“There is nothing like working for your country in any capacity and I take great pride in the time I served in public office, whether it was the position I was nominated for or the one I got earlier in my career by applying, I’m honored to have had the opportunity to use my talents to better the country in a small way.” David J. Redl ’06 is an attorney and former government executive with experience in both the legislative and executive branches. While he now works in the private sector as founder and CEO of Salt Point Strategies, his time as a civil servant has played a major role in how he approaches his work. Redl recently reflected on his journey through law school, the career he’s built, and the importance of helping young lawyers navigate the legal field.

Redl grew up in the Hudson Valley of New York in a family of small business owners — his family was in “automotive recycling.” One might assume then that his future career path was pretty set from an early age; however, it was anything but that. “I had a pretty interesting upbringing, growing up in a wrecking yard, but in a family that wanted me to do something other than just be in a wrecking yard all the time.” Instead, his mom would often take him to classes at the Culinary Institute of America when he was a kid and his grandfather, a former IBM employee, would encourage him to explore his interest in computers.

When it came time for college, his interests led him to major in Political Science at Pennsylvania State University. What he quickly found; however, was that Political Science wasn’t the most practical path if one wanted a job straight out of college, so he double majored in Journalism. It was at Penn State that he found his future career in the law — though perhaps not in the way that one might expect. While taking a course, “The Economics of Broadcasting,” with his professor, student-radio adviser, and former broadcasting executive, he was told, “You’re a lawyer.” Redl’s advisor saw the skills he was already using as Production Director at the radio station and how they would be transferable to a career in law. Working on liners, station IDS, and maintaining the public file all shifted Redl’s perspective to the legal side of radio. “It got me thinking, ‘How does this all work? Why are we doing these things?’ And as I did more of it, I ended up feeling like, ‘Yeah, maybe this is the kind of field I want to be in and maybe I want to practice media law.’”

The same advisor who had sparked Redl’s initial interest in law also introduced him to Catholic Law. He had shared with Redl that every lawyer he’d ever worked with in broadcasting had gone to Catholic. So, Redl took the LSAT and applied to the Law School, having never even seen it before. Catholic Law ended up being right where Redl needed to be. “I was fortunate that I had chosen Catholic because it had a program that specialized in telecommunications law, and I was able to take courses taught by practitioners.” One course, “Becoming a Communications Lawyer,” was taught by the Chief of Staff of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and would often take place in the Chairman’s office. “That’s the type of experience you can’t get anywhere else. Not even anywhere else in D.C. You have to be at [Catholic Law] to get those experiences.”

As Redl became more interested in telecommunication and technology law he found himself leaning more towards — what was then considered a burgeoning field — wireless. Amongst his cohort in the Communications Law Institute (CLI), now the Law and Technology Institute, he was “the wireless guy.” He shared further, “It ended up being an area I got so fascinated with that in my second year, I worked at the wireless trade association — CTIA.” Redl added, “I ended up in a practice group — the regulatory team at CTIA — that at the time was all CUA grads.” After graduating and passing the bar, CTIA brought him back. “Trade associations are fantastic because you can both learn and work. You’re a salaried employee that is learning on the job. It was a great experience that led me to where I am today.”

When he left CTIA in 2011, Redl used his expertise in wireless and broadband on the Hill — over the next eight years working on the House Energy and Commerce Committee Communications and Technology Subcommittee and the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration. Working in public service was, of course, incredibly rewarding for Redl, but that time also came with some challenges. “There is a tendency in Washington to want people to like you but, when you’re in government, doing a good job doesn’t mean making everybody happy.” He added jokingly, “I hope my Hill epitaph says, ‘He was kind of a pain in the tail, but he got things done and he never lied to anybody.”

In 2019, Redl left the public sector and founded Salt Point Strategies, which provides public affairs consulting, strategy, and advocacy to clients as they navigate the emerging high-tech economy. He is excited to be in such a people-focused position. “The most rewarding thing is to be on the outside [of the public sector] and to help find jobs for the people who were my interns when I was in government. To try and help them start their careers and see them flourish as lawyers — or lobbyists — is probably the most important part of what I do now.” Redl noted that it is also the most challenging in light of the economic uncertainty still lingering from the pandemic.

When asked to share advice with this young generation of lawyers he said, “Find an area of the law you actually enjoy practicing. Too many people wash out of being lawyers because they are too stressed out and they hate what they do. Have fun. There’s a lot of fun to be had, particularly in non-traditional legal jobs.” As a final thought, he noted the importance of utilizing the Catholic Law alumni network, “There are a ton of us out there and we all help each other out.”