Lee is driven to provide practical, business-oriented advice to his clients on how to navigate the intersection of technology and the law.

Lee Petro, Pillsbury special counsel located in Washington, DC, advises clients in the communications industry, specializing his practice in broadcast, wireless, satellite, and telecommunications companies.

Lee brings over 25 years of experience advising his clients before the Federal Communications Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, Congress and state public utility commissions. His focuses include regulatory compliance, emerging technologies, transactions and intellectual property. Lee represents broadcasters, wireless and satellite companies on transactional matters, including mergers and acquisitions and spectrum leasing. Lee also works with innovative consumer and industrial product companies to obtain FCC approval for new uses of spectrum through experimental licensing and obtaining equipment authorizations for new products. Lee works with public school districts, health care providers and other nonprofit entities in obtaining funding from the FCC and the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) for broadband and telehealth connectivity projects.  

Lee is a regular contributor to CommLawCenter.com, Pillsbury’s one-stop resource center covering a wide array of communications law matters, as well as guest contributor for Pillsbury’s Gravel2Gavel and Global Trade and Sanction Law blogs. Lee is helping to lead his Firm’s interdisciplinary team addressing the regulatory and legislative efforts involving generative artificial intelligence. Lee is past president of the Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA), past chair of the FCBA Foundation, and serves on the board of directors for the Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs.

Representative Experience

  • Advises industrial and construction companies relating to hardware equipment due diligence and equipment authorization work for IoT devices to monitor and transmit telematic information.
  • Reviews hardware certification requirements and compliance presentations for US, Europe and Asia jurisdictions for consumer product companies and industrial manufacturers.
  • Obtained FCC waiver and conducted hardware due diligence and related labeling work for devices using Ultra-Wideband, 5G and GPS technology.

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  • Advises companies on the adoption and implementation of distributed ledger and blockchain technologies, focusing on advertising, supply chain and insurance industries.
  • Advised broadcasters on strategies for FCC Incentive Auction and related post-Incentive Auction repack issues.

Professional Highlights

  • Recognized by Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA The Tech Bar), Distinguished Service Award (2022 2023)
  • Recognized by The Legal 500 U.S., Telecoms and Broadcast: Regulatory (2019)
  • Selected by Law360 to their Telecommunications Editorial Advisory Board (2017 2020, 2024 2025)

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  • Recipient of Catholic Law’s Law and Technology Institute Alumni Association (LTIAA) annual Pay it Forward Award (2020)
  • Member of the Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs Board of Directors (2019 2024)
  • Member of the Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs Board of Trustees (2014 2018)
  • Associations
    • Federal Communications Bar Association
      • Executive BoardImmediate Past President, 2019 2020; President, 2018 2019; President-Elect, 2017 2018; Treasurer, 2016 2017; Assistant Treasurer, 2015 2016; Secretary, 2014 2015; Assistant Secretary, 2013 2014
      • Continuing Legal Education Committee - Co-Chair: 2003 2005, 2011 2013
      • Constitution and By-laws Committee - Co-Chair: 2008 2010
      • National Telecommunications Moot Court Competition Committee - Co-Chair: 2001 2003, 2014 2016, 2019 – 2024
    • Federal Communications Bar Association Foundation
      • Chairman, 2007 2008, Treasurer, 2006 2007, Assistant Treasurer, 2005 2006, Co-Chair, Scholarship Committee, 2005 2007, 2012 2013
  • Speaking Engagements
    • Everything Has Changed (New Tech – 3.0, A.I., and Evermore!), The Eras of Broadcasting, American Bar Association, April 14, 2024, Las Vegas, Nevada.
    • Birds of a Feather – Securing Critical Infrastructure, IoT Evolution Expo, The Smart City Event (204), February 14, 2024, Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
    • A.I. Gone Wild, IoT Evolution Expo, The Generative AI Event (208-B), February 13, 2024, Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
    • Presentation – Federal Communications Bar Association Annual Seminar, April 18, 2023, Kingsmill Resort, Williamsburg, Virginia.
    • Presentation – National Association of Broadcasters, Political Broadcasting 2020, May 13, 2020, Washington, DC.
    • Interview with FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks, Federal Communications Bar Association Annual Lunch, June 19, 2019, Washington, D.C.
    • Interview with FTC Acting Chair Maureen Ohlhausen, Federal Communications Bar Association Annual Seminar, May 5, 2018, Kingsmill Resort, Williamsburg, Virginia.
    • Presentation - Reinsurance Industry Association, Blockchain Technology in Reinsurance Industry, October 12, 2017, New York, N.Y.
    • Presentation – broadbandIllinois.org Telehealth Law Forum Series, Funding for Telehealth Services Telehealth Law Forum Series, September 12, 2017, Chicago, Ill.
    • Presentation – CASRIP Innovation Policy Summer Institute, Cybersecurity Issues in the Health Care Industry, July 10, 2017, University of Washington School of Law, Seattle, Wash.
  • Blog Posts
    • The BIS Issues an ANPRM to Address the National Security Risks from Connected Vehicles (CVs), Pillsbury’s Global Trade and Sanctions Law, March 13, 2024.
    • 5G Technology and the IoT Introduce New Regulatory and Security Concerns for Developers,” Pillsbury’s Gravel2Gavel, May 17, 2022.
    • New FCC Proposed Rules Would Prohibit Equipment Authorizations and Participation in License Auctions for Companies Posing National Security Risk, Pillsbury’s Global Trade and Sanctions Law, June 19, 2021.
    • U.S. Government Efforts to Eliminate Supply Chain Threats from China to Telecommunications Networks, Pillsbury’s Global Trade and Sanctions Law, June 5, 2020.
    • FCC Grants First Wave of Funding for COVID-19 Telehealth Programs, April 16, 2020.
    • Executive Order Establishes New Committee to Review Foreign Investment in Communications Companies, co-authors Glenn Richards, Jessica Nyman, Christopher Wall, Nancy Fischer, Matthew Rabinowitz, Zachary Rozen, April 10, 2020.
    • FCC Opens New Filing Window For Displaced Rural LPTV Applicants, December 2, 2019.
    • Ready, Set, File! Broadcast Biennial Ownership Report Filing Window Opens November 1st, October 30, 2019.
    • FM Broadcast Auction on the Horizon, October 11, 2019.
    • FCC Alters Filing Schedule for Biennial Broadcast Ownership Reports, September 17, 2019.
    • A Look at This Week’s Changes to the FCC’s KidVid Rules, co-author Lauren Lynch Flick, July 12, 2019.
    • C-Band Certification Deadline Nearing, April 22, 2019.
    • Deadline to Avoid Pre-1972 Sound Recording Statutory Damages Is Almost Here, April 8, 2019.
    • FCC Eliminates EEO Mid-Term Report Filings, February 14, 2019.
    • FCC Retunes Rules For Citizens Broadband Radio Service, October 29, 2018.
    • Show Me the Money: FCC Launches Repack Reimbursement Proceeding for LPTV, TV Translator, and FM Stations, August 6, 2018.

Education

  • J.D., The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law
    COMMLAW CONSPECTUS: Journal of Communications Law & Policy; Editor-in-Chief: 1996-1997; Author: A New Trial For Solomon: Comparative Hearings after Bechtel II, Volume 4, No. 2 (1996)

    B.A., Michigan State University

Admissions

  • District of Columbia

    Maryland