Jonathan E. Nuechterlein is the chair of WilmerHale’s Communications, Privacy and Internet Law Practice Group.
Practice
Mr. Nuechterlein's practice focuses on appellate litigation and competition issues, particularly those arising under federal telecommunications law. He represents clients in the US Supreme Court and the federal courts of appeals on a broad range of issues. He also represents major telecommunications clients before the FCC in connection with net neutrality, broadband classification and deployment, intercarrier compensation and many other topics.
From January 2000 until his arrival at the firm in early 2001, Mr. Nuechterlein served as Deputy General Counsel of the FCC, where he oversaw litigation arising from the Telecommunications Act of 1996. From 1996 to 2000, he served as Assistant to the Solicitor General in the US Department of Justice. In that capacity, he argued seven cases in the US Supreme Court, drafted the federal government's briefs in many additional cases and helped formulate the government's litigation strategy on a wide range of issues.
He is the author (with Phil Weiser) of Digital Crossroads: American Telecommunications Policy in the Internet Age (MIT Press 2005), which comprehensively analyzes the law and economics of competition in the US telecommunications industry. Digital Crossroads has been described as "a magnificent achievement" (Cornell economist Alfred Kahn) and as "invaluable to anyone trying to navigate the tumultuous changes of the digital age" (former FCC Chairman Michael Powell). For a copy of the preface to the 2007 paperback edition, click here. The authors are preparing an updated and revised second edition of Digital Crossroads, due for publication by MIT Press in 2013.