Richard E. Wiley Interviewed by Best Lawyers on Being Top-Ranked for 30 Years

Wiley Rein Chairman Richard E. Wiley was featured in a supplement to The Washington Post published by The Best Lawyers in America, which has ranked him at the top of his profession in the Washington, DC area for the past 30 years.

In an interview with Best Lawyers, the well-established, peer-review directory for attorneys, Mr. Wiley credited his success primarily to Wiley Rein’s “deep bench” of attorneys.  “Through the years, I have enjoyed and benefitted from the opportunity to work with many talented lawyers who have helped immensely in building my practice,” he said.

Mr. Wiley has been named to Best Lawyers’ list of top-ranked attorneys every year since the directory was first published in 1983.  He co-founded the firm that same year and heads the Communications Practice, the largest of its kind in the nation.  Mr. Wiley served as chairman, commissioner, and general counsel of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) during the 1970s, when he worked to foster competition and lessen regulation in communications.  He chaired the FCC’s Advisory Committee on Advanced Television Service for nine years, a period that led to his being dubbed the “father of high-definition television.”

“I was especially proud to lead our nation’s entry into digital television,” Mr. Wiley said.  He also noted that the Internet has dramatically changed the communications industry over the past 30 years, “greatly expanding and diversifying the services that it provides to the public.”

“Inevitably, this transformation has impacted the communications law practice and will continue to do so well into the future,” he told Best Lawyers.