Partners Bio

Jonathan V. Cohen

Areas of Practice Telecommunications Law International Telecommunications Corporate & Commercial Transactions Born November 25, 1956, Washington, DC Education J.D., Georgetown University Law Center, 1982 B.S. (Economics), The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, 1978 Bar Admissions District of Columbia, 1983

With twenty-five years of experience in telecommunications and mass media law gained both in government and in private practice, Jonathan Cohen advises telecommunications companies in business and regulatory matters, and foreign governments in telecommunications development activities.  He joined Wilkinson Barker in July 1998 after five and a half years in senior positions at the Federal Communications Commission and The White House.

Mr. Cohen works daily with clients in the telecommunications industry on both transactional matters and regulatory policy advocacy, and was one of 86 attorneys nationwide named to the 2008 BTI Transactions All-Star Team, a group singled out by their clients for delivering outstanding service.

Mr. Cohen's government service began in January 1993 in The White House, where he served as Assistant Counsel to President Clinton in the Office of Presidential Personnel. He was responsible for investigating and interviewing candidates for sub-Cabinet level appointment, reporting his findings to senior White House staff.  Mr. Cohen moved to the FCC during a period of major technological development and legal change in telecommunications. While there, he served as:

• Special Assistant to the Chairman
• Senior Counsel, Office of Plans and Policy
• Assistant Chief for Law, Mass Media Bureau
• Associate Chief, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau

He helped develop and implement policies to encourage competition in telecommunications markets and to foster investment in robust communications networks.  During his FCC tenure, Mr. Cohen advised two FCC Chairmen, co-wrote the original rules for FCC spectrum auctions, directed the FCC's first broadband PCS auction (which at $7.7 billion earned a place in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest auction to date), helped establish new digital television and political programming policies, formulated competition policy for new and innovative spectrum uses, and spearheaded the FCC's effort to ensure that wireline telecommunications carriers adequately addressed the Year 2000 computer problem.  Mr. Cohen also served as counsel to the President's Advisory Committee on Public Interest Obligations of Digital Television Broadcasters.  In 2002, at the request of the U.S. Department of State, he served as a Private Sector Advisor to the United States delegation at the 2002 World Telecommunications Development Conference in Istanbul, Turkey.

Mr. Cohen is active in local politics in Montgomery County, MD, where he helped direct U.S. Rep. Chris Van Hollen's successful 2002 campaign to unseat an eight-term incumbent.  Before entering government service, he practiced law in Washington, DC, assisting clients in the communications industry in regulatory and transactional matters.  He regularly represented cellular telephone system operators, broadcasters and cable television system operators in policy making proceedings at the FCC, in the negotiation and consummation of asset and stock sales and acquisitions, mergers, joint ventures and financings, and in obtaining necessary regulatory approvals.

Mr. Cohen holds a B.S. degree in Economics from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center. He is an active member of the Federal Communications Bar Association, and co-chaired the association's Committee on Global Telecommunications Development for three years. He is a frequent speaker at telecom industry conventions, conferences and seminars. In 1994, Mr. Cohen received the "Hammer Award" for reinventing government from Vice President Al Gore's National Performance Review. He was named "Dealmaker of the Month" for May 1995 by The American Lawyer magazine for his leadership in the FCC's broadband PCS auctions.

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