Michael E Cusack, Attorney

MICHAEL E. CUSACK is of counsel to the Albany NY law firm of Young, Sommer, Ward, Ritzenberg, Baker & Moore, LLC, and has approximately fifteen years combined experience in representing Upstate New York municipalities, and telecommunications service providers in the siting of public utility / personal wireless service facilities. 

From 1994 - 2000, Mr. Cusack was a member of the Albany NY law firm of Cooper, Erving, Savage, Nolan & Heller, LLP, where he became a partner and served as manager of the firm's Telecommunications, Municipal and Zoning/Land Use practice groups.  Significant work experience includes network build-out matters for NYNEX Mobile Communications (1994 - 1995), Bell Atlantic Mobile, Inc. (1995 - 1999) and Verizon Wireless (1999 - 2000); sale and/or acquisition of various United States network/real estate assets in connection with establishment of Verizon Wireless nationwide coverage footprint (1999 - 2000); representation of Verizon Wireless and predecessor companies on legislative affairs matters affecting personal wireless service facilities (1997 - 2000); sale of Bell Atlantic Mobile, Inc. tower assets to Crown Castle International Corp. (1998 - 2000).  Mike's municipal experience includes Attorney to Town of Putnam, Washington County (1994 - 2000); Town of Dresden, Washington County (1995 - 2000); Town of Fort Ann, Washington County (1993 - 1996); and Special Counsel to Town of Ticonderoga, Essex County (1992 - 1995), all inside the New York Adirondack State Park.

From 2000 - 2005, Mr. Cusack worked directly for the telecommunications industry, where he served in a variety of roles including Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary to Independent Wireless One Corporation (IWO) and its affiliates.  In this capacity, Mike worked directly on the build-out of the Sprint PCS (Personal Communications Service) affiliate network, in a five state territory consisting of Upstate New York, Vermont, New Hampshire (excluding Nashua), Western Massachusetts and Northeastern Pennsylvania.  Mike's additional work experience includes management of all internal and external company legal resources; work on corporate restructuring matters; litigation planning and management; and reporting to Board of Directors on various legal issues, corporate governance issues and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings.

Mr. Cusack is a 1986 graduate of Siena College (Bachelor of Science Computer Science), and a 1990 graduate of Albany Law School.  He is co-author of the Zoning and Land Use chapter of the New York Lawyer's Deskbook (1999 - date), and has devoted substantial time to presentations concerning telecommunications technology and siting matters, including Personal Wireless Service Facilities and the Telecommunications Act of 1996  (Association of Towns of the State of New York, 1997 Annual Meeting, Town Attorney Workshop); Local Regulation of Personal Wireless Service Facilities and Other Technologies (Association of Towns of the State of New York, 1998 Annual Meeting, Town Attorney Workshop); Local Zoning and the Wireless Revolution: Update on the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and Wireless Facility Siting in New York (Third Annual Institute on Public Utility Law, NYSBA November 2001).  Mike is a member of the Federal Communications Bar Association, American Bar Association, and New York State Bar Association.