Sean Stokes is a principal of The Baller Herbst Law Group, a national law firm based in Washington, DC, and Minneapolis, MN, that specializes in representing public power utilities and local governments in matters involving telecommunications; cable television; high-speed broadband communications; Internet access; wireless communications, pole attachments, and barriers to public-sector entry. His clients include the American Public Power Association (APPA), the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (NATOA), regional and state utility associations, and numerous public and private entities around the country, including the majority of the planned or existing municipally-owned fiber to the home systems.

Working regularly with multi-disciplinary teams of legal, financial, engineering and other technical experts, Mr. Stokes also assists utilities and government entities in making comprehensive telecommunications and cable plans, developing state-of-the-art telecommunications systems, searching for strategic partners, and integrating ordinances, franchises, licenses, pole-attachment agreements and related documents.

As a litigator, Mr. Stokes has been involved in numerous cases involving complex factual, legal and policy issues. These include successful challenges to Virginia’s and Missouri’s municipal barriers to entry into telecommunications (subsequently reversed by the U.S. Supreme Court) and an important victory in a case in which a federal jury determined that a major cable operator's anticompetitive practices violated the state's unfair and deceptive trade practice laws.

Prior to joining The Baller Herbst Law Group, Mr. Stokes served as the Associate General Counsel and Director of Government Affairs for the Utilities Telecommunications Council (UTC), where he directed the legislative and regulatory strategy of the nation's electric, gas and water utilities, and natural gas pipelines, regarding the adoption and implementation of the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

His writings and speeches include: “Technology, Competition and the Changing Regulatory Environment,” (IMLA’s Mid-Year Seminar, Apr. 2008); “New Developments in Communications Law,” (APPA Legal Seminar, Oct. 2007); “Key Legal and Regulatory Developments Affecting FTTH,” (FTTH Conference, Oct, 2007); “Current Strategic Issues,” (UTC Joint Use and Rights-of-Way Conference, Jul. 2007); “WiFi Legal Overview,” (APPA Community Broadband Conference, Oct. 2006); “Business, Legal and Political Considerations,” (PTI Community Broadband Summit, Jul. 2006); “Municipal Broadband in the States,” Presentation to the Autorité de Régulation des Communications Electroniques et Postales, (Embassy of France, Nov. 2005). “Keynote Speaker: Triple Play the Rules of the Game,” Light Reading Triple Play Dec. 2004); “Municipal Entry,” (APPA Legal Seminar, Nov. 2004); “Anticipating Anticompetitive Practices,” (LSI's Municipal Broadband Conference, Jul. 2003); “Community Broadband Guidebook” (APPA Apr. 2003) (co-author); The Case For Municipal Broadband Networks: Stronger Than Ever,” NATOA J. of Mun. Telecom. Policy (Fall 2001) (co-author); “The Public Sector’s Authority to Engage in Telecommunications Activities,” Journal of Municipal Telecommunications (April 1999) (co-author); “Reforming Telecommunications: How Utilities Fare On Capitol Hill,” Public Utilities Fortnightly (June 1994).

Mr. Stokes is a graduate of Denison University and the National Law Center at George Washington University. He is a member of the Bar of the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fourth, Eighth and Eleventh Circuits, as well as the Federal District of Columbia; and the local courts of the District of Columbia and Pennsylvania. He holds an "AV" rating, the highest peer review rating from Martindale-Hubbell, and is a member of the Federal Communications Bar Association, the American Bar Association, and the National Association of State Telecommunications Officers and Advisors.