Dear ARRL 2019 Officers, Directors and Vice Directors, (CC Atty Chris Imlay, Atty Ed Spinella) As you have recently learned, Atty Chris Imlay has resigned as ARRL General Counsel. At this point, I do not believe that ARRL needs a formal General Counsel, but rather would be better served by contracting with specialized lawyers and paralegals as needed. I will be presenting my plans for reorganizing ARRL staff in January, and reorganizing legal counsel is part of that overall reorganization. Because of my concerns that ARRL would be best served in many legal matters by using appropriate Connecticut counsel, since October, and with the blessing of the Executive Committee, I have been working with attorneys of the Connecticut law firm of Murtha Cullina LLP, evaluating them as a replacement for general law matters. Specifically, I have used them, or plan to use them, in these areas: (1) Contract review and negotiation, (2) Governance advice, (3) Employment advice, (4) Employee benefits advice, (5) Tax-exempt advice, (6) Charitable planning / donor restricted assets issues, and (7) Intellectual property law. I have been very pleased with the work provided by Murtha Cullina LLP, and I'd like to consolidate all of our general law issues through them. I plan to be using the law firm of Murtha Cullina LLP, and specifically Atty Ed Spinella for our general legal services. Rick and I have invited Ed to the January Board meeting so you can meet him. Regarding communications/FCC law, I plan to use Atty Chris Imlay for about six months during which time he will (1) assist ARRL on pressing communications issues (next paragraph), (2) assist in selecting a competent communication/FCC counsel, and (3) assist in transferring legal files to the new counsel. I believe that it is vitally important to the goals of ARRL and amateur radio that we not have a period of time without representation. I also feel that selecting a replacement lawyer quickly would not ensure getting the best attorney. I’d like to start evaluating law firms, as I did when selecting Murtha Cullina, by evaluating their work. Having Chris continue is a temporary solution would allow us time to find the best replacement and in no way is meant to be a permanent solution. Immediate priorities for Chris: (1) the recent issue of NTIA Docket 181130999-8999-01, Developing a Sustainable Spectrum Strategy for America’s Future; (2) Orbital Debris NPRM and Order on Reconsideration, Docket 18-313 basically treating amateur satellites the same as commercial satellites; (3) implementation of the Volunteer Monitoring Program, (4) advocacy at FCC for pending rulemaking proceedings including ARRL’s Technician Enhancement Petition, the Symbol Rate docket, the RM-11759 proceeding dealing with the 80-meter data subband, RM-11767 dealing with the 15 dB gain rule for linear amplifiers, and supplemental filings in ongoing proceedings such as our petition for the 5 MHz band implementation from WRC-15; (5) resolution of an ongoing dispute with FCC with respect to the use by Amateurs of radios which are capable of operation outside Amateur allocations; (6) resolution of a disputed issue with FCC about the proper use and limits of exploitation of Amateur Radio by broadcasters; (7) an open proceeding dealing with Wireless Power Transfer for Electric Vehicles; (8) various spectrum allocations proceedings that have been open for some time including an NTIA spectrum study that calls for ARRL involvement with David Redl at NTIA; and (9) the preparation and filing of an application for experimental license for high power, point-to-point and EME operation at 76-81 GHz. 73, Howard, WB2ITX -- Howard E. Michel, WB2ITX Chief Executive Officer ARRL, The National Association for Amateur Radio® 225 Main Street, Newington, CT 06111-1494 USA Telephone: +1 860-594-0404 email: hmichel@arrl.org<mailto:hmichel@arrl.org>