J. Tyson Covey

J. Tyson “Ty” Covey is a highly regarded litigator whose practice focuses primarily on telecommunications, utilities, and related litigation. In 2016, Ty was recognized by Best Lawyers in America as “the ‘Lawyer of the year’” in Chicago for Administrative/Regulatory Law.

As trial, appellate, and regulatory counsel for AT&T (formerly SBC Communications, previously Ameritech), Ty has provided authoritative legal guidance in connection with issues relating to the Telecommunications Act of 1996, including representation in state regulatory proceedings and state and federal court cases at both trial and appellate levels across the nation.

Ty has tried numerous contested hearings before state regulatory agencies and has handled several appeals of such cases in state and federal courts nationwide. In the area of telecommunications and administrative law, he has served as trial and regulatory counsel for AT&T and its operating entities in state commission arbitrations and in Section 251/252 and Section 271 proceedings before the FCC and in related state and federal court litigation. His principal focus in this context has been on deregulation, interconnection, unbundling, pricing and preemption matters.

Prior to joining Mayer Brown in 1996, Ty worked with another leading law firm. Between 1991 and 1993, he clerked as a Staff Attorney for the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

Education :

• University of Illinois College of Law, JD, magna cum laude
• Augustana College, BA, magna cum laude

Admissions :

• Illinois
• US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
• US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
• US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
• US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

Activities : American Bar Association, Litigation Section, Administrative Law Section, and Public Utilities, Communications and Transportation Law Section

Experience :

• Regulated Industries: Regulatory counsel for telecommunications companies in a variety of proceedings before state and federal regulatory agencies.
• Mergers, Acquisitions and Takeovers: Counsel for Ameritech Corporation and SBC Communications in state regulatory approvals of SBC/Ameritech, SBC/AT&T, and AT&T/BellSouth mergers.
• Emergency Litigation: Counsel for plaintiffs and defendants in connection with motions for temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions in federal courts and state agencies.
• Natural Gas: Trial/regulatory counsel in “performance-based ratemaking” proceedings and various state agency complaint cases.