Practice Areas > Telecommunications
Korein Tillery has been involved in the field of telecommunications since the firm's founding, representing both individual consumers and large municipalities along the way. In 2007 alone, Korein Tillery's telecom attorneys reached the 2nd, 3rd and 4th largest business settlements in the State of Missouri. Working with nationally-recognized experts, municipal leagues, and industry groups, Korein Tillery has successfully challenged adverse telecom legislation, prosecuted numerous tax enforcement actions, and received national praise for its pioneering work in the field of municipal-telecom class actions.
Representative Matters
City of University City, Missouri, et al. v. AT&T Wireless, 203 S.W.3d 197 (Mo. banc 2006). Korein Tillery represented a class of 240 Missouri municipalities suing various wireless and landline telephone companies to collect unpaid business license taxes. The trial court dismissed the Plaintiff's claims due to the Missouri legislature's passage of the "Municipal Telecommunications Business License Tax Simplification Act" which immunized the carriers from back-tax liability and mandated the dismissal of pending collection suits. The trial court held that the defendants were immune from past tax liability and then dismissed the Plaintiffs' claims with prejudice. Korein Tillery challenged the law as unconstitutional and prevailed before the Missouri Supreme Court, thus preserving access to the courts and reaffirming the power of municipalities to tax local businesses. AT&T Wireless ultimately agreed to pay $65.4 million to settle the cities' back-tax claims.
City of Wellston v. SBC Communications, 203 S.W.3d 189 (Mo. banc 2006). An outgrowth of the Missouri telephone tax litigation, Korein Tillery prevailed in this appeal before the Missouri Supreme Court in an important decision clarifying issues of municipal standing and capacity to sue. Before the court reached the constitutionality of the "Municipal Telecommunications Business License Tax Simplification Act" Korein Tillery prevailed before the court when it held that the cities of Wellston and Winchester had standing to bring the action in their own names.
In re MCI Non-Subscriber Tel. Rates Litig., MDL 1275 (S.D. Ill. Apr. 19, 2001). MDL proceeding in the Southern District of Illinois that resulted in one of the largest telecom class action settlements ever, with a settlement fund of $90 million.
City of University City, Missouri, et al. v. US Cellular, No. 01-CC-004454 (Mo.Cir.Ct. 2007). US Cellular's settlement with Missouri cities was the second cell phone tax resolution of 2007. Similar to the other settlements, US Cellular agreed to pay $6 million in back-taxes.
City of University City, Missouri, et al. v. Verizon Wireless, No. 01-CC-004454 (Mo.Cir.Ct. 2007). In August 2007, the Circuit Court of St. Louis County granted preliminary approval to a settlement between Verizon Wireless and the municipalities, that calls for Verizon's payment of approximately $25,000,000 in back taxes, plus payment of municipal license taxes at existing rates going forward.
City of University City, Missouri, et al. v. Sprint-Nextel, No. 01-CC-004454 (Mo.Cir.Ct. 2007). Sprint-Nextel's settlement with the Missouri cities was the last cell phone tax resolution of 2007. Sprint, the third largest cellular company in the United States, agreed to pay $52 million in back-taxes and to pay all business license taxes prospectively.
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