Partners Bio

Michael Deuel Sullivan

Areas of Practice Telecommunications Law Administrative Litigation Appellate Litigation Internet Law Born February 14, 1952, New York, New York Education J.D., Columbus School of Law, Catholic University of America, 1978 A.B., Washington University, 1975 Bar Admissions District of Columbia, 1978 United States Supreme Court and the U.S. Courts of Appeals for D.C., Second, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, and Eleventh Circuits

Mike Sullivan joined Wilkinson Barker after serving as Chief of the FCC's Mobile Services Division, where he was responsible for the establishment and licensing of cellular service. He was also a litigator in the FCC General Counsel's office, where he handled a variety of complex telecommunications cases in the federal appellate courts. Before that, he was as a staff attorney in the Mobile Services Division, where he authored key FCC cellular rulemaking decisions.

Since joining Wilkinson Barker in 1986, Mr. Sullivan has been heavily involved in FCC and appellate litigation on behalf of a wide variety of clients. Much of his work centers on the intersection of new and old technologies and services. This convergence results in challenging problems for clients seeking to move forward when the regulatory environment has been structured around the past. Thus, he assists clients implementing new technologies in a changing regulatory environment through waivers, rule interpretations, and rulemaking proceedings.

In the telecom field, Mr. Sullivan oversees extensive FCC licensing and compliance matters for wireless companies. He also assists clients involved in local, interexchange, and international telecommunications with obtaining regulatory approvals and filing tariffs. He also provides assistance to clients with respect to nontraditional uses of the telecommunications spectrum, bringing to bear his technical background as a broadcast engineer.

Mr. Sullivan also assists clients involved in new information technologies such as the Internet and broadband wireless. His extensive experience in many aspects of the telecommunications field is invaluable as clients attempt to deal with issues concerning voice over IP, FCC regulation of ISP interconnection arrangements, and international data transmission.

Mr. Sullivan is past chair and co-chair of the Federal Communications Bar Association's Land Mobile Practice Committee and is a member of the Advisory Board for Pike & Fischer Communications Regulation. He is the co-author, with partner L. Andrew Tollin, of Litigation before the Federal Communications Commission, published as the lead article in a collection entitled Inside the Minds: Telecom Law Best Practices (Aspatore Books, 2006).

When not practicing law, Mike enjoys cross-country skiing and hiking with his wife, Angela Campbell, and their two children. He also is a woodworker and a computer enthusiast.

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