Will Burrington, J.D.

Will Burrington serves as Executive Vice President of Public Affairs at Saber Seven, Inc. (www.sabserseven.com) in New York where he is a member of the company’s executive management team. Saber Seven is a media and technology company developing Dorthy.com, an innovative achievement service that provides people with the content, introductions and tools they need to Do Their Dreams™. Mr. Burrington manages Saber Seven’s corporate communications, government relations and investor relations. Most recently, Mr. Burrington was a Senior Public Affairs and Communications Consultant for Fleishman-Hillard, Inc. (www.fleishman.com), a leading international public relations firm.

With more than two decades’ experience as a strategic communicator, public policy advocate, coalition leader, spokesperson and general counsel, he brings particular expertise in managing complex international Internet, telecommunications and technology issues. In addition to public affairs, crisis and litigation support, his practice focuses on global corporate positioning, reputation management and thought leadership.

Mr. Burrington played a critical role in the growth of America Online (www.aol.com) from 1994–2000, serving in executive leadership positions including founder and director of AOL’s Public Affairs, Government Relations & Public Policy Office in Washington, DC; Senior Vice President and Chief Communications Officer for AOL Europe in London and Hamburg; and Associate General Counsel, Vice President for International Public Policy.

A recognized industry leader with expertise advocating at all levels of government, Mr. Burrington has organized and led several business coalitions, including the one which successfully opposed the landmark Communications Decency Act in 1997, and Project OPEN – the Online Public Education Network, the first-ever CEO-level public affairs effort by major Internet service providers. Mr. Burrington’s influential coalition-building work for AOL was profiled in the best-selling book, AOL.Com by Wall Street Journal reporter Kara Swisher.

He has served as a delegate to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva, which negotiated two comprehensive international treaties governing copyright and intellectual property protection in the digital age, and as an expert appointed by the U.S. Department of Commerce to the E-Commerce Working Group of the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas.

Mr. Burrington served as Chairman of the Internet Alliance, the Internet and e-commerce industry’s primary trade group in the late 1990s; as Executive Director and General Counsel to the leading information technology industry association in 1992-1994, the National Association for Interactive Services, and as Chief Counsel to former member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Wisconsin, Jim Moody. He also has worked as an attorney in private practice with respected law firms in Milwaukee and Washington, DC, where he represented a variety of clients on cable television and information technology law and policy.

Mr. Burrington earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Government from Lawrence University, and his Juris Doctorate from Marquette University Law School, where he was a member of the Marquette Law Review and recipient of the 1987 Dean’s Award. He remains a member in good standing of the State Bar of Wisconsin.

He has served as a Trustee on several non-profit boards, including the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum in Key West, Florida; the Fort Lauderdale Riverwalk Trust; and as Chair of the City of Fort Lauderdale Economic Development Board. He is a member of Toastmasters International, and has testified several times before the U.S. Congress on a variety of Internet and e-commerce public policy issues and trends.

Mr. Burrington is the recipient of awards from the American Civil Liberties Union for his championing of free speech on the Internet; the Torch Award from the Human Rights Campaign; and was selected by the BMW Stiftung Herbert Quant (BMW Foundation) as a presenter at the BMW Transatlantic Forum recognizing innovative, younger German and American leaders in various business sectors.

He can be reached at will.burrington@saberseveninc.com or +1.954.573.0400.