In response to receiving the National Law Journal’s professional excellence lifetime achievement award, Richard Wiley, co-founder of Washington, D.C.-headquartered firm Wiley Rein and former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, spoke of the unexpected opportunities he seized in his career and the people who helped him along his way.

From 1970 to 1977, Wiley served as an FCC chairman, a commissioner, and general counsel, fostering agency efforts to increase competition and lessen regulations in the communications field.