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.
Senior Fellow and Director, Center for the Economics of the Internet, Hudson Institute
Harold Furchtgott-Roth is a senior fellow and director of the Center for the Economics of the Internet at Hudson Institute.
Mr. Furchtgott-Roth founded Furchtgott-Roth Economic Enterprises in 2003. He frequently comments on issues related to the communications sector of the economy. From 2001 to 2003, he was a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute where he published A Tough Act to Follow, chronicling the difficulties implementing the Telecommunications Act of 1996.
From 1997 through 2001, Mr. Furchtgott-Roth served as a commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission. In that capacity, he served on the Joint Board on Universal Service. He is one of the few economists to have served as a federal regulatory commissioner, and the only one to have served on the Federal Communications Commission.
Before his appointment to the FCC, he was chief economist for the House Committee on Commerce and a principal staff member on the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Earlier in his career, he was a senior economist with Economists Incorporated and a research analyst with the Center for Naval Analyses.
Mr. Furchtgott-Roth is a member of the Washington Legal Foundation’s Legal Policy Advisory Board. He is the coauthor of three books: Cable TV: Regulation or Competition, with R.W. Crandall; Economics of A Disaster: The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill, with B.M. Owen et al; and International Trade in Computer Software, with S.E. Siwek.
Partner, Crowell & Moring
William L. Anderson is a partner in the Torts Practice at Crowell & Moring, LLP in Washington, D.C. He represents defendants in toxic-tort and product-liability litigation, including asbestos cases, and writes regarding the intersection of science and law.
Associate, Crowell & Moring, LLP
Kieran Tuckley is an associate in the Torts Practice at Crowell & Moring, LLP in Washington, D.C.
Professor of Law, Fordham University School of Law
Professor Johnson is currently a Professor of Law at Fordham University School of Law, and teaches in the areas of Contracts, Environmental Law, and Gun Control/Gun Rights. He was previously Professor of Legal Studies in Business at Franklin and Marshall College (1988-93), Of Counsel at Kirkpatrick and Lockhard (1990-93), Vice President and Co-owner Westar Environmental Corporation (1988-90), and an Associate at Morgan, Lewis and Bockius (1985-88).
Professor of Law, Oklahoma City University School of Law
Professor O’Shea is a nationally recognized expert on firearms law and the Second Amendment. He is a co-author of the first law school casebook on the subject, Firearms Law and the Second Amendment: Regulation, Rights, and Policy, published in 2012. He serves as the Associate Director of OCU Law’s Center for State Constitutional Law and Government.
Professor O’Shea is an honors graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School. He also holds a master’s degree in philosophy from the University of Pittsburgh. Before coming to Oklahoma City University School of Law in 2006, he practiced commercial litigation in Chicago and in his hometown of Kansas City, Missouri. He also served as a law clerk to Chief Judge Danny J. Boggs of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and to Judge John R. Gibson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
Professor of Law, UCLA School of Law
Partner, Consovoy McCarthy PLLC
Thomas R. McCarthy is a partner at Consovoy McCarthy Park PLLC. Mr. McCarthy assists clients with a wide array of issues in federal district and appellate courts across the country. He frequently represents clients in complex litigation involving diverse legal issues arising under the First Amendment, the Equal Protection Clause, the Commerce Clause, and other provisions of the U.S. Constitution. Mr. McCarthy also represents clients in litigation matters involving numerous federal statutes such as the Administrative Procedure Act, the Federal Arbitration Act, the Sherman Act, the Communications Act, the Voting Rights Act, and the Patent Act. He also represents clients with regulatory matters before the Federal Communications Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, and various other federal agencies.
Mr. McCarthy is a former law clerk to Judge David B. Sentelle of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and Judge Frank W. Bullock, Jr. of the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina. Since 2011, McCarthy has been the co-director of the George Mason University School of Law Supreme Court Clinic. He previously taught an advanced constitutional law seminar at Mason Law.
Mr. McCarthy earned his BS from the University of Notre Dame, where he was a Notre Dame Scholar, and his JD magna cum laude from George Mason University School of Law. Mr. McCarthy is a member of the Virginia and District of Columbia bars.
Judge, United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit
Judge Katsas was appointed to the D.C. Circuit in December 2017. He graduated from Princeton University and Harvard Law School, where he was an executive editor on the Harvard Law Review. Between 1989 and 1992, he served as a law clerk to Judge Edward Becker on the Third Circuit, to then-Judge Clarence Thomas on the D.C. Circuit, and to Justice Thomas on the Supreme Court. Between 1992 and 2001, he was an associate and then partner in the Washington office of Jones Day, where he specialized in appellate and complex civil litigation. Between 2001 and 2009, he served in many senior positions in the Department of Justice, including as Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division and as Acting Associate Attorney General. In 2009, he returned to Jones Day. From January to December 2017, he served as Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Counsel to the President.
Before joining the bench, Judge Katsas argued more than 75 appeals, including three cases in the Supreme Court, 13 cases in the D.C. Circuit, and cases in every other federal court of appeals. By appointment of the Chief Justice, he served on the Advisory Committee on Appellate Rules from 2013 to 2017. In 2016, he was elected to membership in the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers.
A U.N. Regulated Internet? The Case for Defending Against Persistent Intergovernmental Threats to Internet Freedom
Robert M. McDowell
Note from the Editor: The author has adapted this paper from testimony before the U.S....
An Overview of Fisher v. University of Texas
HoustonPolygraph & Criminal Law: Reading Truth Between the Lines
Assessing Competition in the Wireless Sector: How DoJ Can Clear Away the Fog from Proposed Mergers
Harold W. Furchtgott-Roth
I. Introduction and Background Over the past twenty years, the American wireless sector has grown...
Religious Liberty: The First Amendment Implications of Same-Sex Marriage and the Contraceptive Mandate
Ft. Worth, TexasSupreme Court Round-Up
Birmingham, AlabamaPennsylvania Supreme Court Excludes Any Exposure Theory in Asbestos and Toxic-Tort Litigation
William L. Anderson, Kieran Tuckley
On May 23, 2012, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision holding that the...
Reception and Remarks on the ACA
St. Paul, MinnesotaFirearms Law and the Second Amendment - Faculty Book Podcast
Nicholas Johnson, Michael O'Shea, Adam Winkler
This podcast discusses Firearms Law and the Second Amendment: Regulation, Rights and Policy by authors...
ABA Urges Confirmation of Judicial Nominees
On June 20, the ABA sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and...