utility regulation as an associate with the Washington, D.C. law firm of Grove, Jaskiewicz, Gilliam and Colbert. Prior to private practice, Mr. Ramsay was employed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for three years as a rates attorney.
Mr. Ramsay received his B.S. in Chemistry in 1978 from Mississippi College, his J.D. in 1985 from Louisiana State University, and is licensed to practice (1) in both civilian and common law jurisdictions, {including the District of Columbia and Louisiana} and (2) before the bar of the Supreme Court of the United States and the bars of 10 of the 13 United States Courts of Appeal.
Managing Director & Head of Global Policy and Public Investment, DigitalBridge Investment Management
Jonathan S. Adelstein is a Managing Director and Head of Global Policy and Public Investment at DigitalBridge Investment Management. In this role, Mr. Adelstein works with all DigitalBridge portfolio companies on public policy and strategic regulatory matters and reviews policy impacts on potential investments.
Prior to joining DigitalBridge, Mr. Adelstein was President and CEO of the Wireless Infrastructure Association (WIA), where he represented over 200 businesses that build, own, and operate wireless infrastructure, including infrastructure owners, developers, carriers, and professional service firms.
Prior to WIA, Mr. Adelstein was nominated to positions by both President Barack Obama and President George W. Bush and confirmed unanimously for each by the U.S. Senate. Under President Obama, Mr. Adelstein headed the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service as Administrator. There, he led the investment of nearly $7 billion under the Recovery Act in rural broadband and water infrastructure and oversaw a $60 billion loan portfolio in rural electric, telecommunications, and water infrastructure. Under President Obama, Mr. Adelstein was appointed to the White House National Science and Technology Council, which coordinates science and technology policy across the Federal government, and the White House Business Council, leading Council meetings with business leaders across America.
Mr. Adelstein was nominated by President Bush and served as Commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from 2002 to 2009. At the FCC, he worked to achieve bipartisan progress on issues including spectrum auctions, broadband expansion, widening access to the Internet and media diversity.
Before the FCC, Mr. Adelstein served at the U.S. Senate, in a number of legislative staff positions, culminating as a senior policy advisor to the Senate Majority Leader.
Mr. Adelstein received an M.A. in History and a B.A., with Distinction, in Political Science from Stanford University. He instructed undergraduates in history as a Teaching Fellow at Harvard University and a Teaching Assistant at Stanford University. He is a graduate of Phillips Academy, Andover.
Senior Counsel Legal and Government Affairs, Sprint
Mr. Foster is a Senior Counsel, Government Affairs for the Sprint Corporation with a portfolio that includes Spectrum and International Regulatory matters. Prior to joining Sprint, Mr. Foster served for 11 years at the Federal Communications Commission in a variety of positions, the last of which being Assistant Bureau Chief of the International Bureau. Mr. Foster holds a B.S. from Syracuse University, a M.B.A. from The George Washington University and a J.D. from the Tulane School of Law.
Partner, Cooley
Rob McDowell advises telecommunications, media and technology clients on their most significant regulatory, legal and business matters. As a former commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and a highly regarded industry leader, Rob has been at the forefront of the most complex and groundbreaking issues facing telecommunications.
Mr. McDowell was first appointed to the FCC by President George W. Bush in 2006 and again by President Obama in 2009. He was unanimously confirmed both times by the US Senate. During his tenure, Mr. McDowell led efforts to expand consumer access to spectrum through his work on the two largest wireless auctions in US history at the time, played a key role in the 2009 digital television transition and led efforts to establish the first federal civil rights rule in a generation by creating a ban on racially discriminatory practices in broadcast advertising. He also worked extensively on several large and complex mergers, including Sirius/XM and Comcast/NBC-Universal.
He is an advocate for internet freedom, serving on the US delegation to the 2012 World Conference on International Telecommunications and exposing an international bid to regulate vital aspects of the Internet through multilateral treaty-based organizations. Mr. McDowell authored an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal opposing multilateral internet regulation that led to a resolution passed unanimously in the House and Senate, as well as the ultimate defeat of the international bid at a treaty negation in Dubai later that year.
Prior to the FCC, Mr. McDowell was senior vice president for CompTel, the Competitive Telecommunications Association, where he led advocacy efforts before several government agencies, the White House and Congress.
Mr. McDowell is often called upon for speaking engagements and frequently appears on TV and radio. He has written opinion pieces for many high-profile publications, including the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post.
General Counsel, National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners
Mr. Ramsay is the General Counsel for the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners. NARUC was established in 1889 and is composed of the governmental agencies of the fifty states engaged in, inter alia, the regulation of telecommunications services. As General Counsel, Mr. Ramsay manages the NARUC Policy Advocacy Department covering all policy, regulatory, and legislative matters. He is also responsible for addressing all association-related legal issues – both general law and regulatory.
During his 27 years with the association, Mr. Ramsay has always had first-chair responsibility for all the association's telecommunications litigation-related activity. This includes representing NARUC's positions (1) before the Federal Communications Commission, other federal agencies, and in the courts, and (2) in discussions with, inter alia, the Office of the United States Trade Representative, the European Community, and various industry associations. Mr. Ramsay also represents the association’s interests in other fora serving, e.g., as a member of both the Separations and Universal Service Federal-State Joint Board staffs and the Section 706 Federal State Joint Conference.
Before joining NARUC, Mr. Ramsay acquired significant experience in public utility regulation as an associate with the Washington, D.C. law firm of Grove, Jaskiewicz, Gilliam and Colbert. Prior to private practice, Mr. Ramsay was employed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for three years as a rates attorney.
Mr. Ramsay received his B.S. in Chemistry in 1978 from Mississippi College, his J.D. in 1985 from Louisiana State University, and is licensed to practice (1) in both civilian and common law jurisdictions, {including the District of Columbia and Louisiana} and (2) before the bar of the Supreme Court of the United States and the bars of 10 of the 13 United States Courts of Appeal.
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