WTA Announces Retirement of Gerry Duffy; Hires Stephen Goodman as Regulatory Counsel
WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 1, 2024) – WTA – Advocates for Rural Broadband announces that Gerry Duffy, WTA’s current outside regulatory counsel, is retiring at the end of this calendar year and will serve as regulatory advisor until then. Gerry Duffy has a long history with WTA and the rural telecom industry. While in private practice, he began working as regulatory counsel for the Western Rural Telecom Association and Rocky Mountain Telecom Association when they filed joint comments as The Western Alliance. When the two associations merged in 2004 to become the Western Telecommunications Alliance, Gerry continued serving as outside counsel and has done so ever since as the association transitioned, in 2013, to WTA – Advocates
for Rural Broadband.
“I cannot say enough good things about Gerry,” said Derrick Owens, WTA’s Senior Vice President of Government & Industry Affairs. “He’s been a fixture at WTA for so many years. He’s well respected among our membership and within the industry and is a thoughtful and diligent telecom regulatory attorney. Personally, he’s been a mentor and confidant – a strong sounding board off whom I’ve bounced numerous ideas in our efforts to develop policy positions on behalf of the WTA membership and industry. We’re thankful that Gerry’s agreed to continue to work with us in this new capacity through the remainder of the year, but we know he’s looking forward to a well-deserved retirement,” said Owens.
With Mr. Duffy’s pending retirement, WTA is pleased to announce that Stephen Goodman is joining its staff as regulatory counsel. Mr. Goodman has decades of experience working as a telecom regulatory attorney – most recently in private practice, and previously at several law firms and the Federal Communications Commission. Mr. Goodman’s official start date with WTA will be October 16, 2024. “We’re extremely excited and fortunate to have someone of Stephen’s background join the WTA team. Stephen brings with him a wealth of telecom regulatory knowledge, and I look forward to working with him and know that he’s going to hit the ground running,” said Owens.
