Comcast Corp. has named Francis Buono to senior vice president of legal regulatory affairs and senior deputy general counsel, where he will head up the company’s Legal Regulatory Group and providing corporate-wide legal advice on regulatory matters and overseeing the company’s legal regulatory advocacy, including filings in federal and state regulatory proceedings and related litigation and appeals.
Buono, who starts his new role in January, will join Comcast from Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, where he most recently served as partner and Chair of the Communications, Media & Privacy Department and Chair of the Data Privacy & Security Practice Group. There, he represented cable operators, ISPs, video programmers, and equipment manufacturers in major FCC rulemakings, merger transactions, and congressional legislation (including the Telecommunications Act of 1996), as well as in administrative adjudications regarding the FCC’s program access, program carriage, rate regulation, navigation device, effective competition, cable ownership, and must-carry rules.
Buono will report to David Cohen, Comcast’s SVP and chief diversity officer and will join the senior leadership team in Comcast’s Washington, D.C., office.
Until Buono joins the company, Lynn Charytan, who was promoted earlier this week to the position of general counsel of Comcast Cable, will continue to cover her corporate legal regulatory responsibilities, Comcast said.
“After working with us as outside counsel for many years, I am thrilled to formally welcome Frank to the Comcast team,” Cohen said in a statement. “His deep legal and regulatory policy expertise has been a terrific asset to the company, and I know that he will continue to provide invaluable counsel in this role.”
Buono earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Georgetown University and a Juris Doctor degree from Georgetown University Law Center, and in both instances graduated with honors.
