My Experience as a TIA Government Affairs Summer Law Clerk

My name is John Bat, and I am a Telecommunications Industry Association’s (TIA) Summer Government Affairs Legal Clerk for 2020. I am a rising third-year law student at The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law, enrolled in the school’s Law & Technology Institute. I hope to make a career in the telecommunications and privacy legal field here in Washington D.C. I believe that the opportunity to work for TIA has played a pivotal role in my introduction to and growth in telecommunications law.

From day one with TIA, my calendar was jam-packed with one-on-one meetings with colleagues from across the broad span of the organization. From standards development to marketing and industry working groups, my colleagues made me immediately feel plugged into a vibrant and collaborative work setting. Looking back on my time with TIA, I will always remember how my colleagues went the extra mile to incorporate the interns and clerks throughout the entirety of the summer. From trying my hand at crafting language in an agency filing to proofreading legal analyses before they went to membership, my supervisor and TIA’s Director of Government Affairs, Colin Andrews, presented me with ample opportunities to contribute to the organization’s important policy and legal work.

By always having an open ear and a desire to spur meaningful discussion, my TIA colleagues encouraged my patience and poise amid a continual introduction to the field of telecommunications and standards policy. Throughout the summer, I met many times with Marta Soncodi, Smart Buildings Program Director with TIA, and participated in meetings with the TIA smart buildings working group members to develop best practices for researching, evaluating, and presenting my findings on jurisdictions’ attempts to adopt smart city and buildings technologies.

While at TIA, I have been exposed to many new ideas and perspectives, including how strong public-private relationships can contribute to crucial advancements of 5G services, which will be a major driver of economic productivity and innovation for this decade. I have learned more about the best legal strategies and methods to encourage governmental entities to promote global standards development and ICT sector growth, as well as how larger-scale adoption of global standards can ultimately generate security and trust for consumers. I feel confident diving into the career field of telecom law with the knowledge and work experience acquired here at TIA.

Thank you to everyone at the organization who has helped to make this summer a foundational stepping stone in my professional development.

By John Bat, Summer Law Clerk Intern, TIA

About TIA

TIA is accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) to develop voluntary, consensus-based industry standards for a variety of ICT segments. Follow TIA on FacebookLinkedInTwitterYouTube, and TIA NOW for the latest updates.