Founded in 1983 with 39 attorneys, Wiley Rein has grown to a big player in the nation's capital, with more than 240 attorney who practice in over a dozen areas of law. Most well-known for its Telecom, Media & Technology group, the firm's major practices include Insurance, Government Contracts, Election Law, International Trade, and Intellectual Property.

Growing Up on K Street

Wiley Rein was founded in Washington, DC, by two attorneys with deep roots in the nation's capital: Bert Rein-a former U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for economic and business affairs-and Richard Wiley-former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. Noted for its expertise in communications, media, government affairs, and political law, Wiley Rein counts among its ranks many prominent DC attorneys who have held high-level positions in the White House, on Capitol Hill, and in federal agencies.

The firm represents a wide range of clients-from Fortune 500 corporations to trade associations to individuals-in myriad industries, including energy, manufacturing, defense, aerospace, intelligence, information technology, professional services, telecommunications, health care, A&E, and construction. Clients include AT&T, The Boeing Company, Chubb, UPS, Verizon, and Sirius/XM, among others.

Communications, Campaigns, and Contracts

Consistently ranked by Chambers USA in its top tier, Wiley Rein's Telecom, Media & Technology handles the full scope of telecommunications, wireless, litigation, international, satellite, and media issues from headline-setting, billon-dollar mergers to business disputes and advocating particular regulatory and legislative results.

Naturally, for one of the largest firms in DC, Wiley Rein has built an important Election Law group, which advises on everything from forming Political Action Committees to counseling political campaigns on funding a run for office. The department is led by Michael Toner, former chairman of the Federal Election Commission, and Jan Baran, former general counsel of the Republican National Committee. Baran has lent his expertise to such notable cases as Citizens United v. FEC for which he filed an amicus brief on behalf of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Election law practice clients include many of the country's most prominent corporations (30% of the Fortune 50), trade associations, nonprofit organizations, public officials, political parties, individual campaign committees, and candidates.

Wiley Rein has built one of the largest government contracts practices in the nation. Over the years the group has represented more than 400 top government contractors-including a third of the top 100 biggest government contractors-as well as small businesses and entities performing their first government contracts. The practice group is consistently ranked by Chambers USA in the top tier of the nation's government contracts practices and was named Law360's Government Contracts Practice Group of the Year for 2017.

Putting its politics, government, and communications experience to good use, Wiley Rein acquired SIGNAL Group (formerly McBee Strategic Consulting, LLC) in 2014, a lobbying and consulting agency that counts the likes of Microsoft, Intel, American Airlines, and FedEx among its clients.