December 18, 2002
The December 5th issue of Telecommunications Reports and the December 6th issue of Communications Daily report that a federal appeals court seems to favor Willkie client Sprint in its action against the U.S. Federal Communications Commission for implementing revised payphone rules last year without providing proper opportunity for public comment.
The December 5th issue of Telecommunications Reports and the December 6th issue of Communications Daily report that a federal appeals court seems to favor Willkie client Sprint in its action against the U.S. Federal Communications Commission for implementing revised payphone rules last year without providing proper opportunity for public comment. As reported in the press, Willkie partner David P. Murray, who represented Sprint, AT&T, and Worldcom in this appeal, told the panel of appellate judges that the agency asked for comments on a “clarification” proposed by a coalition of Bell companies, and based on that, ultimately changed the rules, which constituted a much broader action than merely clarifying something. Mr. Murray also told the court that the agency’s call for public comment was not published in the Federal Register and was released by a bureau, which did not have authority to issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. Sprint, joined by AT&T Corp. and Worldcom, Inc., is asking the court to reject the FCC’s order on pay phone compensation for failing to comply with the Administrative Procedure Act’s requirements on providing notice and opportunity for comment. David Murray is a partner in Willkie’s Litigation Department in Washington, D.C. He specializes in corporate litigation, with an emphasis on telecommunications, product safety, securities, and class actions.
