Tara is Chair of the Communications Section and a member of the firm's Policy Committee. In her over 20 years in private practice, she has developed extensive experience in cable and broadband regulation. Her practice includes counseling and representation in connection with federal and state governmental matters, as well as communications-related transactions and litigation. She counsels communications industry clients on matters such as network access, net neutrality, OVD competition issues, and compliance with the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010 and the related FCC rules for accessibility of advanced communications services and equipment. She assists clients with transfer of control issues in the purchase and sale of systems, and advises them in retransmission consent and program carriage disputes before the Federal Communications Commission and the courts. Her clients include Cablevision Systems Corporation, National Cable & Telecommunications Association, Discovery Communications, AMC Networks, MSG Networks, and others.
Tara received her B.A. in Government and Modern European Studies from Cornell University (1990). She earned her J.D., with high honors, from Duke University School of Law (1993). She serves as the Washington office’s coordinator for community service activities, as well as the firm's Co-chair for Professional Development.
Publications
Speaking Engagements
- Co-chair, Program Overview, Broadband and Cable Industry Law 2016, Practising Law Institute (PLI) , New York, NY (04.14.2016)
- Co-chair, Broadband and Cable Industry Law 2015, Practising Law Institute, New York, NY (01.26.2015)
- Co-chair, Broadband and Cable Industry Law 2014, Practising Law Institute, New York, NY (01.27.2014)
- Co-chair, Broadband and Cable Industry Law 2013, PLI, Webinar (01.28.2013)
- Co-chair, Broadband and Cable Industry Law 2012, PLI, Webinar (01.30.2012)
Newsroom
EDUCATION
- Duke University (JD, with high honors, 1993)
- Cornell University (BA, Government and Modern European Studies, 1990)
BAR ADMISSIONS
- District of Columbia
- Massachusetts
Howard Symons has nearly 40 years of experience in telecommunications law and policy, including senior positions in government and the private sector. Most recently, he served as General Counsel of the Federal Communications Commission from 2016 to 2017 and as Vice-Chair of the FCC’s Incentive Auction Task Force from 2014 to 2016, appointed to both posts by Chairman Tom Wheeler.
From 1985 to 2014, he was one of Washington’s leading telecommunications lawyers as a partner at Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo, where he chaired the Firm’s communications practice and was a member of its Executive Committee. Prior to joining the firm, he served as Senior Counsel to the Subcommittee on Telecommunications in the U.S. House of Representatives. From 1978 to 1981, he was a staff attorney with the public interest organization founded by Ralph Nader, Public Citizen’s Congress Watch.
Mr. Symons also served as an adjunct professor at George Washington University’s National Law Center, where he taught courses in telecommunications law and regulation for 10 years. He has authored several articles on the telecommunications policy process, testified before Congress and state legislatures, and spoken at numerous industry conferences and continuing legal education seminars.
Mr. Symons graduated from Yale University summa cum laude and earned his Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School.