Mr. Donahue counsels clients in a variety of transactional, operational, regulatory and public policy
matters. Through his unique combination of in-house and outside counsel experiences serving some of
the nation’s top communications service providers, Mr. Donahue has developed a proven record for
delivering strategically sound, pragmatic management and proactive strategies for business clients.
In private practice for more than fifteen years, Mr. Donahue spent his formative years at one of the
nation’s leading communications law firms. More recently, Mr. Donahue served as senior counsel for a
nationwide CLEC and Tier I Internet provider with one of the largest IP transit networks in North
America. Today, Mr. Donahue employs his deep knowledge and understanding of a broad range of federal
and state legal and regulatory issues to serve our firm’s clients.
Mr. Donahue’s clients have included competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs), domestic and
international interexchange carriers (IXCs), ISPs, Broadband networks and service providers, providers
of Internet Protocol (IP)-enabled services, including Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and other
advanced services, wireless and MVNO service providers, xDSL providers, satellite service providers,
cloud communications and cloud-computing providers, video relay service (VRS) providers, communications
equipment manufacturers and other communications and technology companies.
Mr. Donahue’s practice has focused on the following areas:
- Transactional Experience: Mr. Donahue has advised a wide-variety of clients with regard
to mergers and acquisitions, transfers of control and other restructurings; asset acquisitions
and sales; debt and equity financing and security arrangements; and transactions in bankruptcy.
Mr. Donahue has also drafted and negotiated interconnection, traffic exchange and other
inter-carrier agreements; pole attachment, building access, rights-of-way and franchise
agreements; wholesale and retail commercial agreements, including customer, vendor, service and
sales contracts, and non-disclosure agreements; and multi-state, multi-party settlement
agreements.
- Regulatory Compliance: Mr. Donahue has managed national licensing activities for numerous
clients, including preparing and prosecuting applications for CLEC, IXC, and ETC authorizations
and petitions for approval of mergers, transfers of control and authority to issue securities or
enter into credit arrangements before state PUCs throughout the United States and its
territories, and applications for international authority and to transfer control of
international and domestic authority before the FCC. Mr. Donahue has also advised clients
regarding the myriad of federal and state regulatory compliance obligations applicable to
licensed telecommunications carriers, VoIP providers, ETCs, VRS providers and other
communications providers, including USF and other contribution mechanisms; E911/911 and NG911;
CALEA; CPNI, data security and privacy; LNP and numbering issues; tariffs; telemarketing,
slamming and cramming; and other requirements, as well as state regulatory and corporate annual
reporting and tax obligations.
- Public Policy Advocacy: Mr. Donahue has assisted senior management in formulating and
implementing regulatory and legislative policy to respond to the continually evolving regulatory
framework for competitive telecommunications and Internet services. Mr. Donahue has regularly
engaged in oral and written advocacy on behalf of a variety of companies before the FCC, state
PUCs, taxing authorities and other regulatory agencies and has prepared numerous comments,
petitions, and other policy filings in proceedings before these agencies. Mr. Donahue has also
frequently met with the Commissioners and Staff of these agencies to advocate a client’s
position or for policy or regulatory change.
- Litigation: Mr. Donahue has authored and co-authored briefs, motions, discovery,
petitions and other filings in cases before federal and state courts. He has also participated
in numerous state commission proceedings, including ICC reform, interconnection arbitration,
inter-carrier compensation and other contract disputes, Triennial Review, Section 271, and
UNE pricing proceedings. Mr. Donahue has also represented clients in FCC and state PUC
enforcement actions, show cause proceedings, and formal and informal complaints.
Mr. Donahue is a graduate of the University of Southern California and received his Juris
Doctorate, cum laude, from the Columbus School of Law at Catholic University. During law
school, Mr. Donahue served as Production Editor of the CommLaw Conspectus.
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