-: I ended up doing a lot more business law
than I ever expected to,
so you gotta learn how business works.
You need to be able to speak finance language,
which I didn't really do here, I avoided it.
So it was really on the job training.
So, one of those is to really sort of learn
how business nad finance works and what the terms are.
The second is, is to be familiar with the various
different types of communications law.
So, I'm in the media, broadcast, but there are
a wide variety of other areas, wireless, telecom.
Professor Ternups, he runs a D.C. internship program,
and it's a marvelous opportunity for students here
to get down and experience and see
what Washington, D.C. is like, maybe work in this area.
So I would highly recommend it,
because there's nothing like trying an area.
The basis is, you have to know the law, right?
And some of it you can't learn without experience.
Communications law's a specific field, so you have to be
familiar with what the rules are,
what the statute is, that sort of thing.
So you have to have that good base
and spend the time to figure it out.
You need to be able to make and maintain relationships,
because a lot of what I do is relationship-based,
with FCC staff and that sort of thing.
So you need to be outgoing, your word needs to be strong.
Because a lot of times, deals are done over the phone
and if you make a commitment,
you have to be able to produce that commitment.
And the other thing I talked a little bit,
you need to be creative, right?
Even if it's a problem that's been done the same way
a hundred times, is there a different way to look at that,
is there something we've missed?
So, in some ways it's impossible, right?
Somebody who's conservative at the same time
but knows when to say, wait, what about this,
or let me pick up the phone and call this person,
maybe I can get the FCC staffer to help me.
So you've gotta be well-rounded,
at least when you're in-house in a position like I am,
you're doing a lot of different things,
so you need to be well-rounded.
But you have to have the base of really when you start
learning what the law is and the nuances,
and developing relationships.