Bradley Werner, LLC is a law firm that was founded in 1998 and based in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis/St. Paul. The Bradley Telecommunications Law Group includes Mike Bradley, Nancy Werner and Michael Athay, together bringing decades of telecommunications legal experience to the firm.
Municipal Cable Television and Video Services Law
Bradley Werner has more than 20 years of experience nationwide in negotiating and drafting cable franchise agreements, renewal agreements and rights-of-way-use agreements on behalf of local governments, in both large and small markets. The firm also has represented several non-profit access television organizations. In representing municipal clients, the firm has appeared before federal and state district and appellate courts, the FCC, and the public utility and service commissions. The firm successfully represented the City of Minneapolis in complex cable litigation resulting in a multi-million-dollar settlement. The firm also recently litigated and negotiated one of the largest rate settlements in the country, resulting in significant refunds to subscribers across the country and lower equipment rates into the future.
Experiences in cable television law include:
- Cable and IP Video Franchising
- Franchise Renewal
- Franchise Transfers
- Competitive Franchising
- Rate Regulation
- Customer Service Disputes
- Franchise Noncompliance Litigation
- Public, Educational, and Governmental Access
- Defamation and Constitutional Issues
- Cable Litigation
- MDU Access
Telecommunications and Broadband
Bradley Werner, LLC has represented a wide variety of municipal clients, ranging from large and small cities to municipal joint powers commissions and major school districts, in nearly every facet of federal and state telecommunications regulation and broadband matters. Among other things, the firm’s experience in federal and state telecommunications law includes:
- Section 253 Litigation
- Telecommunications Franchising
- Open Video Systems
- Rights-of-Way Ordinances
- Telecommunications and Broadband Planning
- Tower and Small Cell Siting
- Master Telecommunications Ordinances
- Zoning and Tower Siting Ordinances
- Municipal Internet Service Providers
- Federal Universal Service E-Rate and Lifeline Program Participation and Compliance
- Submission of Comments in Federal and State Rulemaking Proceedings
- Federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act analysis and compliance
Government Affairs
Government affairs is another area where the firm has advised municipal clients. The firm has assisted local governments in the review and advocacy of legislation, including legislative testimony, as well as participating in proceedings at the FCC and other federal and state regulatory agencies. Our experience includes:
- Development of National and Statewide Policies and Model Ordinances on Telecommunications Issues.
- Advocacy on Competitive Access to Multiple Dwelling Units (Apartments and Condos).
- Numerous FCC Filings on Cable Franchising, Wireless and Wireline Telecommunications Issues, Consumer Protection, Broadband and Public Safety Communications.
Cable Administrative Services
The firm also provides professional and reliable administrative services to public and non-profit entities. The firm’s experience with complex regulatory matters naturally brings a significant insight to the administration of regulated entities and regulatory bodies. Bradley Werner works with our organization clients to bring government affairs, legal, and administrative services to organizations at a reasonable cost. Through our administration, Bradley Werner has reduced the need for franchising authorities to expend resources on full-time staff or facilities to conduct administrative business.
Representative Clients
The firm’s municipal representative clients include:
- City of Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Sioux Falls, South Dakota
- The firm also represents a majority of the Twin Cities suburban cable commissions.