Ms. Rule is a senior associate and heads the firm’s Dispute Resolution and Litigation Practice Group.
In addition, Ms. Rule co-chairs the firm’s Communications Taxes and Fee Practice. Ms. Rule counsels
clients in a variety of transactional, land use, regulatory and litigation matters.
Her litigation experience includes representing corporate clients and individuals
in arbitration proceedings, state and federal court proceedings, and state and federal administrative
adjudications. In addition, Ms. Rule has substantial appellate experience at both the state and federal
level.
In her transactional and regulatory practice, Ms. Rule assists clients with drafting and negotiation of
a wide variety of commercial contracts and license agreements. Ms. Rule also has gained substantial
expertise in the taxation and regulatory treatment of evolving and advanced communications services,
including cloud-based services and IP-enabled services. Ms. Rule has assisted numerous VoIP providers
in understanding the complexities of state taxation of communications services and in complying with
ever-changing state and federal regulatory requirements.
Ms. Rule’s clients have included VoIP providers, communications equipment manufacturers, providers
of cloud-based communications services, Competitive Local Exchange Carriers (CLECS), prepaid
communications providers, gift card providers, mobile payment providers, domestic and international
long distance providers (IXCs), wireless and MVNO providers, municipal and commercial providers of
communications services, municipal and publicly-owned utilities, consumer advocacy groups, small
business owners, real estate developers, commercial landlords, and software developers.
Ms. Rule is a graduate with honors from Texas A&M University, and she earned
her Juris Doctorate from Washington & Lee University School of Law in 1999.
During law school, Ms. Rule served as an Assistant Editor of The Race and Ethnic
Ancestry Law Journal and participated in the Black Lung Legal Practice Clinic. Ms.
Rule began her communications law practice upon completion of her clerkship with
the United States Department of Labor.
During her legal career, Ms. Rule’s practice has focused on the followings areas:
- General Transactional Experience: Ms. Rule provides assistance to a variety
of small and mid-sized entities with regard to general commercial
transactional matters, including the formation of corporations, partnerships
and limited liability companies, the drafting of shareholder and other
corporate governance documents, and the drafting and negotiation of asset
acquisition agreements. Ms. Rule also has experience representing both
landlords and tenants in drafting and negotiating commercial lease agreements
and associated documents.
- Communications Transactional Experience: Ms. Rule has assisted a wide-variety
of clients with regard to the drafting and negotiation of technology and
license agreements, including pole attachment agreements, spectrum leasing
agreements, communications tower leasing agreements, municipal cable
franchises, retransmission consent agreements, program licensing agreements,
and software license agreements. Ms. Rule also advises a variety of clients
with regard to the creation and implementation of asset management policies
and agreements. In particular, Ms. Rule has worked with commercial landlords
and communications providers in creating and negotiating communications access
policies and agreements that allow communications providers access to
residential and commercial properties in order to serve commercial and
residential customers. Similarly, Ms. Rule has advised municipally owned and
publicly owned utilities with regard to their utility asset management practices
and has negotiated asset management agreements with communications providers
on behalf of municipal and publicly-owned utilities.
- Regulatory Compliance: Ms. Rule advises clients as to the evolving regulatory
framework for developing technologies such as Voice over Internet Protocol,
Broadband over Powerlines, and Wi-Fi broadband access. Ms. Rule assists
clients in creating and implementing workable communications-related
policies and practices that comply with rapidly changing state and federal
requirements. Ms. Rule also drafts and prosecutes applications for certificates
of public convenience and necessity to provide local exchange and intrastate,
interexchange telecommunications services before state public utility
commissions throughout the contiguous United States.
- Litigation: Ms. Rule has experience representing communications providers,
municipal and publicly owned utilities, and municipalities before federal and
state appellate courts, and she co-authored an amicus brief in Nixon v.
Missouri Municipal League before the United States Supreme Court. Ms. Rule
represents clients in regulatory adjudications and rulemaking proceedings
before state public service commissions and the Federal Communications
Commission. Ms. Rule also defends and prosecutes general commercial contract
disputes in state and federal court.
1420 Spring Hill Road
703.714.1312 (telephone)
703.714.1330 (fax)