Overview
(February 23, 2022, Washington, DC) — Steptoe's Internet, Telecom & Media practice has been named to Law360's "Practice Groups of the Year" for 2021. In an article published February 22, 2022, Law360 profiled the practice and discussed its culture and recent successes with Steptoe partner Pantelis Michalopoulos, co-head of the firm's Regulatory and Legislative Department.
According to Michalopoulos, the Steptoe group's proven ingredients for success include "some strokes of good luck, the readiness to act on that luck, and overall happiness and job satisfaction at the firm." The group has been fortunate to find the "room to advocate that certain conduct is either pro- or anti-competitive, the room to act against incumbent private and governmental entities, and to act on the convergence between what is in our clients' interests and what we think is right."
"That spans much of what we did last year, whether it is the opposition to the Trump administration's attempt to censor social media, or the concerns about the SpaceX 30,000 satellite system interfering with satellite television, or the opposition to the effort of some cities to tax streaming video," Michalopoulos continued.
Steptoe's Internet, Telecom & Media practice has built a reputation for creativity and boldness, helping clients win landmark victories in fights over the distribution of video and online content, broadband competition and spectrum for 5G. The group has pioneered new, and winning, legal and economic arguments to help its clients in the space, including the theory of interconnected markets.
The full profile can be read at Law360 (subscription required).
About Steptoe
In more than 100 years of practice, Steptoe has earned an international reputation for vigorous representation of clients before governmental agencies, successful advocacy in litigation and arbitration, and creative and practical advice in structuring business transactions. Steptoe has more than 500 lawyers and other professional staff across offices in Beijing, Brussels, Chicago, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Washington. For more information, visit www.steptoe.com.
The diversity of the firm is a critical factor in its success. The majority of Steptoe's nine offices are managed by women; the majority of Steptoe’s practice groups have women as leaders; the firm’s fourteen-person elected compensation committee includes six women; and the firm's nine-person elected executive committee includes three women. The firm's eight-person professional business services leadership is equally diverse, with half the c-suite made up of women, including three women of color, and other leaders who openly identify as LGBTQ+.