Gardner Gillespie

Gardner F. Gillespie Of Counsel in the Business Trial Practice Group in the firm’s Washington D.C. office. Mr. Gillespie’s practice focuses on complex judicial and administrative cable television and telecom litigation.

In his long career, he has handled dozens of appeals in the United States Courts of Appeal and state supreme and appellate courts; he has appeared before trial courts in California, New York, Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Nevada, Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan, Georgia, Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, and the District of Columbia. He has also handled hearings and arbitrations before administrative agencies in Ohio, Hawaii, California, New York, Kentucky, Nevada, New Mexico, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and the Federal Communications Commission.

His recent primary focus has been on infrastructure issues including access to rights-of-way, conduits and utility poles; municipal franchising disputes; disputes related to municipal and state-mandated franchise fees and fees in support of Public, Educational and Governmental (“PEG”) channels; clearing bandwidth for new uses and services; competition from new providers and disputes related to cable operators’ institutional networks.

Experience:

• Obtained summary judgment in federal district court in North Carolina against a municipal claim for an Institutional Network valued at $40 million
• Successful litigation for three different clients in Florida, Michigan, Missouri, Illinois, and Texas related to disputes over reclaiming channel capacity devoted to PEG channels
• Lead counsel in a two-week trial in Florida regarding regulatory classification of advanced cable services and claims in excess of $30 million
• Representation of cable operators in regulatory adjudications and rulemaking proceedings on infrastructure issues at the FCC and numerous state regulatory agencies, including California, Ohio and Kentucky
• An investigation by a state attorney general regarding pass-through of franchise fees on subscribers’ bills
• Formal franchise renewal and modification disputes with municipalities in Maine, Kansas, Wisconsin, Texas, Michigan, Maryland and Ohio

Education:

• J.D., University of Virginia School of Law, 1973, Order of the Coif, Executive Editor, Virginia Law Review
• B.A., Williams College, 1967, cum laude

Admissions:

• District of Columbia
• U.S. Supreme Court
• U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit, Second, Fourth, Fifth, Eighth, Eleventh

Memberships:

• Member, American Bar Association
• Member, Federal Communications Bar Association