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Susan M. Roach is counsel in the Communications Litigation Practice Group. She joined the firm in 2000 after beginning her career as an energy lawyer in Washington, D.C.
Class Action Litigation. Susan has extensive experience representing clients in consumer class actions in state and federal courts. She has particular expertise regarding the new class action settlement rules under the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 (CAFA). In 2007, she authored a white paper on the new CAFA settlement rules that was published by the American Bar Association’s Dispute Resolution Section. She has significant experience designing and negotiating class action settlements and overseeing the settlement implementation and administration process.
Telecommunications Litigation. Susan is a subject matter expert in the communications Act of 1934 and the Telecommunications Act of 1996. She has extensive familiarity with the FCC’s radio-frequency (RF) regulations, the Pole Attachments Act (47 U.S.C. § 224), and the various preemption provisions of the 1934 and 1996 Acts. She is also well-versed in the FCC’s privacy rules.
Appellate Litigation. Susan has broad experience representing clients in appeals and writ proceedings in both state and federal courts, including a recent series of appeals from an adverse decision of the California Public Utilities Commission, which was ultimately appealed to the United States Supreme Court.
Regulatory and Government Affairs. Before coming to Drinker Biddle, Susan worked in Washington, D.C., where she practiced energy and antitrust law at Crowell & Moring LLC. She has significant experience representing gas and electric utilities before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). While in Washington, Susan developed particular expertise in legislative matters, promoting her clients’ legislative agendas before Congress and the Department of Energy, including drafting legislation and testimony and preparing witnesses to testify in hearings before various congressional subcommittees. Since coming to Drinker, Susan has drafted proposed legislation and talking points for the firm’s telecommunications clients in connection with several state and federal legislative hearings and initiatives. Susan has also represented telecommunications carriers in regulatory matters before several state public utility commissions (PUCs) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), including administrative enforcement actions and rulemakings.
In General. Susan received her bachelor’s degree in English, cum laude, from Georgetown University in 1994. She received her J.D. in 1998 from University of Pennsylvania Law School, where she was a senior editor of the University of Pennsylvania Law Review. During her third year of law school, Susan was an instructor in legal research and Writing, a required first-year course. | 