Rick Boucher Joining Washington Law Firm

After serving 28 years in the U.S. House of Representatives, former Congressman Rick Boucher (D-Va.) has joined Sidley Austin LLP as a partner in the Washington, D.C. office. Boucher will lead Sidley’s government strategies practice.

Boucher was elected to represent Virginia’s 9th Congressional District in 1982 and served until January 2011. As a member of the House Energy and Commerce and the Judiciary Committees, he carved out an influential role as a bipartisan leader on vital technology, communications, energy and environmental issues. He served as chairman of the Energy and Air Quality Subcommittee and of the Communications, Technology and the Internet Subcommittee.

Carter G. Phillips, the managing partner of Sidley’s Washington, D.C. office observed, “Rick Boucher, with our D.C. partner Daron Watts’ strong assistance, will help unify and expand Sidley’s strong public policy efforts under a single government strategies practice group.”

Boucher has been a leading participant in every major telecommunications policy debate over the past 25 years.  A subcommittee that he chaired oversaw the commercialization of the Internet and its transition from a government-owned R&D project, and he authored the 1992 law that permitted the first commercial use of the Internet.  He was one of two founders of the Congressional Internet Caucus, and served as co-chairman of the 170 member group for 15 years.

Boucher was instrumental in drafting the initial legislation providing privacy rights for Internet users and has been a longstanding proponent of fair use opportunities for digital media purchasers.

Before he was elected to Congress, Boucher was a lawyer in private practice for 12 years in New York and in Virginia. He also served seven years in the Virginia Senate. He earned a J.D. from the University of Virginia and a B.A. from Roanoke College.