Subject: [NEXTEL-1] FCC Counsel

From: [email-masked]
Date: Mon, 07 Jun 2004 11:30:49 -0400

-------- Original Message --------
From: Robert Schwaninger <[email-masked]>
Subject: FCC Counsel

Having started my career working for Jeremiah Courtney, referred to in
Jack's message, I learned a lot of things.  Having now followed in those
footsteps, I have learned the experiences of a lifetime trying to get
operators to understand that a healthy relationship with their legal
counsel
is essential to success in this business.  I remember once in one of my
too
frequent, undiplomatic moments, I responded to a question at a seminar
by
saying, "If my eyes lit up, I had an antenna poking out of my head, and
there was coax strung out of my backside, you guys would line up to pay
$10,000 to install me on your site.  But you won't fork over a couple
hundred a year to make sure that your licenses are in order.  That's
silly.
Without the licensing being right, the rest doesn't really matter."
 
I agree with Alan's comments.  Too much licensing is performed by
"consultants," two-way shop owners, and somebody's cousin, Myra, who
needed
a job.  With a little knowledge and a few trips to the FCC's ULS,
suddenly
we have a nation full of people who THINK they know what they are doing.
Years ago, out of curiosity, we counted up the number of rules and laws
with
which someone should be familiar to fill in just the first box on the
old
Form 574.  It came out to be several dozen.  Just by filling in that one
box, the application preparer was, in essence, claiming to have read and
understood all of those rule sections.  Trust me when I say that few
non-professionals do.
 
Okay, now the tricky part of this diatribe.  There are operators who get
all
of their knowledge about licensing opportunities from frequency
coordinators
or professional organizations or some combination of both.  I want to be
clear about this --- these groups are knowledgeable, skilled and quite
helpful.  But they don't replace a lawyer who is paid and committed to
your,
individual, unique business or organization.  They are not charged to
maintain confidentiality, therefore, you may not feel comfortable
telling
them all of the facts.  So, the answers you get might be wrong simply
because you were not in a position to be totally candid.  Sometimes,
that
one little, embarrassing fact can change entirely the approach to
problem
solving.  Therefore, gather information from all sources, but only make
decisions based on getting an honest answer based on your recitation of
all
of the facts. 
 
Despite the FCC's efforts to make the ULS "plug and play" for licensees,
the
fact remains that application preparation remains one of the biggest
pitfalls for many operators.  As for lapsed licenses, these have always
been
a problem for operators who fail to build and execute upon good internal
administrative practices.  I agree with Todd that if the attorney said
he
would handle it, and didn't, the fault is his or hers.  Our firm refuses
to
take on the responsibility for thousands of licenses in our files and
the
unique expiration dates of each.  We, of course, perform the necessary
actions to obtain renewal, but we do not take responsibility for keeping
track of renewal dates.  There are some responsibilities which are best
left
to the licensee.  It requires no legal training to read a date.
 
That said, make sure the lawyer knows what their doing.  What I am
supposed
to do with a client whose local lawyer thought that they would play FCC
lawyer and screws up the whole deal?  I see this in license
applications,
tower registration, site leases, contracts for sale, and more.  For all
of
you who (and in some cases correctly) believe that lawyers are a
necessary
evil to be avoided at all costs, let me state this clearly.  Lawyers,
like
plumbers, charge more to fix it than do to it right in the first place.
Fixing things always takes more time and with lawyers, time is money.
 
So, if I could pass on a little wisdom to the folks in this group, get a
good lawyer who will work with you and understand your goals and
resources.
Tell him or her what you are trying to achieve in the short, middle and
long
run; and come up with a plan for getting there.  Protect via good
practices
what you have and add to it as the opportunities arise.  Do it
professionally, logically, and efficiently.  The results are that while
other operators are busy fixing their problems, you will be devoting
time to
getting closer to your goals.  
 
Call Alan, Liz, Russell, Marjorie, Tom, Rick, John, David, or even me,
and
make sure that the next step you take isn't into the abyss.  We may
disagree
on many things, but (no shock here) we all believe that we can help our
clients.  And, frankly, we do.
 
Robert

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