Peter Karanjia

• Silverado Fire Litigations (Orange County Super. Ct. Complex Civil Litigation) – Representing a national telecommunications service provider in more than 25 lawsuits collectively seeking more than US$500 million (including actions filed by the California Attorney General), as well as related regulatory investigations, arising out of a major California wildfire
• Verizon/Frontier Acquisition (CPUC) – Representing Verizon at administrative hearings in connection with its US$20 billion acquisition of Frontier Communications
• HHS Advocacy (HHS) – Representing a health care client before the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services concerning the legality of a privacy rule
• FCC v. Consumers' Research (US Supreme Court) – Represented former FCC Chairs and Commissioners as amici in support of the constitutionality of the FCC's US$9 billion Universal Service program in landmark case involving the nondelegation doctrine. In upholding the program, the Court cited and relied on our amicus brief
• AI Defamation Case (Gwinnett County Super. Ct. & N.D. Ga.) – Represented a leading artificial intelligence (AI) company in a first-of-its-kind defamation action based on outputs generated by a large language model chatbot. Case dismissed on summary judgment
• NetChoice v. Moody (N.D. Fla.) – Obtained preliminary injunction enjoining enforcement of Florida's social media "deplatforming" statute. The court found that the statute likely violates the First Amendment, and the Supreme Court subsequently issued a favorable opinion endorsing key aspects of the district court’s reasoning while remanding for further proceedings
• MetroPCS v. Picker (9th Circuit and N.D. Cal.) – Represented wireless carrier in a challenge to the California Public Utilities Commission's assessment of a surcharge imposed on users of pay-as-you-go wireless services. On remand from the Ninth Circuit, the district court agreed that the assessment was preempted by federal law, thereby foreclosing a CPUC collection proceeding seeking more than US$200 million in surcharges, penalties and interest
• PSSI Global Services v. FCC (DC Circuit) – Represented CTIA-The Wireless Association as an intervenor before the DC Circuit in an appeal from a major FCC order that repurposed underutilized spectrum for 5G services in conjunction with the then-largest spectrum auction in FCC history
• Neustar v. FCC (DC Circuit) – Represented CTIA-The Wireless Association and US Telecom as intervenors before the DC Circuit in an appeal from an FCC order selecting a new vendor to provide services under a contract worth more than US$400 million per year
• CWA v. FCC (DC Circuit) – Represented T-Mobile in defense of an FCC order approving its US$26 billion merger with Sprint. CWA voluntarily dismissed its appeal
• T-Mobile v. City of Roswell, Georgia (US Supreme Court) – Obtained reversal of an adverse Eleventh Circuit decision in litigation challenging a municipality's denial of a wireless provider's application to install a wireless facility
• Ameren Corp. v. FCC (8th Circuit) – Represented NCTA-The Internet & Television Association as an intervenor in support of an FCC order limiting rents that communications providers must pay to electric utilities in order to use their facilities to provide broadband service. The court upheld the order, which the FCC anticipated would incentivize broadband deployment by saving internet service providers US$150-200 million per year
• FTC v. T-Mobile (Western District of Washington) – Represented T-Mobile in the first ever enforcement action brought by the Federal Trade Commission against a telecommunications carrier under Section 5 of the FTC Act. As PC Magazine reported, this was "the second-largest mobile cramming settlement ever handed down." It is also one of a handful of global settlements involving the FTC, the FCC, and the Attorneys General from all 50 states and the District of Columbia

Chambers USA

• Band 2, District of Columbia Telecom, Broadcast & Satellite, (2023 – 2025)
Chambers comments that Peter "has a broad range of experience in representing clients in high-stakes courtroom proceedings," (2025) and that "Peter is widely regarded as one of the go-to folks for appellate work," (2019).
Chambers also quotes client comments that "Peter is a go-to for telecom appeal work" and "is a tremendous intellect with strong litigation knowledge. Strategically speaking, his intellect, acumen for the law and ability to craft a multifaceted strategy are key," (2025).

The Legal 500 United States

• Leading Partner, Telecoms & Broadcast: Regulatory, (2024 – 2025)
The Legal 500 noted that "Peter Karanjia is head of the administrative law appellate practice and brings a wealth of regulatory expertise from his time at the FCC," (2025). An earlier edition described Peter as "an expert appellate and civil litigator who represents clients in government-facing and enforcement litigation."

Additional Recognitions

• Named by Lawdragon as one of "500 Leading Litigators in America" in Appellate and Complex Commercial Litigation, (2024 – 2025)
• Named by Washingtonian magazine as a "Top Lawyer" in the area of Communications law, (2024)
• Named one of the Best Lawyers in American Media Law, (2019 – 2026) and Privacy & Data Security Law, (2019 – 2021) by Best Lawyers
• For "successes in high-stakes litigation," named MVP of the Year by Law360, (2015 – 2017, 2022)

• Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of the University of California (US Supreme Court) – Filed amicus brief on behalf of United We Dream, an organization that represents young individuals protected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and 50 organizations in consolidated lawsuits challenging the government's rescission of the DACA program
• Hawaii v. Trump (US Supreme Court and Ninth Circuit) – Filed amicus briefs on behalf of more than 100 members of Congress in litigation challenging President Trump's "Travel Ban" Executive Order
• Janus v. AFSCME (US Supreme Court) – Filed amicus brief on behalf of US Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Richard Blumenthal in the litigation defending fair-share union fees against First Amendment challenge
• Pavatt v. Sharp (US Supreme Court) – Represented Oklahoma death row inmate seeking Supreme Court review of his capital sentence, following en banc review by the Tenth Circuit, based on the Eighth Amendment
• National Security Archive v. CIA (District Court for the District of Columbia) – On behalf of the National Security Archive (an award-winning research center founded by journalists and scholars), successfully obtained previously classified cables in Freedom of Information Act litigation against the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The cables were covered in The New York Times and The Washington Post
• Hernández v. Mesa (US Supreme Court) – Filed amicus brief in US Supreme Court on behalf of former police chiefs supporting petitioners in case involving the extraterritorial application of the Constitution and issues of qualified immunity
• Evenwel v. Abbott (US Supreme Court) – Filed amicus brief on behalf of the Hispanic National Bar Association, the National Bar Association, and the South Asian Bar Association of North America in major voting rights case. The New York Times reported that the Court's decision was "a major statement on the meaning of a fundamental principle of the American political system, that of 'one person one vote'"
• Pena-Rodriguez v. Colorado (US Supreme Court) – Filed amicus brief on behalf of the Anti-Defamation League, the Hispanic National Bar Association, and LatinoJustice in case addressing the admissibility of evidence of a juror's racial bias exhibited during deliberations

• Panelist, "Recent SCOTUS Decisions' Impact on Businesses in Regulated Industries," Strafford Webinars, Washington, DC, December 5, 2024
• Moderator, "FCC Year in Review – PDR Network, the Hobbs Act, and the Future of Deference to the FCC," Federal Communications Bar Association, Washington, DC, June 24, 2019
• Panelist, "Representation Matters: Impact Litigation in the U.S. and Canada," SABA North America 2019 Convention, Atlanta, GA, June 21, 2019
• Panelist, "Forty Years After FCC v. Pacifica Foundation," 23rd Annual Conference, ABA Forum on Communications Law, Napa, CA, March 3, 2018
• Panelist, "Update on Net Neutrality," Wireless Legal Seminar for the West, CTIA and Federal Communications Bar Association, Seattle, WA, November 9, 2017
• Interviewer, "Chai Chat With Neal Katyal," SABA North America 2017 Convention, Washington, DC, July 15, 2017
• Panelist, "The 2016-2017 Supreme Court Review," American Constitution Society, The National Press Club, Washington, DC, June 29, 2017
• Moderator, "Hot Topics in Media," PLI/FCBA 34th Annual Institute on Telecommunications Policy & Regulation, Washington, DC, December 2, 2016
• Panelist, "The FCC in the Courts: Never Before Has the FCC Experienced so Much Litigation/Net Neutrality," Wireless Legal Seminar for the West, CTIA and Federal Communications Bar Association, Seattle, WA, November 18, 2016
• Panelist, "The Evolving Role of Amicus Briefs in Appellate Litigation," NAPABA Conference, San Diego, CA, November 5, 2016
• "The Nuts and Bolts of FCC Appeals," Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA), Washington, DC, September 30, 2016
• Co-presenter, "The FCC and the 21st Century Media Marketplace," Media Law Conference 2016, Reston, VA, September 21, 2016
• Panelist, "Privacy and Security," 2016 NaLA Spring Conference, New Orleans, LA, May 18, 2016
• Moderator, "Privacy and Cybersecurity: The FTC and FCC," The Media Institute, Washington, DC, November 17, 2015
• Moderator, "Net Neutrality: Past, Present, and Future," NAPABA Annual Convention, New Orleans, LA, November 7, 2015
• Panelist, "Consumer, Litigation and Privacy Issues," Legal Seminar, CTIA The Wireless Association, Seattle, WA, October 29, 2015
• Panelist, "Reading the Tea Leaves: How Will the D.C. Circuit Decide the Open Internet Order Appeals," COMPTEL Plus Conference, San Francisco, CA, October 21, 2015
• Moderator, "Another Cop on the Beat: The FCC's Recent Privacy Enforcement," International Association of Privacy Professionals Conference, Las Vegas, NV, September 30, 2015
• Panelist, "Cloud Computing," MLRC Seminar, New York, NY, April 28, 2015
• Panelist, "Net Neutrality: A Brave New Era? Or, Back to the Future? Are we in 1934? 1993? Or, 2015?" Pacific Northwest Chapter's Federal Circuit Bar Association, Redmond, WA, March 25, 2015
• Panelist, "Appellate Advocacy," NAPABA Annual Convention, Scottsdale, AZ, November 8, 2014
• Co-presenter, "Class Action TCPA, and Other Litigation Issues," CTIA West Legal Seminar, Seattle, WA, November 6-7, 2014
• Panelist, "The Broadband Policy Debates," Rutberg Wireless Influencers, Los Angeles, CA, October 19, 2014
• Co-presenter, "The FCC and the 21st Century Media Marketplace," MLRC Conference, Reston, VA, September 18, 2014
• Panelist, "Net Neutrality Redux: What Should the FCC Do?" FCBA Panel, Washington, DC, May 29, 2014
• Panelist, "FCC Broadcast Indecency Regulation," FCBA CLE, Washington, DC, April 30, 2014
• Panelist, "Appellate Advocacy," SABA CLE, Washington, DC, April 22, 2014
• Panelist, "Alternative Regulatory Models to View Net Neutrality," CableLabs Winter Conference, Atlanta, GA, March 4, 2014
• Panelist, "The Broadband Policy Debates," Rutberg Wireless Influencers, Los Angeles, CA, October 29, 2013

• Quoted, “Agencies Avoid Disaster After High Court’s In-House Judge Ruling,” Bloomberg Law, November 19, 2025
• Quoted, "Trump Aims To End Limits On President's Power To Fire," Law360, February 14, 2025
• Mentioned, "Ex-FCC Members Oppose 5th Circ. Universal Service Ruling," Law360, January 21, 2025
• Mentioned, "Talk Show Host Says OpenAI Can't Duck Ga. Defamation Suit," Law360, January 6, 2025
• Mentioned, "Washington, DC's Top Lawyers: Campaign & Election," Washingtonian, (2024)
• Quoted, "SEC Ruling Calls For FCC Revamp, Ex-Agency Lawyer Says," Law360, July 30, 2024
• Quoted, "High Court Flexes Muscle To Limit Administrative State," Law360, July 5, 2024
• Quoted, "Justices' CFPB Alliance May Save SEC Courts, Not Chevron," Law360, May 22, 2024
• Quoted, "How the Supreme Court Could Narrow Chevron," Law360, March 20, 2024
• Quoted, "Justices Craft Test To Decide If Social Media Use Is Official," Law360, March 15, 2024

Before returning to private practice, Peter served from 2010 to 2013 as Deputy General Counsel of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), where he was responsible for overseeing all of the agency's litigation. At the FCC, Peter argued a number of precedent-setting appeals, including one – described by The New York Times as a "big win" for the Commission – involving novel issues concerning mobile Internet services on smartphones and tablets.

Previously, Peter served as Special Counsel to New York Solicitor General Barbara D. Underwood. In that role, he briefed and argued several major appeals, including a constitutional challenge to a first-of-its-kind statute governing online commerce. As The Washington Post reported, the "multibillion-dollar issue" at stake in the case "is one of the most important in modern retailing."