Professional Experience

Bill Hanna is a partner at Walter & Haverfield and chairs the Cable & Telecommunications Practice Group. Before joining Walter & Haverfield, Bill was an Assistant Director of Law in the Law Department of the City of Cleveland Heights, and has served as legal counsel to the city's Cable Television Commission since 1997. In 2007, Bill and his firm represented Local Voice Ohio and allied local government and PEG interests in the battle over Ohio's statewide cable television franchise bill, S.B. 117. He has represented numerous local governments with respect to cable television and telecommunications-related issues, including strategies for transitioning to a state franchising regime. Bill is a member of the National Association of telecommunications Officers and Advisors (NATOA) and its Ohio Chapter.

Walter & Haverfield LLP




Bill has represented numerous local governments with respect to cable television and telecommunications-related issues, including strategies for transitioning to a state franchising regime. Bill is a member of the National Association of telecommunications Officers and Advisors (NATOA) and its Ohio Chapter.

Areas Of Emphasis

Cable and Telecommunications

Bill's public law practice involving cable and telecommunications matters includes:

  • Representing municipalities and townships and other cable franchising authorities in cable television franchise renewals, transfers and enforcement efforts, and negotiation with most of the major cable television operators.

  • Assisting a number of franchising authorities to develop and enforce effective cable television customer service standards.
  • Assisting municipalities with the development and administration of comprehensive Public Right-of-Way (PROW) ordinances, including recovery of costs of managing PROW.

Presentations

  • "Public Labor and Employment Law Update," co-presenter at the Ohio Municipal Attorneys Association's 2011 Civil Law Institute, Columbus, Ohio, March 4, 2011
  • "2010 Walter & Haverfield LLP Labor and Employment Law Seminar," "Who's on the Firing Line? Tips on Avoiding Wrongful/Retaliatory Discharge Claims," Outline, Presentation, "Someone's Knocking at the Door, Somebody's Ringing the Bell: How to Respond to an Employee's Filing of a Charge with the EEOC or OCRC," Outline, Presentation, "Employment Arbitration/ADR," Presentation, Holiday Inn in Independence, September 30, 2010
  • "Public Labor and Employment Update," Ohio Municipal Attorneys Association Civil Law Institute, Dublin, Ohio, July 30, 2010
  • "Employment Retaliation for Municipalities," Ohio Municipal League / Mayors Association of Ohio Conference, June 24, 2010
  • "When Revenge Is Not So Sweet: Developments in the Law of Employment Retaliation," Ohio Municipal Attorneys Association, May 21, 2010
  • "Employment Law Update: What You Need to Know for 2010," Holiday Inn Cleveland West, April 16, 2010
  • “Recent Developments in Ohio Telecom Policy,” Ohio Chapter of the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisers, May 2, 2008 (Cincinnati, OH)
  • “Public Policy Update: The Meteor and the Dinosaur (Federal, State and FCC Update),” Spring 2008 Central States Conference of the Alliance for Community Media, May 1, 2008 (Cincinnati, OH)
  • “State and Federal Case Law Update,” Cuyahoga County Law Directors Association/Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association 2008 Annual Presidents' Day Municipal Law Seminar, February 14, 2008 (Cleveland, OH)
  • “Public Right of Way Regulation and Telecom Update,” 2007 Ohio Municipal Attorneys Association Annual Municipal Civil Law Institute, July 26, 2007 (Columbus, OH)
  • “Telecommunications: What's Ahead in Ohio?” Ohio Municipal Attorneys Association Spring 2007 Municipal Civil Law Seminar, March 23, 2007 (panel participant) (Dublin, OH)
  • “Public Right of Way Regulation and Telecom Update,” Cuyahoga County Law Directors Association/Cleveland Bar Association 2007 Annual Presidents' Day Municipal Law Seminar, February 15, 2007 (Cleveland, OH)
  • “Cable Franchise Renewals and Transfers, and What Happens When They Overlap”, Annual Conference Of The National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors, August 22, 2006, (Orlando, FL)
  • “Video Competition & Preserving Municipal Authority: The Entry of Telcos into the Video Services Market,” June 8, 2006
  • “Telecommunications and the Congress,” Ohio Municipal Attorneys Association Seminar, May 12, 2006
  • “Current Issues in Telecommunications Affecting Ohio Municipalities and Right-of-Way Regulation”, co-presented with John H. Gibbon for the Ohio Municipal Attorney Association, May 13, 2005 Seminar

Professional & Community Associations

  • Ohio State Bar Association
  • Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association
  • Cleveland Chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)
  • Cuyahoga County Law Directors Association
  • National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (NATOA) and its Ohio Chapter

Education

Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, J.D., 1997
Miami University, Ohio, B.A., 1988

Licensed to Practice

  • Ohio
  • Federal district and appellate courts

Articles by William R. Hanna

October 2010 - TLNT, "The FMLA Challenge: Reinterpreting the Law for a Diverse World"

July 2010 - TLNT, "ENDA is Coming - and Employers Need to Start Thinking About it Now"

January 2010 - "Gender-Specific Vulgarities Sufficient To Establish A Claim For Sexual Harassment Even If The Comments Are Not Directed At Plaintiff"

May/June 2006 – " Municipal Cable Franchise Authority Threatened As Telephone Giants Prepare to Enter Cable Television Business". This article was published in the May/June 2006 issue of "Cities and Villages, The Journal of the Ohio Municipal League" Publication and reproduced with their permission.

Winter 2004-2005 – Client Briefing on Cable & Telecommunications Law: Recent Developments

April 2005 – Client Briefing on Cable & Telecommunications Law: Adelphia agrees to be purchased by Time Warner & Comcast

Winter 2004 – CALEA and Law Enforcement Surveillance in the Era of Homeland Security: What Does The IP-Enabled Future Hold? as published in the Winter 2004 issue of NATOA, Journal of Municipal Telecommunications Policy publication.

September/October 2004 – The FCC Considers Regulations of New Communications Services - Implications for Municipalities as published in the September / October 2004 issue of the Municipal Lawyer publication. (Reproduced with the permission of the International Municipal Lawyers Association, 1110 Vermont Avenue NW, Suite 200, Washington, DC 20005)

Fall 2004 – Client Briefing on Cable & Telecommunications Law: Recent Developments

Spring 2004 – Client Briefing on Cable & Telecommunications Law: Recent Developments

Fall 2003 – Recent Developments in Cable & Telecommunications Law

April 2003 – Re: The Electronic Government Services Act (H.B. No. 95)

April 2002 – Cable Television Rates Increasing Faster Than The Rate Of Inflation

March 2002 – Cable Franchise Fees May Be Decreased Due To FCC Ruling

January/February 2002 – Recent Federal Communications Commission Decision (Reproduced with the permission of Cities and Villages, The Journal of the Ohio Municipal League)

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