Former Senior FCC Counsel Ajit Pai Joins Jenner & Block's Washington, D.C. Office

CHICAGO, April 25, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Former high-level FCC attorney Ajit V. Pai has joined Jenner & Block as a partner in its Washington, D.C. office.  Mr. Pai comes to the Firm from the Office of the General Counsel of the Federal Communications Commission, where he has served as Deputy General Counsel, Associate General Counsel, and Special Advisor to the General Counsel.  He will be a member of the Firm's nationally recognized Communications Practice.

"We are very excited to have Ajit join the Firm," said Susan C. Levy, Managing Partner of Jenner & Block.  "His extensive knowledge of the FCC, his in-depth experience at the Department of Justice and in the Senate, and his in-house work at a prominent telecommunications company will augment our top-tier Communications Practice."

Mr. Pai joined the FCC Office of the General Counsel in 2007.  As Deputy General Counsel, he had supervisory responsibility over 40 lawyers in the Administrative Law Division, handling a wide variety of regulatory and transactional matters involving the cable, Internet, wireless, media, and satellite industries, among others.  

During his time with the Commission, he advised FCC Chairmen of both political parties and each of the current (and several former) Commissioners.  He worked on virtually all significant matters that came through the agency, including Internet network management, wireless spectrum auctions, the Sirius-XM merger, and media ownership questions.  Mr. Pai worked with every agency Bureau and Office on a wide variety of rulemakings, adjudications, and administrative matters and had significant legal and policy input on virtually every major decision the agency considered.  He also was responsible for non-communications legal matters, including privacy, intellectual property and environmental law.

Mr. Pai has held a number of important public-sector jobs concerning telecommunications, administrative, and constitutional law, beginning as an Honors Program trial attorney with the Telecommunications Task Force of the United States Department of Justice's Antitrust Division.  He has also served as Deputy Chief Counsel to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts; Senior Counsel in the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Policy; and Chief Counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Property Rights, also serving as general counsel to the Senator who was the Subcommittee's chairman and ranking member.

"Ajit has worked nearly everywhere in government that bears on telecommunications, and he possesses a unique insight into the changes that are occurring in the industry, both in the market and in government regulation.  This makes him a tremendous asset to our clients," said Samuel L. Feder, Chair of Jenner & Block's Communications Practice, and former FCC General Counsel.  "I was very impressed with him when he was my Associate General Counsel at the FCC and I am looking forward to working with him again," Mr. Feder added.

Mr. Pai also has experience in the private sector, serving as Associate General Counsel for the Fortune 50 communications leader Verizon Communications Inc. from 2001 to 2003.  There he worked on regulatory issues, trial and appellate litigation matters, antitrust issues, counseling of business executives, internal compliance issues, and advocacy for the company.

"I am extremely pleased to be joining Jenner & Block," said Mr. Pai.  "I am looking forward to using my public sector experience to build a sophisticated private communications practice at the Firm."

For more information about Mr. Pai's career, please see http://www.jenner.com/apai.

SOURCE Jenner & Block