By: Laura Phillips
Glenn Richards has been practicing communications law for more than 39 years and he still is excited by what he does for clients and by the development of new technologies. He joined the Washington, DC office of Dickinson Wright in May to start the firm’s communications practice. He represents service providers, equipment manufacturers, investors and users of communications services in regulatory and transactional matters. I was delighted to talk to him about what he is doing these days and to get his perspective on maintaining a vibrant communications practice over the course of many years.
Q. What attracted you to the field of communications?
A. I was a journalism major at West Virginia University and enjoyed a law and ethics class that was required as part of the curriculum. My professor for that class, Paul Atkins, showed me a brochure for a communications law program at New York Law School (NYLS). I applied and was accepted. My conundrum was that I had an outstanding offer to join the Charleston (WV) Gazette as a news reporter following graduation in the summer of 1982; I had interned at the paper the prior summer. I decided to go to law school. NYLS had a number of communications law classes and a communications law clinic. Professor Michael Botein, who ran the program, helped me get a summer position in Washington after my 1L year with the Telecommunications Research and Action Center (TRAC). This was in 1983. TRAC was a nonprofit led by Sam Simon and TRAC’s mission was to help educate consumers about the changes taking place in the telecommunications industry. The following summer I worked for the City of New York on telecom policy matters. After that, I was hooked.
Q. Tell us about the various places you’ve worked through the years.
A. Following graduation from NYLS in 1985, I was hired as the first full-time telecommunications attorney by the City of New York in the newly formed Energy and Telecommunications Office, under Mayor Ed Koch. Most of my time was spent representing the City before the New York Public Service Commission in proceedings that were defining the evolving competitive landscape. I was also part of a team responsible for determining whether the City should replace the 10,000 New York Telephone pay phones that were on City streets or in City-owned buildings with the newly available customer-owned pay phones (we didn’t).
In 1987, I moved to Washington to join the state regulatory team for Sprint. We covered 17 states with three lawyers – there was lots of travel to state public service commissions to help Sprint get expanded operating authority while simultaneously trying to keep the Bell Companies and AT&T from gaining competitive advantages. I liked living and working in New York – I’m originally from Brooklyn – but I recognized that there would be far more communications law opportunities in Washington. It was a difficult move because my wife was pregnant with our first child, and we were moving to a city where neither of us had relatives or connections.
In 1989, I joined Gurman Kurtis Blask & Freedman, a small communications boutique to work with Lon Levin on satellite matters – specifically representing the recently licensed American Mobile Satellite Corporation (AMSC). At the time, I had very little FCC experience and had to immerse myself in satellite rules and regulations. I wasn’t looking to leave Sprint, but my wife was pregnant with triplets and Gurman offered me a substantial (at the time) raise and less travel. I may be one of the few people that changed jobs twice while his wife was pregnant.
Lon subsequently left Gurman in 1991 to join AMSC and moved their FCC work to Bruce Jacobs at Fisher Wayland Cooper Leader & Zaragoza, who co-counseled on a number of AMSC matters. Bruce asked me to join Fisher Wayland, which I did, and became a partner in 1994. As can happen over time, the firm grew through various mergers and combinations; Fisher Wayland merged with Shaw Pittman in 2000 and Shaw Pittman merged with Pillsbury Winthrop in 2005.
The decision to move to Dickinson Wright was more complicated. Pillsbury is a great firm, but I was feeling a need for change and was looking for an opportunity to start a communications practice in a firm that did not have one. I had not heard of Dickinson before the first interview but quickly became convinced that they were committed to supporting the practice and had a good track record of integrating other new practices into the firm. I also liked the lower billing rates and the prospect of fewer conflicts. Thankfully, all my clients have moved to Dickinson and Lee Petro joined me from Pillsbury in June, so we now can call it a group.
Q. Have things unfolded in your career more or less the way you planned?
A. I don’t plan much. Other than recognizing the upside to working in Washington early in my career and making that move, changes just happened. I was thrilled to make partner at Fisher Wayland in 1994 and equally thrilled that another law firm was willing to offer me a position 30 years later.
Q. What’s the most interesting or challenging thing that you’ve done in your current position?
A. It is all interesting and challenging and the fact that things constantly change is what keeps me interested and is just fun. New technologies. New administrations.
I am most proud of my work with the Voice on the Net Coalition – a trade association I have represented since 1998. VON has given me the opportunity to help shape the regulatory framework for internet communications – originally just voice, but now video, data and messaging. And VON members have some of the smartest in-house attorneys I have had the opportunity to work with.
Q. Is or was there something interesting or someone who surprised or impressed you during your career and why?
A. My former colleagues Lon Levin, Bruce Jacobs, Cliff Harrington and Dick Zaragoza were all brilliant lawyers and impressive in their own ways. I learned so much from each of them on how to be better and I keep drawing from that well in assisting clients.
Q. What do you enjoy reading?
A. Mostly fiction. I just finished Joey Hartstone’s “The Local” about whether the defendant in an IP infringement case in Marshall, Texas may have murdered the judge. Up next are Harrison Key’s “The World’s Largest Man” and Richard Ford’s “Be Mine” the last in his Frank Bascombe series. For folks looking for a great read as we slip from summer to fall, you won’t go wrong with “Demon Copperhead,” “The Lincoln Highway,” or “The Heaven and Earth Grocery.”
Q. Is there something (a hobby or other tidbit) people don’t know about you that you are willing to share?
A. It’s no secret but I play pickleball three times a week (weather permitting). In addition, for the last 11 years, my wife and I have lived on a farm in upper Montgomery County, Maryland, and we take care of four horses, two dogs and two cats. Not what a guy from Brooklyn ever envisioned doing, but it is great.
Q. Can you share your perspective on the pitfalls to avoid or other career advice for those who are just getting started in the communications field?
A. We are fortunate to work in an area of the law with constant change – the technology and the regulators. Embrace the change. It is not enough to know the law – to really assist clients, you need to understand how the technology works and the market dynamics. Read everything you can. Listen and ask questions. If you say you are going to do something, do it. If you make a mistake, own it and fix it. Finally, make time for others and be kind and gracious to everybody.
Q. How has your life changed as a result of COVID-19 and what are you looking forward to doing next?
A. After 30 years of commuting to the office five days a week, I am embracing the hybrid work model. I am currently going into the office two days a week. Not sure when next is, but I do enjoy spending time with my two grandsons, now ages 4 and 7. Likely next will include more pickleball, more biking, more reading, and more travelling.
Q. How long have you been an FCBA member, and what to you is the value of FCBA membership?
A. I joined the FCBA in either 1989 or 1991. I have enjoyed my co-chair roles on the state and local practice committee and more recently on the CLE committee. I love the comradery and the educational opportunities that the FCBA offers. I recently spoke with a law school student who is now a student member, so it’s comforting to see that younger attorneys are still drawn to this practice and have the FCBA as a resource. And the FCBA staff is the best.