Firm Resumé
Lukas, Nace, Gutierrez & Sachs, Chartered is a professional corporation organized to practice communications law before the Federal Communications Commission, state utility commissions, and the federal courts. The firm has broad experience in all areas of communications law, including the representation of wireless telecommunications companies, telephone companies, electric companies, cable television system operators, wireless cable operators, broadcast companies, equipment manufacturers, specialized mobile radio operators and private carrier paging companies.
As an adjunct to its communications law practice, the firm provides engineering consulting services to its clients through its in-house engineering staff. The firm's consulting engineers are experienced in the design of radio paging, mobile radiotelephone and cellular radio telecommunications systems, multipoint distribution and point-to-point microwave systems, and various other telecommunications systems.
Biographical sketches of the firm's principals, associates, and engineers follow:
RUSSELL D. LUKAS, principal, received his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center, and has been practicing communications law in Washington, D.C., for over 30 years. He was a founder of Becker, Gurman & Lukas, P.C., and the senior member of Lukas, O’Brien & Raiser, Chartered. e-mail
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DAVID L. NACE, principal, received his law degree from The American University in Washington, D.C. Since 1976 he has represented telecommunications companies in regulatory matters before the Federal Communications Commission. He advises public and private companies on regulatory issues and business matters including contracts, transactions and litigation. e-mail
THOMAS GUTIERREZ, principal, received his law degree from the Columbus School of Law of the Catholic University of America, and his Masters of Business Administration degree from the University of Maryland. His communications legal career started with the Federal Communications Commission in 1979. For much of his tenure with the Commission he was the chief staff attorney for cellular radio telecommunications and was directly involved in the formulation of the FCC’s cellular radio rules. He specializes in regulatory and transaction matters associated with all forms of telecommunications, including wireless. e-mail
ELIZABETH R. SACHS, principal, received her law degree from The American University. She specialized in communications law as an attorney in the Office of Government Relations at Motorola, Inc. in Washington, D.C., and then as associate with the firm of Dempsey and Koplovitz. She has been the General Counsel for the American Mobile Telecommunications Association, Inc. since its inception, and represents a variety of commercial and private wireless operators. e-mail
GEORGE L. LYON JR., principal, received his law degree from the Marshall-Wythe Law School of the College of William and Mary. Since 1979 he has specialized in the practice of communications law with emphasis on the areas of broadcast, wireless, transactions and litigation. e-mail
PAMELA L. GIST, principal, received a masters of law degree (LL.M. in Corporations) from George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and a law degree from the University of Arkansas. She specializes in wireless telecommunications and cable television law, and handles intellectual property matters before the United States Copyright Office and the Patent and Trademark Office. e-mail
DAVID A. LaFURIA, principal, received his law degree from the Columbus School of Law of the Catholic University of America and a B.A. from Temple University. Since 1985, he has practiced before the Federal Communications Commission and numerous state public utility commissions, specializing in wireless telecommunications. He advises public and private companies in administrative proceedings, compliance matters, and transactions. e-mail
J.K. HAGE III, of counsel, received his law degree from Albany Law School and studied romance languages at New York University and the University of Madrid in Spain. He maintains offices in Utica, New York as well as in Washington D.C. He is a member of the New York State Bar Association committees on Public Utility Law, and Trusts and Estates. He advises private, closely-held communications clients, and others, on business organizations, new ventures, transactions, and succession and estate planning.
JOHN J. McAVOY, of counsel, received law degrees from the University of Idaho (LL.B.) and Yale School of Law (LL.M.). From 1963 to 1995 he practiced as a litigator with White & Case, where he was a senior partner in that firm’s Washington office. He has represented cellular telephone companies and their principals in a variety of litigation and dispute resolution proceedings.
LEONARD S. KOLSKY, Of Counsel, received his LLB from Boston University Law School and his LLM from Georgetown Law School. He holds a B.A. degree from Amherst College. Most of his career was with Motorola, Inc where he directed regulatory activities both in the U.S. and around the world. He served as a U.S. delegate at World Radio Conferences. Prior to joining Motorola, he worked for the Federal Communications Commission, and prior to joining this firm, he was Of Counsel to Steptoe & Johnson LLP. He is a member of the Massachusetts Bar. e-mail
B. LYNN F. RATNAVALE, associate, received her law degree in 1992 from the Columbus School of Law of the Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. and graduated cum laude in 1989 from Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. She is a member of the Maryland and District of Columbia bars. e-mail
TODD SLAMOWITZ, principal, received his law degree in 1994 from the Columbus School of Law of the Catholic University of America and graduated in 1988 from the University of Wisconsin, where he majored in communications. From 1996-1999, he was an attorney-advisor in the FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, specializing in narrowband PCS and paging matters. He is a member of the bar in Maryland, New Jersey and the District of Columbia. e-mail
STEVEN M. CHERNOFF, associate, has represented cellular and PCS companies in matters before the FCC and state public utility commissions involving universal service, tower siting, E-911, intermodal local number portability, and other aspects of communications law since 2001. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Chernoff was an associate in the telecommunications practice of Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP in Washington, D.C., where he represented local exchange carriers, wireless companies and cable providers. While in law school, Mr. Chernoff conducted a comprehensive study of Russian telecommunications law and interned at Bell Atlantic Corporation in Boston, where he assisted in-house counsel on local competition matters in the wake of the 1996 Telecommunications Act.
Mr. Chernoff received his law degree in 1998 from Boston College Law School in Newton, Massachusetts, and graduated in 1991 from Colby College, in Waterville, Maine, where he majored in Government. He is fluent in French and Russian, and is proficient in Spanish.
ALI KUZEHKANANI, Director of Engineering, received a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering at George Washington University. He has more than twenty years of experience in licensing and design of wireless systems, has been involved in the design, construction, and testing of cellular radio, microwave, paging, conventional mobile telephone, and PCS systems. In addition, he has been school-trained by several cellular system manufacturers, including Lucent, Nortel, Motorola and Telesciences. e-mail
LEILA G. REZANAVAZ, Senior Engineer, received a Bachelor of Science degree from George Mason University in Electrical and Computer Engineering in 1989. For the past fifteen years, she has worked on the initial design, licensing, construction, frequency planning and coordination, and optimization of the various cellular, PCS, and other types of wireless networks in the United States and international markets. Additionally, she has managed RF design teams in producing national designs for cellular licensees in European and South American countries, using Global System Mobile (“GSM”) as well as U.S. digital cellular standards employing both Time Division Multiple Access (“TDMA”) and Code Division Multiple Assess (“CDMA”). e-mail
KATHERINE PATSAS, associate, received her law degree from the Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law in 2006. She also received a certificate from the Communications Law Institute and served as President of the Entertainment Law Society. While in law school, Ms. Patsas interned with the Public Safety and Critical Infrastructure Division of the Federal Communications Commission and with the Telecommunications Industry Association. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Communications from the University of Maryland at College Park. Ms. Patsas is a member of the District of Columbia bar. e-mail
JOHN CIMKO, Of Counsel, received a law degree from Harvard University, and a B.A. from the School of Government, American University. He served at the Federal Communications Commission from 1983 to 1999, where he held several management positions in various bureaus regulating wireless and wireline communications. Before joining the FCC, he worked as an Assistant Counsel in the Office of Legislative Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives. He entered private practice in 1999, specializing in domestic and international communications, related information technology issues, and administrative law. e-mail
TAMARA DAVIS BROWN, Of Counsel, has over 16 years of telecommunications law experience. Her practice focus is wireless telecommunications. She has represented energy utilities, public safety entities and commercial wireless carriers. She is currently representing public safety agencies and commercial wireless carriers in the reconfiguration of their 800 MHz systems.
Prior to becoming of counsel with the firm, Ms. Brown was associated with several law firms also specializing in telecommunications law. She served as legal intern to former FCC Commissioner Andrew C. Barrett and legal intern and legislative aide to the late Congressman George "Mickey" Leland. Ms. Brown is a member of the Federal Communications Bar Association and has served as Vice President of the Women's Wireless Network, an organization affiliated with the Wireless Communications Association International that promotes women executives in the wireless industry. She also was the contributing author/editor to the "Telecommunications Act of 1996: Ushering in the Information Age, a Practical Guide to its Impact on the American Electronics Industry."
Ms. Brown in a graduate of Howard University School of Law and Baylor University. e-mail
