FORMER VERIZON GENERAL COUNSEL JOINS KERBEY HARRINGTON PINKARD
FORMER VERIZON GENERAL COUNSEL JOINS KERBEY HARRINGTON PINKARD
Appointment of John F. Raposa as Of Counsel boosts firm’s regulatory, transactional and public policy practice groups
(Boston, MA) –– Kerbey Harrington Pinkard today announced that former Verizon Senior Vice President and General Counsel John F. Raposa has joined the firm as Of Counsel. Mr. Raposa’s extensive practice includes more than 25 years of providing strategic legal counsel in the communications, entertainment, and video distribution fields, as well as federal and state regulatory and compliance expertise. At Verizon, Mr. Raposa served as lead attorney directly responsible for developing and implementing the deployment of Verizon’s Fios video service across the company’s footprint, which is the most significant deployment of an all-fiber optic network and competitive cable service ever undertaken in the United States.
“John Raposa will serve as an integral member of the firm’s core telecommunications’ and government affairs practice groups, providing clients with the consummate level of understanding of and experience with highly complex legal, public policy, and regulatory issues,” said John Harrington, Managing Partner at Kerbey Harrington Pinkard.
“John’s proven, widely recognized track record of innovation, strategic expertise, and success in the cable, IP and wireless video, broadband, and voice businesses speaks to his unique level of legal sophistication within a dynamic industry that continually advances with the introduction of new technologies and innovative services,” said Brendon Pinkard, a shareholder with Kerbey Harrington Pinkard. “John has been at the forefront of virtually every significant legal and technological development in the telecommunications industry over the last quarter century. His experience, vision, and practical experience in implementing successful, paradigm-shifting strategies and solutions will be invaluable to our firm and its clients.”
Prior to joining Kerbey Harrington, Mr. Raposa served in four distinct general counsel positions for a wide-range of Verizon lines of business. Most recently, he served as general counsel for all of Verizon’s video and cable services – both wireline and wireless – including Verizon’s premier Fios TV service, development of next generation video service (IPTV), the deployment of the mobile video app “go90” as well as video programming/content acquisition and management and CDN (content delivery network) services.
Mr. Raposa previously served as general counsel for Verizon’s wireline consumer and mass business markets unit, representing the company on all legal issues relative to its voice, video and broadband service offerings in nine northeastern states, the District of Columbia, California, Florida and Texas. He also served as Responsible Compliance Executive for this business unit.
Mr. Raposa earlier served as the general counsel for Verizon’s shared services organization, which included wireline network, sourcing/supply chain, real estate, and financial services, and for its information technology and information security groups. He also served as Responsible Compliance Executive for these organizations. Prior to that role, Mr. Raposa oversaw Verizon’s domestic telecom and wholesale business units on all legal issues relevant to their operations.
Prior to joining Verizon, Mr. Raposa served in a number of corporate positions of in California, Texas and Washington DC for Verizon and predecessor organizations. He joined Verizon predecessor GTE Corp. as a litigation and labor/employment law attorney, where he represented the company in regulatory matters before the California Public Utilities Commission. Following the merger of GTE and Bell Atlantic to create Verizon, he worked on a number of strategic projects, including video-related legal and policy matters. He later assumed nationwide legal responsibility for the deployment of the company’s signature Fios TV service, including franchising, operational and programming/content issues.
An honors graduate from the Ohio State University College of Law and member of the Ohio State Journal on Dispute Resolution, Mr. Raposa earned an undergraduate degree in economics and government from Cornell University.
Mr. Raposa is a member of the Massachusetts, California and Texas bars, and has been registered as in-house counsel in New Jersey and Virginia. He is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, several U.S. Courts of Appeals and a number of U.S. District Courts.
About Kerbey Harrington Pinkard
Kerbey Harrington Pinkard is recognized as a leading law firm in a number of complex practice areas, including telecommunications, regulatory policy, licensing and permitting, intellectual property, government relations, municipal law and real estate. The firm represents clients on telecommunications matters throughout United States, including the licensing of fiber optic, cable television and wireless networks; local, state and federal regulatory compliance; contract negotiations; intellectual property registration and licensing; and the permitting and siting of telecommunications facilities and real estate. Kerbey Harrington Pinkard, and its affiliated consulting firm, Telecommunications Insight Group, leverage unparalleled industry, policy and legal experience for clients to deliver specialized expertise on behalf of telecommunications clientele.